Depending on how things go in the next few weeks, this may well be the last sightings blog of 2014. Although I'm in at the start of next week there's a lot to be done before the fella in red tours on his sled but will update sightings through the various channels at our disposal as often as possible.
This last week has seen no surprises in terms of new or unexpected visitors, the exception might be the jack snipe in the office car park that Chris had to get out the car and shoo away so he could park, but it has been wonderful once again as far as wildlife spectacles go.
The sheer volume of birds has once again been a feast for the eyes and ears as thousands of waders and wildfowl feed and flight on the grasslands. Unfortunately words just can't do a sky filled with a swirling mass of birds justice so please don't expect a literary parabulum in this weeks round up. Hopefully a few photos will highlight the quantity of birds and also the quality of viewing opportunities on offer too.
Dark-bellied brent geese - Neil Smith
Wigeon - Toby Collett
Gadwall - Neil Smith
Teal - Neil Smith
Curlew - Neil Smith
Dunlin - Toby Collett
Ruff - Toby Collett
And to your Christmas sightings map.
1. Up to 8 snow bunting have been moving along the sea bank and a few more may tag along before the year's out. A lapland bunting over the 360 on the 17th means observations aren't just restricted to the bank.
2. The 'pinkies' are moving freely between the reserve and adjacent fields, scan through them for a stray bean goose.
3. There was a noticeable increase in redwing numbers among the thrush flocks this week, though fieldfare still dominate. Not many berries left around here so come and see them before they move on.
4. Two European white-fronted geese continue to keep visitors on their toes on the wet grassland. They mix in with the greylags but can go missing in the ditches so patience is needed.
5. Golden plover numbers can vary dramatically but we have a good base group of 3,000 now resident. A trip down to Tabb's Head may produce significantly more as Chris found out on Friday.
6. Both male and 'ringtail' harriers are sen daily on the reserve but these are definitely right place, right time occurrences.
7. The barn owls continue their run of evening sojourns to stick around till the crepuscular hours and your luck should be in.
8. Whooper swans are now regularly roosting with a peak count of 40 coming onto the reserve on the 17th.
9. The field next to the car park is holding a good number of ruff, curlew, black-tailed godwit, redshank and dunlin, the latter nudging 200 individuals. We had an over wintering little stint at the start of 2014, will any keen eyes pick out another this year?
That's all from me this week. Enjoy your weekend everyone, and if you can't wait 7 days to know what's going on here, keep your finger on the Lincolnshire Wash Reserves pulse by following us on Twitter and giving us a ‘like’ on Facebook. Alternatively if you like taking pictures and have a Flickr account then please join our group and share your images with everyone.
Merry Christmas to all our visitors and readers of the blog. We hope you enjoyed spending some of your 2014 with us and look forward to seeing you again next year. Will leave you with some frosty scenes from the last week.
Frampton frost - Neil Smith
The more you're out the more you see - https://twitter.com/BoyWonderBirder