Pochards

Lade - humid, cloudy, E 2 - A misty, murky sort of a morning with the power station barely visible in the haze to the south. However, there was a record (for me) count of 820 Pochards across both waters, the majority being on south lake, along with 510 Coots, 150 Tufted Ducks, 175 Great Crested and 42 Little Grebes, including many juveniles. I`m pretty sure that this summer`s flowering Canadian pond weed has been the main driver for the exceptionally high numbers of waterfowl over the past couple of months. There was also plenty of activity around the ponds where a Spotted Flycatcher highlighted amongst parties of Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits and several each of Common Whitethroat, Willow, Reed and Sedge Warblers. On the Desert at least ten Wheatears were noted, plus several Skylarks and two Whinchats. Back on south lake as the rain approached `hundreds` of Sand Martins swarmed over the water as my first Kingfisher of autumn zipped along a margin.

                                  Pochards everywhere

                                  Great Crested Grebe with `Zebra`

                                  Wheatear, Desert

                                 Ted - eating something disgusting!