It finally stopped raining this morning, so I joined Dave for our weekly stroll around Morton Bagot. Inevitably we ended the morning getting a little damp as the high cloud gave way to light showers. By that time we'd recorded 53 species with very little effort, so we were reasonably happy.
The highlight was a pair of returning Shelducks on the furthest flash, arguably our first summer visitors.
The Lapwing flock goes from strength to strength, reaching 147, although hardly any were actually on the ground. Indeed just a few Teal and Mallard were present in spite of there being far more standing water than usual.
Other birds seen included decent numbers of winter thrushes, especially Fieldfares, two Stonechats, another fly-over Yellowhammer, all the expected finches in very small numbers, and a couple of Red Kites.
During the afternoon I decided I really should go to Earlswood to see the Egyptian Goose which had been found at Mereside Fishing Pools yesterday. It was still present, and looked rather tame. But they all count.
Although by now the drizzle was getting heavier I decided a quick march around Engine Pool would be in order, and this plan at least produced a distant view of the fifth calendar year Yellow-legged Gull standing on a buoy on Windmill Pool.
Unlike the adult bird seen on my last visit the specific identity of this curious bird is not in dispute. John O has found a photograph of a very similar bird somewhere else on a Gull Forum on Facebook (to which I do not subscribe). That bird's bare part colour is attributed to a hormonal deficiency, so presumably the Earlswood bird is in the same situation.
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