RXwildlife Sightings

Much of Northpoint Pit this afternoon was unfrozen and the air felt positively warm!  Among the gulls, Gadwall, Tufteds and Little Grebes were an adult Bewick’s Swan and a drake Smew, with a female also reported. On the river by the railway bridge, the wintering Common Sandpiper was feeding near 8 Dunlin and a Black-tailed Godwit (there were 3 godwits on Tuesday). Finally at dusk, frequent loud ke-wick calls drew my attention to the local Tawny Owl which was perched out in the open on a bare branch up the wooded cliff opposite North Salts.

With the freeze up well under way, many birds are stuggling to find food and water…. so i suppose I should not have been surprised to find a Moorhen taking up residence in my front garden in Rye Harbour Village. The bird bath is a favoured spot much to the dismay of our local thrushes, sparrows and starlings who all take turns in trying to get it to leave. Milder weather is on the way, I believe, and it can’t come soon enough. Although the ice is so thick in the ditches, small ponds and main pit at Castle Water that it will be sometime before its gone.