Wknd 7-8 December

Whoopers on Sunday totalled 145 (just 18 juvs=12.4%, very low), with the main flock of 95 in cereal at Drem pools which included darvics orange-ZBN (ringed Martin Mere early 2013), yellow-46I (formerly wintering in Cork, ring moved to tibia Jan-13) and a new one yellow-BVU (above, ringed Iceland last summer). There were another 23 at East Fenton (cereal) and 27 at Chapel/Prora (potatoes).

Grey goose census took me to East Fortune where over a thousand geese were lurking in fields just west - 815 Greylags, 310 Pinks and a Barnacle Goose, plus the usual feral/hybrid Greylags. On ponds a good number of duck, in fact made it 153 Mallard and 153 Teal, that one is going to look like a transcription error! One ad graellsii LBB at East Fenton.

On Saturday noted what are presumably this years brood of hybrid Greylag x Canadas surviving at Eskside, 4 or 5, quite dark backed. At the river mouth 800+ Knot put on a good display and nearly 1000 Oycs were roosting.

A few more atlas confirmations, Magpie NT57H, Carrion Crow NT47X, NT57G & NT58A. On airport bus during week added Woodpigeon (mainly multiples of) NT17L, NT17R, NT17W and NT27B, and Carrion Crow NT17L, NT27B. The previous weekend had added Woodpigeon to NT58D, Magpie NT58S, whilst House Martin UN at Sunnyside, Betony Hill was a tetrad tick for NT57P; also recounted rookeries at East Linton confirming upper end of original estimates (6 UN at Prestonmill). Unlike previous atlas winters which were very distracted by finding living birds it is clear that plenty of useful stuff can still be done for breeders via nests - may go for one more trip to West Lothian to log nests there too.