Tuesday 2 December 2008

Cold winds yield nothing new

TUESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2008

A bitingly cold day and after a clear, frosty start, heavy cloud soon moved in from the west bringing a period of sleet and rain. This moved away to the east after a short while leaving a cold, crisp afternoon.

TRING RESERVOIRS (late afternoon visit, at Marsworth with Mike Campbell)

Fairly uneventful, with water levels on all of the reservoirs now back to normal. No waders noted.

Wilstone Reservoir: Great Crested Grebe (12), Cormorant (27), Mute Swan (just 9 adults), Eurasian Wigeon (498), Common Teal (296), Shoveler (6), Tufted Duck (102), Northern Pochard (92), RUDDY DUCK (4), Eurasian Coot (408), Black-headed Gull (816+ and still arriving), COMMON GULL (73 predominantly adults) and Mistle Thrush (2).

Tringford Reservoir: Great Crested Grebe (10), Little Grebe (2), Mute Swan (2 adults), Mallard (8), Gadwall (1 drake), Shoveler (4), Tufted Duck (6), Pochard (7) and Coot (21).

Startop's End Reservoir: Great Crested Grebe (just 4, huge decrease), Mute Swan (3 including the first-winter), Mallard (27), Teal (1 female), Tufted Duck (75), Pochard (8) and 68 Coot.

Marsworth Reservoir: Great Crested Grebe (5), Mallard (6), Pochard (12), SHOVELER (224 mass-shovelling as usual by algae bunds), Coot (4), Sparrowhawk (1 female), WATER RAIL (2 squealing) and Redwing (8).

The singing CETTI'S WARBLER burst into song by the overflow at 1620, 52 CORN BUNTINGS and 3 Reed Buntings flew in to roost and just 500 Common Starlings in small groups roosted in the reeds.

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