This last week I did manage a couple of very short visits, at Teal hide all was quiet, bar a flock of Greylag going over. At Lea Farm the Wigeon flock had shrunk a little and there was no time to do dusk visits for a bash a Woodcock, but I am not sure where might be best to try...perhaps near Bittern hide like we used to.
So Friday near lunchtime, Steve was kind enough to find a female Red Crested Pochard on Sandford and within about 30 minutes I was watching it with him and Brian. I still haven't seen it awake yet.
My only available weekend day was Sunday and whilst I wasn't out early, I did a wide circuit to cover my bases. Starting at Lea Farm, it wasn't long before I caught up with Skylark, after Brian had one on Saturday. It was rising and singing over the far landfill, not that we could hear it.
The usual stops for Coal Tit were fruitless, despite quite a lot of singing from other members of the tit family. I marched on with John around Sandford, a pair of Goldeneye on show. Through to WSL, with the usual lowish numbers of Gadwall, Wigeon, CG Grebes, etc.
On to the sailing club at BSL, pockets of Pochard across the lake, but it wasn't until we reached Sandford that we re-found the Red Crested Pochard, still asleep. We met 2 Swedish birders here while visiting their favourite football teams, telling them to keep an eye out for the Ferruginous Duck, being out of time myself I quit and went home.
86 out of the park's 88 isn't bad and just one off my 2012 tally.
I keep a view of all species I've seen in date order running back to 2012 and it may offer a window of what could happen any moment! Goosander, Pintail, Oystercatcher, Yellow-legged Gull, Ruff, Dunlin, Curlew, Redshank, Linnet, Med Gull, Mandarin and Pintail, all occurring in past February's.
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