Two Swallows flying overhead were nice and the grazing marsh was infested with Stonechats (12 birds on the same piece of wire). Other birds of note included: 1 male Marsh Harrier, 6 Lapwings, 4 Tufted Ducks, 3 Pochards, 11 Snipes, 2 Curlews, Greenshank, 1 Penduline Tit, 12 Chiffchaffs (all in the hedges), 3 Gadwalls (2 m & 1 f).
A bit of colour in the marsh
Garganeys
Little Ringed Plover
Stonechat
Local patch: it was a nice evening even on the sea, with literally hundreds of ducks everywhere. I estimated at least 500 birds, which were almost all concentrated in a huge distant raft. I suppose the most numerous were Garganeys. Of the closer ducks I indeed managed to identify +30 GARGANEYS, some mixed flocks of Wigeon and Shoveler, 2 separate flocks of Pintail (easy to tell in flight) and a fly-by flock of 25 TEALS (year tick for the patch). The Great Crested Grebes were also very numerous with 230 birds counted and 38 Mute Swans made a large circle above the gulf in the evening. At dusk I also spotted a small flock of Shelducks flying towards Trieste.
A few days ago I also had 4 House Martins flying past the house, up to 15 Mute Swans on the sea (almost daily), 2 Grey Herons on migration and 1 Red-necked Grebe (breeding plumage) + a few Red-breasted Mergansers from Miramare. Common Gulls numbered about 60 birds some days ago.
Sightings from further afield included a flock of 37 COMMON CRANES on migration over Socerb (Slovenia/Italy border) and a few Black Woodpeckers all on Saturday evening.
