Egrets bring a plus 1
Early opening this morning at 7:30am to see the Cattle Egret at roost, but the birds didn't arrive until just before 8am so they must be roosting elsewhere on site and then arriving at the South Lake for a bit of a stretch and freshen up before heading out to the fields in the village. We've a nice selection of waders on the pools and scrapes today too, including the Little Stint from the Zeiss Hide.
** Early access for Saturday 29th October - Meet in the car park at 7:30am. Non-members £5 **
Zeiss Hide
Waders included the Little Stint, Spotted Redshank, 15 Dunlin, Avocet, 30 Redshank, 6 Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit and 71 Lapwing. Teal numbered 1029 with a few Shoveler, Pintail and a single Shelduck mixed in. Two Water Rail were calling from the reedbed, one of which was seen out in the rides later.
.
South Lake Hides
Aside from the Cattle Egrets, a Little Egret was present first thing along with 112 Black-tailed Godwits, 6 Redshank, 53 Shoveler, 15 Shelduck, 60 Tufted Duck, 6 Cormorant and a Kingfisher was also seen. Two Common Gull were mixed in with the Black-headed Gulls.
.
Holden Tower
The White-fronted Geese have returned to The Dumbles with 32 birds present this morning associating with the edge of the Barnacle flock. Around 450 Golden Plover were on the pools with 43 Dunlin and over 800 Lapwing. As with yesterday, the Golden Plover were very flighty whilst the other waders remained on the deck. A single Ruff was mixed in with the Lapwing. A flock of 16 Linnet were feeding on The Dumbles, on the islands of the pool nearest the hide.
.
Kingfisher Hide
The flock of Wigeon were feeding close to the hide and a flock of around 150 Lapwing were out in the arable field. Mixed in with the Lapwing were 2 Ruff, so make sure you check through the flock carefully. A Water Rail was calling from the reedbed.
