Patchwork Challenge Trip 5 (05th February) 53 Birds

Pursuing Pintails

I'd already missed the first lot of Pintails that had appeared in January, so when Martin mentioned that he spotted more on his Saturday visit I knew I had to try and find them.

I arrived at Longham the following day at 8.20 and was greeted to a largely deserted car park and even fewer birds. A few blackbirds and carrion crows were wheeling around but it was otherwise quiet.

The island was pretty disappointing with just Cormorants to be seen.

Heading to the large island on South Lake where most of the exotics and waders are typically found I saw no sign of the Pintails, although I did spy what looks like the last two Great White Egrets (the other appears to have flown off now).

As I got to the back fields I saw that everything had flooded, pushing all the geese and swans further away than usual. I tried to scan the large groups with my bins, but it's a folly without a telescope so I gave up.

A Great White Egret and Grey Heron fishing.

I walked along the back of North Lake in the hope of spotting Water Rails but saw nothing other than one of the Egrets and a Grey Heron, a small number of Great Tit and a flock of around 17 Pochard. Other than that it was pretty quiet so I headed back to South Lake.

Halfway along the back of South Lake I saw the Pintails, they were right in the middle of the lake, so my shots are pretty poor, but you can still make out how dainty and charming they are.

Not the greatest of shots, but you can see how dainty these ducks are.

Other than the Pintails my walk was pretty uneventful with the only new bird being a Green Woodpecker that was flushed by a pair of joggers.

TOTAL BIRDS SEEN: 53