Thurs 18th April 19

The day started normal enough, over the road in the early sunshine were 4+ Blackcaps, 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Cetti's Warbler and 2 Redwings, then at 08:15 came the message that Ian Minton had a Hoopoe* in the Dell, I arrived after the 300m dash to find that the bird had flown out onto the front and was lost to view heading N/E. The next 2 hours was spent by several observers scouring the site but the bird couldn't be relocated.

A quick visit to the hide Added :- 4 Canada Geese, 31 Shelduck, c20 Teal, 21 BlkWit's, 10 Avocet, 7 Redshank, 7 Lapwing, 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Spotted Redshank, 2 Med Gulls (over), 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Whitethroat, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Linnet. MM/CB/PRD/MR

Then it was off to the Naze where thankfully the Iberian Chiffchaff did sing and show itself well on a few occasions.