Like a Mill Pond

That would be the Mill Pond which I found some patch Wigeon on yesterday. It was also very close to the new  best goose/snipe area that was down near Wansford. In terms of new birds for the walking only patch, a Treecreeper was a real bonus in the middle of a tit flock in the middle of the village. A Pied Wagtail on the church was only a surprise in that it was the 47th species to hit the list. In fact the first interesting thing was this Cormorant flying over the mere.

Surprisingly it appears to be a carbo which I assume to be much the scarcer of  the two (sub)species round here. That said it is only on appraisal of the photos I really have any idea. Before I reached the mere I watched the Goosander disappear into the distance as it flew WSW and over my Waxwing hunting head. Before I reached the mere a flock of 17! Corms floated over. I assume with the floods they are looking for somewhere relatively easy to fish and the mere being clear water and the head of a trout stream fits the bill. This number was to pail compared with the flock of 61 that was wheeling over the trout farm in Wansford later in the day. The mere held relatively little aside from a couple of returning Tufted Duck and 2 Little Grebes on the back edge.

Goosander the day before

I soon found the Treecreeper as I was traversing the sheep field but still no Kingfisher. Amongst another tit flock was a Goldcrest. Not a terribly common bird in the locale. To dwell on this would be to demean the hundreds and hundreds of Redwing that flanked the beck. The numbers were incredible.

Soon a Little Egret was flushed from the beck as I was searching for an unseen Tawny Owl being mobbed by the local Blackbirds.

I finished up with 8.5km under the belt and added Lapwing, Grey Partridge, Pheasant and Skylark which whilst unexpected were nice but the Grey Partridges especially were smart. No sign of any Bullfinches or Reed Buntings but I am already on 56 on my patch foot list. Not a bad dry run at all. The mill pond down by Wansford was certainly the most interesting that I saw.