The weekend was spent with Ingrid up in Wigan for the Catfish Study Group Convention 2017 and the only birding we managed to do was a quick lunchtime jaunt around the adjacent Worthington Lakes, which held only four
Great Crested Grebes of any note.
Back at base today, I headed out to Beddington Farmlands as the start of food recycling in the next couple of weeks will bring the site's 'Age of the Gulls' to a rather abrupt end. There were disappointingly few gulls to savour and none of any note. Small gulls were noticeable by their near-absence, with only one
Common Gull and around 20
Black-headed Gulls seen. Highlights included my first
Little Egret at the site since November 2015 (I was at Dungeness for much of last year but not over the winter months), as well as a pair of
Wigeon, five
Shelducks, a
Green Sandpiper, two
Snipe, the
Tufted Duck x Pochard hybrid, the
Black Swan, a
Blackcap, three
Chiffchaffs, a
Cetti's Warbler and a light trickle of
Pied Wagtails and
Meadow Pipits seemingly moving overhead.
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| Black Swan at Beddington |
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| drake Tufted Duck x Pochard with drake Tufted Duck at Beddington |
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| Shelducks at Beddington |
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| Wigeon at Beddington |
