RXwildlife Sightings

Hundreds of ducks are concentrated on flooded meadows from which areas of rush have been scraped clear. They appear to prefer this habitat to the shallow riverside lagoons which they frequented last winter, and move only small distances if disturbed. With flocks flying back and forth between fields, accurate counts continue to pose a challenge, but there must be 300 Teal, 150 Mallard, 50 Shoveler, and 20 each of Gadwall and Wigeon.
Breeding species which have already returned are Mute Swan, Coot and Lapwing. Read the rest of this entry »

The Shore Lark was still present this morning, this time feeding near the northernmost blockhouse. Also on the Beach Reserve, a Merlin flew north over Lime Kiln Cottage late morning. At Castle Water the highlights were a male Marsh Harrier and a Kingfisher, while a quick visit to Long Pit found two Scaup and at least six Goldeneye among the Tufted Duck and Pochard.