As I took a walk out to see the water levels in the fields bordering the North Wall I realised I hadn't updated my blog for a week or more. Well, last Monday we awoke to a sprinkling of snow and having then turned on the news, realised we had been more fortunate than most. Deep snow had fallen in the the south east and was causing traffic chaos! Since then we have had a mixture of cold,cloudy weather but last night heavy rain had left many places under water...again living virtually on the shingle beach we are fortunate in that the rain drains away quite quickly. As far as the birds this past week 5 Avocets have been present, 2 of them still hobling on one leg. An oiled dead Gannet has been washed up on the beach and this afternoon I came across a flightless Brent Goose in the harbour. It was able to run across the marsh evading capture but was unable to fly although it didn't seem to dragging a broken wing.
From the North Wall all the fields are under deep water but on a few remaining 'islands' there were huge concentrations of birds including c1000 Black Tailed Godwits, 750 Golden Plover, 500 Lapwings besides flocks of Wigeon and many Pintail, Shoveler and Shelduck. A couple of large flocks of Brent geese were wheeling over the flooded fields and must have totalled 1500/2000+....a fantastic sight.
On my return along Slipe Field I heard my first songs of both a Chaffinch and a Greenfinch so I guess Spring is not too far away....nice thought.
Late afernoon sun over the Harbour
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