Wading Birds of the Essex Mudflats

Essex has the longest shoreline of any county in the UK.  Though the mudflats don’t always look pretty on a dank winter day, it’s productive and food rich ecosystem is one of the reasons that Essex welcomes so many wading bird species each winter.

Beautiful Godwits

My personal favourites are the bar-tailed and black-tailed Godwits. They are a large bird, and very pretty in breeding plumage. They form large flocks along the shorelines as they probe the mud for invertebrates. Tiny numbers of black-tailed godwits breed in the UK but they are on the UK conservation red list.  We see them here in Essex as they over winter from their Icelandic breeding locations.  Project Godwit is working hard to help this beautiful bird’s long term future in the UK.  If you see a ringed bird, let them know!

Our mudflats also welcome large numbers of knot and dunlin for the winter.  Large flocks of

Dunlin looking for their dinner!

turnstone are common along Leigh seafront and near Southend pier.  They are fascinating to watch as they scuttle among the stones picking at the invertebrates that live under the seaweed.  Sanderling can also sometimes be seen here on the sandier beaches, running back and forth from the waves on the tide edge.

Wintering avocets are seen along the coast forming distinctive flocks.  They are increasingly becoming a summer visitor too which is lovely to see.  I regularly see them when I’m out with the official Blog Dog, they sift through the mud with their delicate bills looking for food. Lapwing winter here, they are easily identifiable in flight by their massive black and white wings and flight pattern.  They are a declining breeder here.

Redshank are year round residents along the Essex coast.  In winter the 25,000 breeding UK pairs become over 130,000 birds country wide when they are joined overwintering Icelandic visitors.  Redshank are distinctive by their bright orangey red legs. 

Mr and Mrs Oystercatcher

Another resident is the eye-catching and noisy oystercatcher. They are widespread along the coast line where they eat cockles and mussels.  Ringed plover are resident in small numbers, sadly they too are on the red conservation list.  They are easier to spot in winter as birds from Europe join them, and bird from Canada and Greenland stop over as they migrate.

As so many of the wading birds that we see in Essex need conservation help, the work of organisations such as the Essex Wildlife Trust is vital.  Our mudflats are a delicately balanced ecosystem and they are adversely affected by pollution and shipping activity. If our coastal environment is going to continue to support these birds we need to protect the whole lifecycle, maintaining breeding spots, nesting grounds and layover places for migrating numbers to feed up and rest on their epic journeys.