Pennington Marshes - 19th December

Highlights were Red-breasted Goose, Spotted Redshank, Kingfisher, Dartford Warbler and Golden Plover.

A beautiful sunny, mild day with very little wind. We walked to Normandy Lagoon seeing Little Grebes on Eight Acre Pond and Curlews, Wigeon, Redshank and Brent Goose on the estuary and a couple of Stonechat by the path. Normandy Lagoon and the estuary were alive with many birds. On Normandy Lagoon there were Wigeon, Lapwing, Shelduck, Gadwall, Teal, Shoveler, Black-tailed Godwit and a few Pintail and Greenshank. A Kingfisher flew by and settled on fences, so that we all got a decent view. On the estuary there were hundreds of Dunlin, some Turnstone, Grey Plover and Ringed Plover. On the sea we found 2 female Goldeneye and some Red-breasted Merganser. It was just great to see so many birds feeding and flying from one place to another. Further along the path we scanned through a flock of Canada and Brent Geese and found what we were hoping for – a Red-breasted Goose. This individual had been in the area for a month or so and it was nice to catch up with it.
We walked back along the coast towards Pennington. More waders on the estuary, more ducks on the lagoons and more Red-breasted Merganser and a few Goldeneye on the sea. We got much closer views of the Red-breasted Goose with Brents on the rising tide, opposite Eight Acre Pond. We also saw 2 Spotted Redshank very close by, on a lagoon (with a Redshank so we got great comparison views), a Dartford Warbler – fleeting glimpse only, some Golden Plover fly over with lots of Lapwing and more views of Kingfisher. Overall a great last walk for the year with many birds, including the rarest species of the year!
Simon Curson