Recent Bird News
Merry Xmas to all our readers!!
On the 23rd a Merlin was seen from Ron barker hide, always one of the harder raptors to catch up with, keep scanning the fenceposts! Also the Woodcock despite not being seen all day and despite many observers looking, was eventually seen late in the day being chased by a stoat, luckily it managed to evade it, this is at least the second time in the last month that it has escaped death by Stoat! Also on the 23rd in fading light a White-fronted Goose species was seen around the Mere near Top Mere, presumably the European bird that has been around since the Birdfair.
26th: The day started nicely with a bit of sun but later clouded over and turned into a quite miserable day, despite the rain there were still the usual 3 Peregrines (2 ad & 1 pale Juv), upto 3 Common Buzzard, 2 Kestrel and a male Sparrowhawk.
Still lots of fantastic Whooper Swans with upto 1500 birds present, affording superb views at feeding time very close to the hide. About 2000 Pink-footed Goose were present on the reserve today, along with 2000 Lapwing and thousands of Mallard, Teal, Wigeon and Pintail. The 3 Brambling are still using the feeders at Janet Kear and the Woodcock is probably still around.
