Water Pipit

Yet another dull, wet, windy, very mild day. A Water Pipit at Flow Point was the highlight; there was possibly a second bird hiding in the saltmarsh. The absence of cold weather is probably at least partly responsible for generally low numbers of wildfowl and waders; there appear to be just two Red-breasted Mergansers on the estuary (compared with 38 in late December last year) and I've yet to record more than 50 Redshanks or any Greenshanks so far this 'winter'. The only noteworthy counts from the WeBS were 200 Great Black-backed Gulls, 15 Lapwings, 7 Common Sandpipers, 34 Shelducks and 10 Little Grebes.