The plan for this morning was to go to Bubwith Ings and try to find the American wigeon.
However, the water level on the Ings has gone down and there were only a few dunlin to be seen.
I then drove to NDC and looked out from the Geoff Smith hide. In the distance I could see lots of swans and wildfowl, including wigeon. They were too far away for me to identify any different ones, so I walked down to the Garganey hide.
On the way as I passed the flower field, I disturbed a small covey of partridge. Their flight disturbed lots of woodpigeons, which in turn disturbed a mixed flock of linnet, chaffinch and reed buntings.
This is the view from the hide.
The above picture was taken with my telephoto lens and you can see the line of swans in the distance. The
ducks were on the water in front of the swans, but hidden by the vegetation.
Lapwings were a little closer, and with them were dunlin, redshank and a single golden plover.
This marsh harrier flew over the ducks and did not disturb them, it seemed more interested in following the ditches. A peregrine kept disturbing the lapwings, but it did not try to catch one.
After about an hour, I returned to the Geoff smith hide for one last look over the reserve. I estimated that there were at least 70 plus whooper swans, including several young ones. There were a few pink-footed geese in with the greylags and canadas.
As I type this it is raining. Will this put more water on the ings and tempt the wildfowl to return!
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