Recent sightings from 26 November to 2 December 2018
Apart from the biggest Starling murmurations this autumn so far with an estimated 30.000 birds, this week brought loads of waders to the mudflats and saltmarshes. It was a fascinating sight to see, well over 500 Lapwings which sometimes filled the air with their distinctive flight pattern. There were probably even larger numbers of Dunlin gathering on the mudflats, often seen flying in big flocks low over the ground. Black-tailed godwits were regulars towards the end of the week and on Sunday there was a big flock of around 200 flying over the reedbeds towards the sea shore. In addition to these large flocks of Lapwings, Dunlins and Black-tailed godwits, there was also a big number of Curlew and a smaller number of Redshanks, Oystercatchers and on Saturday a Knot was also seen. So, while the weather wasn’t always kind to us this week, the number of wading birds on the coastline certainly more than made up for it and there was also a huge number of Shelduck. Other highlights of the week were the Bittern which showed itself twice on Saturday and a Lesser redpoll which was spotted on Tuesday. The female Scaup was still regularly seen on the lagoons amongst Tufted ducks, Wigeons and Shovelers.
Bittern, Blackbird, Black-headed gull, Black-tailed godwit, Blue tit, Bullfinch, Carrion crow, Cetti's warbler, Chaffinch, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great spotted woodpecker, Great tit, Green woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey heron, Herring gull, House sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Knot, Lapwing, Lesser black-backed gull, Lesser redpoll, Little egret, Little grebe, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh harrier, Moorhen, Mute swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied wagtail, Redshank, Redwing, Reed bunting, Robin, Scaup, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Treecreeper, Tufted duck, Water rail, Wigeon, Wood pigeon and Wren.
Please note that we take our recent sightings list from the visitor sightings board that anyone can contribute to. This is great as everyone can get involved, but obviously can lead to potential errors too as they aren’t always verified! We try to keep this list as accurate as possible but if you see something unusual feel free to comment here!
Photo credit: Flock of Dunlins (with Shelducks and Curlews in the front) by Jeremy White