Swans!

As some Bewick Swans flew over Plodland last night, I thought I'd go to the ARC to see if they roosted there. Walking up the track to Hanson at 07.20 in very gloomy conditions I could here the Bewick Swans calling. I entered the hide and quietly opened the shutter to see the Swans on the lake quite close in to the hide. A quick count came to 86 Bewick Swans and a single Whooper Swan. Just to confirm that they were the Walland Marsh herd the neck collared bird was present, by 08.10 all the Swans had left the lake heading out over Plodland to Walland. While I was in the hide 2 Goosanders were fishing in the reed margins in front the hide, 2 Bitterns flew out of the adjacent reed bed. 2 Great White Egrets dropped in front of the screen, 2 Marsh Harriers flew over and 3 Goldeneye could be seen.  

 Bewick Swans

 Whooper Swan

 Whooper Swan

 One of the two Goosanders in front of Hanson early morning

 An artistic shot (rubbish) of one of the Bitterns in the early morning gloom

08.30-09.00 from the fishing boats
Brent Goose: 9 up
Shelduck: 1 up
Red-throated Diver: 11 up
Fulmar: 1 up
Gannet:   17 up
Cormorant: 656 up  it was such an exciting watch!
Kittiwake:  5 around
In a wander around the north end of the Long Pits I stumbled across a Little Owl my first of the year on the patch, but little else of note was seen.
A stop at Cockles Bridge found 2 more Great White Egrets, c200 Golden Plover, c400 Lapwing and another 2 Marsh Harriers.

The 2 headless Tundra Bean Geese on Herring Gull Island

At Scotney the usual 3 Black-necked Grebes, the drake Scaup and the 2 Tundra Bean Geese along with the feral geese.

Another visit to Walland this afternoon with MH added the 2 Cattle Egrets that were following the drainage digger in front of Scotney farm. We then went out to Walland and at various sites saw up to 30 Corn Buntings, 20 Yellowhammers, some Tree Sparrows and plenty of winter thrushes, also the wild swan herd at Horsebones Farm.