The chance arose to walk the path from Brough to Welton Water. I have walked parts of the path but not the full length, so following the snow melt I decided to brave the muddy conditions. Most people seem to have been put off by the prospect of sliding along the banking, and I must have looked quite a sight as I tried to keep my feet.
None-the-less, I enjoyed the walk and managed to add a number of species to my patch list. Central to this was some of the wildfowl that I had been expecting, but that has proved to be more difficult than I had thought. Welton Water is a large stretch of water, but is short on wildfowl for what looks like such a productive space. It has surprised me to date that on certain days there can be nothing more than a few Tufted and Goldeneye. Whilst today Welton was still quiet, a pair of Pochard on the fishing pools was very welcome. In addition, a flock of ducks on the airfield pool produced 4 Shoveler as well as a number of Gadwall. A singing Skylark was a herald of things to come in the Spring when they will be commonplace, and a skulking bird in the reedbeds turned out to be a Meadow Pipit which are regular here but again will I am sure appear in greater numbers later in the year.
A large flock of Greylag were on the airfield marsh, but despite picking through I couldn't turn any into something less domestic! Their heckles were raised somewhat however by a male Marsh Harrier quartering the reedbeds here.
At the Haven Teal and Mallard dominated as large number of Gulls flew over to take advantage of the sand banks unveiled by the receding tide. 5 Wigeon were present too. The best sighting of the day though, was the pair of Shelduck on the exposed mud. These will be the first of many in the year, but they are one of the earliest signs of the changing seasons, the estuarine equivalent of the Snowdrops perhaps.
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