I was out at 05:15 where as I drove over to Nethergong, 1 Little Owl was seen on top of a post. After parking up to collect my recorder from the night before, 1 Barn Owl was seen quartering the fields. I then spent just over 2 hours walking around mostly the Nethergong end where I noted 1+ Greylag Goose heard from the Stour Valley, 9 Mute Swan, 9 Egyptian Geese, you wait 10 years for a Pochard to turn up and today there were 4 Pochard. There were 7 Tufted Duck, 5 Pheasant, 12 Moorhen, 1 Coot, 12 Black headed Gull, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 19 Herring Gull, 2 Little Grebe, 7 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker and 2 Green Woodpecker. Also seen were 2 Hobby, 1 Kestrel, 2 Jay, 1 Raven, 22 Jackdaw, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 1 Reed Warbler, 4 Chiffchaff, 7 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Chaffinch, 3 Goldfinch and 2 Reed Bunting. Nocmig recording in the area last night only produced a Barn Owl calling. 

3 of the 4 Pochard

I made a midday visit to Nethergong today in quite warm conditions and I'm pleased I did as I found a new bird for the patch in the form of 2 POCHARD (119) associating with 11 Tufted Duck. I've been hoping for a few years that this species would pay a visit and all the checking and hope finally paid off. They were quite distant and I was looking into the sun but that did not matter today, and I was happy just to record a few record shots. My next target bird is hopefully a Great crested Grebe. It would be nice to think during the colder winter months that one might pay a visit. Also seen today were 7 Mute Swan, 9 Egyptian Geese, 1 Stock Dove, 4 Moorhen, 1 Green Sandpiper, 16 Black headed Gull, 8 Herring Gull, 4 Cormorant, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Common Buzzard, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 1 Hobby, 1 Peregrine, 1 Jay, 7 Jackdaw, 6 Rook, 7 Carrion Crow, 1 Raven, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 1 Reed Warbler, 17 Swallow, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 1 Blackcap, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Firecrest and 1 Treecreeper. I checked one of the sheltered sunny spots with some nice bare branches and found a Spotted Flycatcher (120). I had brief but good views before it flew deeper into cover. There was 1 Wheatear, 1 Bullfinch, 2 Linnet, 5 Goldfinch and 3 Yellowhammer. 

2 Pochard and 1 Tufted Duck

Pochard (back of camera crop)

I was out of the house by 05:00 where after collecting the recorder, I had a few hours walking around the Nethergong / Chislet Marshes area. The nocmig recorder had a Barn Owl calling and what seemed like a wader call but otherwise, pretty quiet. I hadn't been walking long when I could see a male Marsh Harrier quartering a ploughed field when it suddenly dropped down and came up with a leveret in its talons. From no where, an adult Hare appeared and gave chase, literally jumping in the air to get its you back. The Harrier soon dropped it but now the Crows and a Common Buzzard where on the scene. The Hare spent the best part of 20 minutes chasing everything away before she moved off to about 100 yards from where the leveret had been dropped. For some reason, she didn't move and the Buzzard slowly moved back to the area. I suspect the leveret had been killed by the Harrier. I moved off at this point and noted 1+ Greylag Geese heard, 14 Mute Swan, 9 Egyptian Geese still, 9 Moorhen, 1 Snipe, 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Black headed Gull, 1 Common Gull, 1 Common Tern, 1 Little Grebe heard, 14 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 4 Common Buzzard, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker and 2 Green Woodpecker. There were 2 Kestrel, 2 Jay, 2 Raven, 6 Skylark, 4 Sedge Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler, 19 Swallow, 4 Chiffchaff, 6 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Long tailed Tit, 2 Blackcap, 11 Whitethroat, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Wheatear, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Bullfinch, 1 Greenfinch, 55 Linnet, 4 Goldfinch, 7 Yellowhammer and 3 Reed Bunting. 

Wheatear