We had a lovely spring-like day for our group visit to Inner Marsh Farm and with the weather being quite sunny and warm we had everything we needed for a food days birding. Our treat of the day cam early on with very good views of our first Wheatear for the the year – about half a dozen of them too-ing and fro-ing from the dry-stone wall on the left just as you get past the gate that cuts across the path down to the railway line and thence to the hide.<\/p>\n
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As we walked by the fields we could hear Chiffchaff but, of course, had the greatest difficulty finding one. I got a glimpse of my first Swallow of the year as well. Down at the hide there were a pair of Little Egrets and a large number of Black-tailed Godwit now getting into their summer plumage. A spattering of Lapwings, Coots and Tufted Ducks were seen and also pairs of Shoveler, Oystercatcher and Pintail. There was a decent showing of Avocets and at least one looked like it was starting to build a rudimentary nest to roost on.<\/p>\n
A Marsh Harrier flew by and we also saw a few Sand Martins darting about over the water.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
| Species<\/th>\n | Count<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|
| Mute Swan<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Canada Goose<\/td>\n | 20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Pintail<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shoveler<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Tufted Duck<\/td>\n | 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Little Egret<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Grey Heron<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Marsh Harrier<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Coot<\/td>\n | 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Oystercatcher<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Avocet<\/td>\n | 14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lapwing<\/td>\n | 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Black-tailed Godwit<\/td>\n | 60<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Black-headed Gull<\/td>\n | 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Magpie<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Sand Martin<\/td>\n | 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Swallow<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Wheatear<\/td>\n | 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Birding Group to Visit to Inner Marsh Farm 15th April 2013 We had a lovely spring-like day for our group visit to Inner Marsh Farm and with the weather being quite sunny and warm we had everything we needed for a food days birding. Our treat of the day cam early on with very good … <\/p>\n |