22nd January 2023

A week of extremes. The start of the week was still dominated by the floods…

and waterbirds on Langlands including up to 40 Wigeon…

And still impressive numbers of Lapwing…

But then the big freeze and a virtual complete clear out of waterbirds. To be replaced by some good numbers of thrushes driven into the village itself. Our Siberian crab apple tree was a particular draw…

The peak count in our little village garden was 33 Blackbirds (32 of which were adult males), two Mistle Thrush, one Redwing and six Fieldfare…

A fantastic sight and sound. (Despite this I still haven’t seen a single Song Thrush this year).

It was probably the cold that also brought four Lesser Redpoll into Jim and Sue’s garden, they showed really well just outside the kitchen window…

The river though was the focus this weekend…

and it was quite productive. Snipe were taking advantage of the unfrozen margins and I counted a total of 24 today. Other waders included two Redshank and two Green Sandpipers and a small flock of Golden Plover. My first Little Egret and Grey Wagtails of the year too, but pick of the sightings was a group of three Goldeneye…

I have only seen this species half a dozen times in the parish and always on the river in very cold weather.