Another day, another big bird over the reserve.

As I was walking up the east bank to go surveying this morning I noticed a small group of shelduck come over the back followed by a larger bird. Getting my bins on it gave me a shock as it turned out to be an adult greater flamingo!! I quickly radioed the rest of the team who just thought it was a late April Fool - they then saw it circle over the reedbed and drop onto the fresh marsh! The bird only stayed for an hour before flying east. Unfortunatly the bird had a blue ring on the right leg and was traced to Marwell Zoo in Hampshire. The bird has been seen around the south and has recently been at Welney.

There has been a good passage of wagtails in the last couple of days and this evening there was up to 10 yellow and 20 white wags feeding on the lagoons. They were a bit too mobile but I did manage to get a couple of shots. 4 LRP's, peregrine, 3 sandwich terns, 3 lapland buntings and a flyover bittern added some spice. Roll on spring.