Woodcock Winter Wonderland
Another beautiful frost covered morning which lingered right through the day in sheltered spots. The back of the Mere iced over although the mass of wildfowl present helped keep most of the water open.
Wildfowl numbers are high with 2500+ Teal and 1000+ Wigeon. Lots of Whoopers roosting with smaller numbers present throughout the day.
The cold conditions saw a couple of sightings of Woodcock in flight today. Keep an eye out around the Janet Kear Hide for this species. Lapwing numbers have dropped back but will return if it gets warmer. Still 50+ Ruff, 10+ Snipe and a few Black-tailed Godwit.
Although smaller numbers of Pink-footed Geese are roosting, locally 3 Tundra Bean Geese, 3 Barnacle and a European White-fronted Goose (juv) have all been seen off the reserve.
Raptor reports included Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, 3 Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel.
Tawny Owl roosting. Kingfisher on the Mere and else where.
Redwing, Fieldfare and Stonechat seen
As usual 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 (next to the Discovery Hide) 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.
