Having taken over from Roger French on the Area 4 patch, this morning was my first solo Wetland Bird Survey (or WeBS for short). Luckily some recent rain had flooded some of the fields either side of the river between New Inn  Farm and Betley Bridge, plus the patch to the south-west of Rye Farm had plenty of surface water. This gave me a chance to actually record something! And there was indeed a bit about. Final figures were:

Mute Swan 19, Egyptian Goose 1, Shoveler 8, Wigeon 76, Mallard 16, Teal 35, Lapwing 1, Snipe 2, Black-headed Gull 71, Common Gull 31, Herring Gull 8.

Also of note, but outside of the WeBS remit, were 4 Skylarks west of Chates, with one in full song. That was a bit unexpected on a January morning!