It's oh so quiet...

Not much doing this evening with just the following highlights:
Pair of tufted duck still on Freeman's Pools along with the usual coot, moorhen, mallard etc.
Singing lesserthroat nearby and another near the Wildfowlers' Pools, which were quiet due to some 'habitat management' going on.
Handful of swifts whizzing around though notably fewer swallows and sand martins. A 'flock' of 9 house martin came through just ahead of an ominous thundery cloud.
Single wheatear was on the tideline and a whimbrel was on the estuary.
Pair of grey partridge were in fields near Low Wood.
Perhaps most interesting was the sighting of a weasel carrying a field vole on the cycle track shortly followed by a stoat on the path by Freeman's Pools - not often I see both on the same day...

Good selection of new birds in

Better than I expected this evening with the following of note:

Freeman's Pools
Pair each of gadwall & tufted duck plus a mallard with ducklings.
Single LR plover, pair each of oystercatcher and lapwing on the island.
Lesser whitethroat and sedge warbler, plus a garden warbler feeding with a pair of blackcap in the perimeter hedgerows.

A further 3 lesser whitethroat were singing along the cycle track between Freeman's Pools and railway Crossing Lane (the one in the hawthorns near the gate overlooking the Wildfowlers' Pools has been showing well, with a little patience).

Wildfowlers' Pools - 9 black-tailed godwit, drake teal.

Around 70 swallow buzzing around the various ponds and fields with maybe a dozen sand martin, 3 house martin and 8 swift.

6 wheatear by Walled Meadow.

6 wheatear, 1 meadow pipit and a stunningly bright male whinchat in the Low Wood paddocks.

2 pairs of eider were on the river.

Late weekend updates

Managed a brief late afternoon trawl (once my decorating duties were completed) which coincided perfectly with the afternoon's only sustained period of rain. It started just as I left the house and finished as I arrived home an hour and a half later, after which the sun came out. Cheers. I'm sure without it however, I wouldn't have added swift to my yearlist!

Highlights:
2m, 1 f pochard on Freeman's Pools (mega!) plus tufted pair and drake shoveler consorting with 2 male mallard.
Approx 40 swallow, 1 house & 1 sand martin feeding over Frog Pond, then 2 swift came in.
40 or so wheatear were by Walled Meadow and adjacent tideline with a female redstart also there.
A pair of skulking lesser whitethroat were by Low Wood paddocks.
Another hefty downpour dropped another 40 swallow, 3 house martin and 12 swift by the Wildfowlers' Pools. 15 black-tailed godwit here today.

Saturday 26th highlights:
2 com. & 1 lesser whitethroat singing at the back of Freeman's Wood plus pair of linnet.
Ald Marsh: skylark, 2 pinkfeet, 1 Arctic tern .
Wildfowlers' Pools: 9 blk-tailed godwit, 1 little egret, pair teal, lesser whitethroat, blackcap.
Another lesser whitethroat by the cycle path.
Snipe Bog: 1 whimbrel.
Grey partridge pair near Walled Meadow.

Friday pm - 2 green sandpipers on the Wildfowlers' Pools

Quick whizz round...

Post-work visit highlights:
LR plover at Freeman's Pools plus oystercatcher pair on the island.
Not much visible on the other pools, though 6 black-tailed godwit were at the Wildfowlers' Pools.
2 lesser whitethroat were singing along the cycle path.
3m & 1f eider were on the river with 3 whimbrel nearby.
A flock, in 'v' formation, of 62 curlew passed high north.

Morning's sightings care of Guy McClelland

3 lesser whitethroat in bushes along sea wall.
Female redstart in the same area.
Gropper true to form when it hopped out of the grass from under my feet and started to reel in bush 50 m south of Marsh Point.
6 house martin feeding over Darter pool.
Whimbrel in field south of railway crossing .
3 wheatear along the high tide mark.
3 linnet in Freemans close to their nest site last year.