The Stour Valley list for 2018 stands at 104 species so far.
March 4th
Not a lot to report with all lakes, ponds and, most dykes frozen there's not a great deal of birds present. Still 2 Hen Harriers roosting at Stodmarsh including 1 adult male and 8 Water Pipits from Marsh hide. Joining Brendan Ryan on Saturday we tried Trenleypark Wood again for Lesser-spotted Woodpecker and Marsh Tit. No joy with the 'Peckers' but, we connected with 2 Marsh Tits. Today we had a quick look at Grove Ferry then moved up to Collard's to view the large Greylag herd. No sign of the Barnacle Goose but the area did have at least a dozen Yellowhammers, 28 Corn Buntings a large flock of 60 odd Chaffinches and with these was a single Tree Sparrow. A call of Brendan at midday told of a Dark-bellied Brent Goose now loosely associating with the Greylag flock. Both the Sparrow and the Brent Goose were new for the year. A phone call from Chris Gibbard mid afternoon had me heading back to Collard's where he had just found a Black-necked Grebe, another new species for the year!
Canada Goose was added to the list by Brendan Ryan today, the 5th and the Black-necked Grebe was still present.
Canada Goose was added to the list by Brendan Ryan today, the 5th and the Black-necked Grebe was still present.