Snow brings in Pintail

21st January - having spent the weekend sledging and building snowmen, I took the opportunity on my lunch break today to catch up with the 3 drake Pintail that Kim D had discovered the previous morning.  Luckily, they were still on site, 2 drakes keeping close company and feeding along the nearside of the spit, the third asleep amongst wigeon in front of the island.  A scarce bird here, with just 1 or 2 records per year, so nice to get on the list.  Snipe numbers are still impressively high, with birds visible on the spit, feeding on the muddy flood meadows and flying between the two.  I didn't attempt a count today, but numbers in excess of 100 birds have been recorded in recent days - today's number was in that vicinity.