Linacre WeBS - November 2013

This month's WeBS walk took place this morning in dry,sunny conditions with temperatures of just 3 degrees. Waterbirds were present in good numbers with some of the highest counts of the year and I also managed to add a new species of moth to the Linacre List!

First up the birds. Mallard numbers were excellent today with a record count of 116 over the three reservoirs. Tufted Ducks were also present in high numbers; 60 today, which is the highest count of the year so far. Mandarin Ducks came in at 39, which is pretty good and a count of 14 Coot was very good. 9 Moorhens were present (highest count of the year), and included a juvenile bird on the bottom reservoir. The Kingfisher was heard again on the middle reservoir along with 1 adult Great-crested Grebe and 2 Little Grebes. Black-headed Gull numbers are starting to increase and today's count of 78 was the highest count of the year. Also present were: 1 Cormorant, 2 Grey Herons and 2 Grey Wagtails.

The Crossbills were still around and c.20 were seen and heard, along with the first Siskins of the winter (3).

When I got back to the car park I spotted a moth on my window. It looked quite tatty and was very sluggish, but I managed to get a photo and identify it as a Red-green Carpet, a first for the Linacre List.

Red-green Carpet