Wintersett, Sunday

Very cold and clear all day.
WeBS counts;- Mallard 92, Wigeon 176, Shoveler 46, Teal 18, Gadwall 30, Tufted 251, Pochard 97, Goldeneye 27, Goosander 23, Cormorant 17, Great Crested Grebe 67, Coot 442, both a Oystercatcher and a Redshank are new in. The gull roost on the Country Park this evening held;- GBBGull 72, LBBGull 74, Herring Gull 295, Yellow-legged Gull 1 adult, Common Gull 1000.

Bird-of-the-day is a male Cettis Warbler discovered in the west bank clump on the Top Res this afternoon. It called frequently, sang once and showed itself off on a couple of occasions right up to dusk. This is the seventh bird at Wintersett and the first since December 2011. A Chiffchaff was also in the clump and a Blackcap was in Botany. Four Crossbill were photographed in Haw Park. Up to 8 Common Buzzards were enjoying the sunshine and wind.

Vis mig;- the cold overnight frost did the trick and Wood Pigeons were on the move southwards for the first couple of hours after dawn - 9680 were counted. A skein of 19 Pink-footed Geese went east and runner-up-bird-of-the-day was a Marsh Harrier which went south at 07.45. Starling 520, Skylark 10, and Fieldfare 69 were the other notable movers today, although there was a good passage of large gulls heading north-west which we unfortunatly failed to count due to being pre-occupied with pigeons!