Thaw underway

After the rapid thaw of the last two days the snow has all but disappeared, so hopefully birds will start to return. Still very little about at Staines Moor. A walk along the east edge produced 2 Woodcock (flushed from Bonehead Ditch) and on the Colne a female Goosander was a bonus. Despite the thaw, wildfowl are still restricted to the river as the floods remain frozen. Also, numbers are still very low, with 2 Shoveler, 1 Gadwall and 7 Teal being about it. The best of the other birds present were: 1 Little Egret along the Colne, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Reed Bunting, 19 Linnet, Fieldfare, Redwing and c1000 Ring-necked Parakeets heading to roost at dusk.