Morning visit: En-route to hides – great tits, blue tits, magpies, herring gulls, greylag geese, blackbirds, crows, Canada geese, woodpigeons, goldfinches, cettis and throughout the reserve a total of 13 chiffchaffs (several in full song). Hide one – 25 redshanks, 1 spotted redshank, 4 lapwing, 31 shelduck, 8 gadwall, mallards, marsh harrier (fem), 2 pairs stonechats, goldcrest, wren, robins, and water vole on the way to hide 2. Hide two – 2 herons, 1 coot, 116 wigeon, 36 teal, 32 shoveler, ls black-backed gulls, meadow pipit, 3 cormorants, male kestrel, reed buntings and another pair of stonechats. Snipe platform – good count of 10 coot, 3 male and 1 fem tufteds and a black headed gull (full hood). Seawall – House sparrows, 11 curlew overhead and 14 more on the mudflats, 3 oystercatchers, 2 ringed plovers, 26 grey plovers and 15 dunlin. Hide three – 2 pairs of avocet (one ringed bird, red ring 64 upper right leg), 3 black-tailed godwits, 50 more wigeon, 2 more gadwall, another pair stonechats, 20 more redshank and 2 oystercatchers. Water rail heard calling.
