Frequent spells of snowfall kept me confined to the hide at Inner Marsh Farm late this afternoon, where during brief periods of visibility good numbers wildfowl were to be enjoyed.
Tomorrow signalling the end of the wildfowling season, I am sure the ducks and geese will be enjoying a collective sigh of relief as they begin to prepare for their spring migrations.
Very few waders on the reserve today, so it was perhaps lucky that one happened to be a cracking Spotted Redshank, with the remainder of the handful made up from a few Dunlin, a couple of Redshank and a single Snipe.
Raptors were represented in the form of a young female Sparrowhawk and a rather dejected looking Buzzard that loped around the fringes of number one pool.
The skein of Pinkies continue to mooch around the field behind the wet meadow and appear to be growing in numbers by the day, with up to seven hundred present recently – excellent numbers for Dee. With such a large flock it seems increasingly likely that it may harbour the odd goody in the form of a White-front or a Bean Goose – the latter hopefully as I am yet to see one!
Five Golden Plovers over the path back to the car park was a good record and the first birds of this species I have seen this year. When the mercury really plummeted at he start of January they all seemed to vamoose and despite thousands of Lapwing on the estuary this year, the quintet this evening are a year tick. Sadly they were firmly in English airspace, so no addition to my Flintshire list – ho hum.
With the continuing freezing temperatures it seems barely conceivable that in three weeks the first Wheatears will be crossing the channel on their passage from Africa. If the present cold spell continues then they might me in for a rude shock when they hit landfall in Blighty – a two week pit stop on the Riviera should do the trick!
Until later.
Tomorrow signalling the end of the wildfowling season, I am sure the ducks and geese will be enjoying a collective sigh of relief as they begin to prepare for their spring migrations.
Very few waders on the reserve today, so it was perhaps lucky that one happened to be a cracking Spotted Redshank, with the remainder of the handful made up from a few Dunlin, a couple of Redshank and a single Snipe.
Raptors were represented in the form of a young female Sparrowhawk and a rather dejected looking Buzzard that loped around the fringes of number one pool.
The skein of Pinkies continue to mooch around the field behind the wet meadow and appear to be growing in numbers by the day, with up to seven hundred present recently – excellent numbers for Dee. With such a large flock it seems increasingly likely that it may harbour the odd goody in the form of a White-front or a Bean Goose – the latter hopefully as I am yet to see one!
Five Golden Plovers over the path back to the car park was a good record and the first birds of this species I have seen this year. When the mercury really plummeted at he start of January they all seemed to vamoose and despite thousands of Lapwing on the estuary this year, the quintet this evening are a year tick. Sadly they were firmly in English airspace, so no addition to my Flintshire list – ho hum.
With the continuing freezing temperatures it seems barely conceivable that in three weeks the first Wheatears will be crossing the channel on their passage from Africa. If the present cold spell continues then they might me in for a rude shock when they hit landfall in Blighty – a two week pit stop on the Riviera should do the trick!
Until later.
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