Birds and nature - another walk round Rye Harbour nature reserve from Winchelsea Beach and back via Castle Water - 20th April 2026

I saw this white horse standing patiently in a field when I set off from Winchelsea Beach

Male Pheasant lurking by a garden hedge

Sedge Warbler well disguised in the branches of a tree

Shelduck standing in shallow water at the Salt Pool

Female Stonechat standing on top of a post at the edge of the Salt Pool

Linnet perching on the wire fence

Two Avocets stretching their wings

Group of Avocets having a meeting in a shallow scrape

Two Bar-tailed Godwits - one in winter plumage and the other in summer plumage - arrived in the scrape

The Avocets checked out the Bar-tailed Godwits

then left them to it!

The Spotted Redshank in summer plumage was at the far side of the Salt Pool

Common Whitethroat on a bare-branched shrub

Oystercatchers on one of the little islands at Flat Beach

Groups of Sandwich Terns on islands in the shallow water of Flat Beach

Four Whimbrels were in the grass at the other side of the water - viewed from Gooders hide

Suddenly the Sandwich Terns took to the air

then landed again

I left the reserve to walk along the road to the Castle Water entrance - on the way along the road I saw a Goldfinch near the top of a tree

Speckled Wood butterfly on the footpath

Pied Wagtail in the grass near Castle Water

Rabbit sitting underneath a tree

I was happy to see a small group of Yellow Wagtails in a field by Castle Water

Cormorant drying its wings in front of Halpin hide at Castle Water

Oystercatcher on rocks in front of the Halpin hide

I left the reserve at one of the exits near to Harbour Farm and came across a large duck pond - with a few Mallards - on one of the side roads leading to the main road between Rye and Winchelsea Beach

Great Wisteria plant in flower on a house overlooking the duck pond

 

Birding walk on my last morning in Thornwick Bay - 24th May 2024

I just walked round the Thornwick Bay Holiday Park site on my last morning as I was carrying a heavy backpack and did not want to travel far with it.

A Skylark was soaring into the sky at the edge of the holiday park

Young Starlings were waiting to be fed by an adult

A male Chaffinch was singing from the top of a fir tree

There was a short fuzzy caterpillar at the entrance to the bird hide in Thornwick Pools

A Moorhen walked past a tiny Pied Wagtail

A Sedge Warbler was flitting about in the reeds at the back of Thorwick Pools nature reserve

A Mute Swan absolutely dwarfed a Little Ringed Plover

Closer view of the Little Ringed Plover

A pair of Canada Geese with a gosling were feeding on grass in front of pink Ragged Robin flowers

Early Purple Orchid near the edge of the fishing lake

That was it!  Great birding trip to Thornwick Bay, Bempton Cliffs and Flamborough Head was over!

Wildlife seen during a July walk round RSPB Rainham Marshes

I love visiting RSPB Rainham Marshes, near Purfleet, in Essex.  These photos are from a recent visit there.

Firstly a couple of large birds:

A Grey Heron was patrolling one of the lagoons

 A couple of Little Egrets were dancing at the edge of another lagoon

Now moving on to much smaller birds:

A very tiny Wren was singing tunefully at the edge of the boardwalk

 A female Linnet was hopping around in the bushes and I just managed to get her into a photo

A Goldfinch was not being very co-operative as a model and refused to turn round for me

I accidentally had more luck with this Sedge Warbler as it hopped to the front of the shrubbery

Lastly, not to forget the tiny creatures that live in the nature reserve, here is a Common Darter dragonfly perching on a dead twig