Knot On My Watch

Snowfall during the night turned the local scene a fetching shade of white though thankfully it wasn't as heavy as the last lot. Nevertheless with a strong wind seemingly  driving any further flurries into my face conditions were far from pleasant during parts of my stroll. I wanted to have a look at the Welland Valley but didn't fancy too far of a walk so visited the bit near Gretton. While I was hoping to catch up with some interesting wildfowl things did not quite pan out that way.

The regular Peregrine and a snowy Brookfield.

My regular Peregrine was in its normal spot though as usual he was hiding out of the wind. Brookfield Plantation delivered two Woodcocks and a few Siskins though not a great deal else. Thankfully for species such as those Woodcocks the ground was still soft underfoot so they may well be able to feed OK. Very little to report from the countryside between the plantation and Gretton with just a few crows and the odd Blue Tit or two on show.

If you like rubbishy record shots then good news, today's Knot.

After I'd reached the Welland Valley a large herd of swans had the old ticker racing a little faster but a close inspection revealed that all forty plus were Mutes. Feeling a little deflated I walked on until I reached the area near to where December's Bewick's were. A large flock of Lapwings and Starlings called for a good scoping and I began to sort through the throng of birds. Plenty of winter thrushes were mingling with the Starlings and they were joined by Meadow Pipits. In amongst the Lapwings I found over twenty Dunlin as well as a larger chunkier bird which revealed itself to be a totally unexpected Knot. This is my first local one and certainly wasn't a species that I expected to see when I left home, rubbish record shots were taken. Hanging around added more Dunlins and an eventual total of around thirty were seen. A group of twenty one Golden Plovers joined the two hundred or so Lapwings taking today's wader tally up to five and the weekend's to six, not bad for February! I stayed for about an hour and a quarter but it was getting uncomfortably cold by now and I headed off on the uneventful walk home.