Sightings and news to week ending 16 February 2025
15 February
Zeiss Hide
Out on the scrape there was 1 male Pochard, 8 Tufted Duck, 201 Teal, 2 Oystercatcher, 76 Shelduck, at least 183 Wigeon, 1 lone Lapwing, a Reed Bunting singing and 3 Roe Deer.
Estuary Tower
From the Estuary Tower there were 16 Teal, 31 Shoveler, 15 Pintail, 450+ Wigeon, 12 Great Black-backed Gulls, 87 Dunlin, 2 Song Thrush and singles of Water Rail, Little Stint, Pied Wagtail and Redwing. Later in the day 1 Ringed Plover was spotted too.
Discovery Hide
On South Lake there was 1 Spoonbill, 1930 Lapwing, 172 Dunlin, 13 Avocet, 22 Golden Plover, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Oystercatchers, 64 Tufted Duck, 128 Teal, 107 Shoveler, 18 Shelduck, 14 Gadwall, 78 Pochard, 1 male Goldeneye and 8 Cormorant.
Robbie Garnett Hide
This morning there was 1 Little Stint alongside 280 Lapwing, 47 Curlew, 550 Dunlin, 3 Redshank, 19 Ruff, 11 Shoveler, 22 Pintail, 378 Wigeon, 20 Teal, 5 Tufted Duck and 4 Shelduck.
Kingfisher Hide
On the feeders there were a pair of Greenfinches along with the Chaffinches, Blue, Great tits and once again a Great Spotted Woodpecker.
On the water in front of the Hide there were 2 pairs of Gadwall, 1 pair of Shoveler, 1 Little Grebe and a Buzzard was sat in the hedge line. On Bottom New Piece there was a Stonechat as well as Chaffinches and Song Thrush singing despite the rain.
Decoy Hide
Early this morning there were 18 Tufted Duck, 2 Greylag Geese, 3 Gadwall and 3 Mallard on the Decoy Pond.
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14 February
Discovery Hide
On the South Lake there were 7 Avocets, c350 Dunlin, 4 Black-tailed Godwit, 86 Golden Plover and a large flock of Lapwing that kept being flushed by a Kestrel hunting Earthworms. On the deep lake there was 1 Little Egret, 1 Spoonbill and a mixed flock of Pochard, Teal, Shoveler and Tufted Duck.
Zeiss Hide
From the Zeiss Hide there were 4 Mute Swan, 6 Canada Geese, 70 Shelduck, 80 Wigeon and around 50 Teal in the morning.
Knott Hide
There was a lot of activity with Blue and Great Tit behind the reeds also a Treecreeper in one of the taller trees.
Kingfisher Hide
First thing there were 5 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 2 Mallard, 7 Teal. On the feeders there were Chaffinch, Blue tit, Great tit, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Robin and a small flock of Long-tailed Tit. There were also 3 Roe Deer on the Bottom New Piece field.
Estuary Tower
On the Dumbles 108 Curlew were visible, 12 Great Black-backed Gulls were in the roost,85 Wigeon and the 2 wintering Little Stint were on the scrape. There were 8 Cranes (Evie, 3 unringed adults, Ruby’s family), 193 Barnacles + Ross’s & other goose hybrids also present.
Rushy
At first light there were 72 Bewick’s swans, 2 Whooper swans, Black swan and 2 Mute Swans at the feed plus Pintail, Pochard, Shelduck as well as a good flock of 250+ Dunlin.
Roadside Fields
The Glossy Ibis was spotted in its usual spot in the Roadside fields throughout the day, also at 14:00 there was a roost of 173 Common Gull.
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13 February
Discovery Hide
It was a busy morning on South Lake with 4 Oystercatcher, 4 Avocet, c400 Lapwing and around 120 Dunlin. There was also 1 Spoonbill and a mixed flock of Pochard, Tufted Duck, Shoveler with 1 Great-crested Grebe, 1 Grey Heron and 21 White-fronted Geese flew over. Later in the day there were 5 Cattle Egret on the lake too.
Zeiss Hide
From Zeiss Hide there were 2 Oystercatchers, 78 Shelduck, 104 Wigeon and around 150 Teal on the front scrape.
Kingfisher Hide
On the water in front of the hide there were 7 Teal, 8 Gadwall, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Shoveler and 2 Mallard. There was also a Buzzard perched in a dead tree to the left. On the feeders there were Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, Great tit, Blue Tit and Long-tailed tits.
Estuary Tower
On the Scrape there were 2 Little Stint and 1 Ringed Plover. On the Dumbles there were 147 Curlew, 15 Great black-backed Gull, 6 Oystercatcher, 394 Wigeon, 20 Pintail, 21 Shoveler, 130 Barnacle Geese and 1 Ross's Goose too. On the Long ground pool to the left of the Tower there were 57 Tufted Duck, 29 Shoveler and 4 Pochard. On the Pill Box Pool there were 61 Wigeon.
Robbie Garnett Hide
On the Tack Piece fieled it was very busy with 911 Wigeon, 15 Redshank, 24 Ruff, 189 Pintail, 1 Curlew, 53 Dunlin and 3 Cranes.
Martin Smith Hide
In the corner next to Martin Smith there were 14 Teal, 1 Snipe, 32 Wigeon and 2 Shoveler.
Rushy
At first light there were 72 Bewick's Swans, 2 Whooper swans, 1 Black swan, 43 Dunlin, 192 Lapwing, 10 Pochard, 59 Pintail and 91 Tufted Duck.
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12 February
Zeiss Hide
Out on the Top New Piece there were 183 Teal, 64 Shelduck, 80 Wigeon, 2 Marsh Harrier, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Peregrine, 1 Buzzard, 418 Dunlin, 350 Lapwing and 35 Golden Plover.
Discovery Hide
Throughout the day on the South Lake there was 1 Spoonbill, 2 Oystercatcher, 6 Avocet, 50 Tufted Duck, 65 Pochard, 54 Shoveler, 1 Great-crested Grebe, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 130 Dunlin, c400 Lapwing, 2 Wigeon, 6 Gadwall and 1 male Goldeneye
Estuary Tower
On the Dumbles scrape there was 1 Little Stint and 20 Pintail, on the Long Ground Pool there were 7 Pochard and 62 Pintail looking over on to the Tack piece.
Kingfisher Hide
Present in front of the hide were 8 Gadwall and 2 Little Grebe.
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11 February
The Glossy Ibis continues to show in the entrance road fields
Kingfisher Hide
An age assessment of the Russian White-fronted Geese was made this morning = 9% juv/1st winters from a flock of 133 . All currently on the Four Score Ground and showing fairly close this morning. Broods of 1, 2 and 3 of 3. The flock spent 15 mins on the Top New Piece flood early morning.
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10 February
We continue through to mid February with our wintering birds firmly in place,
A small increase in Russian White-fronted Geese noted today with 130 counted in the Four Score ground and viewable from the Kingfisher Hide.
Kingfisher Hide
A Little Grebe along the channel with 8 Gadwall, Coal Tit, Greenfinch and Siskins on the feeders, Bullfiches nearby in the hedges and singing Chaffinch, a couple of calling Song Thrush and Treecreepers along the pathway with Firecrest and Goldcrest near the dragonfly ponds.
South Lake
The Spoonbill was again roosting here early morning but moved mid morning, 6 Avocet, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 50 Dunlin, 400 Lapwing including a part-leucistic bird, 76 Pochard, 2 Oystercatcher.
Rushy Hide/ Peng Observatory
Two Whooper Swans and 72 Bewick's Swans early morning.
Estuary Tower
At least one Little Stint on the scrape
