Birding and other distractions

Following yesterday's wet day the sun returned today. Another visit to Cliffe was made, this time to the Timber Lake and Alpha Pool. At the start a Mistle Thrush was near West Court Farm. On the Timber Lake a small wader was present on the sand spit together with Lapwing and ducks such as Teal. The bird then moved closer, a first-winter Little Stint. A Raven flew over whilst watching the stint, and a pair of Stonechat were close by. On the Alpha Pool numbers of duck were on the low side. A view of a redhead merganser on the far side was very brief, the bird promptly diving and not being seen again. Little Grebe were typically numerous at this site, and Great-Crested Grebe also found in good numbers. Three Kingfisher were seen and others heard. Timber Lake Little Stint

Rain stopped by mid morning so we headed to Cliffe to make the most of the sunshine.  Even though it was low tide it was surprising just how many birds were on the pools, especially dabbling duck such as Teal and Wigeon. F rom the viewpoint overlooking Radar Pool three Goldeneye were found, one of which was a drake. Three Spoonbill could also be seen distantly on Flamingo, though unfortunately they flew off after a short while.  Walking along the track to the creek a close group of waders was just about visible over the tops of the bushes, being a Spotted Redshank together with five Greenshank plus Common Redshank. At the back of Ski Pool a huge number of Lapwing took to the skies having been put up by a male Peregrine. Numbers were difficult to estimate though possibly approaching 2000 birds a small percentage of which were Golden Plover. After Cliffe we went to Northward Hill for the last hour of daylight. The second Peregrine of the day was seen on the marsh, this one proba...