Hi,
Mild conditions persisted throughout this period. With regards to wading birds this meant that their mud-dwelling invertebrate prey remained accessible resulting in some good counts on the wet grassland including, 200+ Golden Plover (3rd), 2000+ Lapwing (19th), 6x Redshank and 4x Black-Tailed Godwit (21st).
Twelve species of duck were spread around the reserve’s many pools including, 5x Shelduck (3rd), 16x Pintail (20th), 2x Long-tailed Duck (still present 11th), 8x Goldeneye (14th) and 5x Red-Breasted Merganser. A skein of 57x Pink-Footed Geese flew low over the reserve (10th), 4x Whooper Swan paid a brief visit to the Saltholme Pools (8th) and 60+ Barnacle Geese were daily visitors throughout.
Redwing, Fieldfare and Blackbirds could be observed at close quarters in the hedgerow parallel to the Wildlife Watchpoint Hide and with a plentiful supply of hawthorn berries still present at the time of writing should remain here for at least another fortnight.
Keep a lookout for Redwing in the hedgerow next to the Wildlife Watchpoint Hide (Photograph taken by Ray Scott).
Other interesting bird sightings from this period included, 1x Bittern (10th and 11th), 2x Peregrine Falcon, 1x Kingfisher (Main Lake, 11th), 1x Iceland Gull (4th, Back Saltholme), 4x Grey Partridge (9th) Great-Spotted Woodpecker (daily), 2x Stonechat (throughout) and 12x Tree Sparrow (23rd).
This Bittern had apparently been hiding right next to the Visitor Centre until it decided to make its way over to the Haverton Viewpoint (Photograph taken by Ian F).
On the mammal front two Roe Deer at Haverton was an excellent record. Meanwhile foxes were observed on a regular basis.
Finally, looking forward to the week ahead the weather forecast currently predicts that temperatures will be a little colder than what we have become accustomed to so far this winter. In terms of the reserve’s wildlife this should cause a rise in bird foraging activity at the feeding stations where Lesser Redpoll and Water Rail could feature.
Often overlooked the Stock Dove can be seen frequently from the Wildlife Watchpoint Hide and Visitor Centre feeding station (Photograph taken by Ken Tait).
Cheers,
Adam