A cloudy morning with a very light south-easterly. Tony was on site ringing, but not in the place where the presumed Cetti's Warbler had been heard. I headed back to the thick hedge in question, and recommenced the vigil. I can't quite shrug off the thought that the bird might have been something a lot rarer. Sadly there was no sign of it anyway. Instead a Brambling flew over calling (I have belatedly realised that this, and the one seen on my last visit, were the first here this year). A few Meadow Pipits were haunting the the scrape field, perhaps attracted by insects stirred up by the recently installed cattle.
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| Meadow Pipits |
I rejoined Tony to touch base. He was starting to catch more Redpolls, so anticipated he could be quite busy. Some gunshots had blasted out from the direction of Castle Farm, and these had led to several small groups of Mallard flying around. I decided a visit to the flash field might be a good idea.
Half way there, a very distinctive Dunlin call split the air. I scanned around, hearing a couple of more distant calls but failed to latch onto the bird. Still a 10 k year-tick though, and also the first Dunlin here since 2023.
The furthest flash did indeed hold some new arrivals. Eight Wigeon were swimming out of cover. The nearest flash was less impressive, holding small numbers of the usual Teal and Snipe.
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| Most of the Wigeon |
Other birds seen today included at least 210 Starlings heading west, about 150 winter thrushes roughly half of which were Fieldfares, a Stonechat, a fly-over Yellowhammer, and a Peregrine.
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| Spot the Wren competition (no prizes) |
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| Pied Wagtail on the roof of my car |
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