Thanks goes to Richard for joining me today.
The water level has dropped a little so the upper section of the Corse does not have a lot of standing water. It felt rather deserted! It took a while before it felt like the count really got going!
The walk through the fields (and around the hide) revealed a total of 127 snipe! It was Richard’s turn this time to locate the lone Jack Snipe!
There was a
reasonable sized flock of 750 lapwing which were observed between the hide and
upper corse (location depending on how much the Marsh Harriers are
disturbing them).
The young
Whooper Swan is now developing its yellow bill. It was ‘talking’ yesterday so I
wonder how long it will remain. 
Lapwing near Hide
Though at first sight the area around the hide looked quiet for the duck species the count slowly built to a total of 58 Shoveller, 42 Teal, 17 Mallard,7 Wigeon and 8 Pintail. There was
also 3 Grey Heron, 6 Little Egret, 3 Moorhen, 1 Little Grebe and 2 Mute
Swan. 
Whooper Swan 
Pintail
We gained 5 Graylag geese on the way back (having only seen one in
flight on the way down). 
Shoveller
Three Marsh
Harriers (1 Adult female and 2 x 2CY birds) made an appearance which was unexpected, and Richard spotted one Red Kite gliding on the opposite side of the corse. A buzzard had been seen earlier on in the upper section of the corse. 
Adult Female
What was
noticeable was we did not hear any water rail calling from the
reedbed (nor did the one who has been enjoying the bramble bush and ditch near
hide do a running dash while we were there). It is also abnormal to not hear a Cettis along the route, maybe a bit cold today! I commented on way back that the Reed Bunting and Stonechat had also eluded us! Though it was nice to see a Grey Wagtail near farm and a Pied Wagtail part way along the route. 
One of the 2CY birds
Less of a
surprise though still a bit disappointing was no Golden Plover today. I cannot say I have seen a decent sized flock on my visits this winter (max I have seen is 35). There is obviously better feeding and sheltering conditions elsewhere as from other posts and conversations I have had with others, numbers are fine in other areas of the county.