Field Notes - 8th December 2019 - Maldon to Northey Island - at dawn

Not all of my expeditions to the River Blackwater will be to record sound. Some will be to walk with local people or others with specific interests, such as birds or ecology. I have never been very good at learning in formal situations or by studying, but I do learn much more easily by talking to people, watching and listening, or just getting involved with something. Today I went for a walk with Susannah Robirosa who has been a keen birder for some time and whose bird spotting knowledge and skills I was hoping to learn from. Being a Sunday the traffic enable us to arrive in good time and dawn hadn’t even arrived as we set off from The Hythe in Maldon. Instantly there were plenty of birds to identify, some of which I could but there were plenty that I couldn’t. Even seeing the amount of different birds was at first difficult, but as Susannah explained the differences between them they became easier to spot. Not only markings but behaviours can be taken in to consideration, as well as understanding the difference between male and female markings and summer and winter plumage.

​After walking along the promenade for a while we turned off and followed the foot path behind the boat club and alongside the large expanse of salt marsh which at low tide was a haven for many birds on the exposed mud and low lying grasses and other plants. The path was muddy and a bit difficult to traverse but we made it as far as South House Chase spotting birds all of the way.

Northey Island has a causeway to access it but the water looked a bit too deep to cross so we stopped and had a cup of tea and a Danish pastry whilst sitting on an old piece of concrete next to the water. The sun was now up and the light streaming across the marsh was an intense yellow, highlighting grasses and bringing a slight warmth to our faces. As we sat there discussing the difference between Twitchers and Birders, and how the changing magnetic field might affect bird navigation, we noticed that the tide had turned and was starting to come back in so we were very pleased that we hadn’t crossed on to the island. 

The walk back was a bit windier and colder than earlier, but as with all return journeys they seem shorter and before we knew it we were back in the town and heading to the Barge Tearooms for a warm cuppa. We both agreed that it was a very fruitful three hours and we’ll definitely go out again at some point in the future. Here’s what we saw: Gadwall, Starling, Moorhen, Avocet, Little Grebe, Teal, Widgeon, Godwit, Dunlin, a variety of Sandpipers, Canada Goose (with a Domestic Goose that had joined the flock), Plover, Curlew, Redshank, Greenshank, Little Egret, Kingfisher, Crow, Mallard, Black Headed Gull, Barnacle Goose, Cormorant, Shelduck and possibly a Meadow Pipit.
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