A charming day

Thanks to everyone who attended the year listing day today - lovely weather for a change and a nice chance to actually do some birding!  The first birds of the day were goldfinches at Angram Farm - this charm (thanks Derrick!) of Goldfinches were on burdock at Hempholme:

The total count for the day stands at 68 made up of:
1.  Mute swan
2.  Greylag goose
3.  Canada goose
4.  Wigeon
5.  Gadwall
6.  Teal
7.  Mallard
8.  Pintail
9.  Shoveler
10.Pochard
11.Tufted duck
12.Goldeneye
13.Pheasant
14.Little grebe
15.Great crested grebe
16.Cormorant
17.Marsh harrier
18.Sparrowhawk
19.Common buzzard
20.Kestrel
21.Water rail
22.Moorhen
23.Coot
24.Lapwing
25.Snipe
26.Woodcock
27.Curlew
28.Black-headed gull
29.Common gull
30.Herring gull
31.Lesser black-backed gull
32.Great black-backed gull
33.Feral pigeon
34.Stock dove
35.Wood pigeon
36.Collared dove
37.Barn owl
38.Tawny owl
39.Kingfisher
40.Great spotted woodpecker
41.Wren
42.Dunnock
43.Robin
44.Blackbird
45.Fieldfare
46.Song thrush
47.Redwing
48.Mistle thrush
49.Goldcrest
50.Long-tailed tit
51.Blue tit
52.Great tit
53.Coal tit
54.Willow tit
55.Treecreeper
56.Magpie
57.Jackdaw
58.Rook
59.Carrion crow
60.Starling
61.House sparrow
62.Tree sparrow
63.Chaffinch
64.Goldfinch
65.Siskin
66.Lesser redpoll
67.Bullfinch
68.Reed bunting

All in a respectable total though some way off the record.  Noticeable was a big lack of small birds about - dissolved? Greenfinch was nowhere to be found - a sign of the times?  Specialities like smew, bittern, mediterranean gull and marsh tit all failed to appear too despite recent sightings, and waders seemed to be thinly spread across the flood waters with only 2 pheasants and no partridges.  Thanks again to all who helped including pink cuckoos for scribing!

So an update on flood waters too - the river is still comparable to before Christmas but the drain has and continues to rise - the view from the main gate:

Easingwold Farm and Watton Carrs:

Home to the geese at the moment:

Watton NR - the highest yet - the EA hide only accessible by boat:

A trip to try and bag golden plover on Wilfholme Carrs was thwarted by the flooded bridleway:

South Marsh East totally covered:

And at the north end Hempholme Meadow now under around 2ft of water:

The view from the hide - Tony McLean bagged kingfisher hunting from the posts in front of the hide this afternoon:

Standingholme the deepest yet - no short-eared owls this year:

The overflow still going strong - surprising how well the turf has held the banks together though they are certainly 'squishy':

Struncheonhill - still a flood warning out on the area:

Entries now closed for the permit competition - thanks for all entries and we'll reveal the winner in a couple of weeks...

Finally please note as we ran the year listing event today there will be no January reserve walk this Saturday.