TIME: 14:35 - 16:30.
WEATHER: Cold, sunny, cloudless. Frost in places.
** Runs in feeling excited and breathless **
Well, what a plethora of birds I've seen today! Must be the record for most species seen in an afternoon for me!!!
Thanks to Simon Rummery for a slight hand in ID-ing one of my lifers, and also to the trio of people that let me look through their scopes.
My three lifers were as follows:
BLACK BRANT - Seen with skein of Brents on the ground.
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER - 2 male, 3 female on shoreline
PINK-FOOTED GOOSE - 1 seen with Canada Geese on lagoon. Thanks, Simon!
HALF - LIFER - Thought I saw a male Smew dive for something but I'm not confident enough to say it was one for certain.
** Takes a deep breath **
OTHER SPECIES SEEN:
Little Grebe - 9 on lagoon.
Great Crested Grebe - 10 out at sea, 4 displaying
Cormorant - 1 over
Little Egret - 1 over inner salt marsh
Greylag Goose - 4 on Lagoon islands
Canada goose - plenty everywhere
Brent Goose - 3 flocks of up to about 3000 total
Shelduck - 20 or so
Mallard - usuals near car park
Pintail - 3 on shoreline
Wigeon - 100 around lagoon
Teal - 2 in salt marsh dykes
Tufted Duck - group of 10 on lagoon
PEREGRINE - 1 M on that metal H-shaped frame on shoreline
Pheasant - many in fields but none in my garden
Coot - dotted around drains and the reserve
Oystercatcher - 1000 along shoreline, maybe more
Avocet - 2 wintering on shoreline
Golden Plover - 300 on shoreline
Lapwing - 2000 on lagoon, shoreline and overhead
Dunlin - 3 on lagoon
Little Stint - 1 on lagoon
Redshank - present all over the reserve
Curlew - 3 calling, 1 seen
Black-headed Gull - plenty
Herring Gull - 4
Woodpigeons & Collared Doves - everywhere
Pied Wagtail - 2
Wren - 1
Dunnock - 2
Mistle Thrush - 1
Blackbird - plenty
Blue Tit - 4
Great Tit - 1
Jackdaw - 1
Carrion Crow - plenty
Rook - 3
Starling - plenty
House Sparrow - 5
Tree Sparrow - 7
Goldfinch - 1
Reed Bunting - 2
** Passes out with exhaustion **
Great to see the preening Peregrine! Marsh Harrier and Merlin reported today, but not by me......
Off to have my tea now!
- missed the Magpie!