Diary Entry #13

Spent Thursday with the Brandon Marsh volunteers and worked with a small party willow bashing on the Farm Reedbed. Hopefully before this years breeding season commences most of the invasive birch and willow will have been cleared. While packing the gear away at the tool store a Brimstone butterfly was on the wing, my first species of the year!

Willow bashing on the Farm Reedbed at Brandon!
Today I spent a few hours at Brandon Marsh birding and completed a full species count with 52 seen throughout my visit! Species of note on the Pools included close up views of a ♀Goosander, Little Egret, (16) Pochard, Great Crested Grebe, (4) Shelduck, Pintail pair, Water Rail and a single Little Grebe at Carlton Pool.

♀Goosander having a bad hair day!
Other notables throughout the visit included a single Skylark over, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, (4) Siskin, (2) Redwing, Green Woodpecker, (6) Bullfinch and Kingfisher. Gulls were well represented and in among the hoard of Black-headed Gulls were: (11) Common Gull, (5) Lesser Black-backed Gull and (6) Herring Gull.