Some counts
A murky day with rain early on. Just c5000 Pink-footed Geese roosting on the reserve this morning. Many birds fly off early on to return early afternoon onwards. We are predicting a big influx of geese for this coming weekend, so watch this space!
Wildfowl counts included; 1570 Teal, 519 Greylag, 266 Canada, 86 Wigeon, 77 Shoveler, 101 Gadwall, 11 Pintail, 2 Tufted Duck and a female Goosander, the later unusual here.
The Great White Egret was seen again. Little Egret alaso present, 9 Cormorant, 6+ Grey Heron and 5 Little Grebe.
Waders included a good count of 170+ Common Snipe, 700+ Lapwing, 10+ Ruff and 4 Black-tailed Godwit.
Four Marsh Harrier hunting today, 4 Common Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 2 Sparrowhawk and Peregrine yesterday.
Some southward movement included Yellow Wagtail, a few Pied/White Wagtail, 53 Meadow Pipit, 39 Skylark and 13 House Martin. Swallow and a few Grey Wagtail present.
Along the Nature Trail 6+ Chiffchaff, 4 Goldcrest, 15+ Long-tailed Tit, and some Blue Tit, Great Tit and Coal Tit.
The big numbers of Stock Dove are hanging around the Mere with 160+ birds. Plenty of Tree Sparrow near the in focus shop.
Two Kingfisher from the Ron Barker Hide.
Late openings start this Wednesday. Reserve is open until 7pm Wed & Sat until 26 Oct. Free entry 5.30-6.30pm for local community (and members of course!)
It should be possible to see at least 50 species of bird in a day without too much effort, although a telescope is very useful from most of the hides.
If you are visiting the reserve, pop in to the In Focus shop where we have a full list of birds, and should be able to point you in the right direction to get the most out of your visit.
