Saturday 31st March at Rye Harbour

I took the organised coach trip over to Rye Harbour, in East Sussex, with the RSPB local group, and we arrived there at about half past ten in the morning, parking near the strange octagonal shed which bears recent sightings lists. It was a grey day, and as we walked along the path, following the inlet which separates the Wildlife Trusts' reserve from the popular holiday beaches and dunes of Camber Sands, a cold Northerly wind blew across the shingle. A grey and windswept place indeed, the shingle banks on the South side of the reserve were very sparsely vegetated save for the few patches where new growth Sea Kale, a rare plant unique in the UK to a couple of South Coast areas, had begun to spring up, ringed by the dead leaves of last year’s plants. The old farmland, near the reserve entrance in the town of Rye, was undergoing efforts to return it to the old shingle habitats, in what seemed like a gargantuan task for the managers.

Sea Kale

 

A pair of avocets were feeding in one of the shallow pools on the former farmland, looking stunning in their white plumage, with an elegance any fashion house could only dream of. Herring and Black Headed gulls made up the bulk of a gull flock sitting on an island in the next scrape we passed, and a couple of meadow pipits flew out over the path, fighting the wind as they arced over our heads and struggled inland against the wind.   I breifly went into the small visitors centre, a typically ramshackle affair, dissimilar from the modern stylings of the RSPB's visitors centres, and enquired as to what was about. I was told a lot of people came to see the Mediterranean Gulls, which breed on the reserve. Rather facetiously I told him I lived not far from Southend, where Mediterranean gulls will take bread thrown into the air. I made my way to the two hides, overlooking the Ternery Pools, artificial pools sunk in the shingle, with shingle banks and a series of unvegetated shingle islands. In the first, I looked out over an extensive gull colony. Most of the birds on the nearest islands were black headed. Some sat on the ground as if incubating, others swam in the shallow water. Many of them seemed to have formed pairs, in preparation for the nesting season. Perhaps shyer, another island, another low ridge of shingle protruding from the water, was covered in Mediterranean Gulls. These birds, all white save for a jet black head, red beak and lightly silver upper wings, are among the smartest of gulls in their summer plumage. Only a couple of duller immature birds were about, these apparently staying off the breeding colonies. They clustered in large numbers. I immediately regretted my facetiousness. Although Med Gulls are not uncommon at Southend, and good views can often be had, they are never seen in such densities. A pair sat on the nearest shingle island, their beaks pointed to the sky, engaged in some kind of courtship ritual, perhaps renewing bonds which had not been renewed for some months. One of the birds climbed onto the back of the other and they mated. Spring in the air indeed! 

Black Headed Gulls

Spring seemed far away as I walked along the coast path, past the abandoned lifeboat station, wreaths of poppies, commemorating some wartime exploit or other, hung from its heavy grey door. The space beside it offered some shelter, so I sat amongst the Sea Kale for lunch, watching long-winged, white Sandwich Terns returning from the sea over me, many of them carrying fish for their nesting partners. The Sandwich Tern is one of the shorter-ranged migrants among the terns, some species of which fly the length of oceans to reach their wintering grounds. In Greece the Sandwich Tern's name translates, I was told during my stay there last year, as winter tern, as this species spends its winters in the Mediterranean region. The next hide overlooked the Ternery pool as well, although on the island in front of me, not gulls, but smart sandwich terns gathered in some numbers, the wind playing on their punky black crests. As the year wears on, Rye usually welcomes substantial numbers of three species of Tern, Little, Sandwich, and Common, although the Sandwich were the only ones to have returned during our visit. 

Mediterranean Gulls and Sandwich Terns.

The disusued lifeboat station.

After several minutes in the relentless breeze of the coast path I decided to turn inland. The chap at the visitors centre had promised there were Grey Partridge about, so I decided this was my best chance to catch up with this elusive farmland species. I crossed the old sea wall and took the path beside a curiously turquoise looking freshwater lake, in doing so catching up with some of the other members of the Havering RSPB party. A few tufted ducks and mallards floated on the open water, and a grey heron fished in the distance. I reached the shelter of some trees beyond a gate in the far corner and decided to follow the crowd inland. A singing chiffchaff posed briefly for a photo in a bush. We walked onwards into a wood. Rye is unusual in that amongst the managed nature reserve, there are a few houses and gardens. In one of them sat a pile of wood, the wreckage of disused furniture. It sat on a patch of mown grass surrounded by mature trees, and I spotted a small brown bird in the distance. I wondered if it might have been a whitethroat or some other summer visitor so I paused and waited. The bird flew out of the bushes and settled on the pile of wood. It was a Treecreeper! The Treecreeper is a small, scruffy brown bird with a delicately patterned back and a decurved beak which it uses to hunt small insects in the bark of trees, which it climbs up a little  like a woodpecker. The charming little bird at one stage flitted onto a tree just in front of us, affording us brilliant views. Unfortunately it would never stay still for long enough in front of the camera for me to get a decent photo, but it flew to and fro from the wood pile, where it must have found some source of food or other, at one stage it was joined by a second. A few of us watched it for several minutes, before electing to press on. 

Chiffchaff.

The Barns in the middle of the reserve are used by breeding swallows, associated with barn owls, and said to be close to the favourite haunts of the grey partridges. Inevitably, we saw none of these species, although someone said a couple of swallows had been over earlier in the day. It was pleasant walking through a vegetated area rather than through the bare shingle. On top of the ridge separating us from the shingle were some of Rye’s conservation grazers, magnificent, big white goats with large, curled horns.  Presumably these lovely beasts help to manage the sward. Sightings of possible partridges turned out, through investigation with binoculars, to be either Woodpigeons or Rabbits, and unfortunately they continued to elude me for the rest of the day. A couple of pheasants could be heard calling. 

Conservation Grazers

Redshanks fed in the shallows of one of the shingle pools, and a couple of mute swans swan elegantly on the water. One of the young lads with the group spotted a golden plover by the waters edge. It was some distance away, but with the binoculars one could make out the black face and breast this attractive wader wears in summer. It was a good spot, and a lovely looking bird. A further flock of golden plover, numbering fifty or so individuals, flew over our heads and in off the sea, towards the marshes further inland, the birds showing various degrees of summer plumage.  A couple of lapwings whistled and wheeled in the air. 

Flock of Golden Plovers

Although the Med gulls, golden plover and treecreepers certainly made for an interesting visit, I couldn't help but find the place all the more desolate for the grey weather and feel that I had missed out on some of the highlights the site has to offer. I amused myself photographing a couple of Herring Gulls on a roof while waiting for the coach to depart to take us home. It wasn't until the following day that I discovered my photos were unusually grainy, due to my failure to change the ISO setting on my camera. 

Herring Gulls, with beautiful lichen.