Thursday February 4

 A late start meant that my arrival at Morton Bagot this morning coincided with the onset of cloud and rain, but at least all the ice had gone.

The early signs were promising; 130 Black-headed Gulls, 35 Lapwings, six Snipe,  16 Teal, 11 Canada Geese, a Greylag Goose, 11 Mallard, and best of all the first Shelduck of the year. Normally I try to photograph new birds for the year, but today I played it too cool, counting the other wildfowl before looking up to see that the Shelduck had gone.

Once the rain arrived, my enthusiasm declined and it was left to a small party of a dozen Reed Buntings to keep me entertained. In theory it is always worth looking at buntings because rarer ones have been known to turn up. One male Reed Bunting did stand out from the rest by being unusually pallid, but I believe it was just an example of plumage variation.

A "greyish" Reed Bunting

A more typical orangey-brown Reed Bunting

The walk back took in a flock of 60 Linnets, but as usual most flew off before I could scope them.