The tide was already on the make at dawn, and would cover the flats in just over the hour- not the best conditions for large wader counts. Most will have started feeding close to their nocturnal roosts and not travel far in the remaining time available-
Grey Plover and
Knot, which usually roost away from
Twinney Saltings, were conspicuous by their low numbers. The
Millfordhope roost
Avocet and
Curlew were present, as were the Twinney
Dunlin. Still not sure where the
Ringed Plover roost, but four dozen were close to the seawall at Twinney. The
Greenshank and
Spotted Redshank were by the fresher water of the creek head, and the
Whimbrel still searched the rocks.
Wildfowl were 'as expected'- only
Teal was down (presumably taking a last feed over the seawall before back to the Creeks to day-roost) while
Brent Goose (intra-seasonal movements) and
Shelduck (on their slow return passage from moulting grounds in the Waddenzee) both clearly had new arrivals among them.
Away in the distance, both
Herring Gull and
Lesser Black-backed Gull were beginning to get 'territorial' on the seawalls of
Greenborough. That seemed much too early for my liking.
On the way back through to Rainham I took a little time out to watch the
Woodpigeon on the Ivy. 16 on a clump two metres by three metres, and loathe to leave it when I came near.
