Recent Sightings, 10-17 Jan

Cold snaps bring big numbers of pretty much everything to the reserve, as it sucks in wildlife from the surrounding countryside. The biggest number of the week was the 40,000 odd Pink-footed Geese that turned up on Tuesday. After our count of 31,680 at the weekend it was a pleasant surprise to find even more by the middle of the week. Numbers seemed to have fallen from this peak, holding at around 25,000-30,000 this morning.

It was lovely to see our wild bird cover being put to such good use this week, with peak counts of 500 Linnet, 120 Yellowhammer, 100 Tree Sparrow, 80 Reed Bunting, 44 Meadow Pipit,17 Corn Bunting (though 60+ were recorded in the log book on Friday) and a dozen or so Skylark. There were also 10+ Bramblings on the reserve. We clocked up our first records of the year for Redwing and Fieldfare, and had high numbers or Greenfinch and Goldfinch.

Ducks are back with a vengeance after a brief dip, with about a thousand Wigeon hanging about and a few hundred Teal. Other slightly more interesting ducks to make an appearance in reasonable numbers include Pochard, Pintail and Shoveler, with Goldeneye and Tufted Duck holding steady at about 100 and 70 respectively. Long-tailed Duck continue their attempts at world domination, with three on the silt trap, two on the loch and a single bird hanging about on the lagoon. For me the best wildfowl record goes to the two Slavonian Grebes that popped up on the loch on Tuesday. They were the icing on the cake for a good day of birding, which also saw (or rather heard) Bearded Tit and a Red-throated Diver that somehow contrived to be seen from the kitchen window!

Goldcrest, Water Rail and Song Thrush have all made an appearance after I castigated them in the last recent sightings blog. So the year list now stands at 93, with a few ‘easy’ species (looking at you, Sparrowhawk and Treecreeper) yet to make an appearance. We’re looking very good for hitting a hundred by February.