The recent cold snap saw most of the reserve iced up displacing a lot of the wildfowl; as a result sightings over the past fortnight have been limited although some good numbers occurred of some species on odd days. One of the highlights being 55 goldeneye turning up to roost on the coal tips along with the goosanders, a whole lot of displaying going on which was quite a sight.
Teal - Pete M
Flashes
The most notable sighting was a barnacle goose amongst the greylags near New Flash on the 9th February. Regular sightings have been up to twelve curlews, twelve shelducks, three pintail, and six goldeneye. The great white egret reappeared on the 28th January and has been an intermittent visitor since proving to be elusive at times. The 8th February produced 207 greylag geese, two snipe on spoonbill flash, little egret on the moat along with 18 stock doves, overflight of two ravens and a chiffchaff along the Lin Dike path. The whooper swan is till around and can be found on any of the flashes on any given day. Raptors reported have been buzzard, kestrel, red kite and a pair of peregrines. The pair of red-crested pochards were reported on Parkers Pond on the 27th & 28th January but no reports since, although a male was reported on Main Bay later.
Shoveler - Pete M
Main Bay and Village Bay
Little to report from Charlies Hide as this was almost completely frozen over apart from a small area near to the hide which on 27th January yielded single little egret, pintail, goosander, with a kingfisher seen on the cut. Meanwhile on Main Bay a pair of goldeneye were seen mating on the28th January. Other Main Bay sightings were of up to 15 pintail, 16 shelduck, c250 shoveler and little egret. A male red-crested pochard was reported on 1st February and a raven noted from Bob Dickens hide on the 4th February. A treecreeper was seen from Bob Dickens hide on 5th February and a flock of 50+ lesser redpoll were seen on the riverbank trail.
Pintails - Keith Boyer
Coal Tips
Flocks of up to 50 linnets and 40 lesser redpoll were noted flying around the tips, with a mealy redpoll among the lesser redpolls on the 2nd February. 50 pochard sought refuge on the tips, as well as two snipe and five common gulls on 2nd February, also seen on the same day were five fieldfare, meadow pipit, skylark and a pair of peregrines displaying. Regular sightings of raptors included red kite, buzzard, kestrel, sparrowhawk, and a marsh harrier noted on 1st February.
Common gull - Keith Boyer
Fieldfare - Pete M
Discovery Trail and visitor centre
Plenty of activity around the discovery trail during the cold weather with plenty of our commoner birds out looking for food plus visitors to the feeders of nuthatch, reed bunting, willow tit, coal tit, bullfinch and the predatory sparrowhawk. Small numbers of redwing are still to be found and flocks of goldfinch and lesser redpolls flitting amongst the treetops, and a song thrush has also been seen on a couple of occasions. A snipe was seen from Pick Up hide on the 1st with a roe deer also seen from the same location. 40 gadwall were recorded from Pick Up hide on the 9th February. A kingfisher has been seen from the screen, although the sightings have been further downstream so binoculars are recommended for a decent view. Other notable sightings were of a merlin in the stubble field opposite the visitor centre on the 5th February, a bittern and little egret noted from the duck feeding platform on the 8th February, and a barn owl seen at dusk on 9th February in the area of the visitor centre.
Cattle seeking refuge from the icy winds on the coal tips - Pete M
Gull roost
Up to 8000 herring gulls have been In the Main bay roost, the number dropping to 2000 by the 6th February. Up to 3500 black-headed gulls also noted with visits from lesser black-backed gulls on the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 8th February.
A juvenile Iceland gull was a visitor to the roost on the 8th and 9th February.
The goosander roost yielded 127 birds on the 28th January and 132 on the 2nd February on the coal tips. A surprising number of 55 goldeneye roosted with the goosanders on the 2nd February also.
Overflights of pink-footed gooses were noted on the 30th January with 45 heading west, and skeins of 200 and 180 heading west on the evening of 2nd February.