randombirder

A dull and dreary day with the status quo well and truly set now for the winter.  Hopefully there will be a few oddities over the season but today was a case of as you were sir. Totals from an hour this morning; 7  Shoveler 41  Gadwall 52 Wigeon 10 Teal 1f  Pochard 4 Great Crested Grebe 200+ Golden Plover 3 Common Snipe 3 Common Gull 6 Lesser Black-backed Gull 12 Cormorant 2 Goldcrest 2 Mistle Thrush 8 Fieldfare

When the alarm rang at 5am, I was in no mind to head out on a cold drizzly morning.  I stayed in bed and deliberated for an hour.  The thought of enduring a tedious drive down to the south coast was not very appealing.  Time was not on my side as kick-off was at 3pm and I had to be back well before then.  Should I stay or should I go. At 6am I bolted, got myself ready and was out of the door.  It was a great decision.  Arriving at Pennington Marshes, the leaden grey clouds filled the sky, but it had stopped raining.  The landscape with good visibility was a sight and sound to behold.  The flooded fields and lagoons held good numbers of wildfowl and waders. The coast path meanders towards the estuary and there was plenty to see en route to Oxey Marshes.  On the flooded fields, large groups of Lapwing were being shared with good numbers of Golden Plover , Common Redshank , Black-tailed Godwit and Teal .  A single Ruff was feeding on the pools and two Spotted Redshan

A respite today from the persistent run of showers and prolonged spells of rain that have blighted parts of the country.  It was a bit grey but perfectly still. Notable sightings from today from around Broom Gravel Pits; Gypsy Lane East (GLE) Gypsy Lane West (GLW)  48 Gadwall (GLE) 44 Wigeon (GLE) 26 Teal (GLE) 7 Pochard (on GLW) 23 Tufted Duck (22 on Main Lake) 8 Great Crested Grebe (1 on GLE, 3 GLW, 4 Main Lake) 125 Lapwing (55 on GLE) 5 Common Snipe (GLE) 1 Red Kite (by Main Lake) 2 Common Buzzard 1 Peregrine 1 Kingfisher c60 Skylark 25 Fieldfare 1 Grey Wagtail 1 Lesser Redpoll (over GLE) 1 Siskin (over GLW) 4 Yellowhammer

A gentle amble across to the beautiful Suffolk coast on a lovely crisp clear morning. Having parked in the Walberswick car park, I headed south along the beach.  It was glorious.  With the sea to the left and the marsh on the right, there was plenty to see on the lagoons illuminated by the low late autumn sun.  Four Spotted Redshank were present on the lagoons with around 20 Ringed Plover , 15 Dunlin and plenty of Redshank . A Great Egret rose up from the reedbed and languidly flew towards one of the pools.  One of my favourite winter birds, the Snow Bunting .  A group of eight were busily feeding on the shingle. The 20 minute walk down to Corporation Marshes was a real cardio workout.  The Eastern Yellow Wagtail showed well shortly after, scurrying around a small pool and then popping out along the edge of the shingle.  The call was diasgnostic - much harsher than Yellow Wagtail of which one was present but wasn't as vocal.  The two birds together

A first and well overdue visit to Titchwell RSPB of the year, one of the organisations finest flagship reserves. The day started cold and clear, and with light winds, it made for a pleasant walk round the reserve. It was generally quiet with the frenzy of autumn migration now appearing to have reached a natural decline.  On the freshmarsh, the lazy autumn light did nothing to enthuse the waders that roosted peacefully but for the occasional frenzied aerial movement evading in most cases, nothing in particular.  A Merlin  was seen cruising through so perhaps the simultaneous burst of activity was not entirely without reason. Groups of Avocet , Common Redshank , Golden Plover , and Dunlin were standard fare with Black-tailed Godwit , a handful of Knot , decent numbers of Ruff , Curlew and a few Grey Plover providing the wader assortment. Along the shoreline, the tide began to rush in.  Active groups of Bar-tailed Godwit , Oystercatcher , Sanderling , and Turnstone adde

Some decent variety today but wildfowl numbers seem to have settled now albeit with minor fluctuations.  The following minimum counts were; 44 Gadwall 41 Wigeon 26 Teal 1 Shoveler 2 Common Pochard 2 Tufted Duck 1 Great Crested Grebe An approximate count of 270 Lapwing were circling the area and 37 high flying Golden Plover were noted headed west. Three Common Snipe roosted on the large island and there was a decent congregation of larids that included 23 Common Gull , 22 Lesser black backed Gull , and four Herring Gull . A female Sparrowhawk flew through as did four Redwing . Around 40 Skylark were present again and a pair of Stonechat were active near the pond.

A bit of a change today, deciding to head over to my closest RSPB reserve at Fowlmere. It was generally very quiet but the Barn Owl showed really well as it sat in its nesting box viewed from the Reedbed hide. A female Bullfinch and a Treecreeper were seen on the walk round. In the afternoon, I headed over to Broom where over 300 Lapwing passed overhead, none of which stopped to settle on the pits. I carried out minimum counts of the wildfowl with the following results: 51 Wigeon 48 Gadwall 37 Teal 5 Shoveler 4 Common Pochard 3 Little Grebe Also of note were five Skylark , two Yellowhammer , a single Common Snipe , and 15 Common Gull .