Sunday 26 December 2021

Weather: Light rain throughout visit.

Sightings from Ringmere:

Mute Swan (2)

Shelduck (3)

Shoveler (9 - 6 drakes and two females)

Gadwall (34)

Teal (28)

Tufted Duck (21)

Coot (33)

Little Grebe (1)

The pair of Mute Swans on Ringmere are both ringed, with HX read earlier this week and the other bird also ringed with a yellow darvic ring (B4). The latter may be a bird from a recent brood on Spring Walk in Thetford, but this will need to be confirmed with the ringing scheme. The 22 Tufted Ducks represent the highest count so far this winter on Ringmere, though this is likely to be birds moving from Langmere rather than any general influx.

Sightings from Fenmere:

Moorhen (2)

Sightings from Langmere:

Mute Swan (9)

Shelduck (1)

Shoveler (13)

Gadwall (25)

Mallard (75)

Teal (78)

Pochard (2 - drake and female)

Tufted Duck (3)

Moorhen (21)

Coot (5)

Little Grebe (2)

Black-headed Gull (91)

Herring Gull (6)

Yellow-legged Gull (3 - adult winters)

Lesser Black-backed Gull (447)

Also a possible first-winter Caspian Gull, as well as a ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull (red darvic) that was too distant to read. The majority of the Tufted Duck flock (15 yesterday and just three today) look to have moved to Ringmere.

Rest of the reserve:

Egyptian Goose

Pheasant

Woodpigeon

Buzzard (1)

Great Spotted Woodpecker (1)

Jay

Magpie (1 - Ringmere)

Jackdaw

Rook

Carrion Crow

Coal Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Goldcrest

Treecreeper (1)

Song Thrush

Mistle Thrush (1 - singing near Ringmere)

Redwing

Blackbird

Fieldfare (2 - on the heath east of Langmere at dusk)

Robin

Dunnock

Pied Wagtail (c15 - foraging around the sheep flock on Wretham Heath)

Meadow Pipit

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Yellowhammer (c30 - on Wretham Heath)

Magpie is surprisingly scarce at East Wretham - recorded on only 11% of visits to the site this year, compared with Jay (50%), Jackdaw (90%), Rook (92%) and Carrion Crow (100%). Despite the far from ideal weather conditions, it was a suprisingly good visit, with 45 species seen in three hours.