Bird numbers increase as fishing stops.

Sunset over Thornton.

With the end of the trout fishing season the numbers of wildfowl are increasing and I am confident that a rarity will appear before the years end. There were 188 Lapwing, 60 Wigeon, 50 Teal, 40 Gadwall and 4 Shoveler. The Pintail and juv. Whooper are also still off Wood bank.

Second Winter Med. Gull.

A couple of poor shots of yesterdays Med. Gull. in the failing light.

New patch record!

Today I broke my Thornton patch year record. On the 12th Nov. I had reached 123 with Peter the Pintail, who along with Harold the Whooper did the decent thing and stayed around for todays Webs count. I had reached this total last year, but this afternoon I went to 124 with a second winter Med. Gull. Dispite the early fog Dave and I were able to do a reasonably accurate count. Wigeon numbers were up at 55 as were Teal, 54 and Gadwall, 28. There were also 63 Lapwing.