A hooded gull at dusk

A trip to Collingham Pits this morning before hockey (2-1 loss, no goals for me) produced a fair amount, although nothing out of the ordinary. There were lots of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits moving around, as well as parties of Starlings heading west. There were also quite a few Redwing in the area, including a flock of 70 which contained 10 Fieldfare.

Inspired by the finding of a Yellow-browed Warbler earlier in the week at Marston sewage works in Lincs (a rival Patchwork Challenge site) I had another go trying to find one on Northcroft Lane - if there's one on the site, it's going to be here. However, the best I could find was 3-4 Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap, and single Brambling and Siskin. 

On the pits themselves there was a pair of Red-crested Pochards on Wharf Pit, and 1 Green Sand, 1 Common Sand, 1 Dunlin, 2 Redshank and 9 Snipe around the site, as well as a Grey Wagtail. No Rock Pipits though; I was feeling hopeful for one today. 

The Silt Lagoon

Another look this evening pushed the Snipe total up to 18, and there were now 3 Red-crested Pochards, on Ferry Lane Lake (2 males and a female). As dusk fell I had a quick scan through the Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, locating a large gull with a full hood formed by dense streaking on the head. It was front-on and by then it was pretty dark (the pics below are 1/6th of a second at ISO 3200), but it looked like a LBB rather than an atlantis-type Yellow-leg... But definitely one to keep an eye out for next visit.