Cetti's challenge met

After 2 months of it being present, I finally bagged the Cetti's Warbler at Collingham Pits this morning; having had another unsuccessful listen/look for it from the hide at Mons Pool, I went to the viewing screens a couple of hundred yards further along the south side of the lake. A squealing Water Rail and 2 Kingfishers were nice, but there wasn't much else, so I checked my Twitter feed to see what was going on elsewhere. Lucky I did, as a few minutes later I heard the Cetti's calling from the edge of the water. Clambering up onto the side of the viewing screen (don't tell anyone), I had decent views of the bird. A patch tick, and two points for Patchwork Challenge!

Other bits and pieces around the patch included 1 Merlin, 1 Little Owl, 5 Snipe, 4 Redshank, 2 Curlew, 1 Little Egret, 40 Golden Plover (over), c.10 Tree Sparrows, at least 7 Bullfinches, and moderate numbers of Fieldfares and Redwings. Just off-site, 2 Whooper Swans were with 14 Mutes to the west of the River Trent at Cromwell, viewed from the conveyor outfall on the river next to the Silt Lagoon. The only thing of note at Meering was a Redshank.

It just wouldn't be winter without some awful photos of Whooper Swans...

Onwards to Girton, to do my WeBS count (a day early, rather than a week late, for a change). Best were 40 Pink-feet which flew over west; otherwise, the more notable totals included 248 Tufted Duck, 261 Coot, 353 Wigeon and a whopping 144 Gadwall, as well as 28 Pochard, 29 Goldeneye, 5 Shoveler and 42 Teal, plus a single Redshank.