Migrants start to trickle in & a surprise patch visitor

At last…….Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Egptian Goose

Pophills (Saturday)

Linnet

Fallow Deer

Reed Lagoon

Three of the Shelduck

Fallow deer on Sunday

Reed Bunting

I was full of hope that Saturday may be the day of the first genuine migrant to land at the pits however as much as I searched, including the railway line it was just the usual suspects. Sunday brought new hope with over night rain and misty conditions. The first discovery was a new car parked in Jon's spot near the plantation. After we initially thought some one may be ahead of us on count day those worries subsided when the driver of the vehicle was in the driving seat fast asleep ! Most odd……….

Jon joined me as I approached Pophills and were were both pleased to find two Little Ringed Plovers on the island. The first of two Green Sandpipers was present and plenty of wildfowl but no Garganeys ! As we reached the main pit seven Wigeon took flight trying to avoid the WeBS count and a Water Rail was feeding on the far side. A different Great Crested Grebe was present to add a bit of variety. One of only two Snipes recorded flew from the marsh behind the bund which appears to get smaller every week.

Find of the day was an Egyptian Goose that had joined up with our resident Greylags on the meadow. The light wasn't great so I took a few shots at a distance as I didn't want to flush the flock knowing a few of the regulars would be down later in the morning. 

The Reed Buntings (around 20) are now very condensed in one area due to the ongoing restoration, lets hope the reeds remain untouched for this breeding season. Five Shelduck have now returned and are fighting over each other for territories. They kept appearing all over the site as we did our walk. 

The first two singing Chiffchaff were by the reed lagoon fly catching towards the top of the hedgerow. Close to the same area there were four male Meadow Pipits displaying (there were 40 passing through on Saturday). As we headed back to the main pit we past the Squire & Mark who had called in to patch tick the goose. We had a final check of the main pit & Pophiils before retiring. Other sightings included :- 11 Little Grebe, 15 Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron, 4 Mute Swan, 167 Greylags, 3 hybrid geese, 73 Canada Geese, 24 Gadwall, 58 Teal, 75 Mallard, 5 Shoveler, 143 Tufted Duck, 10 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 7 Moorhens, 99 Coot, 2 Oystercatcher, 4 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, , 115 Carrion Crow, 90 Jackdaw and a Siskin.