5th March 2018

11 dark-bellied Brents were in the bay on 3rd, when an adult Little Gull was with large numbers of Larids (including 470 Common Gulls) feeding in the bay corner at last light. A Velvet Scoter and two Eider remained in the same area, while a set-aside field just north of Reighton Gap held an extraordinary 24 Corn Buntings (a scarce species annually with usually just a handful of records each year) plus 90 Yellowhammers, eight Reed Buntings, 250 Linnets and 22 Tree Sparrows. 28 Golden Plovers, a Woodcock, 15 Snipe and 20 Lapwing were in the Rocket Pole Field / Carr Naze area. 

A drake Pintail was on a still mostly frozen Dams on 4th, while the numbers at the Reighton Gap set-aside area included a big increase in Reed Buntings to 73 (but a lack of any Corn Buntings), as well as 65 Yellowhammers, 310 Linnets, 40 Skylarks and a Snipe. A total of 18 Goldcrests were in scrub and woodland from Reighton Woods to north of Reighton Gap. 

The Velvet Scoter was with eight Common Scoters, two Eider, a Great Northern Diver, 15 Red-throated Divers, 55 Wigeon and four Teal in the north of the bay on 5th, with four dead guillemots along the tideline after recent extreme weather conditions.