Pintail pops in!

A single male Pintail was present on Saturday in the company of 3 Wigeon. Not surprisingly it had departed for Sundays Webs count. Pintail is an uncommon winter visitor in Leicestershire. The winter distribution in the Bird Atlas 2007-11 shows a preference for grazing marshes , river floodplains and estuaries. It is the second Pintail at Thornton this year, following a female back in February.
The Webs count indicated a drop in the number of duck with only 106 Mallard, 34 Tufted and 22 Gadwall. Two Kingfisher and a Water Rail were also recorded. The Lapwing flock has now increased to 82.

New Zealand Trip.

 Just returned from 3 weeks in NZ and these are some raw images of some highlights. This Grey Petrel had everyone excited including the guide , who shouted, "What is That?"

 New Zealand storm petrel, lost to science until rediscovered in 2002.

 New Zealand white capped Albatross.

 Cook's Petrel

 Teriteri island has a range of endems including North Island Robin.

 A rubbish photo of something in the Cook strait. Could it be a Kerguelen Petrel. We will never Know! (Try and find it? )

 Swimming with these Dusky dolphins was an experience at Kaikoura.

Wandering Albatross(race Gibsons) with Giant Petrels.
Mean while on my return at Thornton there were two pairs of Red crested Pochard on the res on 28th Nov. There had been an influx of Pochard , 18 on the 27th so may be these were genuine migrants from eastern Europe.