Plenty of Flight Action at Welney

3rd January 2022

Whilst waiting for the visitors centre to open I spent some time looking through the brambles in the hope of finding some Tree Sparrows which are known to be here. It took some time as the House Sparrows are far more numerous and will readily sit up on top of the brambles whereas the Tree Sparrows are a little more reticent. However my patience paid off and I was rewarded with a Tree Sparrow sitting next to a female House Sparrow for comparison.

I then made my way to the main hide and what a change in habitat!! On my last visit on the 1st November the view in front of the main hide was lush green water meadows and a lake with numerous island, channels and spits. Apparently it was like this until a few days ago. However now on the 3rd January it it just one big lake stretching from the hide to the bank opposite and miles either side. There was just one spit remaining which was barely above water and home to hundreds of waders and wildfowl all crammed on.

It was also very noticeable that there were very few swans present. On this occasion the Mute Swans nearly out-numbered the Whooper Swans whereas normally they are in a significant minority. 

The reason that the Whooper Swans are in such low numbers is quite simple. They like to feed in the fields and come in to Welney to roost, but like to roost is shallow water so that that can stand on the bottom. However, currently the water is far too deep for that so they are feeding in the field and roosting elsewhere, and when I was there there were no more than a dozen of more birds present.

Bewick Swans used to be seen in front of the hide but in recent years their numbers have dwindled and only a few birds are present each winter. Furthermore they tend to keep away from the Whoopers in front of the hide and therefore, although present on site, are seldom seem. After a lot of searching I did manage to find one with the Greylags on the spit.

By far the most numerous birds on site are the Pochard, hugely out-numbering all other species. The males positively glow in the sun. And, as I have said before, the females despite being predominantly brown are very photogenic.

By comparison Tufted Ducks were down to single figures.

So now on to some flight action. There is normally quite a lot of movement at Welney and if the sun and wind are right a number of opportunities for flight shots. This large flock of Greylags were the first to perform.

Gadwall are always under-estimated with their subtle blend of pastel shades and even the humble Mallard can be quite showy at times.

With the Pochard numbers as they are it is not difficult to get some shots, and even species of lower numbers such as Shoveler, Tufted Duck and Wigeon get their fair share.

But the stars of the show today were the beautiful Pintails which were well represented and put on a few air displays for the assembled crowds.

Well, another great visit to Welney which never disappoints.