Like yesterday the weather was very changeable today, at some times being sunny and at other times raining; however by around 1pm it had settled on grey cloud with very occasional rain so I decided to get out to Carleton Crematorium again to see if there had been any change in the wildfowl numbers and also to walk around the rest of the crem to try and find any small birds.
The Pink Footed Geese were once again present in the fields at the south end of the crematorium, around 500 birds in all. As usual they were very flighty and didn't allow any close viewing so I couldn't find anything else amongst them. Other birds present in the fields included 18 Greylag Geese, 2 Canada Geese (new in), 8 Mallard, 2 Coot (both unringed), 3 Moorhen and a large flock of c3000 Starlings. On the main pond were the usual 5 Canada Geese, 12 Mallard, 2 Moorhen and 2 Coot (1 colour ringed bird). I was confused about where the second colour ringed bird had gone however I had noticed another small pond to the west of the crematorium that could be viewed through the side fence. On this were single Moorhen and Coot and as I had suspected the Coot was the second colour ringed individual. I have received the ringing information about both of these birds from Kane Brides and as I suspected they were both ringed on Stanley Park during the cold snap in mid december. It will be interesting to see if we get any more cold weather and if so whether they will move back to the park.
Other birds present around the crematorium include a single Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Song Thrush, 2 Great Tit, 3 Blue Tit and a pair of Chaffinch. Below is a brief summary of the changes in wildfolw numbers which I will update after each visit:
Pink Footed Geese - about the same at around 500
Greylag Geese - down 6 from 24 to 18
Canada Geese - up 2 from 5 to 7
Mallard - down 3 from 23 to 20
Coot and Moorhen equal at 5 and 6 respectively
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