Half of the Slurry Lagoon was under ice this morning. There were a few Teal, Wigeon and Shoveler but mostly there were Black-headed Gulls with a few Herring and Common Gulls. The Marsh Harrier showed several times as it hunted over the reed-beds but it and a Buzzard were mobbed by crows as they looked for a meal. Two Egyptian Geese flew into the Deep Pit and a confiding Green Woodpecker was seen digging for ants. PS.
Marsh Harrier PS.
Green Woodpecker PS.
This morning about twenty-two Swifts were feeding over the Slurry Lagoon. A Water Rail fluttered between the reed-beds in front of the bench on the Causeway. There were family parties of Green and Great-spotted Woodpeckers and a Greenfinch was leading a juvenile about the site. PS.
A male House Sparrow was seen this morning on the Lower Path, close to the river. This is a very rare sighting now at the lagoons. Also heard or seen were a Cuckoo, Green Woodpecker and Grasshopper Warbler along with four Brimstones, five Green Hairstreaks, ten Common Blues, four male Orange-tips, two Green-veined Whites, a Peacock, a Large White and a Latticed Heath. SC/PG.
Also seen this morning were three Hobbies, two Buzzards and a mass of gulls and terns catching flying ants. PS.
This evening a Great White Egret flew over the Ecopark. Also there were a Greenshank, two Shoveler, a Yellow Wagtail dropped in briefly and two Lapwings on the ploughed field past the footbridge. Also on site were a Cuckoo and a Green Woodpecker. There was a report of a Turnstone present earlier. IEP.
This morning a pair of Treecreepers was seen in the willows near the footbridge. Also seen was a Whitethroat and a Green Woodpecker. RJP.
In the afternoon there was a Yellow Wagtail and two Green Sandpipers on the Eco-park. JDn.
There was also a report of two Little Gulls and a Marsh Harrier flying through during the day. DM.
A pair of Goosander were on the river this morning and a large flock of winter thrushes were on the Ecopark. Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker and Grey Wagtail were also seen. SC/PG.