El Clot

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Redstart by Mary Brazier©
Redstart by Mary Brazier©

During a short visit to the Clot today we found most of the usual species on the main pool, despite the presence of quite a lot of green algae. We saw 3 Little Grebe, 10 Pochard, 6 Red Crested Pochard, 1 Purple Swamphen, 3 Shoveler and plenty of Coots and Moorhens, but most of the Teal appeared to have moved on. Swallows and Swifts were in the air and a Green Woodpecker called from somewhere near the palm trees. At the scrape, where unfortunately the water level has dropped and the algae is spreading, we saw 3 Little ringed Plover, 1 Snipe, 1 Wood Sandpiper and numerous White Wagtails. Moving on to the marsh hide was quiet apart from a couple of Sardinian Warblers. Walking back we sat on a bench for a while and saw a Redstart which showed briefly before hiding in the bushes, a bird we have not seen on the Clot before. We sat there a while and watched a small flock of Linnets flying around and feeding on the ground. While we were there our friends Paul and Greta came along so we sat for a while chatting and watching the birds.

Species List – Little Grebe, Mallard, Shoveler, Pochard, Red Crested Pochard, Coot, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Black winged Stilt, Common Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Woodpigeon, Green Woodpecker (HO), Pallid Swift, Swallow, House Martin, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Redstart, Blackbird, Sardinian Warbler, Great Tit (HO), Spotless Starling, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Serin, Linnet.