Vanishing Knot
A beautifully sunny morning with a slight arrival of birds, not least a considerable rise in the number of Black-tailed Godwit to 328 on the reserve. A flock of 145 arrived around 8am to join the 171 already on the South Lake this morning, and bought with them 6 Knot. Another flock of 38 Knot dropped in to the Top New Piece and no sooner had they been counted, they vanished.
An afternoon update from our Guides in the Hides included a Short-eared Owl over the Dumbles, a return to 4 White-fronted Geese and up to 7 Cranes from the Holden Tower.
South Lake Hides
Arrival of Black-tailed Godwit bringing flock of 316 birds along with 6 Knot. Also on the wader scrape were 280 Teal, 84 Lapwing, 34 Redshank, a Ruff, 6 Snipe, 11 Shelduck. On the deep lake were 10 Cormorant, a Great Crested Grebe, 16 Pochard, 92 Tufted Duck and a Pintail.
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Robbie Garnett Hide
A large number of Teal on the scrape this morning, probably 1000+. Also present were 3 Redshank, a Grey Heron and a Snipe. A flock of 108 Wigeon were grazing towards end of scrape and 2 Curlew also seen.
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Zeiss Hide
Apart from the disappearing flock of 38 Knot, birds remaining on the scrape included 11 Black-tailed Godwit, 167 Dunlin, 257 Lapwing, 6 Ruff, 523 Teal and 3 Wigeon. A flock of 30 Golden Plover flew over. Three Buzzard were in the field. Ruby and her 2 juvenile Cranes were in the Bottom New Piece but were chased off by Oakie, Sherbert and their juvenile after they flew in from the Dumbles.
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Rushy Hide
A wintry feel this morning to the Rushy with 10 Pintail stood in front of the hide staring up and awaiting the first whistle of the season to signal the feeds have started. They may have to wait another couple of days yet! Other birds on the lower pond included a Redshank, 5 Lapwing, a Snipe, a Black-tailed Godwit and 73 Teal. A Grey Wagtail was calling on the upper pond.
