I headed to the Ron Barker hide and the rain had battered down large numbers of hirudines, c.180 Swallows and c.80 House Martins, who kep two Swifts company. With little else to look at I countd the Teal, 440 on Vinsons and Sunleys (I ended up with a total of 850 after I'd counted other areas). Also on Vinsons were five Black-tailed Godwits, c.30 Snipe, an eclipse drake Pintail and two Shoveler. During a brief dry spell a little raptor activity erupted; a Kestrel hovering, a juv Marsh Harrier drifitng and best of all a juv Hobby chasing Starlings on the farmland beyond Lord's Mere.
A vist to the Harrier hide produced 31 Gadwall and an adult female Red-crested Pochard (photo below) was busily feeding with Mallard and Gadwall on the Buttonweed infested peninsulas. One can only speculate regarding it's origins. Certainly not from Martin Mere, the staff rigorously implemtn a ringing and no escapre policy. It was fulll-winged and unringed, perhaps the same bird, in the same place as earlier in the year? The rain didn't stop and I headed home before the car park was locked.
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