An Icey Blast at Dorney Lake

I was due to lead the Bucks Bird Club field meeting at Dorney Lake but due to the weather warnings for snow I did indicate that I might not be able to make it.  However the snow was not as bad as I had feared, so I set off from home about 8:45am.  The hill on Blind Lane was not as bad on the steep bends as at the top, so it did not prove to be a problem.

I arrived in the car park at Dorney Lake at about 9:10am and started to don several layers of warm weather clothes.  A layer of snow covered the site and the tarmac/concrete areas were covered in melted snow that had re-frozen and was extremely slippery.  Not surprisingly no-one else turned up so I decided to have a walk on my own.

Before I left the car I was approached by a dog walker who said he had seen a long legged bird with a long bill, walking around the car park.  No sooner had he said that then he pointed to the hedge and there was a Whimbrel sheltering from the bitter easterly wind.  It had some snow caked around it's legs but seemed reasonably alert.  It walked away a bit when someone approached the car park ticket machine!

Wide view of the Whimbrel sheltering under the hedge near the car park.

A phone scoped image of the Whimbrel.

Whimbrel as taken with my digiscoping camera.  Note the snow around the legs.

After a while I decided to walk along the causeway to the 1250 metre point so I could view the seasonal pool.  Along the way I saw a single Grey Wagtail and a good number of Meadow Pipits. Despite scanning the far bank of the return lake I could not see any other birds of note.

Having got to the 1250 point I soon started picking up some passage birds.  Firstly five Dunlin were feeding in a loose group.  Nearby was a single Little Ringed Plover and near to that an Oystercatcher and a Lapwing.  The Little Ringed Plover is certainly quite early but preceded on 15th and 17th by birds elsewhere in the county.

Little Ringed Plover - My first of the year.

Dunlin - Three of the 5 present.

Also seen were 100 Wigeon, about 20 Teal, a selection of Gulls and Corvids;  Two Canada Geese and one Egyptian Goose.

Having returned to the car park I had a good look around for the Whimbrel but could not locate it.  I assumed it had flown off perhaps having being flushed by dog walkers, of which there were quite a few.  However it was apparently seen by another birder, feeding on the tarmac in the car park at 2pm!

Song Thrush by the car park.