There were a lot of areas covered around the harbour today with nice birds being found. Highlight of the day has to go to the adult Ring-billed Gull that was found off Swineham Point in amongst a group of Common Gulls. Also at Swineham 1 redhead Goosander over the GP, 2 Golden Plover over, 1 Firecrest on the path down to ‘Curlews’ and an increase of Shoveler, Gadwall and Tufted Duck on the GP. Scarce gulls are often quite difficult to catch up with in the harbour due to the sheer size of the area and the many nooks and crannies they can choose to feed, roost, wash etc. Another Grebe count was conducted from Middle Beach where the total of Black-necked Grebes went up by one to 27, also 61 Red-breasted Merganser and 7 Great Crested Grebe. A Red-necked Grebe was found drifting into Shell Bay whilst a dawn watch was being conducted at the harbour mouth where 57 Shag, 35 Red-breasted Merganser and 3 Common Scoter all entered the harbour at dawn and 24 Grey Plover were flushed off the Shell Beach. At Lytchett Bay 2 Firecrest, 1 Marsh Harrier and a Water Pipit were present. At Hatch Pond there is still no sign of any Bittern but 25+ pairs of Teal and 30+ Snipe were counted.
What started off as a promising day, with overcast sky’s and an easterly air flow, soon descended into…
Find out moreDespite the rain, which ended up lasting aaaallllllll day, there was still plenty of great birding top be…
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