Today's Highlights
Despite the windy conditions, plenty of birds on the reserve today.
We've had two godwit specialists on site today recording ringed individuals in the flock of Icelandic Black-tailed godwits. They managed to record over 40 ring combinations and spotted an individual which has broken the current longevity record for this species at 25 years old! Some of the ring reports we sent off earlier in the week have come back as birds that were ringed on The Wash ten to twenty years ago. One bird was ringed as a chick in Iceland in 2012.
The flock of whooper swans enjoying the potatoes near the visitor centre seems to be growing, the sound of them just before 8am ths morning was amazing! If it doesn't feel like winter; it certainly sounds like it! This morning Wimble and Swanhilde, two of our Welney regulars were amongst the flock. On Monday there were seven ringed birds amongst the crowd, some birds which are familiar to us and some which haven't been spotted at Welney before.
The pochard numbers are growing on the reserve with 466 on the main lagoon this morning, all eager to take advantage of the feeds we put on.
Elsewhere:
Tree sparrow - 1 bird feeders
Marsh harrier - 1
Sparrowhawk
Ruff
Lapwing
Wigeon
Teal
Shoveler
Pintail
Gadwall
Tufted duck
Shelduck
