Now, Long-tailed ducks are normally to be seen off the Northern and Eastern coasts in winter. From Scotland down to Norfolk/Suffolk is their usual range and most of the time, can be seen bobbing merrily on the sea or flying low across it. rarely are they seen on what can be at best described as a small lake but at Gunners Park near Southend, this is what we have.
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| Gunners Park Lake |
Gunners Park is a pretty good birding spot. Plenty of scrubland and trees, metres from the sea brings in the right conditions great migrants in the spring and autumn. In winter the shoreline is awash with waders. Today,
Sanderling, Oystercatcher, Common Redshank, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Lapwing and a few
Bar-tailed Godwits fed along the outgoing tide. In the scrub, bag loads of
Song Thrushes, Dunnocks and
blackbirds heralded in the new day.
The air was slightly damp with an irritating mizzle. The light was very poor so any images are rather grainy I’m afraid. On the lake,
Mallards topped the numbers chart with a few
Mute Swans and
Little Grebes. A lone female
Common Scoter was a bit unusual but the star of the show was definitely a female
Long-tailed Duck. Both the Scoter and the Long-tailed Duck have been here since 20th December so they weren’t that much of a surprise. The surprising thing was they were still here when I was here.
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| Long-tailed Duck |
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