I’ve not put up the records from our regular WeBS counts for a little while, but we did a count yesterday morning (28th Feb) and the grand totals were...
Greenaways: Mute Swan 7, European white-fronted goose 1, greylag goose 54, Canada goose 9, wigeon 70, teal 2, mallard 6, cormorant 1, grey heron 3, lapwing 70, curlew 4.
Reedbed: Mute swan 2, Canada goose 4, wigeon 2, gadwall 1, teal 25, mallard 15, shoveler 26, pochard 21, tufted duck 46, great crested grebe 1, cormorant 1, coot 3
Big Otmoor: Greylag 1, Canada goose 35, wigeon 55, mallard 4, grey heron 2, golden plover 280, lapwing 82, snipe 7
Ashgrave: Wigeon 233, teal 10, mallard 6, little egret 3, coot 5
... so there are lots of good birds around at the moment. Redpolls were on the niger seed feeder and a hen harrier was reported flying over the reserve and onto the MOD land. The bittern is most probably still lurking in the reedbed after being reported over the weekend and dunlin and ruff are likely to around on the reserve (having been recorded recently) even though they weren’t seen during the WeBS count. It’s good to see curlew back on the moor and the lapwing are spreading out on the fields now, claiming territory and displaying. Bird song can now be heard all over the moor with song thrush and reed bunting joining in with the chaffinches, blue tits and great tits.