Cresswell and Hauxley 27/4/09

After reading about everything that was at Cresswell such as the blue-headed wagtail, we went down to have a look. When we got there, nobody was looking in the field and we couldn't see anything on our way past so we went straight to the hide. As we parked our car, we noticed a hare in the field. On our way to the hide, we saw the pair of stonechats that live there and a robin. When we got to the hide, the mudflats were there but there was no waders. The rarest bird we saw was a male garganey in the corner of the pond. There were also a pair of herons that flew straight towards the hide before turning and flying over the field next to the hide. We left soon after to go to Hauxley. When we got there, we went straight to the feeding station. Unfortunately we couldn't get in the hide because a wren was nesting in it! So, we went to the first hide (Eric's Hide). When we got there we saw some big orange waders and brownish-white waders. We identified them as bar-tailed and black-tailed godwits. As we were watching them we noticed a duck with a long tail, and then saw that it was a pintail with it's head under it's wing. After watching these for quite a while we went to the wader hide. There wasn't much except a pair of gadwall and a redshank. On our way back we noticed the bar-headed goose in the field. We walked all the way round to the furthest hide because we saw some more godwits over there right outside the hide. And when we got there, sure enough they were there. Both types. As we were watching them, a crow flew in and stood in the water for a while. Then all of a sudden it starting pecking very hard into the ground and that was when we noticed it had a flatfish in it's beak!! A very successful day.

Redshank

Canada Goose Crow with Flatfish

Group of GodwitsBlack-Tailed Godwit