I had an afterwork session yesterday from 16:15 scanning from the southern end of Chislet Marshes in sunny conditions which produced 154 Greylag Geese, c75 White fronted Geese in flight and then landing out in the fields, 1 Brent Goose in with the Greylags, the first of this species I've actually seen on the patch as I normally record them during nocmig sessions. There were 2 Mute swan, 15 Egyptian Geese, 20 Mallard, 6 Pheasant, 1 Moorhen, 17 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Marsh Harrier, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Little Owl heard, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 2 Kestrel, 74 Jackdaw, c345 Rook, 2 Cetti;s Warbler, c15.000 Starling flying in from the north and putting on an excellent murmaration before flying off towards Grove Ferry, 3 Song Thrush, 5 Blackbird, 2 Stonechat, 2 Chaffinch, 14 Linnet and 1 Reed Bunting. 

A visit Saturday late morning for a couple of hours produced 4 Mute Swan, 13 Egyptian Geese, 1 Mallard, 2 Pintail, 2 Pochard, 2 Tufted Duck, 9 Stock Dove, 7 Moorhen, 10 Coot, 48 Black headed Gull, 7 Common Gull, 5 Herring Gull, 2 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 2 Jay, 2 Raven, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 2 Skylark, 3 Long tailed Tit, 1 Song Thrush, 10 Redwing, 2 Blackbird, 1 Stonechat, 1 Dunnock, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Brambling (124) was heard calling but went unseen and 7 Goldfinch. 

I decided to spend an hour or so having a wander around in pleasant conditions this morning. The undoubted highlight was finding 2 Pintail (123) on the reservoir which is a new bird for the patch. I have hoped this species would be seen over the years but the addition of some more water has helped pull in a few more duck species this year. This also brings my patch list up to 160 species. Also seen were 2 Mute Swan, 9 Egyptian Geese, 2 Pochard, 3 Tufted Duck, 9 Coot, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Moorhen, 7 Stock Dove, c300 Black headed Gull, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Common Gull, c200 Herring Gull, 6 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Common Buzzard, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker and 1 Kestrel. There were 2 Jay, c80 Rook, 8 Skylark, 1 Treecreeper, c225 Starling, 1 Stonechat, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Meadow Pipit and 13 Chaffinch. 

Pintail