The Whitlingham Bird Report for 2023 is now available to download from the Bird Reports page or from here

Lots of Gadwall

11th December 2010

I sniffed and sneezed my way around Whitlingham on Saturday, still trying to see two more species to get me up to my years target of 110. There was a large number of Gadwall, a count of 800 according to the Broads Authority board. This was slightly surprising, as the board usually just has a generic "it's spring, look out for Swallows and spring flowers" type message on it. Maybe closing the Ranworth office means we'll get some proper conservation efforts. They may wish to start with building up the path to the bird screen, which is once again flooded. Other than the Gadwall, a drake Wigeon swam the length of the broad, a Water Rail squealed and one of the Red-crested Pochards was in the conservation area. I had a chat with another local birder who said that a couple of redhead Goosander have been on the river west of Norwich recently, might be worth a look if you patch around Sweetbriar. On the way back to Cathy's a small flock of Waxwings were near Lakenham Way before flying off towards Sainsbury's.


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