Latest Sightings - 21st November - New arrivals, Ring-necked Duck!
A fantastic sunny and cold morning with puddles frozen over.
Yesterday saw the arrival of a second American duck on the reserve. To go with the regular Green-winged Teal, we now have a drake Ring-necked Duck amongst the Tufted Ducks on the Whooper Pond.
It looks very similar to a male Tufty, but has a thin white border at the base of the bill, a white strip across the bill near the tip, no tuft on the back of the head (but what looks like a peak instead) and grey side panels turning white near the front of the body. See below for a photo.
Tricky to spot, but come to the feeds at 11am and 2pm where the Wardens will be able to help. It is also hanging around with the female Greater Scaup, so two for the price of one at the moment!
We have also had a roost of 8 Little Egrets near the Back Pond Hide the past week. They start heading to the roost around 16:30. These are still not a common bird to see in the area, but numbers are increasing.
Today's high tide is at 07:33 8m
Around the reserve today:
Barnacle Geese: 7000 - including 1 hybrid
Whooper Swans: 40
Whooper Pond
Whooper Swan 40
Mute Swan 45
Greater Scaup 1♀
Ring-necked Duck 1♂
Mallard 110
Tufted Duck 35
Wigeon 90
Gadwall 2
Teal 15
Little Grebe 2
Canada Geese 80
Greylag Geese 17
Folly Pond
Green-winged Teal 1♂
Teal 100
Wigeon 200
Mallard 20
Shoveler 30
Gadwall 1
Avenue Tower
Flood Ground:
Teal 149
Wigeon 226
Mallard 34
Gadwall 3
Shoveler 1
Greylag Geese 9
Grey Heron 1
Little Egret 2
Surrounding fields:
Barnacle Geese 1400
Lapwing 17
Golden Plover 11
Roe Deer 5
Saltcot Merse Observatory
Hen Harrier 1♂ - seen most days
Marsh Harrier 1♀ - seen here yesterday
Barnacle Geese
Over the high tide:
Dunlin 2000
Knot 1000
Golden Plover 700
Grey Plover 200
Shelduck 3000
Pintail 200
Peregrine 1
Merlin 1
Back Pond Hide
Kingfisher 1
Peter Scott Trail
Water Rail 1
Avenues & Feeders
(notable species)
Redwing
Fieldfare
Yellowhammer
Brambling
Reed Bunting
Sparrowhawk
Song Thrush
Coal Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Linnet
Siskin
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Treecreeper
Lesser Redpoll
Great-spotted Woodpecker
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joe.bilous@wwt.org.uk
