A good number again this morning – of walkers and birds!  Joining me were Angela, Belinda, Dave,  Ian, John D, Mark & Tessa, Sharon J (with Bess) and Suzy.  Beautiful day, cold but sunny and no wind.

We heard several Song Thrushes in song along the first part of the railway line, admired a lovely group of Long-tailed Tits in the trees beside the embankment, heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming and a Green Woodpecker yaffling. Angela picked up the call of a Bullfinch, but only worked out what it was a bit later! The flooded fields were mostly covered in ice, but in the distance we could see probably 2,500 birds – the majority Wigeon and Teal, with smaller numbers of Pintail and Shoveler, and about 200 Lapwing.  Among 300 or so Black-headed Gulls, I found one Common Gull.  Suzy noticed a single Snipe fly up.

Looking across the fields from the bridge with the metal railings, there was great excitement when Suzy and Belinda found a Kingfisher perched on a bush over a stream.  Very distant but got some reasonable ‘scope views.  Then more excitement when a Red Kite was spotted way off – probably the other side of the river!  We had seen Fieldfares feeding with Redwing and Blackbirds on ripening ivy berries.  These are a valuable food source this time of year.

A Kestrel was flying around near Stretham, and along the river we had 2 more Little Egrets, a single Stonechat, and two Ravens cronked their way over.  We found a dead Buzzard lying by the river, but later saw a live one, and a group of 14 Goldfinches were in a bush to the left.  A Moorhen scuttered across the river, and Dave noticed a Grey Wagtail on the path, which disappeared, to be relocated by Tessa beside the kayaks.

Must admit I was getting quite tired by then, so the only other species I had the energy to note down was Starlings along the bridleway!

A couple of not very clear “record” photos attached.  Loaded everything onto BirdTrack and it came up with a total of 47 different species  –  and I didn’t record Dunnock!