I know, I know! Moan about the cold and then rejoice when drizzle replaces sunshine! However, the murky conditions suggested that we might get some migrants today and we were not to be disappointed and Pam and Yvonne who accompanied Jerry and myself on the first Blindfold Birding had a great day out.
The complete list is quite impressive for the day but the highlights were the male Yellow Wagtail feeding with some Starlings and a Chiffchaff (yes, the CC was in the middle of the field too...!), five silent but dapper Willow Warblers along the river wall with a total of 12 Chiffchaffs on the circuit. A hanful of elegant Swallows and zipping Sand Martins throughout the day and a fantastic haul of 16 wader species, only one of which (the Oystercatchers) did not come onto the pools.
This left us with 33 Curlew, Whimbrel, the limosa Black-tailed Godwit, Avocet, 5 Ruff , Knot, 2 Grey Plover, 64 Golden Plover, 20pr Lapwing, 67 Redshank, Spotted Redshank, 55 Dunlin, 4 Ringed Plover, 30 Snipe and a Jack Snipe was seen by Mike Butler to top things off! AND all of this bar the latter was visible from inside the centre!
Only disappointing thing was getting no wader photos. Just too far off most of the time... never mind.
However I did get a shot of one of the eight Lesser Redpolls that were seen today.
They seem to have taken a liking to feeding amongst the willow catkins.
And to top it all off I heard a singing male Firecrest on my way out this evening to go with the Goldcrest that we had earlier in the woodland!
Wonder what tomorrow will hold?
11-4-13