Whitlingham in January

Whitlingham Lane and Thorpe Marshes and all the bits in-between are my new patch and I made 5 visits during January and started a year list.

As part of my effort to catch up on my blog posts here's each species seen throughout January

Mute Swan - Seen on each visit the highest count 24
Greylag Goose - Seen 4 out of 5 visits highest count 42
Canada Goose - Seen each visit
Egyptian Goose - Seen each visit
Wigeon - 1 drake seen on the 29th January

Gadwall - Seen each visit highest count 125

Teal - Seen 4 out of 5 times highest count 19

Mallard - seen each visit highest count 62

Shoveler - only seen once

Pochard - Seen each time highest count 36

Tufted Duck - Seen each visit highest count 229

Scaup - Seen twice at the start of the month highest count 3

Goldeneye - Female seen twice

Pheasant - seen once

Cormorant - seen each time highest count 46

Grey Heron - seen each time

Little Grebe - seen four out of 5 times highest count 9

Great Crested Grebe - Seen each time highest count 7

Water Rail - Seen (heard) each time, highest count was 9, saw 4 together on the south shore one morning they were really close and chased each other across a ditch, it was very cool.

Moorhen - Seen on every visit

Coot - seen on every visit with a huge count of 256 on the 22nd

Lapwing - a flock of 28 flew and circled for a while over the Great Broad on the 5th

Black-headed Gull - seen each visit with a high count of 238

Common Gull - seen four out of the five visits with a high count of 36

Lesser Black-backed Gull - seen four out of five times with only 1 bird each time

Herring Gull - Seen every visit highest count was 13

Stock Dove - two birds seen once

Woodpigeon - seen each visit

Tawny Owl - heard once mid afternoon in the woods

Kingfisher - seen three out of five visits 

Green Woodpecker - Recorded three out of five visits 

Great Spotted Woodpecker - Recorded three out of five visits 

Magpie - Seen four out of five visits

Jay - seen twice

Jackdaw - seen every visit with a high count of 65.

Carrion Crow - Seen every visit with a high count of 25

Goldcrest - Seen three out of five visits
Blue Tit - seen each visit with 24 recorded on the 29th
Great Tit - seen four out of five visits
Coal Tit - seen once
Cetti's Warbler - recorded on two visits
Long-tailed Tit - seen four out of five times with the highest number counted 26
Nuthatch - seen twice with three counted on the 15th
Treecreeper - Recorded twice
Blackbird -  seen on three out of five visits
Wren - seen on three out of five visits
Song Thrush - seen four out of five visits with a high count of 9
Redwing - seen only twice with a high of 3 birds only
Mistle Thrush - seen one with 3 birds flying over the Great Broad on the 22nd
Robin - seen on each visit with a high count of 8
Dunnock - seen on each visit with a high count of 9
Chaffinch - seen three time with a high count of 10 birds
Brambling - 2 birds seen on the 29th
Greenfinch - seen three out of the five visits with a high count of 12
Grey Wagtail - 2 birds seen on the 29th
Pied Wagtail - seen on three out of the five visits
Goldfinch - seen four out of the five visits
Siskin - seen on each visit with a high count of 36


Lesser Redpoll - seen twice high count of only 2 birds
Bullfinch - a single bird seen on the 29th
Reed Bunting - a single bird seen on the 29th

During the visit on the 22nd most of the Great Broad was frozen which lead to some great views of the ducks on the remaining open parts. Below are some additional photos from those above.













So all in all a good start to the year with 62 species seen and great views of some.