More high tide waders
We're currently having a short run of high tides around the 9 to 10 metre mark, pushing birds off the river and on to the reserve, particularly the Top New Piece as seen from the Zeiss Hide. Today's highlights included 2 Little Stint amongst 135 Dunlin, 17 Ruff and a juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit.
We still have a few more big tides this week, dropping for the weekend but then picking up again towards the end of the month. Check the tides and get yourself to the Zeiss Hide to see what drops in!
Zeiss Hide
A nice selection of waders for high tide including 2 Little Stint, a juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit, 17 Ruff, 68 Lapwing, 2 Green Sandpiper, 10 Snipe, 4 Ringed Plover, 135 Dunlin, 8 Redshank and a Greenshank. Sitting with the 1088 Teal were 21 Pintail and 35 Shelduck, whilst 220 Wigeon were grazing on the fields.
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South Lake Hides
The Black-tailed Godwits were well spread across the scrape, some feeding just a few metres in front of the Discovery Hide. In all the flock totalled 101 birds. Other waders included 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 25 Snipe, 18 Redshank, 257 Lapwing, a single Green Sandpiper and 4 Ruff. Ducks included 179 Teal, 84 Shoveler, 14 Gadwall, 63 Tufted Duck, 3 Pintail and a single Pochard. A Kingfisher was seen and 9 Cormorants were perched on the rails.
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Rushy Pen
A little quieter here than in recent days but still lots to see including 180 Teal, 31 Mallard, 5 Snipe, 6 Lapwing, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Pintail, 8 Shoveler and a single Kingfisher and Ruff.
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Holden Tower
High tide counts included 48 Curlew on The Dumbles along with 65 Wigeon, 84 Teal and 2 Pintail. A Wheatear was seen near the scrape as was a Yellow Wagtail. Two Greenshank and a single Redshank were the only other waders seen. Nearly all of the Greylag were feeding on The Dumbles with 520 present.
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