Wednesday 19th December 2012

Fog fortunately clearing by 9am. A walk around the reserve produced the dizzy heights of 2 Mipits plus a Sanderling on the beach. If you hadn't realised it by now mild conditions at this time of the year can be fairly tedious. Sanderling have an interesting diet with this one reported tucking into the dead Seal along the riverbank. The pair of Peregrines are still on the old crane. One of their favourite prey items this autumn was Woodcock and apparently they are still at it. Night time hunting with the aid of the dock lights has resulted in these Peregrines killing more Woodcock than we see on migration. Ever wondered why these raptors spend the bulk of the day doing diddly squat - well looks like they are up to no good at night !