Saturday, October 20, 2012

Saturday 20th October

First visit to the park after my holiday and it was pretty quiet. A lot of Coots and Great Crested Grebes on the main lake but very little on Fingers, just 2 Gadwalls and 2 Little Grebes along with the resident Mute Swans. The young Swans are starting to show much more white in their plumage now. A Kingfisher was in the north east corner of the main lake.

Went down to Meadow Lane with JA and spotted some Barnacle Geese dropping into the crop field just before the bypass. We cut around the back of Meadow Lane GP, where there were 7 Tufted Ducks with the resident Coots. On the big lake on 100 Acre there were 6 Pochards.

At the crop field we found the Geese and along with ~125 Barnies there were a few Canadas and a Single Greylag. In the rough ground between the field and the river there were good numbers of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits. We also flushed 22 Snipe as we followed the track along the edge of the field.

In the Channel to the filled in Castle Mill Pit there were 2 Teal and a single Little Egret. As we walked back along the cycle track a flock of Lapwing got up from the other side of the bypass and small group broke away and joined the Geese in the crop field.

Back at the main lake in the park there was a single juvenile Herring Gull and at least three adult Common Gulls. We spotted a Kingfisher on the south side of the main lake.

Those were the highlights of a fairly grey misty morning.

Next Sunday is the October guided bird walk. Meet at the Visitor Centre at 9am. Make sure you wear suitable footwear as it is muddy and wet in places around the park at the moment. See you there.