The Greenshank has landed…….finally

Greenshank

Greenshank on the bottom of Pophills

Great Crested Grebe

Ringed Plover on main pit

Kingfisher

Lesser Whitethroat

Reed Bunting

Red Kite

Red Kite

Plenty of young Pheasants

A very strange visitor (Watch out for the quick sand)

With a few days off left after Madrid I was motivated to bag a few new species for the year down at the pits. Despite favourable conditions the best I recorded was a Greenshank, my patch bogey bird. The Greenshank has taken up residence on Pophills and has been present for over a week.  We did see an additional Greenshank flying south on Sunday as I walked around with Jon. Additional waders were limited to a Ringed Plover (present one day), 5 Green Sandpipers, 10 Common Sandpipers, 25 Lapwing and three Snipe.

Two Wigeon touched down for the morning on Saturday other new wildfowl included five Shoveler and twenty Teal.

A Kingfisher was a welcome addition on the main pit that I have now seen three times in recent visits. We had had seven confirmed brood of Little Grebe including one at Pophills whilst Tufted broods are at an all time low of just two. The hedgerows seem to changed from eerily quiet to very noisy, changing every day. Lesser Whitethroats showed well on Sunday and Chiffchaffs continue to move through the site.

We recorded two Red Kites on Sunday around the plantation including one juvenile increasing hopes that they have actually settled and bred locally (neither bird was seen on Mondays visit). With the weather set fair I’m hopeful for the week ahead.