Sunday November 22

The weather was a great deal more benign than on my last visit, although temperatures were sub-zero when I arrived.

Dave and I completed a circuit in the sunshine almost without troubling the scorers. Highlights were a flock of 89 Teal on the main pool, which unfortunately flew off to the south when we inadvertently flushed them, a Green Sandpiper which flew from the stream across the flash field to the furthest scrape, at least 16 Lesser Redpolls, seven Bullfinches, and an obliging Marsh Tit which was too  intent on hacking its way into a plant stem to worry about us watching it.

Marsh Tit

The day's best bird came on the return journey as we latched onto a low-flying adult Peregrine before it disappeared behind the ridge.

Finally, some encouraging numbers of large gulls flew west. We counted 40 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a Herring Gull, but none showed the slightest inclination to land.