Tuesday 6 December 2016

Shovelers

Lade - mild, broken cloud, misty, light airs - We flogged around the local patch in superb winter weather conditions following a spectacular sunrise. A rolling mist partly covered the power station and water tower to the south and it was so still I could hear the Shovelers filter feeding on south lake well before I got there. A couple of Goldeneyes were also present amongst the diving ducks and a 1st winter Caspian Gull was in the gull roost. Passerines of note included two Stonechats and several each of Mipit and Reed Bunting, while two Marsh Harriers worked the farmland by the airport.

                                Shovelers feeding on south lake

A late afternoon visit to check for owls over the Desert drew a blank where the roosting Curlew flock was briefly disturbed by a passing fox. Elsewhere, the Ring-necked Duck was reported from Boulderwall on the bird reserve, the Black-throated Diver at Scotney and a small flock of Bewick`s Swans was on the fields at Horses Bones Farm on Walland Marsh.

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