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Blustery birding
The blustery weather brought a Black-throated Diver upriver
Over the high tide a couple of windblown seabirds were noted, viewed from the Estuary Tower, a Kittiwake was seen heading upriver with a brief sighting of what appeared to be two juvenile Shags, they dropped in out of sight close to the shore.
Best of all was a Black-throated Diver that was seen flying around but also dropping onto the Severn over high tide, it was last seen flying low upriver.
Estuary Tower
The Estuary Tower provided great birding again today, large numbers of birds were feeding here with the following species noted.
A single Pink-footed Goose among the 100s of Greylag, Canada and Barnacle Geese, at least 35 Russian White-fronted Geese were also feeding here and the Snow x Bar-headed Goose hybrid. Flocks of Dunlin and Golden Plover were dropping into the floods on the Dumbles as well as flocks of Starling and Lapwing, 1 Ruff, 100s Wigeon and Teal with 30+ Pintail, a Grey Plover dropped in on foreshore with 5 Cormorant roosting over high tide. On the foreshore were 50 GBB Gull, adult Yellow-legged Gull with a few Herring Gulls, a single Kittiwake flew NE upriver, 2 Peregrine stirred things up with a good count of 293 Curlew over high tide.
Tack Piece
Two Spotted Redshank with 20 Redshank, a female Marsh Harrier briefly, 310 Tea and a hunting female Sparrowhawk Middle Point- Raven and 5 Chaffinch South.
South Lake
284 Black-tailed Godwit, 7+ Ruff, a Knot, 30+ Lapwing + 300 Teal, 25 Shoveler and Black-headed, Herring and Common Gulls. By the afternoon 4 Mandarin Duck were seen and 1000+ Starling with Fieldfare and Redwing in the hawthorns.
