Bewick`s Swans

Lade - mild, dry, sunny, w 3 - After yesterdays washout it was good to get out and about in the sunshine. We had a quick look at the local pits where the Long-tailed Duck and Slavonian Grebe were both on south lake and the Dartford Warbler was chattering occasionally in the gorse scrub.

                                Bewick`s Swans (from the archives)

Walland Marsh - We then spent the rest of the day searching for Bewick`s Swans at some of their favoured haunts across the flatlands for todays national co-ordinated survey. This winter so far numbers have been low and all I could find was 42 (a flock of 36 and another of six) well away from the road in fields at the back of the wind farm. Also noted around the Marsh, 25 White-fronts, thousands of Golden Plovers and Lapwings, hundreds of Fieldfares, several Buzzards and Marsh Harriers, 100 Linnets and 50 Skylarks in game cover, 10 Tree Sparrows and five Corn Buntings.