On a big spring tide at Shellness in North Kent (5.71m on October 19th), the saltmarsh gets one of its few inundations and the curlews that roost at the top end of the saltmarsh eventually get moved on by the slowly rising waters. Grey plovers seek refuge on the groynes and the oystercatchers simply move…
Tag: Sandwich tern
Sandwich Terns at Shellness
A big spring tide on a warm afternoon is a good time to watch the waders, gulls and terns gather on the shore. There is a regular post-breeding congregation of Sandwich terns and their raucous calls fill the blustery air. The terns fly up and down the shoreline and out into the bay sometimes returning…
Plovers and catchers
Shellness is a remote and remarkable spit of cockle shells at the east end of the Isle of Sheppey. It is the tip of a vast expanse of saltmarshes and dark brown mud that form a large part of the Swale National Nature Reserve. The shell spit is continually moulded by the tide and currently…
Spoonbills and sandwiches
August 30th At Shellness, the flocks of waders and waterfowl are enjoying the easy pace of the balmy summer. Swallows move along the beach in small flocks; a wheatear forages on the shingle. There is a late summer silence at high tide mainly because the Brent geese have not arrived. Sandwich terns are roosting…
Rye Harbour heatwave
19th April The hot sun warms the sea air to a haze. The gulls, terns and avocets are a whirl of brilliant white under the clear blue sky and there is endless noise; it creates a confusing, bustling scene; birds are chasing and are chivied, others are building nests or displaying and mating in a frenzied flap….