WHITLINGHAM: Week 9 - Egretless

27th February 2011

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I did consider going to look for the Marlingford Great White Egret, but its a few miles too far from Norwich to be a comfortable walk. Instead I didn't check BirdGuides on Sunday morning and went to Lakenham Mill to check the nearest stretch of the Yare in case it had moved east along the river. Alas it hadn't, but it was a much nicer walk to Whitlingham than following the ring road, and I did see a Grey Wagtail and hear my second Cetti's Warbler of the year.

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Looking at the Little Broad it appears that someone in their infinte wisdom has decided to fence off the flagship "beach" from the water, presumably as a reaction to people not swimming within the designated areas only. A sad state of affairs.

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I've given up on seeing Bramblings beneath the feeders, but did stop for a while to watch the rats (now numbering at least seven) which happily scamper around eating the seed. I had a nice chat with another onlooker, who was clearly older than she looked, as she said that whenever she sees rats they remind her of the plague. There was even fewer waterbirds on the broad than last week, only the c50 Teal being a decent number. Again I added a single bird to this years patch list, with a singing male Reed Bunting returning to the same bush for at least the third year running