Warblers and Wagtails

I made a trip out last night at 9pm to have a listen for the probable Nightingale I heard yesterday morning but the Thanet Way noise from the traffic was still loud and made it hard to hear anything at all. When I got up and checked the phone I had a message from Derek Smith who had been out in the early hours of the morning when it was quiet and heard the Nightingale singing where I thought I had heard it. I left for work this morning at 7.15am and a few minutes later I pulled up and listened in the area. Thankfully the Nightingale (134) was in fine voice and I spent a few minutes listening to one of the best bird songs in the world. Whilst at work I was receiving messages from Matt Hindle alerting me a fall of Warblers, Wheatears, Redstarts and Crests in the area. Later on in the day I was able to get over to Reculver where I spent some time walking down the seawall to Coldharbour and checking the bushes around Chambers Wall before walking back and doing more bush checking around the towers. A lot of the birds had moved on but I did note 3 Whitethroat, 24 Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, 3 Skylark, 11 Willow Warbler were in bushes around the area with a few birds showing well for the camera in the sunshine.

Willow Warbler

There were 6 Redshank, 4 Oystercatcher, 12 Turnstone, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Curlew, 4 Shelduck, 1 Kestrel, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Little Egret, 2 adult Mediterranean Gull flew west offshore and 1 Wheatear was seen briefly on the seawall. There had also been a good fall of Wagtails on the beach with 10 Yellow Wagtail, 8 White Wagtail and 2 Blue headed Wagtail including 1 well marked male. I set about trying to get a few shots of the male which was virtually impossible as they moved along the beach and when I did get near enough, a bike or dog walker past by flushing them all. I eventually managed a few shots of the presumed female Blue headed Wagtail which looked smart in the afternoon sun.

Female Blue headed Wagtail

Moving on I noted 4 Reed Bunting, c60 Goldfinch, 2 Avocet were on the beach at Coldharbour before flying east, 10 Shoveler, c35 Brent Geese, 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Marsh Harrier, 1 Sedge Warbler, 7 Sanderling, 1 Great crested Grebe offshore, 4 House Martin, c15 Meadow Pipit and the sun also made a few butterflies appear which included 6 Small Tortoiseshell and 6 Peacock. Despite having to work, its nice to know with the lighter mornings and evenings that a few hours birding can be made possible and there's always that chance of a bit of quality.

Yellow Wagtail