New Year Bird Walk - Papercourt

The annual New Year bird walk took place on Sunday 9th January. The venue was the Littleton Lakes. The day was overcast but the strong wind of the previous two days had moderated to a gentle, if cool, breeze. Ten members met at the Sheep Walk. Parking was a bit of a problem as our walk coincided with a fishing competition. We first scanned the east lake and saw two Little Grebes, Great-crested Grebe, Cormorant, a lone female Pochard and a whole raft of Tufted Ducks. On the middle lake, adjacent to the motorway, there were many Tufted Ducks and hidden amongst them were three male and five female Goldeneyes. There were also a number of Gadwall and Coots. On the main lake a few boats were sailing, which pushed most of the waterfowl close to the banks. Here were large numbers of Coots and a number of grebes. The Great-crested Grebes were already changing from their winter plumage and two on the small lagoon treated us to their courtship display. Apart from the waterfowl there were not many other birds about. It was cool and windy and they had probably fed much earlier and were resting and conserving their body heat. The following species were seen:

Great-crested Grebe

Little Grebe

Blackbird

Robin

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Collared Dove

Jay

Wood Pigeon

Canada Goose

Goldfinch

Chaffinch

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Redwing

Ring-necked Parakeet

Tufted Duck

Gadwall

Mallard

Pochard

Coot

Goldeneye

Cormorant

Mute Swan

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Black-headed Gull

Kestrel

CHRIS BRADING