Paul and I completed the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) this morning. It’s not easy stood on a bund in the driving rain trying to count wildfowl in the distance! But we managed it and results are as follows….
221 teal
203 tufted duck
122 mallard
76 gadwall
26 pochard
24 wigeon
19 shoveler
2 goldeneye
19 mute swan
1 whooper swan
7 greylag goose
118 coot
5 moorhen
1 water rail – I got a brilliant view of this bird feeding around the edge of a reed turf on Phase 2, it then even flew a few yards to the next turf! Not something you see every day.
5 great crested grebe
5 little grebe
11 lapwing
7 snipe
2 dunlin
1 green sandpiper
5 grey heron
2 little egret
6 cormorant
1 kingfisher
85 black-headed gull
2 lesser black-backed gull
Also on site this morning - a grey wagtail on Phase 3, a flock of around 40 goldfinch feeding on seed heads on Phase 3 and smaller numbers of linnets on the bund between Phases 2 and 3.