Pink-pink!
A rather dull grey and horrid looking morning with a band of drizzle passing through mid-morning with some drier weather behind. The strong breeze kept most birds in the hedgerows but there has been a great passage of Chaffinches so far this morning 1406 birds counted between 8:45am and 10:20am. At least 1 Brambling was also seen. Most birds past the Holden Tower heading south, but a few birds landed in the copse giving their distinctive and piercing 'pink-pink' call before moving on.
Rushy Hide
Nice and ducky this morning with a good mix of the usual species, so its now just a case of numbers increasing as we head into winter. Birds included 12 Shelduck, 8 Pintail, a Wigeon, 10 Pochard, 15 Shoveler, 446+ Teal along with the usual Mallard and Tufted Duck. Two Redshank were on the lower pond and 12 Lapwing on the islands of the upper pond.
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Zeiss Hide
The flock of 500+ Wigeon were again grazing in front of the Van de Bovenkamp Hide. A total of 113 Lapwing were on the scrape along with a single Ruff. A Curlew was feeding along the shoreline near the hide and another 23 birds were feeding in the Bottom New Piece field, viewed from here or the Kingfisher Hide. Three Snipe were also along the shoreline and a Cetti's Warbler was calling from the reedbed. A Water Rail was also seen darting across the reedbed rides.
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South Lake Hides
A Great Crested Grebe has returned to the deep lake, seems like months since one has been here and its a question we get asked every week - when will it be back? A Little Grebe was also here whilst ducks included 36 Shoveler and 19 Pochard. A Water Rail was calling again from the far shoreline. On the wader scrape were 24 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Ruff, 9 Redshank, 42 Shelduck and 4 Avocet. A flock of around 250 Starling flew through early morning, presumably leaving a nearby roost site.
A Great White Egret made a brief appearance here just before 10am and then flew north, also being seen from the Holden Tower. An adult winter Mediterranean Gull also dropped in mid-morning.
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Holden Tower
Aside from the Chaffinch passage, other passerine activity was hampered by the wind. A single Chiffchaff and 2 Goldcrest made a brief appearance in the copse. At least 300 Golden Plover were out on the river's mudflats at low tide, occasionally taking wing and circling the Dumbles. Several groups of Starling were also passing and at least 8 Skylark were noted. A flock of around 450 Starling flew low across the Tack Piece mid morning. Also on the Tack Piece were 64 Wigeon and 18 Curlew.
