Saturday Birding!

♂Brambling at Brandon Marsh

Good start to the day with two Muntjac Deer on the road at Stockton as I made my way to Brandon Marsh this morning.

In fact it was an excellent start all around with a text from JR as soon as I'd parked up at Brandon 'Brambling in the nets'. I made a quick dash to the ringing area just in time to see this wonderful specimen being weighed and measured before release.

Making my way around the rest of the reserve this morning there was plenty of bird song on offer with Song Thrush, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler and at least three Goldcrest calling. At least three Great-spotted Woodpecker were constantly on the go in Horsetail Glade. Interesting too  that even at this early stage in March Treecreepers are already pairing up, with two pairs seen during my visit.

Treecreepers already pairing up!

The main East Marsh Pool was reasonably quiet with Sparrowhawk over, the long staying Yellow-legged Gull, (2) Shelduck, (4) Snipe and (2) Great-crested Grebe the best on offer. A very brief visit to a noisy Carlton Hide, where apparently I'd missed a Bittern by minutes and an even shorter stay at the screen area where (2) Oystercatcher and a second pair of Shelduck were seen.

A Willow Tit on my way to my final stop of the visit, River Pool Hide, for another look at the recently arrived Green-winged Teal, which I found fast asleep on the bund in between River and Teal Pool. Also of note on River Pool a third pair of Shelduck and (2) Water Rail getting quite frisky with each other, spring is definitely in the air!