The Lincolnshire Bird Club

1 Water Pipit - very restless flying from one end of site to another, but distinctive call.

Also 2 Grey Wagtails, 1 fem Stonechat, 1 Water Rail (heard only), 15 Curlew, 1 Little Grebe, Mute Swans, 1 male Shoveler, 4 Gadwall, 4 Teal, 30 Mallard.

Mixed flock feeding in field of stubble turnips included 200 Linnets, 30 Goldfinches with a few Greenfinches and Chaffinches. Also in field a few Mipits and at least 20 Pied Wagtails.

Went on to climb up to the wood by the Bell Tower at Belton Park but it was totally birdless and very cold in the wind up there.

Ian

Another flying visit to Marston this am (9.50-10.30), only checked the scrape and reedbed as someone was shooting just over the way and I didn't want to boot the ducks into the line of fire (I guess the season is over though?). Cetti's is still managing to survive in the SE corner of the reedbed, a bit easier to see today in the snow, 2 Green Sandpipers and 180 Greylags were also notable; other than that just the usual gubbins.

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Dr Alexander C. Lees
Lecturer in tropical ecology
Manchester Metropolitan University

Lab Associate
Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
Cornell University

http://www.freewebs.com/alexlees/index.htm
@Alexander_Lees

6th Feb
Heard the Cetti Warbler today, and had the briefiest of views

Also, the following gubbins...

c30 Fieldfare
6 Meadow Pipit
c130 Greylags
c60 Canada Geese
10 Jacdaws
2 Great Tit
1 Song Thrush
3 Chaffimch
4 Reed Buntings
c30 Linnets
16 Wren
2 Redwings
8 Coot
3 Mute Swans
8 Gadwall
9 Moorhen
c100 Black-headed Gull
14 Mallards
c70 Lapwing
c40 Woodpigeon
9 Water Rail
17 Curlew
5 Pheasant
3 Starling
1 Robin
35 Pied wagtail
1 Grey Wagtail
4 Snipe
1 Green Sandpiper
2 Blue tits
c20 Skylarks
1 Sparrowhawk
2 Wigeon
14 Greenfinch

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Andrew Chick
Website: http://www.forktail.co.uk/

Hi Andrew,

Where exactly are you ssing all the water rails? I only heard one and couldn't see it;down the main path by the second corrugated iron fence. A good tally and not all gubbins by any means!

Regards,

Ian

At the SE corner of the reed bed (home of the Cetti) there is a wet channel where the corrugated fence ends. I stood at this point today (for about 1 hour!) and had 3 water rails together at the far end, and 2 very close to me. A little further up the track is an isolated clump of reeds, with another wet channel and there were 3 water rails in this clump. As I was walking away I had another bird calling at the SW corner of the reed bed.

A lot of the reed bed is frozen at the moment, BUT the SE corner is still flowing and I guess this is why there was a concentration at this point? I estimate that there is at least 30 water rails in the whole reed bed complex at the moment. Best heard first thing in the morning?

Andrew

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Andrew Chick
Website: http://www.forktail.co.uk/