First Collingham visit of 2013

Water levels have now fallen sufficiently to allow access again at Collingham and Besthorpe, which is good news as it allows me to get my Patchwork Challenge list underway. Ferry Lane Lake and Wharf Pond both held large numbers of wildfowl - mainly Wigeon, Teal and Tufted Duck, but also Gadwall, Shoveler, Pochard and Mallard, and amongst them 17 Pintail (11 males, 6 females), which is a good count for this site. Wharf Pit also produced a Green Sandpiper. Off the water, there were 9 Lesser Redpoll on the south side of Carlton Ferry Lane, feeding on mugwort seeds, and 3 Brambling in the big ash trees at Wharf Cottages.

The footpath with Wharf Pond to the left and Ferry Lane Lake to the right - still unpassable!

The Silt Lagoon didn't have much on it other than a party of 17 Redshank, 3 Shelduck, and a flyover Little Egret, and Mons Pool produced a further 8 Pintail (4 pairs), plus 11 Siskin feeding quietly in the alders and 5 fly-through Tree Sparrows heading west. In all, I notched up a total of 58 species on the visit, which I don't think is a bad start - plenty still to get!

Most of the 17 Redshank on the Silt Lagoon at Collingham Pits today

I then headed to Girton, starting at Spalford Pit where I failed to find the Ferruginous Duck again - perhaps its moved on? But there were 8 Shelduck and 4 Green Sandpipers, the latter in the field to the west. Rapidly running out of time, a quick look on the Sailing Lake didn't produce anything of note, but a nice flock of 170+ Pink-footed Geese passed overhead, going west.