Fri 30th Jan 26
Reports from today
Richard Jeffree
11:14 14 Whitefronts back of scrape.
Max Martin
14:37 25+ Whitefronts behind raised platform, had a group of around 20 fly in with 6 already being seen on the deck
Matt Lonsdale
15:54 Still 15+ Whitefronts from raised platform although some of groups obscured
Thurs 29th Jan 26
Reports from today
Richard Jeffree
12:36. Very quiet around the site today practically nothing over the road except water, on the main site only birds of note were 4/5 Red-throats sitting on the sea, 2 adult Med Gulls on GC, all the common duck numbers down on recent days, 3/4 Snipe remain on there disappearing island, overall very uninspiring.
Wed 28th Jan 26
Reports from today
Richard Jeffree
10:20 Adult Caspian over the road on the flood. 3rd field down at the back.
12:20 This morning’s sighting - From hide - 4 Snipe, 2 Shelducks, 1 Peregrine, 1 Mute Swan, 21 Greylags, 53 Shovelers, 1 Cormorant, 1 Buzzard, 3 Mallard, 1 Cetti’s Warbler, 100+ Teal, 100+ Wigeon and 1 Chinese Water Deer,
Over the road - 1 Woodcock, 1 Caspian Gull, 1 Buzzard
Mike O'Hanlon
11:50 At least 3 W F Geese on flood in front of wooden platform (seen from hide).
Pete Loud
15:15 From the hide this morning,1 drake Pintail on the winter flood, with plenty of Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler, 12 Curlew. Walk to French Point, 1 adult Med Gull over, heading to Golf Course & 1 immature male Marsh Harrier. 6 Purple Sandpipers were on the beach just north of French Point. 2 Adult and 1 imm. Whitefronts were in with Greylags seen from the raised Platform.(PD,PL).
Mon 26th Jan 26
Reports from today
Richard Jeffree
10:50 6 Purps and a Sanderling on beach by sluice.
Mike O'Hanlon
13:25 This morning from the hide with RJ - (1100 to 1230) 17 Canada Geese, 7 Greylag, 1 Canada/Greylag and 1 Canada/ Barnacle goose hybrids, 71+ Shovelers, circa 200 Teal and Wigeon each, 1 Avocet, 2 Shelducks, 2 Buzzard, 1 Mute swan, 2 pairs of Mallard, pair of Gadwall, 30 Lapwings + Med Gull on Golf Course.
Sun 25th Jan 26
Reports from today
Richard Jeffree
10:48 6 White-fronts just landed behind raised platform.
Pete Loud
15:16 Good to catch up with the 6 Whitefronts at long last, viewed from the raised platform with plenty of wigeon and Teal still in that area with a nice flock of Lapwing, from the hide, the female Peregrine was in her usual spot on the track down through the fields, still lots of wildfowl on the winter flood, mainly Teal but good Shoveler numbers 47 counted, 17 Curlew, Little Grebe in the ditch in front of hide. The hybrid Canada/ Barnacle was on the marsh with a few Canada Geese, first time I have seen it. nice, flock of 80 Brent flying along the front as I walked back to the car ,unbelievably a year tick for me.(MO’H, RJ,PL)
Fri 23rd Jan 26
The early risers this morning found that the Geese had moved to the distant fields but Marsh Harrier, Woodcock, Curlew and Common Gull were all noted. RJ/DC/SE
From the Hide: 4 Mute Swans, 19 Canada Geese, c500 Teal, 50+ Wigeon, 47 Shoveler, 6 Mallard, 2 Gadwall, 1 Shelduck, a few Lapwing, 2 Snipe, 1 Avocet, 1 Dunlin, 2 Peregrine, 1 Buzzard. RJ/MO'H/DC/MR
Reports from today
Matt Lonsdale
09:31 The 6 Whitefronts are in the arable field at the junction of Sladbury's Lane and Great Holland Common road. With Greylags and Canada’s.
Mike O'Hanlon
10:32 6 Purple Sands north of French point on beach.
Thurs 22nd Jan 26
On a 90min seawatch we managed to pick up 1 Blk T Diver and 3 Common Scoter otherwise it was just a steady movement of Red-throats and 6 Brent plus c100 Wigeon sitting on the sea.
From the hide: 2 Mute Swans (another 2 were in the field on the other side of the main Rd.), 18 Canada Geese (+ the hybrid Can/Greylag), c500 Teal, 29 Shoveler, a few Wigeon, 2 Mallard, 1 Shelduck, 12 Lapwing, 3+ Snipe, 1 Avocet. RJ/MO'H/MR
Wed 21st Jan 26
I joined this mornings seawatch late, but in time to see a steady stream of R T Divers, pick up a year tick with Common Scoter and totally miss the Razorbill. PL/RJ/MOH/GS/MR
From the hide: Greylag & Canada Geese, c600 Teal, 41 Shoveler, a few Wigeon, 1 Mallard, 1 Shelduck, 2 Snipe, 2 Pied Wags, 1 Peregrine, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Buzzard.
On the way back c100 Wigeon were sitting on the sea and 6 Purple Sands were sitting on the seawall just south of French Pt.
Reports from today
Graham Sutton
11:40 Haven shelter 0830-1100: Wigeon 300+ on sea, Common Scoter 3N, RT Diver/diver sp 118N, Razorbill 1N.
Tues 20th Jan 26
Reports from today
Matt Lonsdale
10:08 6 Whitefronts from chippings lay-by + 9 Mute Swans. Corn Bunting flew over + landed towards new track.
Mike O'Hanlon
11:59 From the Haven hide (11am till noon) - 38 Shoveler, circa 500 Widgeon, 1 Avocet, 2 Wigeon, Buzzard
Richard Jeffree
16:01 Afternoon visit to the site for me today produced 2 Woodcock over the road no sign of any WF's, 2 Purple Sands on the sluice, ringed adult Med Gull on the GC in amongst 500/600 Black heads, 1 Rock Pipit, 21 Pied Wags and a male Stonechat and finally 4 Brent's north.
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| Photo Richard Jeffree© |
Sun 18th Jan 26
Another morning spent scanning the marsh over the road, still covered with birds incl. 30+ Canada Geese (plus the Canada/Barnacle hybrid), Greylag, 4 White-fronted Geese, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Shelduck, Gadwall, Mallard, Lapwing, Curlew, 4 Ruff, 2 Redshank, 1 Blk T Godwit, a large number of Blk Headed & Herring Gulls plus Common, LBB & Caspian Gulls. A bonus for me was a Woodcock flushed as we walked back to the road.
From the hide: Lots of Teal & Wigeon, 16 Shoveler, 4 Shelduck, 1 Avocet, a few Lapwing, 4 Snipe, Skylarks, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wag, 3 Goldfinch, 2 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel.
At the sluice on the way back 1 Purple Sand was on the seawall to the north and in the 15mins we were watching c800 Cormorant passed offshore heading north in 5 or 6 long lines just amazing, plus the bonus of 1 Gt. C Grebe and a pair of Common Scoter. RJ/MO'H/TR/MR.
Reports from today
Matt Lonsdale
09:02 Spot Red heard but not seen over the hide this morning, Peregrine and Oyk only other birds of note on main site. 4 Whitefronts and 6+ Pintail over the road.
Richard Jeffree
09:29 Woodcock again in scrub adj. new path over road.
10:24 1st w Caspian Gull.
Sat 17th Jan 26
Another addition to the year list today with 4 White-fronted Geese (two Adults + 2 Juvs) found by Richard over the road, the flooded marsh was again loaded with birds and amongst the Greylags, Canada Geese, Wigeon & Teal we found 9 Pintail, 3 Gadwall, 2 Ruff, 1 Redshank & 1 Caspian Gull of note.
From the hide: Hundreds of Teal, Wigeon, 16 Shoveler, 4 Shelduck, 2 Peregrine, 2 Buzzard, 20+ Skylark, 2 Pied Wags. RJ/MO'H/MR
Reports from today
Richard Jeffree
09:15 4 Whitefronts over road, first pool.
09:21 6 Pintail, 2 Ruff so far.
09:44 Adult Caspian Gull furthest pool.
Fri 16th Jan 26
Two new birds for the year list this morning with Redshank and Pintail plus the 4 very smart Ruff were added to a few personal lists as well.
Still lots of water all around the marsh, over the road were loads of Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Greylag, Canada Geese, lots of gulls incl. 2 Common Gulls & 1 LBB, Lapwing & Curlew.
2 Purple Sands were on the sluice on the way to the hide.
From the hide: Hundreds of Teal plus Wigeon, Shoveler, 2 Shelduck, Lapwing, 1 Avocet, 1 Snipe, 2 Buzzard, 1 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk, several Meadow Pipit, Pied Wag. SC/PL/RJ /MO'H/TR/MR
A pair of Pintail, 4 Ruff, 1 Blk T Godwit and lots more ducks were on the flood below the raised platform.
Reports from today
Richard Jeffree
09:20 2 Redshank over road on flood.
Simon Cox
11:48 Pair Pintail from raised platform
11:54 Also 4 Ruff.
Thurs 15th Jan 26
Had a seawatch with PL this morning, not a bad morning considering, Blk T Diver & Kittiwake were year ticks and it was 121+ Red-throats, +3 sitting on the sea in total.
Reports from today
Pete Loud
12:36 2 hours seawatching this morning, not the best conditions with rain and limited visibility, but lots of Red-throated Divers again more than 100 all south,1 Black-throated Diver, 1 Adult Kittiwake, 1 Adult Med Gull, 90+ Cormorant, 50+Wigeon.
Wed 14th Jan 26
A late start for me as usual today, I met Matt as he was leaving the Chippings Lay-by, he had found that there had been a large increase in the number of Teal overnight.
I walked from the humpback bridge to the cattle pen and Teal were everywhere along with Wigeon, Shoveler, c300 Lapwing15+ Curlew, 2 Blk T Godwits, 1 Snipe, Grey Heron, 2 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel, lots of gulls & corvids, 1 Chinese Water Deer, 1 Muntjac, 2 Brown Hares.
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| Chinese Water Deer |
After Pete's message a short seawatch on the way to & from the hide gave a total of 46+ Red-throated Divers all heading south, 2 large rafts of Wigeon, a small group of Greylag & Canada Geese and lots of gulls.
From the hide: Again lots of Teal, c150 Lapwing, 1 Avocet, 1 Snipe, 2 Buzzards, 1 Marsh Harrier
Reports from today
Pete Loud
11:55 Still very quiet around site this morning, although very pleasant out in the sunshine, 2 Red-throated Diver south from the Sluice were year ticks, it’s been very poor offshore so far this year another year tick with an Avocet on the Scrape. High numbers of Teal from the hide,12 Shoveler, no Wigeon I could see a good raft sitting on the sea from the sluice, probably the scrape was frozen this morning, when that happens they prefer to be out offshore..
Tues 13th Jan 26
No sign of yesterdays Bittern this morning but still lots of Wigeon & Teal, a few Shoveler plus loads of gulls spread over the flooded marsh over the road.
Around the rest of the site was very quiet, Mike & Richards very wet walk along the front added nothing of note and from the hide was not much better but dry, c50 Teal, a few Lapwing, 2 Pied Wags on the marsh to the right and 2 Buzzards was all. Looks like a nicer day tomorrow. RJ/MO'H/MR et.al.
Mon 12th Jan 26
The flooding on the marshes was much more widespread this morning but everything looked much as yesterday, with lots of ducks & geese, lapwing, curlew and corvids etc. over the marsh.
A walk down the approach road with Mike added nothing of note, then the phone rang, Pete Loud who was along the track from the humpback bridge to the cattle pen had located a Bittern (the first recorded on the site since Sept 2017) in long grass west of the B1032, after a while the bird made a short flight to the edge of the reedbed and spent the next 40 mins making it's way along the edge before moving into the reeds and being lost to view. PL/RJ/MO'H/DP/S&PC/MR et.al.
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| I'm sure some better photos will follow |
A quick visit to the hide showed the 2 Peregrines were up on the arable, 100+ Lapwing were on the ploughed field, a few Greylag and ducks were below the raised platform and 3 Purple Sands were on the beach by the sluice.
Reports from today
Pete Loud
10:44 Bittern sitting out on the flooded field over the road viewable from the recently laid path
15:08 The Bittern was an unexpected surprise this morning couldn’t believe it when it stayed out in the open for over an hour giving a few people the opportunity to see it, although Simon and Pat were very unlucky, it disappeared into the reedy ditch a couple of minutes before their arrival. Later a walk along the front revealed 5 Purple Sandpipers on the seawall just north of French Point and a Reed Bunting which was surprisingly a new bird for the Haven year list, they are very scarce on site during the winter months.
Sun 11th Jan 26
The half frozen, half flooded marsh over the road held a large number of birds again today with Greylags, Canada Geese, Wigeon, Teal, Mallard & Shoveler plus c200 Lapwing, 20 Curlew, 3 Grey Heron all noted.
A Med Gull & a GBB Gull were in with the Blk Headed & Herring Gulls along the beach and c150 Wigeon were sitting on the sea.
From the hide: c50 Teal, 6 Mallard, 120 Lapwing, 2 Peregrine, 2 Buzzard, Song Thrush, Meadow Pipit, Stock Dove & Robin.
Sat 10th Jan 26
What a transformation, from low water levels and everything frozen solid to full brooks and ditches and flooded marshes and the return of the ducks.
The partially flooded marsh over the road held Graylag & Canada Geese, several hundred each of Wigeon, Teal & Lapwing, 3 Grey Heron & lots of corvids.
6 Purple Sandpipers were on the beach just north of French Pt. and a large raft of Wigeon were sitting offshore.
From the hide: c400 Teal, c100 Wigeon, 6 Shoveler, 4 Mallard, 1 Shelduck, 40+ Lapwing, 3 Snipe, 2 Pied Wags, 1 Buzzard. MO'H/TR/MR.
Wed 7th Jan 26
A walk around the approach road and adjacent wood was very quiet, Gt. Tit, Blue Tit, L T Tit, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Redwing plus a Buzzard overhead and a couple of Mallard on the marsh was about it. Nothing of note along the front just a small number of Wigeon offshore and the mixed gull flock on the sluice.
From the hide: Just a few Lapwing on the marsh to the right of the hide, 5 Teal flew over, 1 Peregrine, 1 Buzzard 1 Kestrel, a few Starlings and a Pied Wagtail. Thank goodness for the Water Rail, he put on a good display again this morning with his mate the Robin, polishing off all the mealworms we put out in no time and returning just minutes after we put out some more. RJ/MO'H/MR
Tues 6th Jan 26
The 2 Mute Swans were still in the field west of the B1032 on the way to site this morning and a the usual flock of Greylag & Canada Geese were on the marsh near to Fan Bridge.
2 Sanderling were on the beach south of the Boating Club, 3 Purple Sands on the rocks in front of the club, a further 2 Purp's were on the beach north of the sluice, just a small raft of Wigeon sat on the sea offshore.
From the hide: c300 Golden Plover, c100 Lapwing, 66 Blk H Gulls, 2 Herring Gulls, 2 Water Rail, 2 Peregrine, 2 Buzzard, 4 Brown Hare, 1 Red Fox. MO'H/TR/MR
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Mon 5th Jan 25
Very cold again today with overnight snow making the Haven look a picture in the morning sunshine.
On the way to site the 2 Mute Swans were still the field on the west side of the main road, a Turnstone and a Sanderling were on the beach with several gulls just south of the Gunfleet Boating Club.
From the hide: 300+ Golden Plover (on the arable), c40 Lapwing, 3 Snipe, c30 Skylark, 3 Buzzard, 1 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk, c20 Blk H Gulls, 1 Common Gull. PL/MO'H/RJ/TR/MR
A Rock Pipit was on the sluice and 2 Snipe flushes from the area beside the TDC compound.
Sun 4th Jan 25
Very cold again this morning, but nice in the sun. Richard had Oystercatcher, Med Gull & G B B Gull to add to the year list on his walk along the front today plus a couple of Purple Sands.
A large raft of Wigeon were sitting on the sea offshore, half a dozen Teal were standing on the frozen brook behind the sluice and a Stonechat was on the mounds
From the hide: 320+ Golden Plover (up on the arable), 50+ Lawing, 60+ Skylark, 3 Goldfinch, 2 Water Rail, 13 Blk H Gulls 3 Herring Gulls, 1 Common Gull, 3 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel. RJ/TR/MRet.al.
Birds of the day had to be not one but two Water Rails in the half frozen Kirby Brook in front of the hide.
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| Photo Richard Jeffree© |
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| Photo Richard Jeffree© |
Reports from today
Pete Loud
13:21 Less wind today so quite nice out in the sunshine, mopping up a few year ticks. Great-spotted Woodpecker and Goldcrest along the entrance road bushes and Pair of Gadwall on the settling tank in the Sewage Farm. 2 Mute Swan in fields from road over the marshes.
Sat 3rd Jan 26
Matt Lonsdale added four new birds to the year list with Ruff, Egyptian Goose, Caspian Gull & Sanderling first thing, unfortunately only the Sanderling were still around when I got over mid-morning. 2 Purple Sands were also along the front, a pair of Stonechat around the mounds, and a raft of Wigeon sat offshore.
From the hide: The scrape and the pond were almost totally frozen this morning so birds were few and far between on the water, c200 Golden Plover were up on the arable and a few Lapwing and Teal on the marsh, 4 Shoveler dropped into the pond very briefly, a Grey Wagtail flew passed and 3 Goldfinch landed on the bramble in front of the hide. RJ/MO'H/LH/MR et.al.
Thurs 1st Jan 26
At the start of the year we had our first of Jan walk around the site to get as many birds on the site year list as we could, it wasn't great. I think Pete, Richard, Dave, Mike & Myself had a total of just 54 with Matt adding 3 extra's on his dog walk. The full list will be posted shortly.
