Quite a good day birdwatching-wise, and a new Life Tick!
TIME - 14:00 - 16:20
WEATHER - mild but windy and drizzly.
TIDE - A good way in, as it was nearing a 6.5-depth high tide. With the 60x magnification I was able to see the birds at the water's edge very clearly.
Thanks to the Cambridgeshire person that let me see through his telescope to see what 60x magnification looked like. Very impressive and now I am going to start saving towards a secondhand scope. Does anyone know a good dealer I could get one from?
NEW LIFE TICK - At long last, my luck with this particular bird changed. a nice KINGFISHER flew by the hide while I was in it, and I actually had my bins trained on it!!! What HAD come over me?
OTHER SPECIES SEEN:
Canada Geese on wetland fields and lagoon.
Barnacle Goose still with flock of Canadas
About 100 Brent Geese on shoreline and wetland
30 Greylag Geese - wetlands and lagoon
GOLDENEYE on lagoon. 2 male, 6 female
PINTAIL swimming close to shore - 1 male (seen with 60x magnification through telescope)
Shelduck on lagoon and shoreline, perhaps about 60 or so seen.
Little Grebes on lagoon - 9
Wigeon on lagoon and lagoon fringes
Mallards near the car park
Black-headed gulls - various locations. Circa 100
5 Herring Gulls calling every so often
1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
40 Redshanks on shoreline, lagoon and salt marsh
20 Oystercatchers
2000 Lapwings in big flocks
1000 Golden Plover in big flocks
400 Grey Plover in flock
15 Black-Tailed Godwits
2 Little Egrets
3 Magpies
10 Pheasants in fields
Collared Doves seen on the way
Woodpigeons seen on the way
25 Goldfinches in small flock
9 House Sparrows
1 Tree Sparrow
30 Starlings
2 Great tits
1 Blue Tit
1 Robin
1 Wren
5 Blackbirds
No raptors or owls AGAIN! I would have thought they'd be regulars given the amount of food available today...... I'm baffled by this - would I have better luck at Frampton?
I don't know if this is particularly early, but the 2 male Goldeneyes were engaging in courtship behaviour, throwing their heads back and calling while the females were close by. All the Collins Bird guide said on this subject was 'early spring'.