Carsington water – 29th January 2023
Attendees – Mark, Jill, Paul, Sally, John & Jennifer
Number of species - 40 ( site number now at 73 birds)
We met in the Millfield car park at 09:00, a little later than usual but it was overcast so a small lie-in was good for everyone.
A good start with Red Kite showing early, we went on to see this bird 3 or 4 times.
Waterfowl soon added to the numbers with Teal, Gadwall, Mallard, Wigeon, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose and Goldeneye. Later we added Tufted Duck and Barnacle Goose too.
The usual Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Coal Tit were hanging around the car park feeders with Pied Wagtail and Redshank spotted at the water’s edge.
After walking along the South edge for a while, Song Thrush, Redwing and Long-tailed Tit made themselves known along with Blackbird, Little Grebe and a few Lapwing.
We then walked along the West wall looking for the Great Northern Diver. We had good views of many Great Crested Grebes, even one with a large fish, but the Diver was nowhere to be seen.
Then to Stone Island where the resident female Kestrel was hunting and we saw a single Oystercatcher and distant Barnacle Geese. Best of all here was a stunning flock of around 20 Linnet. Always a pleasure to watch as they fed amongst the grass, hard to spot until they moved. A quick glance at a couple of Redwing and we had to make our way back along the wall and back to the car park.
We didn’t find the Great Northern Diver, but with 40 species we all felt it was a good day. Wonderful company and we got to see some great birds too.
Full list of birds from today’s walk.
Greylag Goose
Canada Goose
Barnacle Goose
Wigeon
Gadwall
Teal
Mallard
Tufted Duck
Goldeneye
Cormorant
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Red Kite
Buzzard
Kestrel
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher
Lapwing
Redshank
Black-headed Gull
Woodpigeon
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Raven
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Wren
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Redwing
Robin
Dunnock
House Sparrow
Grey Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Chaffinch
Linnet
End
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