Thorley Wash 12th Jan

Time and sunshine likely to be in short supply this weekend, so I nipped up to Thorley Wash to try and get some photos of the Lesser ‘Pecker that’s been around recently. The river was as high as I’ve seen after the downpours of recent day, with all the overflow channels full too.

Needless to say there was no sign of the Lesser, or anything else of note. I gave it some time, and slowly but surely it became clear that there really was nothing around. The two pairs of Little Grebes on the river were less than the double figures of previous years. With both pairs, one bird was buffish in colour, and the other one was greyer. Adult and 1st winter? also, I got a Nuthatch in Walbury, the first Kestrel of the year, and then 49 Redwing and 1 Fieldfare in paddocks the west side of the railway line.