A Slow Start to 2013

2nd January - my first trip to the patch this year was a quick lunchtime jaunt.  I had heard that the water level was high and indeed it was - higher than the flooded period of a few weeks ago.  The spit was completely submerged apart from a small area at the tip and a slightly larger area at the eastern base.  Consequently, the number of birds was well down on what I would normally see - Teal and Shoveler were totally absent as far as I could make out, probably due to the lack of dabbling areas.  I did manage the 5 commoner species of gull, including a 1st winter GBB Gull, but of most interest was a nasal saddled female Tufted Duck.  I noticed this bird from the western bank in the NE bay, so battled my way through flooded paths and slippery mud to that side, but by the time I'd got there, it had swum towards the base of the spit, so still too distant to read accurately.  From what I could see, it is very possibly the semi-regular bird blue 'BFK' seen here several times since Oct 2011 - see here . I noted it on Nov 7th last year, but have not seen it since.  If this is the same bird, it will be the first time I have seen it mid winter as opposed to the autumn and spring.