16-Dec-2024
Very quet in a slow drive around Wethay Heath and Blakeway Moor: no Cattle Egrets, just the odd Little Egret and a single GW Egret, best was a Peregrine ( male on size) that spooked the Lapwing flock and then landed on top of one of the electricity pylons.

15-Dec-2024 - at dusk.
Sharpham Lane fields, north of Walton, just south of RSPB Ham Wall: Large flock of feeding Greylags and a few Canada Geese, still with 5 Barnacle Geese and 3 Russian (albifrons) Greater White-fronted Geese.

The Baikal Teal was seen again at Greylake after long wait of it being hidden. A possible green winged teal also was reported there.
No sign of the Green winged teal at Cattcott.

Scaup still from Lewis’s Drove today, an imm male.  Just 3 Dunlin with the Lapwing at Westhay.  Still loads of birds in the area - egrets, Redwings, Chiffchaffs, pipits, more Teal than usual.

Green-winged Teal again/still at Catcott this afternoon.

Good variety around again with others seeing Firecrests, Sibechaff and RND around Decoy;  2 Whoopers and a Goldeneye at Noah’s;  and 3 Whitefronts and 5 Barnacles at Sharpham.

Highlights from Noahs hide and nearby today included a Firecrest close to the hide, two Kingfishers , a Chiff Chaff , several Marsh Harrier upsetting the duck flock and a flyby Sparrowhawk. Walking back to the carpark we had three flyover Cranes.

Odds and ends from this morning:
An imm Scaup was on one of the fishing lakes along Lewis’s Drove today - nice record for there.
6 Dunlin were with the Lapwing in wet fields close by.
The adult female Merlin perched up nicely 50m in front of the Greylake hides first thing.

Warning tape across catcott lows track this evening as apparently a tree has come down before you get to hide, but most of the massive trees across road east of westhay entrance seem to have been cut out now - 2 to 300 lapwing and c.100 redwing on the fields opposite.

2 Goldeneye were on Noah’s this morning;  and at Westhay, big Redwing flocks were back using the damp roadside fields, and the Lapwing flock had 40 Golden Plover and 3 Dunlin mixed in.

At least one possibly two Yellow-browed Warblers at the eastern end of Ham Wall yesterday.  They took a bit of finding amongst the number of Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests & tit sp. present. Some finch flocks - mainly Chaffinch & Goldfinch = beginning to build up along the tracks at both Ham Wall & Shampwick Moor, so worth keeping an eye out for Brambling etc.

There were merlins at greylake and catcott today (also a red kite at former), plus at least 7 golden plover with the lapwings on flooded field almost opposite entrance to westhay

1 imm male Scaup was at Long Drove this morning, and a Green Sand flew over Greylake

An eclipse-type drake Garganey was at Catcott this pm - the recent Greylake bird perhaps - but I couldn’t see the GW Teal.  The Garganey is striking with a very pale face and plenty of white in the super.

A male marsh harrier briefly put up the glossy ibis and c.150 cattle egrets along the burtle/ westhay road

26-Nov-2024
3rd time lucky this morning & with the help of Tom Raven’s hearing I saw 2 Yellow-browed Warblers along main track at eastern edge of Ham Wall c.100m east of windpump on Street Heath

Glossy Ibis update: Looking closely at my recent videos: (A) from a waterlogged Westhay Heath on 06-Nov and (B) from Ham Wall on 17-Nov there are 2 birds involved. (A) shows obvious rufous lesser wing-coverts, while (B) has all similar coloured lesser, median and greater wing-coverts. My video still-frame pics on X (Twitter).