October WeBS count highlights
Duck Decoy
Great White Egret fishing, 5 Tufted Duck, 3 Gadwall, 6 Mallard.
Big Pen
92 Mute Swan, Black Swan, 44 Coot, 325 Mallard, 107 Tufted Duck, 6 Pintail.
Estuary Tower high tide
Spoonbill, Great W Egret, 13 Little Egret, 284 Curlew, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Knot, 8 Grey Plover, 20 Golden Plover, 31 Dunlin, 5 Grey Heron, Peregrine, Marsh Harrier flew upriver, 105 Shelduck, Pintail, 101 Wigeon, Siskins and 2 Raven over. Ross's Goose with the Barnacle Geese.
South Lake
Adult winter Mediterrranean, 41 Herring, and 310 Black-headed Gulls, 6 Pochard, 40 Shoveler, 72 Teal, 96 Lapwing, 56 Greylag, 1 Ruff, 43 Black-tailed Godwit, 26 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 4 Shelduck, 4 Cormorant, 2 Cattle Egret flew N over car park.
Bottom New Piece from Kingfisher Hide
Three Russian White-fronted Geese (two adults, one juvenile).
Top New Piece from Zeiss Hide over high tide
Five Spotted Redshank,11 Greenshank, a few Little Stint and at least 286 Dunlin roosting on the flood.
Five Ruff, 12 Snipe, 112 Lapwing, Little Grebe, 1038 Teal, 48 Shoveler, 12 Mallard, 24 Wigeon, 2 drake Pochard (unusually on the flood), 4 Gadwall. A Marsh Harrier was about during the morning.
Rushy
Three Spotted Redshank early morning but they flew off, 7 Redshank, single Avocet, 166 Teal, 51 Greylag, 4 Wigeon, 1 Shelduck, 4 Lapwing, 40 Mallard, 7 Coot and 7 Moorhen.
Greenshank and Black-tailed Godwit roosting over high tide..
Additional sightings through the day included
a Rock Pipit at Middle Point, a Jay in the Decoy Wood, a few Siskins over the grounds with a mobile Grey Wagtail about the Big Pen, a Mistle Thrush over toward the Decoy Wood earlier today and a few Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs about the site, two Red Kite circled over the Big Pen/South Lake this afternoon.
