Scouting for birds

It's always something of a bad omen when one meets a cheery dogwalker with a very soggy hound just before arriving at the pools and my pessimism seemed well founded this evening.
With the exception of a few emerging skulkers (coot, little grebe) the main was totally bereft of birdlife. Only a persistent bedded-in LR plover clung on to the island, so heaven only knows just how 'active' the disturbance was. That said, it was sunny this afternoon so it could have been hammered all day...

On the upper pools a pair of tufted duck and a few mallard hung in but not much else of note. Notable was the absence of mute swans whose nest is likely now abandoned though on a positive note the little grebes were starting to construct a new nest.
No sign of the little gull amongst the handful of gulls in the ploughed fields.
Great views of a noisy lesser whitethroat domestic dispute with at least 5 birds involved!
Didn't bother to check the marsh due to a jolly gathering of cub scouts, and their charges, baking potatoes (I think...) on an open fire just beyond the gate.