Always time for a Chat!

Male Stonechat    

Well yesterday I decided to have an afternoon visit at Goldcliff to take in dusk for a change. There was a nice selection of birds to be seen and up to the first hide I saw Crows, Jackdaws, Mallards, Moorhens, Bullfinches, Blackbirds, Wren and Woodpigeons. At the first hide I settled in and poured myself a cup of tea, and noticed there were a large number of Canada Geese on the far bank. They were on edge as a pair of Foxes were patrolling the outside of the perimeter fence, and although they can't access the lagoons they were still causing a stir. I scanned through the flock to see if the Barnacle Geese were still with them and surely enough there they were, smaller, but nonetheless noticeable.

A pair of Stonechats made their way through the Soft Sedge growing in front of the hide, and the male in particular (above) had a striking orange-red front, he really stood out.I watched them make their way past before they returned back along the same section about half an hour later. Also from here I watched Shelduck, a Little Egret, Chaffinch, a Buzzard, the usual male Peregrine perched on a rock on the island opposite content with a full crop and a pair of Grey Herons out in the rushes. Suddenly the geese got too wary of the Foxes and they all took flight and luckily for me they landed on my side of the lagoon and settled down once more to feed. I was able to get a few closer shots of the Barnacles (below). What a lovely little goose they are.

 Barnacle Geese mixed in.

Making my way around to the sea wall and stopping briefly at the viewing platforms, I also added Common Pochard,Mute Swans, Lapwing, Curlew, teal, two Common Gulls, Herring Gulls, Wigeon, Coot and Shoveler to the day list. Eleven Common Snipe were huddled in on the edges of the banks and a pair of Gadwall came into view.  There wasn't a great deal out on the foreshore from the sea wall, but I did manage to spot fifteen Avocet, three Great Black-backed Gulls, four Turnstone feeding close in which was a nice surprise and sixty three Redshanks.

The light eventually faded and although there were no owls to be seen, it was a nice change being there at dusk and listening to the different sounds. As I walked back to the car I reminisced on the lovely female Stonechat which had passed the first hide, and back home I trawled through the shots I had taken and selected the one below.

There's always time for a Chat.

Elegant and dainty - the female Stonechat.