Warm, dry and sunny, W2 - A superb morning of weather for a check of Scotney pits where there was plenty to see on the front lakes and sward, the majority of which comprised feral geese, gulls and Cormorants. In between the massed ranks however was a host of waders, mostly Lapwings and Golden Plovers, but also a scattering of Redshanks, Curlews, Dunlins, and Ringed Plovers, plus 20 Ruffs, 10 Green Sandpipers, three Snipe, a Common Sandpiper and a Little Stint. Plenty of common diving and dabbling ducks included Pintail, Shoveler, Wigeon and Shelduck, plus a Black-necked Grebe on the western lake and three roosting Spoonbills on the far side of the eastern lake. All three species of hirundines swooped over the waters while Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Peregrine were all noted. Pied Wagtails and Linnets made up the most numerous passerines on the sward along with a few Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and five Yellow Wagtails. On the bird reserve from Hanson hide another Little Stint was the only noteworthy wader.
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This week I`ve also been pounding the local farmland tracts around NR. The most productive fields have been those recently harrowed or drilled (but only for a day or two) where large flocks of corvids, Starlings, Woodpigeons and Stock Doves have been the main attraction and one group of 100 Lapwings on the Salts. Closer scrutiny has revealed a few Meadow Pipits and Skylarks, a flock of 100 Linnets and 10 Pied Wagtails around the Church Lane dung heap, several Yellowhammers at Hope Lane and a trickle of hirundines hawking insects over the turf fields. Chiffchaff numbers have started to decline from the heights of last week, although we`re still getting them through the back garden and in the bird bath; a Greenfinch on the bird feeders was the first this autumn.
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