Funton Creek, on the rise

Sunday and an afternoon sat up on Tiptree Hill, watching distant Greenshanks.

Well, I'd actually started down the bottom of Tiptree Hill, watching distant Greenshanks. Just before the three metre mark, most were scattered in ones and twos around Funton Creek through onto Funton Reach. Followed the tide out. A handful were over on Bedlams Bottom. These were making their way back towards the sea wall and their roost site by the old barges.

By the time I was up Tiptree Hill, most of the Funton Creek birds had moved to the head of the creek itself (in blue on map above), or were spread out feeding on the flats just to the west. The last couple of Reach birds soon flew in to join them.

As the tide made, most continued to feed, several took time out to bathe and a couple dropped off to sleep. The creek head is neither easily viewable nor approachable from the road, and it takes a lot to flush birds from there. A few Redshank joined them for a while, but they were conspicuous by their absence today; something had scared a large number out of Funton and over to Halstow. The Oystercatcher roost numbers remain unseasonably low around the Shade (close to the seaplane operational area).

As the tide covered, the Greenshank moved a short distance east onto the saltings. If the hay had been cut, I might have suspected they would have made for the regular Barksore roost spot, but water levels, like the surrounding grass, remain high; this combination puts paid to any such gathering at present. These birds were going to try to stick it out on the saltings. Over the other side of Funton two walkers heading out on the Chetney stretch of the Saxon Shoreway put the smaller roost to flight, which made straight over the water for the main group.

As I packed up to leave, two flocks of Redshanks, each of around 50, came in fast and low, from the west over Barksore. Birds from Halstow or Twinney Creek, had something spooked them? 'Missing' birds making back for a favoured roost? They took the small number of roosting Redshank up from the saltings and away with them, but the Greenshank simply froze and waited the flight out. They clearly felt they could get away with things.

Greenshank. Easy to map. Rest of my notebook, with all the waders moving around Slayhills, Greenborough, Millfordhope and Chetney Hill, a tad messier. But there's the fun.