mainly bright, changeable. mod NW.
Red-crested Pochard - adult male and adult female, ER
Green Sandpiper - 1, ER
Chiffchaff - 2 (one singing WR, one ER)
Gadwall - 9
Little Grebe - 5
GC Grebe - 4
Shoveler - 5
Sparrowhawk - pair together
Reed Bunting - 1 male
an afternoon wander in spring-like weather, and relatively entertaining (despite the vain hope of an early migrant remaining unfulfilled). A pair of Red-crested Pochards are on the ER, the first record of the year so far - while records are regular in the autumn, sightings in winter, spring and summer are only occasional.
Two Chiffchaffs were present, a singing male along the New River west, and a 'new' bird - distinctly greyer and duller - fed in along the New river east.
A Green Sandpiper (visible in the above picture, perched on a broken reed!) was at the ER, as were the usual duck species, although numbers are significantly lower than in recent weeks (probably indicative of wintering birds beginning to leave).
