Latest Marsh Sightings and Tottenham waxwing alert.

Pete Lambert wrote today:

Happy new year to you all.

Before I go on about what I’ve seen at the Marsh so far, there may be waxwings feeding in the Tottenham High Road area! Terry tells me that his brother Paul saw over 20 waxwings in a tree along the High Road opposite Scotland Green on 30 December. Terry went later that day but there was no sign of them.

On Sunday 2 January, Terry was coming out of a shop in Hollington Road /Winston (can’t find Winston in my A-Z) when 9 waxwings flew over his head going towards Harrington Park/Lansdowne Road area. Maybe worth a walk round this area looking for berries (and perhaps waxwings).

Will they appear next in David Cotteridge’s garden?

Saturday 1 January 2011
Walking in from Blackhorse Lane, one of the first birds I saw was a little egret which flew north from the Reservoirs and on over WM East. A sign of the times that I see this before I see my first heron at the Marsh! From the East Bridge, a female goosander was feeding just north of the weir with 2 male gadwall. When I reached the Sandpiper Bridge, there was a fieldfare calling from the trees along the west bank of the Lee Navigation. Walking south by the west channel, a flock of about 35 redwings flew west calling. I was looking along the muddy edges of the channel to spot the water rail, when I suddenly realised the bird walking along the path in frot of me wasn’t the usual moorhen, but it was the water rail! It pottered along the edge of the vegetation for a while and then walked through to the channel. Two linnet flying high calling were also a nice sign. From the Green Bridge I could only find 2 teal in the channel.

Walking south down the towpath, I went down to look at the channel and found a second water rail walking along the east edge of the channel. This is really a Walthamstow Reservoir record rather than a Tottenham Marsh one, but nice to know there are at least two around here. Near the Centre there was a dispute between 4 egyptian geese as to who should parade outside the Centre. It looked like the Droopy pair and Little and Large. The Droopy pair chased Little and Large off.

My first grey wagtail of the year was in Pymmes Brook from the bridge to Clendish Marsh and over Clendish Marsh I saw 3 redwing fly NE calling and then 3 skylark high N calling. Ended up on my walk back by Pymmes Brook with a second grey wagtail in the channel, heard a chiffchaff calling from the channel plus a goldcrest calling, although I couldn’t see either of these. There was a male shoveler on the slope at the channel with the mute swans and I saw another skylark fly W calling and heard a siskin fly SE but didn’t see it.

Another chiffchaff and another goldcrest calling from Pymmes Brook at WM West – again neither seen. Did see a skylark that went high W calling though. Checking the gulls flying over I found an immature great black-backed gull flying N over WM East – massive looking.

From the Chalk Bridge there was my first little grebe of the day diving in the Lee Navigation, then more skylarks calling – 6 flew SE over Banbury Reservoir. Walking down to the Green Bridge I saw 2 more little grebes in the channel and another skylark, this one SE calling. At WM East I thought I heard a bullfinch calling from the east trees – couldn’t find it. (THe next day, as I walked round Lockwood Reservoir, I heard it again, calling from the south trees in WM East, and it flew into the east trees.) Also one reed bunting up calling.

Monday 3 January
Walked down from Blackhorse Raod, saw a bird feeding on top of the bank at Lockwood Reservoir – it was a curlew! Calmly probing the grass with its bill. I only record one curlew a year at the Reservoirs (if I’m lucky) so this was a pleasant surprise, although not a Tottenham Marsh record. But when I reached WM East I heard a jackdaw call and watched two jackdaws fly SW over the houses east, and then on across the East Marsh – my first record for 2011. Female goosander again feeding north of the East Bridge with 16 gadwall today. Then lots of alarm calls from the group of trees that form a triangle shape at the north of WM East, plus what sounded like a blackbird being killed! Get close to the sound and find a female sparrowhawk on the ground amongst the bushes, its wings spread wide with presumably a blackbird in its talons. Walked on leaving nature to take its course. From the Sandpiper Bridge, there was a male goosander as well as a female goosander, both feeding just north of the old sluice gate.Down by the Green Bridge I heard my first pheasant of the year calling – didn’t see it, also heard a reed bunting calling. Only the Droopy pair of egyptian geese at the Centre but a carrion crow flew up to the old pylon nest there with a twig in its bill, getting the nest sorted for 2011?

On to Clendish Marsh where Little and Large were standing in Pymmes Brook and there were also 4 gadwall there. The walk round Clendish Marsh only produced a colared dove flying over and 2 fieldfares going east to Lockwood Reservoir, but by the time I got back to the bridge at Pymmes Brook, there were 3 male shoveler standing there.

Another pheasant calling somewhere at Stonebridge Wood out of sight, then at Pymmes Brook at WM West, heard again goldcrest and chiffchaff calling – still not seen. Male kestrel over the Marsh added to my raptors for the day. Single skylark high NW calling.

Walking down the towpath to the Green Bridge I found another 2 shovelers in the channel, one of these a female. Finally, as I walked out over the East Bridge, there was a single green sandpiper feeding in the channel just south of the bridge.


DMC