The Lincolnshire Bird Club

A bit of a power walk around Covenham today...

Whooper Swan 62 (3 groups between 12.30 and 14.00) First group of 23 (10 adults and 13 juv) landed before 18 left leaving 2 adults and 3 juvs, then a group of 19 flew southwest before a group of 20 adults landed at 1340hrs. When I left there were 25 birds on the water.

Wigeon 82
Teal 158
Mallard 304
Shoveler 1
Tufted Duck 54
Goldeneye 13
Cormorant c184 (I had 117 sat on the bank and another group on the water, the count was an estimate, but there could have been more, as they kept diving)
Little Grebe 2
Great Crested Grebe 32
Coot 210
Redshank 2
Black-headed Gull 15
Common Gull 1
Woodpigeon 5
Green Woodpecker 1
Kestrel 1
Magpie 1
Rook 30
Carrion Crow 15
Goldcrest 1
Pied/White Wagtail 11
Goldfinch 1



Some of the whoopers



Some of the cormorants....

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

I like that photo of whoopers a lot - if cropped to A5 it could surely be a definite candidate for the front cover of the next annual report.

It has the added virtue of having as a location somewhere that is unmistakably in Lincolnshire (even if it is only a glimpse of reservoir wall).

Re the first part of your post, Andrew, I find it frankly unbelievable. Covenham is always in the grip of howling winds (from every direction). This makes even "a bit of" a power walk totally impossible.

That's why the whoopers had to put down for a breather!

One other thought: is there any explanation for the fact that the wingbeats of mute swans are audible while those of whooper swans are inaudible?