Cliffe in mild weather

160 Golden Plover, over a thousand Lapwing, several Redshank, Great Black-backed Gulls, one Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Coot, Shoveller, Teal, Mallard, Wigeon, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, one Cormorant, two Grey Heron, four Marsh Harrier, two or three Fieldfares, two Black-tailed Godwits, two Curlew, one Little Egret, one Cetti's Warbler heard.

The weather held throughout the visit, from 12:30 until about 4 pm, although we lost the sun about 2 pm.

It was lovely to see the Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria (Linnaeus, 1758), in good numbers at Cliffe. The last time I saw them in numbers was on Horse Sands in the Swale on the "predators day" with Tony Swandale. 

Leybourne getting dark again

About 90 Greylag Geese by the feeding station on the Ocean for a change, and a Blackbird taking Rowan berries off the first of the two trees on the south side. Then a good half dozen Goldfinches in the trees moving right across the path. Muscovy Duck on the perch he was on the other night, several Farmyard hybrids, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Coots, Black-headed Gulls were all that could be picked out by eye in the gathering gloom.

The Italian Alder male catkins are still green, about twice as long as those on the Common Alder.

On Roaden Island Lake four grey cygnets with their mum, and rather strangely, one Greylag tagging along with three Canada Geese. At least seven Shoveller, a lovely surprise, with a couple of Gadwall and the usual Tufted Duck and Coot.

Over to Railway Lake, where I put up a couple of Mistle Thrush or Fieldfares, and by now I could only pick out Tufted Duck on the lake in what was now the genuine start of dusk.

Murky Leybourne

When I arrived at 3 p.m., there didn't seem to be much light this afternoon, and initially very few birds on the Ocean. However after we got a bit further along the path and I let Monty off the lead, things went OK, with more Tufted Duck on the main water, and interesting ideas coming to mind on the trees by the side of the path. There were one or two Wrens by the wooden swan, and later on, a party of mainly Long-tailed Tits, but with at least one Blue Tit, in the Willows on the other side of the path to the hedge-line Alders in front of the first houses.

Many of the Crack Willows, Salix x fragilis, look very orange on the young twigs, particularly the upswept ones on the lower branches nearer the ground, and these may be a form known as nothovar basfordiana basfordiana, colouring up well as the winter proceeds. These are most obvious on the South side of the Ocean Lake, and the East side of the Railway Lake.

The unknown shrubby willow by the last Leybourne Way entrance could in theory be a White Willow. There are no cracks exposing orange in the bark of its main stem indicating that it might be the Almond-leaved Willow, Salix triandra, that I hope for, but it still doesn't look quite right for a White Willow and there is little to no pubescence on the leaves and twigs, although it is admittedly late in the season. It has retained a thin but widespread covering of small lanceolate leaves, but no overall structural jizz of a White Willow. It also feels as though it is naturally comfortable as a shrub, not stretching up to a tree shape!

On the taller and more likely White Willows there are still a few leaves on many of the brushy twigs. On one or two trees there are numbers of willow catkin galls, caused by a virus or mycoplasma.

Along by the wet woodland area, the Grey Willow Carr, I did find one bush of a yellow-green barked cultivar of White Willow, identifiable as such from its leaves on regrowth shoots. It was also possible to identify many of the Grey Willows from a distance, picked out by their retention of their relatively small obovate leaves, obviously colouring up well and often a good butter yellow.

There was also a "Grey Willow type" shrub there, with much larger leaves, so possibly a Grey x Greater hybrid. On the Italian Alders there was quite a lot of leaf weevil type damage, together with
some possible Heliozela resplendella (Stainton, 1851) leaf miners, indicated by the oval cut-outs seen. The leaves are holding fairly well although a bit dulled and some yellowing as they age.

On the Roaden Island Lake there were several Black-headed and one Common Gull, Larus canus, two Canada Geese and one very close-up Greylag, quite a few Coots, a pair of Mallard and some Tufted Ducks.

On Railway Lake there were dozens of Tufted Duck and at least two male Gadwall.

Conwy RSPB

A Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Snipe, Curlew, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Black-headed Gull. Herring Gull, Red-breasted Merganser, Pied Wagtail, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Bullfinch, Magpie, House sparrow, 

Penrhos Coastal Park

There were Black-headed and Herring Gulls, a possible Great Northern Diver, a dozen or so Wigeon, hundreds of Dunlin and Redshank, and a hundred or so Pale-bellied Brent Geese.

There were very good numbers of first winter birds, perhaps indicating a good "lemming year" to keep the Arctic Foxes happy, and reduce predation upon the goslings.

This is a group of five, the two adults and three first-winter birds, with the barring on their wings.

The population here is an offshoot of the main group of Irish over-wintering birds. These have come some from Canada but most from north to north east Greenland. There are two main flyways of the Greenland breeding birds. Some of them fly down the east coast of Greenland and then via Iceland to Ireland, being joined by fair numbers of Canadian birds. Others fly down the west coast of Greenland, some crossing the inland icecap at about the latitude of the Arctic Circle, others continuing down and around Cape Farewell, and probably bypassing Iceland. Main migration period mid-September to third week October, arriving in Ireland generally in the second half of October, occasionally shifting haunts over winter. Return occurs April to mid-May, arriving by early June, some crossing the inland ice-cap again. 

Leybourne getting rather gloomy

I shouldn't be surprised really, as I only arrived at 3.30 and the light was rapidly fading from the sky. I went up the West side of the Ocean, across to the Railway Lake and back via the oval pond, by which time it was getting too dark to see much.

There were Black-headed Gulls, one Common Gull, a Canada Goose, a Greylag Goose, several Tufted Duck, Moorhens, many Coots, Mallards, a Great Crested Grebe and Cormorants on the Ocean, but overall it was very quiet at the end of the day. Some Tits flew through the lakeside Alders and Willows, as I got to the Northern half.

On the Railway Lake there were two Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck and Coot. On the path I looked closely on the right hand side of the path at the willow (hybrid viminalis and cinerea?) between the lone small Alder and the clump of other bushy Willows. On the oval pond there were a female Tufted Duck, Coot and two Mute Swans.  

Leybourne late on a sunny afternoon

The light seemed to make a real difference to the birds, and there seemed to be a lot of waterbirds and passerines around. Several parties of Tits, usually mixed Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long-tailed Tits.

Many Black-headed Gulls, five Common Gulls, Larus canus, several Greylag Geeses, one Canada Goose, Great Crested Grebes, Cormorants, Coots, Moorhens.