IT BEGAN WITH TARIQ. A colonial policemen by profession Tariq Watson, in the years following the Second World War would, during periods of annual leave, return to the family home in Holland on Sea. Having a passionate interest in birds and birdwatching, Tariq would regularly undertake the short bicycle journey along the coast to the recently demilitarised area known as 'Holland Gap' broadly speaking, today's Holland Haven. Looking much different than today the area would have been a tangle of unmanaged undergrowth and shrubs interspersed with an array of derelict or defunct anti invasion provisions including buildings, sunken poles, concrete paths, barbed wire and of course the ubiquitous 'pill boxes' that can be seen on site to this day. Between the Sluice and the first pill box heading north east, in place of the present day sea wall a sandy cliff separated the beach from the lower habitat immediately inland, I.e. today's country park element of the site. Tariq left us few details of rarities noted during this time however one record of note, and what constitutes the first rare in our history, is a cracker! On the 30th October 1948 atop one of the afore mentioned sunken telegraph poles perched a Roller!!
Tariq retired to the family bungalow in Holland however it wasn't until the early to mid seventies that the Haven as we know of it today, and Tariq's hitherto unknown regular visits, became apparent to the wider local birding community. As teenagers Pete Loud and I regularly cycled to the then recognised local 'hot spots' of Colne Point and Walton-on-the-Naze and it was returning from one such early spring visit to the latter when, taking the shortest route home along the sea wall at the Haven, a drake Garganey flew in off the sea and promptly landed on shallow pools some 50 meters inside the sea wall! On further investigation these pools and surrounding rough pasture were found to hold Jack Snipe and Ruff, good numbers of commoner waders, a wide variety of wildfowl plus Reed Buntings, Linnets, Mippits....in fact pretty much more than we'd seen at the Naze all morning! It is fair to say that from this point the modern era of Haven Birding began with both Pete and I now having a loyalty to a 'local patch' which over the years has bordered on obsessional!
Unfortunately it was about this time that one of the most disgraceful and unnecessary acts of deliberate suppression took place involving a species which, in 1975, was only the second accepted record for Britain and, to this day, remains not only the rarest species ever confirmed within our recording area but, for those twitchers still active with long memories, remains 'the' birding event associated with our patch when the topic of Holland Haven arises. On the 20th November 1975 a pale warbler with a rufous tail was found along an overgrown section of the inner sea wall some 50 metres before the start of the Frinton beach huts. The finder was at a loss to identify the bird and suspicious that a significant rarity may be involved sought help from an experienced active local birding friend based in Walton. Arriving later in the day the person concerned promptly identified the mysterious bird as an (Asiatic) Desert Warbler then, for reasons that remain unclear to this day, with the exception of a handful of his close friends, told no one. To compound the subsequent frustration of all others, the bird was also present the following day.
A site list began to evolve from the mid seventies as regular visits began to explore various parts of what became apparent was very variable habitat. Around this time both Purple Sandpiper and Firecrest were found to be regularly occurring and the site soon gained a reputation for both species. Rarity wise, by today's standards, picking were slim however until the mid eighties. Pete Loud got the ball rolling finding Essex's first 'Siberian' Stonechat (maura/Stejnegers) on the 14th October 1984 at what we now refer to as the 'Golf Course Dump'. Then less than three years later Pete found our first Red Footed Falcon along the Sewage Farm hedge on 5th September 1987. At around this time Simon and Pat Cox and Pete Newton had begun undertaking regular ringing sessions in the old sewage farm, a somewhat derelict and overgrown area which predates the site of the existing modern facility. In addition to trapping such irregular quality migrants such as Barred Warbler and Tree Pipit the highlight during this period was the sites only record to date of Little Bunting, found hanging in a mist net on the 12th October 1989.
The pace stepped up a gear from the nineties as more locals visited the Haven thereby improving coverage. The spring of 1990 was notable for the site's sole record to date of Night Heron, a roosting bird inadvertently flushed by Clive Atkins from the willows in the Dell on the 7th May. The following year a Black Stork was seen drifting over the golf course on the 30th September 1991 whilst the spring of 1992 delivered our first Bee Eater, a fly through seen by Pete Loud on the 15th May and our only Woodchat to date, found by a still very active Tariq Watson along the back hedge of the golf course on 11th May and still present 13th May. After a comparatively quiet period rarity wise the next Haven 'mega' was found by Liz Huxley on the 21st February 1996, a fine adult Red Breasted Goose on the grazing marsh with Brents. Those of us that missed this one got another chance when our second and only other record to date, again with Brents, turned up on the 16th February 2012. Found by Jim Kendall who, as with Tariq is sadly no longer with us, I can vividly remember the unbounded pleasure Jim had in finding this bird, a reward for the countless hours spent in the hide at the ready with his trusty camera. 1996 will also be remembered for the extremely obliging Long Billed Dowitcher which graced what is now the scrape, between 1st - 3rd August. Gull Billed Tern was added the following spring when one flew north east close inshore off the Sluice on 16th May 1997. Nigel Peppers sighting was closely mirrored in 2007 when on the 2nd May Gary Gardiner had a Gull Billed Tern do exactly the same! One on the scrape sometime soon would be very appreciated. Later that year, during one of his regular weekly visits to the Haven in spring and autumn, Tony Marshall recorded our second Bee Eater, perched in the sewage farm hedge catching wasps on the 6th September 1996. It didn't linger, nor did our third and only other record to date, a bird that dashed past an incredulous Ian Minton near the Dipping Pond on 13th June 2015.
As far as Haven mega's are concerned the new century began quietly. Other than a short staying Pacific Golden Plover settling on the scrape island for no more than 45 minutes on the 1st October 2000 the site remained relatively rarity free until the 10th August 2003 when a speechless Pete Newton picked up an adult White Winged Black Tern flying in off the sea. Settling on the scrape for the rest of the day it had gone by the following morning. However, it was about this time that a truly seismic shift in activity took place as far as all things Holland Haven birding was concerned. Driven primarily by Haven newcomers Gary Gardiner, Kas Aldous and John Sawyer not only did coverage greatly increase but modernisation and enhancement of the digital popular media age began with the establishment of the Holland Haven Birding website. Complete with daily reports, species lists, ringing activity and more , the website, primarily maintained by Gary and Kas propelled bird information from Holland Haven, previously restricted to the odd pager report, to a national audience and was the forerunner of this current site established and maintained by Mick Rodwell. And boy were their birds to report! Around this time the local council took charge of key areas of the site including the all important scrape. Under the energetic stewardship of Leon Woodrow, which continues to this day improvements, expansions and management of habitat combined with a new (relatively) vandal proof container hide greatly benefitted the site. A new ringing era also began with Gary Gardiner complementing the pre existing team of Simon and Pat Cox and Pete Newton and with the kind permission of Anglian Water a feeding station complete with fixed mist net was established in the gated compound between the sewage farm and sluice cottages. Hot on the heels of all the above our ranks were swelled by the arrival of Mick Rodwell and Ian Minton as well as many ad hoc visitors drawn to the site by regular reports of scarce, and occasionally, rare birds.
Of the 'class of the early noughties' John Sawyer was first off the mark with our first Red Rumped Swallow, a fly through bird on 30th April 2004. The second and only other record from the hide on 19th April 2015 did manage to stay a little longer albeit if only enjoyed by the finder! It wasn't long after that Gary Gardiner earned a reputation as a bird finder when on 28th July he found our only Marsh Sandpiper to date, gracing the scrape on the the 28th July 2005. A BB rare in any year is good but Gary made it two on the 11th October 2005 when he found the sites only Lesser Yellowlegs which 'stilt walked' its way around the scrape for three days. May was the key month in 2006 with a singing one day Iberian Chiffchaff on the 5th evading a mist net along the access road (sadly neither trapped or sound recorded so no submission was acceptable to BBRC), followed by a fine Citrine Wagtail found and identified on the scrape on the 7th (still present on the 8th) by the unlikely double act that is Simon Cox and Clive Johnson! After a couple of quiet years rarity wise the decade ended with an Alpine Swift flying close low past a surprised Simon and Pat Cox at the Sluice as they attempted to read a Turnstone ring on 7th May 2010, whilst in October Mick Rodwell found the Bairds Sandpiper on the scrape on the 7th. To the delight of one absent Haven regular the Bairds had the decency to linger being last seen on 20th October 2010.
With the impetus gained from site management, renewed ringing activity and increased coverage it is no wonder that good quality rarities continue to be found in the last decade. Firmly established as a site regular Mick was again rewarded for the many hours put in when on the 14th August 2011 he found a stunning male Sub Alpine Warbler (probably Eastern) in the blackthorn along the north eastern end of the car park hedge. As with the Bairds found the previous year the Sub Alp lingered and at times showed very well allowing hundreds of visitors, some from far afield, to connect. The Haven was well and truly on the national birding map. Later that year we were in the birding news again when Pete Newson found a very obliging and vocal Olive Backed Pipit in the Dell on the 12th October 2013. Sadly only staying that day, nonetheless it attracted quite a crowd! 2014 saw the remarkable record of breeding Marsh Warblers (with a single one day singing bird at the other end of the site in 2015) preceded on the 26th April by an odd looking ring tail Harrier found by Pete Loud quartering the arable beyond the scrape. Considered to be a female Pallid it was still present the following morning, however despite the submission of detailed field descriptions complete with record shot, it remains at this time as 'unproven' as far as BBRC are concerned. The following spring Mick struck again, this time with a stupendous Caspian Tern roosting in the middle of the scrape late morning of the 1st August 2015! In addition to Mick, Les and Pam Roker, the 'back hedge' ringing team of Pete Newton and Leon Woodrow were handily placed as the carrot nosed monster promptly took off and flew out to sea!
As we near the end of the decade new additions to the list continue to be added. Whilst perhaps not of the quality of most if not all of the species detailed above, 2019 has seen both White Stork and Black Kite added bringing the site total up to an impressive 276. There's plenty of scope for further additions in the coming years and not all 'rares' in a national context. We still don't have a credible record for Black Necked Grebe, whilst Ortolan and Tawny Pipit are yet to occur. Kentish Plover, Greenish Warbler and Nuthatch have all occurred at Colne Pt and The Naze in recent years are possible and surely it's only a matter of time before Simon and Pat find a Blyths Reed or Aquatic in one of the reed bed mist nets? Likewise Pete and Leon on the 'back hedge' or in the Ringing Compound must be due a Radde's or a Dusky Warbler? The scrape has waders and wildfowl to give up with White Rumped Sand and American Wigeon surely not too fanciful. Then of course there's the extreme. We've had a 'second' for Britain in the form of the regrettably controversial Desert Warbler. Who's to say we can't have a first? Black Winged Kite, Upchers Warbler, Grey Necked Bunting........they have to turn up somewhere. Why not our south to south east facing Haven!?
All of which brings me to some final thoughts. As many of us age (some more gracefully than others!) it's pleasing to note that the 'Haven Academy' has produced what we hope will be the next generation of Haven bird finders. Both Matt Lonsdale and Max Martin have developed into accomplished birders, gaining experience both locally and further afield. As such I'm convinced that as we are about to enter a new decade of Holland Haven birding future updates to this 'history' will feature both of their names.....as well as those of us 'oldens' that continue to regularly search for that elusive 'rare'!
Now will someone find me a bloody Woodlark!
Pete Davis.
December 2019
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