MSQ And Barton Poll's......Sunday 06.04.2014.

As Trace was busy sleeping this morning,i decided to drive over to MSQ and check the whole area to see if there were any 'New' migrants in and to generally have a good look around.
 I started by checking the sheep fields and new quarry workings to the east of the site first,then cover the reserve proper.It was really dull today with low cloud and slightly misty conditions and fairly cool to start,so a few layers were put on and the wellies due to the overnight rain.A quick check of the sheep fields revealed nothing new from my last visit,with at least 4 pairs of Oyck's,several Lapwings dotted about and a few Curlew along with Lag's and one or two Shoveler pairs.A look on the sand workings revealed the best bird in this area,a single Green Sandpiper doing it's best to hide from the gusty South Westerly wind,my first for a while and 21 Sand Martin fed overhead.Other sightings included 3 Willow Warbler,2 Blackcap,1 Chiffchaff,1 Common Buzzard and 4 Brown Hare on the fields.I then travelled the short hop over to the reserve and the weather now began to deteriorate with occasional showers,but this didn't put me off and i continued around the reserve.Nothing unusual was recorded on my visit today,but sightings included a single male Siskin,12 Chiffchaff,3 Blackcap and 3 Goldeneye.The latter are certainly not a common visitor to the reserve and i havn't seen any here for ages.Very few insects were seen due to the weather,but a few Common Toads and the brief sighting of a Fox was a welcome one.Not a bad visit considering the weather.I then returned home and received a text to say GPC had found a Coues Arctic Redpoll at Water's Edge.This was a surprise to say the least as there wasn't a sniff of one on yesterdays visit,but Graham had glimpsed a bird on the 1st but not since which he thought was an Arctic,so this was no doubt the bird.It wasn't long before i was watching my 8th Arctic Roll in Lincolnshire and my 3rd at this site,the bird being typically frosty and showing the full suit of characters indicative of this northern species a proper cracker!.Also in this mini flock of Redpolls were at least 2 Mealies and a hand full of Lesser's giving a great chance to compare all 3 species,superb stuff!.After a short while of watching this mobile flock the birds all flew and that was that.While wandering around the CP a couple more 'First' sightings of the year for myself included 3 Swallows and a single House Martin moving west up the Estuary a very welcome sight to see and the forerunner of warmer times to come hopefully.Another good effort out and about topped off with another cracking Arctic Redpoll locally.

Black-headed Gull,MSQ.

Chiffchaff,MSQ.

Chiffchaff,MSQ.

Chiffchaff,MSQ.