27th November 2011
A friends stag do in London the previous day ensured that I wasn't out much before midday today. I arrived at Whitlingham in gusty winds, which whipped up the water into a serious of small waves. The winds were off the land, minimising the chance of windblown seabirds (although I notice that Graffham had 3 Velvet Scoter this week to keep me hoping), but what was noticeable was the number of gulls on the water, at least 120 Black-headed off the slipway alone. The hybrid LWF x Ross' Goose was present and calling repeatedly (I do have a rubbish video of this which I will try to upload). There was a welcome increase in Tufted Ducks, and a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls (an adult and a 2nd winter) were in a large mixed flock of Lesser Black-backed and Common Gulls.
Looking over at Thorpe Broad the river looked particularly high, and I later found out that there had been some localised flooding at the coast. The conservation area bay was packed with birds for a change, but still nothing scarce (2 Little Grebes, 5 female Pochard and some Teal the best birds). The Little Broad looked like it hadn't been disturbed that morning, with more Tufted Ducks and Gadwall, and a couple of Shoveler for good measure. 12 Siskins were also bombing about the site.
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