Dengemarsh - mild, dry and sunny, light airs - A half decent day at last with the sun putting in a long overdue appearance and also being appreciated by the Hammonds Corner Little Owl sunning itself on the corner gutter of a barn. First off we walked the gully which was pretty much devoid of bird life apart from a couple of Ravens overhead and a singing Cetti`s Warbler. We then slogged around a soggy circular route where there was a noticeable increase in Reed Buntings across the wetlands with several already in song, a trio of Stonechats, more Cetti`s Warblers, Bearded Tits from the ramp and a flock of 15 Meadow Pipits on the flood field along with at least one Water Pipit. All the usual wildfowl, egrets and harriers were noted along the way plus a couple of Curlews, a Sparrowhawk and a `jangling` Corn Bunting and two singing Skylarks on the farmland. The Bouderwall fields were packed out with Lapwings, Wigeon and feral geese while a flock of Cattle Egrets flew over the car along the Lydd Road (Martin counted 21 earlier). On the way home I called in at the bay for a look at the lone Barnacle Goose reported by Owen first thing, an unusual record and the first I`ve seen here; many thanks to Dave Scott for forwarding on his superb picture below.
Elsewhere this past week a couple of drives out across Walland have yielded the Bewick`s Swan flock (complete with Nadine from the Novaya Zemlya archipelago) and the Tundra/Pink-feet flock, plus pitiful numbers of passerines such as Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Tree Sparrow and winter thrushes. Visits to Scotney to search for last weekends Red-necked Grebe drew a blank, but I did note the Whooper Swan family on the old sand pit. The American Wigeon has eluded me since its arrival last Friday, having been seen once on ARC but mainly back around the Scotney complex where it was located by Owen today on the lake behind the farm and right of the track.
No comments:
Post a Comment