Sunday 19 November, 1015am. First winter Little Gull at head height over Rattling Bow bridge, eventually drifted off to south-west.  Whooper Swan was a little further east, to the south of the road.  At Westhay Moor, two Egyptian Geese on the grass field opposite the car park then flew into the stubble beyond.

As well as the Whooper (which was for a while the closest brd to road, apart from BH Gulls), this afternoon there was at least 1 male Pintail with the Wigeon / Gadwall / Shoveler on other side of Tealham Moor Drove, plus large flocks of Canadas & Greylag (more of former)

15-Nov-2023
The adult Whooper Swan was still present this late-morning on Tealham Moor at the western end just before the bridge at Rattling Bow (where the road turns abruptly right if driving west). It was on roadside flooding to the north of the road, feeding with 3 Mute Swans.

Yesterday afternoon the Whooper was at Rattlin Bow just east of the North Drain bridge. Easily viewable from Totney Drove road(directly opposite the ‘stockade’). No sign of SEO.
I have some pictures on my Flickr account

Good morning Mike
The Whooper Swan (see photo posted on twitter on Monday) was viewed from the stone bridge on Tealham Moor Drove looking north. The bridge being accessible from Jacks Drove walking on the dredge rhyne spoil, although water levels may have dropped making access easier now? (Assuming that it’s still there).

No whooper?

A Short-eared Owl flew up from the roadside as I drove past this morning. It settled in a nearby field giving good views , fortunately there was no other traffic at the time . A Lapwing flock in flight on the NW flooded part of the moor may have had some smaller waders with them but as Bryn commented wellies are needed to walk along Tealham Moor Drove so I only had distant views.

A visit to Tealham this morning produced some interesting birds and conditions. A complete circuit being prevented by a short section of Tealham Moor Drove being under water (close to the top of my wellies). Water level still appears to be rising after overnight rain. Sunny spells and strong gusting winds.
Black-headed Gull 150+
Mute Swan 15
Goldfinch 10+
Carrion Crow 2
Kestrel 1
Grey Heron 1
Merlin 1
Lapwing 153 at rest in a flooded field.
Canada Goose 68
Whooper Swan 1
Mallard 9 males
Wigeon 60+
Moorhen 1
Meadow Pipit 4
Rook 19
Great White Egret 2
Stonechat 1 male.

A walk around Tealham moor this morning produced:
Gt White Egret x 1
Little Egret x 1
Carrion Crow x 5
Meadow Pipit x 6
Grey Heron x 2
Robin x 1
Stonechat x 3 pairs and a solitary male.
Mute Swan 48
Wren x 1
Pied Wagtail x 1
Skylark x 6
Buzzard x 2
Kingfisher x 1
Kestrel x 1
Marsh Harrier 1 male
Magpie x 8 (together)
Starling circ 100
Raven x 1
Gt Tit x 1

Another walk around Tealham this morning only produced the following

Kingfisher 1
Meadow Pipit total of 10 (ones and twos along the route).
Wheatear 4
Buzzard 1
Swallow total of 29 (going southeast in drubs and drabs, the largest group being eleven).
Mallard total 38
Mute Swan total 47
Great White Egret 1
Cattle Egret minimum count of 18 (probably more hiding amongst the clumps of Rush in a field next to North Drain where I counted ten birds)
Carrion Crow 2
Jackdaw 1
Goldfinch circ 50
Stonechat 2
Moorhen 1 ad, 2 imm
Wood Pigeon 2
Teal 17
Linnet 5
Robin 2
Blue Tit 1
Great Tit 1
Skylark 1

A walk around Tealham this morning came up with the following:

Snipe 1
Mute Swan 65
Carrion Crow 6
Kingfisher 1
Cattle Egret 8
Meadow Pipit 6
Grey Heron 3
Kestrel 1
Cormorant 2
Teal 1
Swallow 9
Raven 2
Mallard 1
Great Tit 1
Robin 1
Wood Pigeon 1
Herring Gull 1
Wheatear 4
Lapwing 6
House Martin 1

A three hour walk around Tealham this morning produced the following:

Buzzard 1
Wood Pigeon 8
Carrion Crow 3
Magpie 4
Grey Heron 1
Rook 3
Mute Swan 43
Wren 4
Mallard 2
Cattle Egret 13
Sparrowhawk 1 male
Jackdaw 2
Chiffchaff 1
Teal 18
Reed Bunting 5
Swallow 9
Goldfinch 1
Whinchat 1
Wheatear 6
Sedge Warbler 1
Robin 1
Stonechat 1 m 1 f (pr)
Linnet 30+
Meadow Pipit 12

Saw a snipe at westhay last week, day after the Purple Heron was photographed

Thanks Allan. I was in the Catcott hide a few days ago but no sign then. There were at least 60 Cattle Egrets among cattle at the back of Catcott Lows. I’m sure I will catch up with some Lapwings before the end of the month. Snipe are proving elusive as well lately. I still have Swallows and House Martins over my Westhay garden every day including very recently fledged ones but there don’t seem to be many elsewhere.

Hello Martin, A quote from my Twitter post from last week 18th Aug. to be precise
  “A very dull afternoon at Catcott ,A few passing Cattle Egrets. PLUS the return of 35 Lapwing! No Lapwing have been here for a few weeks, mind with the height of the vegetation the might be hundreds out there ”
A few were there on several days last week, always half way back on the left hand side and only visible when a Harrier passed near them! i did post a picture as well just to be sure I hadn’t misidentified them!