GND on the patch

Having not visited the patch at all last weekend, I was looking forward to spending plenty of time down there this weekend - and even more so when Roger Bennett tweeted a picture of a Great Northern Diver on Ferry Lane Lake on Friday afternoon. A first for Collingham!

I got down there slightly later than planned (I blame my fourth jagerbomb last night...). When I arrived, I couldn't see the bird, and then found Roger and Mark Dawson also looking; Mark had seen it, but it had gone missing. We eventually tracked it down, but it was extremely elusive, hugging the shore and only surfacing for short periods. 

I then headed off, whilst Mark stayed a bit longer - seeing the diver take flight, head north, and drop into Mons Pool, where he found a group of 11 Whooper Swans (which I went to see later after a visit to Meering - 7 adults and 4 juvs). Other birds at Collingham included 5 Goosander, 6 Pintail, and a Peregrine on the pylons. A Green Sand was the only bird of note at Meering (no swans at all on Meering Fields or Smithy Marsh). I also popped up to Girton - plenty of wildfowl, but nothing of particular note. 

The GND puts me on 138 species for the patch in 2015... Just two more to reach my target! Tawny Owl will be one (I hope), but what else..?