Friday 28 January 2022

Weather: Mainly overcast but clearing later on. Light southwesterly breeze.

 

Sunset over LAngmere

 

Disturbance: None. 

 

Sightings from Ringmere: 

Mute Swan (2)

Shoveler (13)

Gadwall (19)

Mallard (5)

Teal (49)

Tufted Duck (10)

Coot (16)

Little Grebe (1)

Good to see Mute Swans back on Ringmere, but the two birds were not ringed so are not darvic ringed pair (B4 and HX) that were present up until early January. I wonder where those two have moved to?

Sightings from Fenmere:

No birds present.

Sightings from Langmere:

Canada Goose (4)

Greylag Goose (18)

Hybrid goose (1 - Canada x Greylag Goose)

Mute Swan (6)

Egyptian Goose (2)

Shelduck (5)

Shoveler (26)

Gadwall (26)

Wigeon (2 - drake and female)

Mallard (53)

Teal (155)

Tufted Duck (8)

Moorhen (13)

Coot (38)

Lapwing (1)

Black-headed Gull (99)

Common Gull (24)

Herring Gull (17)

Caspian Gull (1+)

Yellow-legged Gull (2)

Lesser Black-backed Gull (757)

Most of the gulls were concentrated in one large group on Langmere making them quite tricky to count, and there were probbably around 900 Lesser Black-backed Gulls present. The 24 Common Gulls is the highest count this winter so far, with the previous highest being four birds. Historically, there is only one higher count logged on BirdTrack, with 98 counted by Nick Moran in April 2013.

The Caspian Gull was an adult with a yellow or orange darvic ring, and there were two other birds (a first-winter and a second-winter) that looked like good candidates for this species. 

Gadwall on Langmere

Rest of the reserve:

Stock Dove (1)

Woodpigeon

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Jay

Magpie (2 by Ringmere)

Jackdaw

Rook

Carrion Crow

Coal Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Goldcrest (1)

Wren

Treecreeper (1)

Blackbird

Robin

Dunnock

Pied Wagtail (2)

Chaffinch (1)

Linnet

Siskin

Rabbit