Happy Halloween!!!
Apologies to my reader for the lack of updates over the past week but unfortunately other commitments have allowed me little time in the field.
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| Record shot of Mandarin at Brandon Marsh! |
What birding I have managed has been mainly local with visits to Napton churchyard, Napton reservoir and of course Brandon Marsh. Best I could manage at the churchyard on Monday was a trio of
Mistle Thrush having a real set too, a couple of
Siskin and several
Lesser Redpoll. I did also manage to fit in an hours vigil at Woodford Halse, where a
Hoopoe has been showing well over the past week, but sad to say not during my short stay! Mind you the black cat seen twice in the car park during that time may have had an input! Kudos must go to the site owner too, who I managed a short chat with, a very pleasant and accommodating guy and delighted to have a bird of this ilk on his property!
At Brandon later on Monday afternoon a pair of
Mandarin Duck on East Marsh Pool was a pleasant surprise. So too a nice sighting of
Marsh Tit (
very scarce at Brandon) near the volunteers car park this afternoon, first heard and then found while I was packing up after another day battling the Crassula helmsii on Carlton Pool.
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| Carlton Pool - Finally the end is in sight! |
Talking of Carlton Pool I think that with the superb efforts of the volunteers we can finally see daylight, as the image above shows. Hopefully another couple of weeks will see an end to the project. A lot more
Lesser Redpoll and
Siskin on the reserve today, along with
Redwing,
Fieldfare and
Goldcrest. A lone
Ruff still remains feeding up on east marsh, along with
♂Goldeneye. Also of note today: Several
Skylark over,
Grey Wagtail,
Green Sandpiper and high numbers of
Wigeon!
Happy Halloween!!!
