January 20th. A Sunny day with occasional broken cloud rolling though on a moderate south south easterly.
Early news concerned a single Shorelark found feeding on the foreshore. On the sea were 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, 450 Wigeon (Greenshanks Creek) and a Red-throated Diver whilst on the beach were 200 Oystercatcher, 51 Ringed Plover, 56 Redshank, 25 Turnstone and 556 Herring Gull.
On the water bodies were 4 White-fronted Geese (first thing on Field 10), 153 Shoveler, 15 Gadwall, 80 Teal and 16 Tufted Duck whilst on Croft Marsh, there were 500 Golden Plover, 1200 Lapwing and 6 Black-tailed Godwit.
Elsewhere around the reserve were 2 Woodcock, 1 Merlin, 1 Buzzard and 2 Stonechat (New Salt Marsh).
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| White-fronted Geese, 20th January 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Teal, 20th January 2026 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
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| A Drake Shoveler coming in to land, 20th January 2026 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
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| Brent Geese, 20th January 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Oystercatchers and Bar-tailed Godwit, 20th January 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Seals hauled out on the sand banks in the Wash, 20th January 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
Poor visibility early morning negated any extensive sea-watching, but a large, intense feeding frenzy of large Gulls along the foreshore contained at least 2 Caspian Gulls. Some 900 Oystercatchers were dispersing from the roost and feeding with the Gulls along with good numbers of Redshank, Sanderling and Turnstone. 51 Ringed Plover was an unusually high count for the time of year. A few Meadow Pipits were heading south and a Lapland Bunting was calling over the New Saltmarsh.
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| Skylark, 19th January 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
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| Boisterous Skylarks, 19th January 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
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| A Skylark blending in, 19th January 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
Good numbers of Woodcock reported again today in the few locations recorded.
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| Doe and Stag Roe Deer, 19th January 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
A high count of 75 Woodcock was made during good coverage of the census area. Many of these birds probably arrived during the big freeze last week. A very high count of 91 Wren was also made - indicating very good survival of the harsh conditions. The majority of these birds were in the denser scrub of the West Dunes or under the canopy of the Plantation. A Treecreeper was with the Tit flock in the West Dunes.
Also around were 1 Whooper Swan and 3 Red-throated Diver (Both over the sea), 3 Water Pipit, 1 Cetti's Warbler and 19 Corn Buntings.
January 16th. Mostly cloudy, with light southerly wind.
Records from the sea were much the same as recent days and there was still a good spread of waders feeding along the foreshore including 45 Turnstone. A Peregrine scattered the waders at one point and a Goldeneye flew out to sea.
On the water bodies were 3 White-fronted Geese which were probably new arrivals along with 170 Pink-footed Geese, 109 Shoveler, 11 Gadwall, 509 Teal, 6 Tufted Duck, 1 Snipe, 15 Black-tailed Godwits and 1 Cetti's Warbler (Harvey's Hide). On Croft Marsh were 380 Golden Plover and 800 Lapwing.
Other birds around included 39 Woodcock, a male Hen Harrier, 3 Buzzard, 1 Barn Owl, a Bullfinch and 9 Corn Bunting.
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| A distant Hen Harrier over Croft Marsh, 16th January 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker, 16th January 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Snowdrops now in flower, 16th January 2025. Photo - George Gregory |
A drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker and a singing Great Tit were early signs of spring. An hour sea-watch early morning recorded a Black-throated Diver again, with 35 Red-throated Divers, a small number of Common Scoters and Red-breasted Mergansers and a passage of 660 Herring Gulls.
January 14th. Mostly cloudy, with light south-westerly to south-easterly wind.
A morning sea-watch produced (heading South) 6 Whooper Swan, 12 Teal, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 41 Red-throated Diver, 1 Black-throated Diver and 1 Grey Heron. On the sea were 120 Wigeon, 1 Eider and 1 Common Scoter. On the beach were 5 Turnstone and 62 Linnet.
Also around the reserve were 510 Pink-footed Geese (Including 270 in off), 98 Shoveler and 1 Goldeneye (Both on Tennyson's Sands), 120 Lapwing (Croft Marsh), 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hen Harrier (New Saltmarsh), 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Cetti's Warbler and 1 Kingfisher (Both on Tennyson's Sands), 109 Fieldfare (All heading south along the East Dunes) and 1 Stonechat (Visitor Centre).
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| Bar-tailed Godwit, 14th January 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
A brief morning sea-watch in murky conditions revealed 230 Wigeon, 47 Eider (including 32 South), 7 Goldeneye, 3 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 9 Red-throated Diver, all heading South. On the beach were 8 Turnstone, 8 Great Black-backed Gull and 600 Herring Gull.
Around the water bodies were 90 Shoveler, 350 Wigeon, 300 Teal, 11 Tufted Duck and 1 drake Goldeneye (Tennyson's Sands again). Also heard near the reserve entrance before dawn was a Tawny Owl and up to 10 Woodcock were around the West Dunes and Cycle Track/Plantation areas.
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| Drake Goldeneye, 12th January 2026 Photo - Stuart Ainsworth |
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| Drake Tufted Ducks, 12th January 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Female Tufted Ducks, 12th January 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Lapwings, 12th January 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Drake Mallards, 12th January 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
Still plenty of activity along the shore this morning but there was a lot more happening at sea than yesterday with a Red-necked Grebe in from the north and landing and a Slavonian Grebe heading south amidst a movement of Great Crested Grebes, Red-throated Divers and Eider. A raft of over 500 Wigeon were close inshore with 7 Red-breasted Merganser.
On the water bodies (Which are now free of ice), were 94 Shoveler, 32 Gadwall, 420 Wigeon, 81 Mallard, 434 Teal, 13 Tufted Duck and 1 drake Goldeneye (Tennyson's Sands).
Around the reserve were 8 Woodcock, 1 Hen Harrier (A Ringtail South) and 31 Fieldfare.
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| Drake Goldeneye on Tennyson's Sands, 12th January 2026 Photo - Stuart Ainsworth |
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| Drake Goldeneye, Shoveler's, Teal and Mallards, 12th January 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Mallard's 12th January 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Curlew on the Golf Course, 12th January 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
Difficult viewing conditions but the main feature of the morning was the spectacle of over 2000 feeding Waders and 2500 Gulls along the foreshore. A ringtail Hen Harrier was hunting the outer ridges and a Blackcap was recorded near the Reserve entrance for its 3rd day.
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| Snowdrops are out, 12th January 2026 Photo - Nigel Lound |
