January 5th
This morning we spent half an hour at the Towers but it was very slow and all we saw were 74 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 9 Red-throated Divers and 1 Great Crested Grebe. We then drove over to Minnis Bay before driving one car back to Shuart. From here we walked to Netherhale and Brooksend before returning to Minnis Bay. We saw 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Chiffchaff, 4 Ring-necked Parakeets, 312 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 21 Mute Swans, 6 Redshank, 1 Lapwing, 2 Common Buzzartds, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 2 Red-legged Partridges, 1 Kestrel, 1 Jay, 3 Goldcrests, 18 Goldfinches, 6 Pied Wagtails, 1 Little Grebe, 35 Teal, 34 Mallard, 1 Shoveler (90th), 8 Grey Herons, 2 Great Crested Grebes and 12 Common Scoter flying E.
Derek Smith was out between 1100 and 1400 and completed a similar walk and in addition to what we saw, recorded 1 Sparrowhawk, 36 Redwings, 6 Fieldfares, 2 Chiffchaffs and 6 Goldcrests.