There are still a lot of Redpoll around this weekend and I haven't seen any Redwing or Fieldfare around for a few days when I think about it, so maybe they have left now. They were a week ago turning up in local villages so maybe their food supply is diminishing.
A huge amount of Waterfowl are still out on the marsh viewable from Sweeney Viewpoint including Mute Swans, Coot, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, Wigeon, Teal, Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Gadwall, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Mallards, several hundred Lapwings. As always, if you keep a sharp eye out across the distant horizon, Marsh Harrier can be seen quartering the reedbeds for a tasty morsel.
As of yesterday there were a pair of Cattle Egrets and a pair of Great White Egrets, it would be great if they stayed and bred this year.
The North Kent Marshes are a very special area and worth preserving at all cost.