Bolton Ings - 15th April

Lovely blue sky this morning but very cold, 0c at 07.30 and had to scrape ice off car for second morning in a row. Icy cold strong wind as well which made viewing difficult and warblers fairly quiet. Highlights were my first Yellow Wagtail of the year, flying west at 09.30, 17 Pochard including 6 females, 3 pairs of Oystercatchers and decent numbers of warblers. Full list:- Mute Swan 5, Canada Goose 30, Grey Lag Goose 23, Mallard 3, Gadwall 22, Tufted Duck 42, Pochard 17, Great Crested Grebe 6, Little Grebe 12, Coot 120, Moorhen 4, Cormorant 2, Black Headed Gull 991, LBB Gull 2, Lapwing 9, Oystercatcher 6, Redshank 2, Swallow 12, Yellow Wagtail 1, Chiffchaff 19, Willow Warbler 8, Blackcap 7, Kestrel 1. My count of 991 Black Headed Gulls is again a record ( thought it was going to be 1000), the Gulls now occupy 3 islands with about 400 (200 pairs?) on the largest one. In comparison counts from previous years on this date are 2009-113, 2010-170 and 2011 229. Therfore this year has seen a massive rise, over 400%.