Arctic Beddington

The big freeze returns! Quite a bit of displacement evident at Beddington. Big influx of northern/eastern taxa gulls with another (2nd win) 'Caspian'/pseudo-Caspian' Gull (pic 1) and an influx of Common Gull (200+) with several birds showing retarded moult suggesting northern latitude birds and also heavily marked on the head and underparts perhaps suggesting eastern populations (pic 2). Also many 'argentatus' Herring Gulls including dark juvenile plumaged 'northern latitude' birds, 50+ Great Black- backed Gull, 100+ Lesser Black-backed Gull (mainly dark mantled intermedius-types) and perhaps 10-15,000 gulls on site overall.

Golden Plovers (pics 4 and 5)were on the move with three flocks (49, 22 and 24) and a single totalling 96 birds south and west.

The completed landfill mounds have proved to be a God send to the passerines. The decomposing rubbish is generating heat and keeping the mounds free of ice in places. Over 200+ Linnet (pic 3), 30+ Skylark, 30+ Meadow Pipit, 6 Reed Bunting, 2 Chiffchaff! and a few Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Dunnocks, Wrens and Song Thrushes are holding out. This could be a matter of life of death for them.

Redwings and Fieldfares were evident and were feeding on the Cotoneaster bushes on the Flower estate. Probably about 50+ of each about.

Some more Arctic Beddington here: http://peteralfrey.blogspot.com/