Recent Sightings 29th-31st January
Hightlights: Spoonbills, wader flocks and Otters.
British Steel Hide
A series of mid-morning high tides on the estuary have produced good numbers of waders including 395 Black-tailed Godwits, 287 Knot, 16 Greenshank, 18 Dunlin, 98 Lapwing and 25 Redshank. 7 Spoonbills roosted on the saline lagoons on the 29th and 6 roosted on the 31st. Wildfowl have included 211 Wigeon, 25 Greylag, 42 Canada Geese, 16 Shoveler, 43 Tufted Ducks, 24 Teal, 15 Gadwall and 81 Shelduck. 4 Rock Pipits were on the Dafen scrapes on the 29th and 2 Great Crested Grebes and a Red-breasted Merganser were feeding in the high tide waters on estuary on the same date.
Millennium Wetlands
An Otter has been a regular fixture on the deep water lake with sightings both from the Peter Scott/Herons Wing Hide and the fishing platforms. A Kingfisher was seen on the reserve on the 30th and a pair of Ravens have been seen regularly also. Woodland birds have included Goldcrests, Treecreepers, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Siskins, Chaffinches and four species of Thrush. The Deep Water Lake has held numbers of Tufted Duck, Pochard, Shoveler, Gadwall and Teal as well as roosting Snipe and Cetti's Warblers in the bankside rushes.
