In the (late) afternoon I popped across to Wheldrake in the hope that I would connect with some decent gulls. I didn't, but never mind. It was actually fairly quiet, with several Curlew noted along with a couple of hundred Lapwing, and 45 Golden Plover. Pochard, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and the regulars were all recorded. The gulls were coming in but in low numbers and landing fairly distantly unfortunately. There was a few large gulls but we (Jono had by this point arrived) couldn't pick out any of the white-wingers. As dusk approached we noted that some Goosander had dropped in, and were continuing to do so. A quick count revealed 36 birds, however a male spotted a short while later on its own and to the left of the group may well have meant there was 37 present, either way a good count by recent standards. A flock of Fieldfare and Redwing were noted flying along the river as dusk approached.
Male Goosander © Tony Hisgett
A stop at Thorganby viewing platform resulted in some good wader counts including (at least)3020 Golden Plover, 140 Dunlin, 750 Lapwing, 7 Ruff, 3 Curlew, and, the highlight, 1 Grey Plover. There was also a flock of at least 100 Redwing kicking about. All in all a good afternoon, and with nice weather for a change too!
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