Due to some technical issues aboard my boat that needed immediate attention I never quite made it to Brandon on Tuesday but did manage to fit in a good tour of the marina instead.
Last year around this time we were very fortunate and incredibly amazed to have a solitary Bittern on site, a picture taken from aboard a fellow moorer's boat on their mobile phone came as a great surprise, but no reports have been forthcoming this time around! Although we've been lucky enough to have Waxwing on site in December there has been no reports thus far this year. Our local Little and Tawny Owls seem to have gone quiet more recently but I have had several sightings this year, sadly no Barn Owls have been seen!
The amount of feeders that can be found dotted around Wigram's seems to have increased dramatically over the past weeks and it gives the place an enormous sense of well being. It's lovely to see that so many of the moorers have taken the local birds to their hearts.
A few additions to the Wigram's list since my last tour and it seems that our local Tree Sparrow population have a few House Sparrows to contend with now. Other additions to the regular species were 2 Collared Dove that have now decided to pop in occasionally for an easy meal, and my first Goldcrest at Wigrams was seen skulking in the bramble.
Reed Bunting numbers seem to have expanded too with a count of 36 during my walk and it was good to see 2 Brambling still on site. A very vocal Green Woodpecker has also taken a shine to the place and several Fieldfare were also seen feeding from some of the fallen nuts and seeds. Pied Wagtail, a very regular visitor, single Grey Wagtail, Coal Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, plus various numbers of Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, were also noted.
