Linacre Birds and a Stoat

After Saturday's ringing session at Linacre, I had a couple of hours walking around the reservoirs on Sunday morning. The weather was perfect, being dry, still and 11 degrees, and I was rewarded with the highest counts of the year (so far) for Mandarin and Mallard.

Mallards

Mandarins were everywhere (!), with a minimum of 117 being recorded, but I'm sure there were more that I missed. Mallard numbers reached 92, and there had obviously been an arrival of Tufted Ducks, with 59 present. The immature Shag was busy fishing on the middle reservoir again and an adult Cormorant was present on the top reservoir. Coots and Moorhens numbered 7 each, while 2 Grey Wagtails and 1 Grey Heron were also seen. Black-headed Gull numbers continued to rise, with 22 the maximum seen and a Kingfisher was reported by a couple of dog walkers.

I always check the Rowan trees by the top reservoir, and on Sunday there were 2 Mistle Thrushes, 1 Fieldfare and at least 2 Redwings present.

The final highlight of the morning was a Stoat that was seen running along the ground by the top reservoir. Luckily, it stood still long enough for me to get a quick shot.

Stoat