A good couple of hours on the Corse this morning with my neighbour. A female merlin shot across the road from Gupton towards the Range as we approached Freshwater West. A female marsh harrier was hunting over the reedbed. Nothing but snipe from the hide, but the most productive part of our walk was in the last rushy field before the group of pine trees - instead of turning down to the hide, carry on along the main (wet and very muddy in places) track - good views over the upper part of the Corse over the fence.
Looking over the fence we could see 1000+ wigeon and at least 1500 lapwing (I leave them to Richard C to count properly) on the flooded meadow and open water upstream, with smaller numbers of teal and mallard, also about a dozen black-tailed godwit flying about. Undoubtedly more wildfowl and waders - we did not go close and did not have a scope with us. We put up two jack snipe - the second got up from between us as we walked over it 6 feet apart, and had superb views of a short-eared owl which had also been on the ground in the rushy pasture. A buzzard as we walked back. Two Cetti's heard. Other small birds - skylark, reed bunting, stonechat, meadow pipit, goldfinch......
