Thursday March 3

Mostly cloudy with a light north-westerly breeze.

It's certainly been the year of the Redpoll. I arrived this morning to find there had been yet another increase in numbers.

Almost all Redpolls

I have zoomed in on the above photo, and counted 225 Redpolls and 21 Linnets. When you consider that the record count here before this winter was 24, you get some idea of how extraordinary this phenomenon is.

Whether they are all Lesser Redpolls is hard to say. I couldn't find any obviously big ones amongst them, the Linnets being a handy reference point. However, I could well be playing it too safe, and the fourth from the left on the lower wire in the above photo looks semi-interesting. Trouble is, I find I soon start looking at similar birds in the same shot and end up none the wiser.

The rest of the patch contained little that was new. A female Tufted Duck on the pool was about the only addition. The Redshank is still here, as is a male Stonechat, three Green Sandpipers, seven Coots, three Lapwings, and 29 Teal.

Part of the field above the pool was being ploughed all ready for this year's crop of Wheatears.