Maidens Harbour Again!

1st January 2010

It was a lovely cold crisp morning so we took a spin down to Maiden's again to see what was about. There were already some twitchers with their scopes, looking for some rare species about so we got our gear together along with our hats with ear muffs to keep us warm and took to exploring the harbour and coastline. One of the first birds we saw around the harbour was a Kingfisher. I had never seen these birds on the coast before and used to seeing them on the ponds and rivers, mainly in the Summer. I was told that they head to the coast in Winter as it is milder and food is more readily found. We saw the resident Oystercatchers again and tried to get some flight shots. Redshank and Curlew were the other main waders about, but then we saw a flock of Brent Geese fly over our heads and land in the sea near the harbour. This was a first for us to see these geese, so we were quite excited! They look alot smaller than the other geese and were recognisible by the plummage and the white ring round their necks. Lots of Water Pipits and thrushes about with good sightings in the car of Fieldfare and Buzzards. seems to be Buzzards everywhere with every turn in the road. We stopped off at the pond near maidens for a few minutes to see Goldeneye and Whooper swan and Mute swan. Birdlist: Blue tit, Great tit, Buzzard, Pied wagtail, Robin, Blackbird, Brent Goose, Oystercatcher, redshand, Curlew, Kingfisher, Great Black-backed gull, Cormorant, Shelduck, Mallard, Water pipit, Thrush, Fieldfare, Whooper Swan, Mute Swan, Golden Eye.