Birds around included 7000 Golden Plovers, 1000 Lapwings and 25 Fieldfares.
Gibraltar Road near the Yacht Club, and the footpath around the Plantation, have re-flooded, not by sea-water, but as a result of the recent heavy and persistent rain.
 |
| Gibraltar Road re-flooded near Yacht Club, 10 January 2014. Photo - George Gregory |
 |
| Footpath around Plantation closed, 10 January 2014. Photo - George Gregory |
Around were a Merlin, 3 Rock Pipits, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 50 Fieldfares, 2 Song Thrushes and a Yellowhammer. On the sea were 6 Great Crested Grebes, 6 Red-breasted Mergansers, an Eider and 2 Red-throated Divers. Heading north were 4 Common Scoters, and south 4 Red-throated Divers.
January 8th: Moderate south-westerly wind, partly cloudy.
Notables were a Chiffchaff, a Marsh Harrier, a Peregrine, a Yellowhammer, 90 Fieldfares, a Redwing and a Goldcrest. On the sea were a Great Crested Grebe, 2 Eider and a Guillemot. Flying south were 35 Red-throated Divers, 18 Red-breasted Mergansers, 4 Great Crested Grebes, 19 Eider, 13 Common Scoter, 4 Guillemots, a Razorbill, 16 Cormorants, 12 Brent Geese, 13 Pink-footed Geese and 8 Kittiwakes.
January 7th: Moderate south-westerly wind, mostly cloudy then clear, occasional rain.
Birds around included a Marsh Harrier, a Common Buzzard, 3 Goldcrests, 2 Chiffchaffs and 4 Song Thrushes. On the water bodies were 62 Gadwall, a Goldeneye and 13 Snipe. Heading north-west were 250 Pink-footed Geese.
January 6th: Moderate south-westerly wind, mostly clear.
On Croftmarsh were 7900 Golden Plovers, 1200 Lapwings, a Merlin and 20 Skylarks, and on Tennyson Sands a Scaup, 4 Pochard, 52 Gadwall and 48 Black-tailed Godwits. Also around were a Siskin and a Chiffchaff. Flying north offshore were a juvenile Pomarine Skua, and south a Red-necked Grebe, 56 Red-throated Divers, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, 5 Great Crested Grebes, 12 Eiders, 44 Common Scoter, a Kittiwake, a Little Gull, 7 Guillemots, 2 Pintail and 7 Wigeon. Heading to Norfolk were 52 Pink-footed Geese.
January 5th: Moderate south-westerly wind, clear then clouding over.
The 6 Shorelarks were still on Millenium Ridge. Other birds around included 8 Woodcocks, a Green Woodpecker, 6 Redwings, 70 Fieldfares, a Peregrine, a Marsh Harrier, a Hen Harrier, 2 Chiffchaffs and a Snow Bunting. Heading south were 36 Pink-footed Geese and 9 Whooper Swans. A Mistle Thrush sang near the Decoy. Offshore were a Great Northern Diver, a Velvet Scoter and an Eider, while south went 91 Red-throated Divers, 9 Great Crested Grebes, a Guillemot, 2 Razorbills, 45 Common Scoters and 3 Velvet Scoters, and north 15 Red-throated Divers, a Guillemot and 10 Common Scoters. A Harbour Porpoise swam north.
The first ringing session of the year at Aylmer Avenue by David and Liv Vincent and Jenni Godber resulted in 9 new birds and 12 retraps. The new birds were 5 Goldfinches and 4 Greenfinches. The retraps were 6 Greenfinches, 2 Dunnocks, 2 Great Tits, a Goldfinch and a Blue Tit.
January 4th: Fairly strong south-easterly wind, rain most of day.
Around were 2 Chiffchaffs, 15 Fieldfares and 3 Redwings.
January 3rd: 6 Shorelarks remained on Millennium Ridge. An Eider was offshore, and 120 Common Scoters went south.
January 2nd: Light south-westerly wind, mostly clear.
On Millennium Ridge were 8 Shorelarks. Other birds around included a Chiffchaff, 35 Fieldfares, 3 Redwings, a Green Woodpecker, a Yellowhammer and a Siskin. A Marsh Harrier flew south. At sea 8 Common Scoters and 4 Red-throated Divers flew south, and 2 Red-throated Divers north, while on the sea were a Red-breasted Merganser, a Common Scoter and 4 Red-throated Divers. On Croftmarsh were 5000 Golden Plovers and 400 Lapwings.
January 1st: Strong southerly wind, mostly cloudy, rainy afternoon.
Flying south offshore were a Slavonian Grebe, a Goldeneye, 2 Razorbills, a Gannet, a Pintail, 2 Scaup, a Kittiwake and 5 Guillemots, and north a Little Gull, while offshore were 4 Eiders, 20 Red-throated Divers and 2 Great Crested Grebes. Around were a Snow Bunting, a Chiffchaff, 12 Fieldfares, a Redwing, a Water Rail, 4000 Golden Plovers and 500 Lapwings. On Tennyson Sands were 3 Pochard. Across the River Steeping were 26 Whooper Swans and 3 Bewick's Swans.
