Sunshine and a Barn Owl
Hard frost overnight but the waders are sitting it out waiting for the thaw.
Zeiss Hide
Really still conditions ideal for picking up movements from Cettis and Water Rails in the reed bed but no sign yet of a Bittern. Keep looking. The Teal are crammed in a really tight flock of over 800 with a dozen Black Tailed Godwit among them and one or two Snipe along the frozen edges of the scrape. Highlight for me was a Barn Owl hunting in the bright sunlight over the rushes at the back of the field.
Kingfisher Hide
The Whitefronted Goose flock dropped into here. The adult Pinkfoot was among them. Watch out for at least 4 Roe Deer using this area and there have been a lot of Otter signs around this area recently as well. Bird feeding area is busy, highlights were a Reed Bunting and Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Holden Tower and Hides
Huge flocks of Lapwing around 3500 sitting out the frost on the Dumbles among them about 400 Dunlin and 70 Golden Plover. The Peregrine was on the edge of the Dumbles along with the 190 Barnacle Geese some Canadas and a group of Greylags which may have been the large pale continental type flock seen earlier in the week. There were 5 Cranes this morning on the Tack Piece this early morning slot is becoming a good time to see them here. Wigeon were great with over 500 on the ice free pools at the Holden and a nice flock of 46 Pintail on the Long Ground Pool. A group of 3 Siskins were in Alders along the walkway.
Rushy
All the Bewicks were staying in late this morning, 67 were still in at 09.00 also 210 Pochard and just under 100 Pintail
South Lake
Another 35 Pochard on the open water here and a very dense group of 180 Black Tailed Godwits standing in a hole in the ice waiting for things to warm up a bit.
Watch out for the Marsh Harriers that are typically hunting around the estuary shore through the middle of the day and the Little Stints are likely to show on the Holden Scrape at some point. The Golden Plover are likely to increase through the morning (2200 yesterday)
and search for a Merlin during any flushes.
