Hunting Grebes on Alpha Pool

Any visit to the Alpha Pool at Cliffe is a challenge firstly in getting out to the water through the footpaths running and then scoping the vast area looking for wintering Grebes. To add to the difficulty the place is alive with Little Grebes and Great Crested Grebe with well over a hundred of them on Alpha pool alone and then the task of finding a single Black-necked and a single Red-necked among them. Just to make it that little more difficult the two birds in question are at either end of the pool too, oh and the sun is against you.

Alpha Pool

Cliffe Creek

Map of the pools

So that was our morning.....a long muddy walk out to the pool and a lot of scanning to nail these two year ticks but we pulled it off and the Jims even managed a third tick with a fly over Green Woodpecker.

The famous Black Barn from the back of Flamingo pool

Following the eventual success at Alpha we took a second long walk out to the back of Flamingo and although it was teaming with waders we found nothing to add to the year list. Of note were a large flock of Golden Plover and Lapwing, a good size flock of Blackwits and a single Avocet with a few Redshank. Marsh Harrier, Buzzard and Skylark made up the best of the rest but we are remarkably still to bump into a Cetti's this year.

Year list now 149