The day dawned clear and bright,which made a nice changed from the recent dismal weather.
On my one and a half hours walk this morning I saw forty nine species of birds.The most notable being Bittern (Streamside lake,Goldeneye (Trout lake)Kingfisher (2)streamside lake)and river,Grey Wagtail(1)Rook (1) Goldcrest(1)Chiffchaff (1)Siskin (18)and Pied Wagtail (1).A count of ten Bullfinch was also notable,eight of which were seen or heard in the Abbey Meads area,with the remaining two being located in the west scrub.Fieldfare and Redwing on the other hand were notable by their low numbers,with only one Fielfare and four Redwing being seen.This must be due to the fact that much of the berry crop in the area has been depleted.
It was nice to see at least twenty Herons back in the Heronry (Eccles island).