Saturday 26th November

After a bright start and a beautiful sunrise the wind got up and it was quite cool this morning. I met up with JA along the main path who had already had Wigeon on the main lake. 42 Lapwing were circling over the park. Further along the main path we stopped at the dipping platform and found a couple of Tufted Ducks over by the hide.

At Fingers the 3 Little Grebe were in their usual corner. 3 Redwing were flushed from the hedge as we walked along the Spit and a couple of Shoveler, female and eclipse male, were spotted over by the Dead Seat. Met up with DK at the end of the Spit where half a dozen Gadwall were found. DK headed off to the Rough while myself and JA headed up the east side of Fingers. JA spotted a fourth Little Grebe in the south east corner, the other three were up the north end by this time.

We continued out to the cycle track and checked out 100 Acre. There were 67 Canada Geese on the big lake with another large group grazing at the north end of the lake. A good number of Black-headed Gulls were also present but little else could be seen. While I was counting the Geese a Chiffchaff was calling from a little further along the track. We continued on past Meadow Lane GP to the new fields before the bypass which were empty. From the Bridge over the bypass we could see 16 Tufted Ducks along with some Coot on the Tern Pool.

We turned and headed back along the cycle track and suddenly had ~100 Golden Plover overhead. They looked like they were coming down to the new fields but ended up circling before heading off towards Willington. A Snipe flew over heading towards 100 Acre and a Sparrowhawk was spotted heading in the opposite direction, back towards the bypass. As we got back to 100 Acre we noticed a lot of Lapwing in the air, conservative estimates were of about 700 birds. They provided quite a spectacle as they swirled about over the big lake. There were also a dozen Pochard, a couple of Little Grebe and 7 Teal on the big lake. There were a further 5 Teal on the small lake and a male Reed Bunting gave good views whilst it fed on the seed heads by the cycle track. ~20 Goldfinch were quite mobile in the same area.

We continued over the New Cut and along the southern edge of Riverside but had little else of note before we arrived back at the car park.

Guided Walk tomorrow, hope the wind dies down, doesn't look like it will though. Should be plenty to see though, meet at the Visitor Centre at 9am.