With water levels dropping rapidly in the last week or so, the monthly WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) seemed more normal this month, with reed, footpaths and bunds beginning to show again (the birds have somewhere to hide behind now!) and the large expanse of open water disappearing.
It is also that time of year when numbers of some species start to drop as birds begin their movements away from winter quarters. Numbers of teal and wigeon have started to fall and it won’t be long before we see the same with tufted duck, mallard, pochard, gadwall and pintail.
Here are this morning’s results….
221 tufted duck
122 teal
89 mallard
79 pochard
55 wigeon
33 gadwall
10 goldeneye
8 pintail
1 shelduck
4 mute swan
3 greylag goose
7 cormorant
57 coot
3 moorhen
1 water rail
3 little grebe
800 lapwing
35 snipe
350 black headed gull
5 great black backed gull
Also on site this morning was a calling great spotted woodpecker around the viewing screen, a peregrine over Phase 2 and I was treated to a brilliant close view of a green woodpecker by silt lagoon 3 - a beautiful bird.
And finally, take a look at this footprint from Phase 2. This is a roe deer print , but is interesting as the animal has sunk slightly in the soft substrate, the dew claws are visible in the print - a feature that is only visible when the ground is very soft or the animal is jumping.