The Heybridge Northern Waterthrush

Most birders with their finger anywhere remotely near the pulse of the birding news network will be aware of the Northern Waterthrush currently in residence in Heybridge in Essex. This is in all probability yet another American bird blown over in the Great Storm of '23 that dumped so many Nearctic passerines on our shores. This one wasn't discovered until the 3rd January when an incredulous local birder spotted it in his garden. Fortunately it was subsequently found to be frequenting a nearby creek and so began a mass twitching frenzy to try to see it. It is only the 8th record for the UK and only the third ever mainland bird so this was definitely a Mega! Despite it's name, it is of course actually a Nearctic Warbler, breeding in Canada and northern America and wintering in northern South America. It frequents thickets near to water and looks a bit thrush-like - hence the name.

At only two hours drive from my house, it was very much on my radar, but as well as distance, I have a "probability of seeing it" filter as well. By all accounts this bird wasn't that easy to see. It would go missing for long periods of time and quite a few people managed to dip it. So I decided to wait to see if it would develop some kind of pattern for being seen. By the end of the first weekend, people had realised that standing right next to the creek was the main issue with the bird being so elusive and by standing back it would show quite readily. It was also most reliable at first light, often feeding away for up to an hour at a time before disappearing for a while. It would usually (but not always) then put in a mid to late morning showing and after that it was very unreliable until it came into roost again at dusk. 

Having established all this, I decided that being there at first light was the best tactic but the prospect of battling my way around the M25 before dawn on what would in all probability be far too little sleep was not that appealing. So instead I decided to travel up on Monday night and to stay at an Air BnB some 15 minutes away at Danbury. En route there were a couple of minor issues: my offside dipped headlight bulb failed and there were repeated ominous "Road Ahead Closed" signs as I approached my destination. Fortunately the latter turned out to be 100 yards just beyond my cottage turn off though it did make me sweat a little. The BnB was warm and comfortable and I was soon settled in for the night.

The next day I was up and back on the road just before 7 am. There was a surprisingly large amount of traffic on the roads but I made the short hop to Heybridge easily enough. A bit of pre trip research had unearthed an industrial estate along Bates Rd as a good parking location with the twitch site being a mere 5 minute walk from the end of this road. The temperature was going to be around freezing first thing so I was well wrapped up as I hurried in the darkness along the path, onto the road so familiar from Streetview planning, before finally turning the corner to see about thirty or so hushed twitchers in the pre dawn darkness, waiting for the light and hopefully the bird as well. I met JT from Oxon in the twitcher line and we chatted quietly as we waited for the show to start.

Waiting in the darkness...

It was only about 7:20 when someone in the line with a thermal imager said that he could see it and a few people around me managed to see some movement in the same general area. By around 7:30 it was just light enough so that peering into the dark one could make out the silhouette of what was clearly the bird. It was feeding away at close quarters around the sluice gate. Gradually as the light improved so did the views and the bird seemed quite happy to continue feeding despite all the birders up on the ridge above looking down on it.

Because of the poor light I resorted to some hand-held video to start with

After that it became a question of trying to get a decent photo of it. The fact that the light was so poor still and the bird was constantly on the move meant that it was nearly impossible to get a decent photo with my relatively low tech camera and shot after shot came out blurred. In the end most of my shots are of "record shot" quality and don't really represent the quality of the views that we were getting. It was often showing down to about 5 yards and one couldn't have asked for better views. It's brown upper parts and streaked underparts and the way that it hunted along the water shoreline very much reminded me of a Rock Pipit though its smart elongated supercilium and more well-defined elongated breast streaking were both very different from the smudgy vagueness of that other species.

A couple of blurry photos of the bird. There was no issue with how close the bird was, just the poor light and the fact that it was constantly on the move

Me in the blue woolly hat peering at the Waterthrush, courtesy of JT

The famous (and much photographed) creek. The bird would feed all along the shoreline
including  right up against the concrete edge.

A proper photo of the Northern Waterthrush taken later in the day, courtesy of Ewan Urquhart

Fellow Oxon Birder PL turned up, fortunately in time for the first showing and immediately connected with the bird. As per the schedule, it was basically on show for about an hour, nearly always at a close distance though it did occasinally move further up the creek. Then suddenlly, it flew off into a nearby tree, worked its way from bush to bush before feeding briefly in the creek on the other side of the ridge on which we were standing. Then it decided that the morning show was over and it flew off. I contemplated hanging around in the cold for what could be a couple of hours in order to get a better photo and decided against it. PL stayed a bit longer than me but I wandered back to the car, stopping to admire the scenery now that it was light enough to see it.

Looking towards Maldon and the River Blackwater

After some hot tea and a snack back in the car I pondered what to do. In the end I decided to try for a Red-breasted Goose at Bradwell-on-Sea, a salt marsh some 40 minutes away. I drove down increasingly windy and narrow country roads until, some 2 miles from the destination I came across a gate across the road where it became private with walking access only. I got out of the car to find that the forecast increase in wind had indeed happened - it was bloody freezing! The prospect of slogging 2 miles there and back and trying to pick out a distant Red-breasted Goose in a flock of Brents in what was an extremely cold and strong wind was just not that appealing. So I got back in the car and retraced my steps and instead pointed the Sat Nav for home. I arrived back at Casa Gnome in time for lunch with my first lifer of the year safely under my belt.