I was on my own much of the time though I bumped into Phil. couple of times.
There were a fair number of gulls on the water when I arrived though the seven Greater Black Backs was the only species of note. There were a few Grey Herons around including one appearing to be on territory on the island. Ducks seem to be down with only Gadwall and Mallard being noticeable. I think many were either at the back of the big island and out of view or up on Tumbling Bay. There were no Teal, Shoveler or Wigeon for example. I was lucky enough to catch a pair of Goosander flying over Hollycross and up the As Valley.
I walked through the woods picking up a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a couple of Redwing and a small number of Siskins in the Alders. I then carried on up to Tumbling Bay, where some of the missing Pochard and Shovelers were found. The usual Grey Wagtail was around the lock and I also heard a Chiffchaff here.
The walk back to Hollycross proved to be rather quiet apart from a few Goldcrests and a calling Bullfinch so I returned and stopped off at the Bittern Pool for a while to scan the Alders and the distant woods-Phil had mentioned that the Ravens were being seen regularly but all I had were somewhat acrobatic Jackdaws.
Back at the view point the skittish Lapwing suggested that a Peregrine was around somewhere but they seemed to go up whenever a gull flew over and the only raptor present was a distant Buzzard.
With a bit of time in hand I called in at Fairlands. Parking in the main car park, I just had to stroll down the slope to spot the Caspian Gull, which was a bit more photogenic than last time.
This is the Caspian
And these are of a rather white headed Herring type that I initially took photos of and assumed was the Caspian. I didn't spot that it wasn't ringed!
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