New Year Day sightings

1 January 2015

The Rushy Pen

Bewick's Swans- not many in this morning with the flock seeming nervous, the firework displays last night may well have spooked them. A flock of over a 100 were in fields NE of the centre and c50 on the Tack Piece.
Whooper Swan was not seen at dawn and must of flew out in the dark, it was relocated alone in fields just NE of the car park and was easy to spot from the Sloane Tower.
Stock Dove- 2 on the fence
Crane 2 Great Crane Project birds roosted.
Pintail, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Teal, Greylag Goose and Canada Goose.

Ferruginous Duck- the female was still in the Asian Pen associating with the collection Baer's Pochard also a pair of Ruddy Shelduck with the captive birds.

Holden Tower

Marsh Harrier 1 hunting fields north and south.
Buzzard 3
Peregrine 1
Golden Plover 300
Lapwing 300
Dunlin 140
Little Stint 2 around the scrape
Wigeon 800

White-fronted Geese-140 in the Ox Piece, this being the field N of the Tack Piece
Pink-footed Goose- adult among the above

Tack Piece

Bewick's Swans 20 (many birds drop in late afternoon)
Wigeon 500
Teal 150

South Lake

Ruff 16
Redshank 22
Dunlin 120
Lapwing 140
Black-tailed Godwit 60
Shoveler 80
Gadwall 8
Pochard 60
Tufted Duck
Great Crested Grebe 1
Cormorant 6

Shoveler feeding on the South Lake