Cliffe Pools - January 2010

Reporting Your Sightings

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January sees the reserve in the depths of winter with the wintering flocks of waders and ducks usually at their peak.

Dabbling duck species such as teal, wigeon, shoveler, mallard, gadwall and pintail can be seen on the lagoons and northern pools. The dabblers are joined by hundreds of diving duck, principally pochard and tufted duck, with smaller numbers of goldeneye plus the occasional scaup.

The lagoons also support good numbers of little and great-crested grebes and are sometimes joined by red-necked, black-necked and slavonian grebes and the odd diver. Watch out too for kingfishers along the southern edges of the main lagoons.

However, the main winter bird spectacle is provided when birds move off the Thames mud-flats to roost on the pools whilst their feeding grounds are covered. Species like redshank and black-tailed godwit can number in their hundreds with up to 1200 lapwing and 1000 dunlin noted so far this winter. Seeing these species wheeling over the reserves lagoons in their thousands is arguably the reserves bird spectacle of the year. The Flamingo and Ski Pools (north of the Saxon Shoreway footpath that bisects the reserve) are usually the best place to see the wader roost.

A good range of wintering raptors can be seen in the area including hen and marsh harrier, merlin and peregrine.

Finally other wintering birds include a range of passerines including flocks of fieldfares and redwings, skylarks, meadow pipits and a variety of finches, primarily chaffinch, goldfinch and linnet plus reed and the occasional corn bunting, most of which favour the seed-rich weedy areas of the reserve and surrounding marshes. Rock pipits are regular along the seawall.

26th: 1m scaup (pools by car park), goldeneye ( a few on Flamingo); 1 great northern diver (1+ on Alpha pool - per A. Millar); 3 shore larks (Flamingo per Birdguides)

24th: 1 bittern (an injured bird in the car park- per RSPB)

23rd: 800+ teal, 52 pintail, 15+ goldeneye, 1 greenshank, 3 turnstone, 7 fieldfare ; 2 great northern divers, 1 yellow-legged gull (Alpha pool - includes records per C. Gibbard)

17th: 4 shore lark (Flamingo pool), 2 great northern diver (Alpha pool), 1 marsh harrier, 2100 teal, 63 pintail, 30 (8m) goldeneye (per. K. Cutting, C. Drake, J. Martin, M. Orchard)

16th: 4 shore lark, c.3000 teal, 2 Cetti's warbler, 1 water rail (reserve); 1m scaup, 1 yellow-legged gull (N. quarry - per. C. Gibbard)

15th: 4 shore lark (Flamingo pool), 1 great northern diver (Alpha pool), 3 pink-footed geese, 2000 dunlin, 350 avocet, 100 black-tailed godwit, 100 grey plover, 1 bar-tailed godwit, 1 greenshank, 20 knot, 1 woodcock, 1600 teal, 300 pochard & tufted duck, 20 goldeneye (per. D. Elvey)

9th: 1 jack snipe, 1 water rail (Flamingo), 1 woodock (below radar - per. C. Gibbard)

3rd: 6 shore lark, 1 spotted redshank, 1 greenshank, scaup (per K. Cutting, C. Drake, A. Lawson, Birdguides)

1st: 4 shore lark