The Essex Birder

I saw this beautiful little greylag goose family while I was out with the official blog dog last week.   I was delighted to see them as usually in my local patch I only see Canada Geese and their goslings.   Although it looks like I’m close by them, I got the photo from a distance on top of a bank and left as soon as I’d taken the picture so as not to disturb them. Greylag geese, or to give them their catchy Latin name Anser Anser, are found in gravel pits, lakes and reservoirs year round in southern Britain.   There is a wild breeding population further North, our southern birds are thought to be the result of reintroductions in the 60’s and 70’s. They eat grass, cereals leaves, spilled grain and green shoots.   As grass is low in nutritional value they graze almost constantly.   Interestingly, the grass doesn’t remain in the gut for long, as the bird needs to be unhindered for flight.   This explains why there’s goose poo everywhere when there...

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 L...