Monday 27th February

Bird numbers are noticeably down in recent days: the ducks seem to be starting to depart and even the gull roost has been rather paltry of late. On the wader front there are still 4 REDSHANK and 3 DUNLIN and the golden plover flock is down to about 150 birds with much reduced lapwing numbers as well. The two SHELDUCK are still about and there were two or three GOOSANDER still coming in to roost though a couple of those just seemed to drop in briefly before flying off again. There are still a few PINTAIL around and a good count of 32 shoveler today. All in all we're making the transition from winter birding to spring birding and the first migrants might start arriving in the next few weeks.