A quick walk to the lake at Eske today before a late lunch. The weather was surprisingly windy which meant that many smaller birds were hard to see. However, a patch of uncultivated land with wet patches held a Green Sandpiper along with 5 Lapwings, defending their nesting territories.

Up at the lake the numbers of ducks had dramatically decreased with just abour 20 Wigeon remaining from the winter flock. Around 20 Tufted Ducks were present along with 2 pairs of Great-crested Grebes involved in their neck-twisting dance. 2 Shelduck appeared from nowhere and a single Oystercatcher was feeding on a muddy shore. A final scan across the lake revealed a quite unusual looking duck which turned out to be a female Common Scoter – a new bird for the location for me. I walked around some trees to get a better look and within this time the bird managed to disappear!

Just as I’d given up finding it I noticed a large bird flying over the farmland behind me which turned out to be a male Marsh Harrier, the first I’ve seen here since last autumn.

Not much on the way back apart from two male Yellowhammers in song; the wind had got much harder and it was quite pleasant to get back to the car.