Is it spring yet?

Welcome to the most uninspiring spring of all time. Which is quite fitting I suppose, given that this winter was possibly the dullest I can remember as far as birding around Aldcliffe is concerned.
The lack of posts here has been solely down to a lack of enthusiasm on my part - I've been out around the patch on plenty of occasions but the birds have barely differed from one visit to the next.

In summary:
There was loads of water, the pools were high and the cycle track was flooded for most of the season. Water levels have now dropped. Of note, the smaller rear pool at the Wildfowlers' Pools has been 'de-vegetated' and re-landscaped for the benefit of ducks but little else.  

Duck numbers were relatively unremarkable although we had a decent mix of species. Highlights have included double figure shovelers and up to five pintail throughout and a pair of pochard for a couple of days and a high count of 29 goldeneye in early March.
Goose numbers were disappointing on the whole with no real large peak of pinkfeet (fewer than 3000) and as such no attendant scarce species. 

Ringed plover

At least one jack snipe was present for most of the winter and up to four were at FAUNA.
Other wader records worth noting included occasional green sandpiper, multiple (up to 90) black-tailed godwits, an incredibly 400 or so dunlin on The Flood on March 5 along with 20 snipe and local patch scarcities knot (1) and ringed plover (3) by the Wildfowlers' Pools the same day.
Also in the area were around 100 golden plover. These unusual wader numbers came in the wake of the so-called 'Beast From The East' or as I like to call it, 'weather'. 

Peregrine, sparrowhawk, buzzard and kestrel have all been present here and there along with occasional sightings of a female merlin out on the marsh. 

Tideline passerines have been very thin on the ground with no finch flocks to speak of and no twite or redpoll (other than odd flyovers of the latter) as yet. A wandering group of c25-35 linnet have been in and out of the maize fields frequently.
One notable event on March 3 involved a flock of 32 skylarks; common enough here in small numbers but these days a grounded flock of that size is exceptional. The same day a single rock pipit was also seen nearby - both presumably pushed onto Aldcliffe Marsh by the high tide.
The first stonechat I clocked was a single bird on March 5 with a further three present on 12th.

Stonecat

Chiffchaff wave trickled in but given the state of the weather at the moment it's hardly surprising they've been slow to arrive.
Yesterday (April 1) saw my first, late, wheatear of the year and the arrival finally of the first little ringed plovers with a pair on The Flood.
Given the arrival dates for these dinky shorebirds for last few years have been March 17th in 2013, 19th in 2014 and 2015, 18th in 2016 and 21st last year, these were well overdue!

Other odds and sods include a fabulous barn owl which has shown well regularly and another unusual species in a strictly patch context, red-legged partridge which I have seen a couple of times in the past couple of weeks, yet unusually I haven't spotted any grey partridge yet this year... 

With a promising change in the forecast, I think we can hope to see a few more migrants heading our way shortly.  The lingering winter visitors will head off and our resident birds can get on with the job of nesting. Let's hope that we have a memorable spring for all the right reasons.

Jon