Swannery Bird News - February 2016

Highlights...

There were no rare vagrants, scarce migrants or 'Swannery first's' this month so it's on with the rest of the news...

Waterfowl...

The two first winter female Long-tailed Ducks and the five Scaup (the adult drake, adult duck and three first winter ducks) were seen almost daily. 

The peak counts of other wildfowl were: 

Mute Swan 590; 
Black Swan 2; 
Canada Goose 30; 
Brent Goose 3; 
Shelduck 40;
Wigeon  10; 
Gadwall 4; 
Teal 170;
Mallard  380; 
Pintail 50;
Shoveler  40;
Pochard 320; 
Tufted Duck 170;
Goldeneye 2; 
Red-breasted Merganser 2o.

One of this month's Red-breasted Mergansers...
A first winter drake (note the green surround to the eye)

Waders...

A Jack Snipe was inadvertently flushed on the 22nd, the first since October but there were no other surprises and peak counts of the only other waders seen were: 

Oystercatcher 7;
Lapwing 270;
Snipe 20; 
Curlew 1;
Redshank 20.

Gulls...

An adult  Little Gull was present erratically from the 14th to the 23rd (the first since July 2014), while peak counts of the other gulls seen were: 

Black-headed Gull 100;
Mediterranean Gull 200;
Common Gull 1000;
Lesser Black-backed Gull 14;
Herring Gull 40;
Great Black-backed Gull 4.

Other Water Birds... 

A Slavonian Grebe  was seen most days between the 19th and the 25th, the first since March 2013... 

A poor distant record shot of the Slavonian Grebe

Peak counts of other water birds were:

Cormorant 4;
Little Egret 22;
Grey Heron 4;
Little Grebe 8; 
Great Crested Grebe 15;  

Moorhen 20:
Coot 250;
Kingfisher 1.

In addition, although not seen, Water Rails  were regularly heard.

Raptors...

There were a couple of sightings of the immature Marsh Harrier, two sightings of a Barn Owl and one sighting of a Peregrine. The following three species though were noted regularly:   

Sparrowhawk, 
Buzzard,
Kestrel.

There were no sightings of Tawny Owls but they were presumably present.

Other Non-Passerines...

There were no noteworthy sightings but the following species were noted in varying numbers: 

Pheasant, 
Feral/Domestic Pigeon, 
Stock Dove, 
Wood Pigeon,
Green Woodpecker,
Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Passerines...

There were no noteworthy sightings but the following species were noted in varying numbers: 

Magpie, 

Jackdaw, 
Rook, 
Carrion Crow, 
Raven, 
Goldcrest,
Blue Tit, 
Great Tit, 
Coal Tit, 
Sky Lark, 
Cetti's Warbler,
Long-tailed Tit, 
Chiffchaff,
Treecreeper, 
Wren, 
Starling, 
Blackbird, 
Song Thrush, 
Mistle Thrush, 
Robin, 
Stonechat, 
House Sparrow, 
Dunnock, 
Grey Wagtail,
Pied Wagtail,
Meadow Pipit,
Rock Pipit,
Chaffinch, 
Greenfinch, 
Goldfinch, 
Siskin,
Linnet,
Bullfinch, 
Reed Bunting.

And that's it for this month...