Kingfisher new for the year

Pintail at Bow Creek, 17/12/2011, the female from last year

returning for its second winter.

Long-tailed Tit at Bow Creek, 17/12/2011.

A flash of electric blue low across the water can be only one thing, Kingfisher, at last, with barely a fortnight of the year left I finally connected with this one time sure-fire banker this afternoon, given the appalling state of the Lea, years like this could become the norm rather than the exception. Things have picked up on the wildfowl front since my last visit, most notably the female Pintail has returned to Bow Creek for its second winter, feeding with Mallard and Common Teal beneath the DLR crossing at low tide. Most of the Common Teal were on the creek today and widely scattered with around 230 counted, a somewhat low count by recent standards. Six Shelduck were also seen, two on the creek and four on the basin and Tufted Duck numbers were up to 16, all on the basin except for one male dabbling with the anas on the creek. The Little Grebe mentioned in the last post has been joined by a second bird, both are incredibly wary, keeping close to the reeds. Seven Redshank and three Common Sandpipers were on the creek, numbers of the former are probably higher but there isn't a daylight high tide until later next week when more should be seen in the roost. Passerines included a flock of 15 Linnet on Orchard Wharf, a smattering of Chaffinch, a vocal Chiffchaff in the ecology park and a party of at least seven Long-tailed Tits feeding in the scrub along Bow Creek.