22
can be constantly monitored.
36 Landscape View,
Saffron Walden,
Essex.
BRIAN EASTCOTT
WINTER BIRDS OF THE ESSEX COAST
In my opinion the best time to watch birds
in Essex is the winter, and the best venue
is undoubtedly the coast with its attractive
estuaries and Saltmarsh.
It is well known that our coast is the
winter feeding grounds for internationally
important numbers of wildfowl and waders.
The Blackwater estuary alone holds some
10,700 Brent Geese with a further 20,000
wintering in the less accessible Foulness
area. Our estuaries also hold important
numbers of Grey Plover, Bar-Tailed Godwit,
Shelduck and Goldeneye, so the Essex coast
is the place to come if the quarry is
impressive numbers of wildfowl and waders.
The Essex Coast also attracts a number of
rarer birds, a few of which are considered
below .
Few sights are more impressive than that of
a hen Harrier quartering the coastal grazing
on long, slow wing-beats. These birds are
wintering on our coast in increasing numbers
and should be sought along any of our sea-
walls. However, the best places to see