A pre-breakfast visit this morning turned out to be pretty productive (though nothing new added to the patch year list). I started off at the northern causeway and there was a load of activity along the railway embankment with a couple of hundred Redwing (and a few Fieldfare) feeding in the various berry bushes. At least three Chiffchaff were also noted along side a small party of Long-tailed Tits and a Goldcrest. Two Reed Buntings were also present on the edge of West pool along with a Grey Wagtail.
Off then to the southern end of the reservoir where the Teal flock had grown to 198 birds, though Wigeon numbers were down to just twenty-six and these were off the dam, none at the southern end at all this morning. Over head four Meadow Pipits flew through.
Round to the Fishing Lodge and the only things added here were a couple of Mistle Thrushes and a Kingfisher.
I ended the morning in the car park, where despite finding another flock of tits, there was nothing scarcer amongst them, though a Treecreeper was a nice sight. A quick count of the Cormorants gathered produced a personal patch record count with 114 birds noted. Finally, a Peregrine flew through heading west.
A return visit later in the afternoon was a little less productive though the southern end of the reservoir now held seventy-six Mallard and Wigeon kept dropping in until I had counted 134 birds. Teal numbers were about the same, but I didn't spend long totalling them up. A (maybe this morning's) Peregrine was on one of the pylons and as I walked back to the car a large flock of around 120 Jackdaw flew over.
A large number of gulls were gathering off the Fishing Lodge as the light started to fade, but I was unable to get round to that side of the reservoir to check them out.
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