After a quiet week of seeing not very much at Rowney Green (Tuesday), Dickens Heath and Earlswood (Friday) I was keen to see what Morton Bagot had to offer this morning. It did not disappoint.
I joined Dave and we set off on the usual circuit. The first surprise was that the hollow which had been occupied by a Tawny Owl all winter, now contained a Barn Owl.
As it was the first weekend of the month we went on to try a kick through the marsh to get a Snipe count for the month, but we only flushed three Common Snipe and two Jack Snipe. Perhaps there had been some prior disturbance. A Sparrowhawk flew across, and was no doubt equally disappointed. A Red Kite appeared above Bannams Wood.
Fortunately some gems awaited us at the flashes. Two Shelducks were new for the year, and surprisingly both appeared to be drakes. Only eight Teal were visible along with 19 Mallard. However, as we walked the footpath and peered through the densest part of the hedge I noticed that a pair of Pintail had swum out. Attempts to photograph them through the hedge were as hopeless as I'd expected, and as we arrived in our favoured spot Dave let me know he could see them flying off.
We wondered whether they might have simply gone to the pool/marsh field, Dave reckoned they'd been heading that way so we decided to arc around to a position we thought we'd stand a chance of seeing them without flushing them again.
Annoyingly just as we got into position we spotted a chap walking towards us along the Millennium way right passed the pools. He flushed a Little Egret and then some Mallards and the pair of Pintails. The latter circled a couple of times before heading south.
It seems feasible that this is the same pair as was present on December 31 last year, but it begs the question where have they been all through January?
The Shelducks were probably the first sign of spring, although singing Skylarks, and Song Thrushes along with a singing Mistle Thrush at Rowney Green in the week are also early heralds.
