The calm before the storm! A fairly foul weather system is due to set in tomorrow so it was nice to take advantage of a cold, crisp November day. The Upton CP ‘stone bench’ was offering excellent views of a range of species including c500 Black-tailed Godwit, c20 Dunlin, c20 Redshank, 5 Pintail and plenty of Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck and several Shoveler. Its also a good place to stand and familiarise yourself with calls of species that would otherwise be tricky to learn. The inane chattering of Black-tailed Godwit can easily be heard from the bench, as can the excited whistle of Wigeon and gentle ‘pinging’ of Teal. Its well worth learning these sounds at places you can marry the call to the bird visually so that when your next at a location where the visibility isn’t too good, you can still ID species by call…a great way to boost your day list! It was another three-egret day today with 18 Cattle Egret at Nutcrack Lane, 1 Great White Egret in the Little Sea roost and the usual spread of Little Egret dotted around the harbour. Off Jerry’s point there were 3 Black-necked Grebe and 3 Eider (2 females and a 1^st winter). In Lytchett Bay there were 150 Avocet, 57 Brent Geese and a Marsh Harrier quartering over Otter Island. In the PC World drain there was a minimum of 5 collybita (Common) Chiffchaff with one even in full song, however there are currently no signs of any tristis (Siberian) Chiffchaff yet.

Cattle Egret – Holme Lane – Ian Ballam