Saturday 6 March 2010

RSPB Flooded

Marsh Harrier
ditto
Whooper Swan
Pochard Pair - immediately after copulation
Not everyone brought wellies!
The extremely high tides earlier in the week meant that 2 hides could only be visited by welly- wearers, or those who didn't mind getting their feet wet. We popped over to Ousefleet first thing were Richard was the first to spot the cryptically-plumaged Snipe, whilst Pat noted the solitary Whooper Swan. It was possible that this was one of the pair, which had been at the site throughout the winter. There was no sign of the other swan. Today's high tide had occurred before the first session, so there weren't many other waders, although we did flush about 15 Curlew. We saw a couple of Marsh Harriers occasionally, but there weren't as many in the sky at any one time, as there were last week, and they didn't come very close to the hides. The mating Pochard were something of a surprise, and the wading through the floodwater was worth it as there were nearly 30 Snipe concealed in front of one of the hides. The morning saw a few Reed Buntings in full 'song', but they had all gone quiet by the afternoon. Although Friday wasn't as good as the others days this week, especialy after the biting west wind set in around mid-morning, it was infinitely better than any previous Friday so far this year.

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