The wing-tagged Marsh harrier was around the mere at 12:30pm. Two Red kites appeared and took an interest in it. With three raptors low over the mere, not surprisingly, most of the duck flushed - c30 Shoveler, 25 Teal, 10 Wigeon and 2 Snipe. The harrier dropped out of sight, either to get away from their attention or on prey. One of the kites hovered menacingly just over it whilst the other climbed vertically as if trying to see where it had disappeared before dropping down to the grassy bank to wait it out. The harrier sat tight so I went on my way for a look around the Deer Park. Still no wheatear or hirundines, maybe next week. 15 Snipe in the rough pasture near Martins Haven. The harrier was still around the mere when I returned at 3pm. The pair of swans were in their usual nesting spot and a pair of Little grebe in each of the irrigation pools. 4 Brent geese in a very quick look at the Gann. No sign of the Iceland with the gulls above the footbridge or the fields nearby, but lots of ploughing going on elsewhere today each had its own entourage of gulls but I couldn't see anything big and white in those I checked.
