It was good to escape from home today after feeling rough for about ten days. I only managed a few hours before tiredness overcame me and I was forced back indoors. A walk along the Derwent bank at Bubwith was a joy, with thousands of Teal and Wigeon scattered across the ings, occasionally lifting in a cloud as a Marsh Harrier cruised overhead. I was pleased to pick out the drake American Wigeon which had been hanging out at the north end of the valley; it hadn't been seen this week, so had clearly moved south to where it spent most of last winter. He is looking handsome now, having finished moulting, and was cavorting with a group of male Euro Wigeons, displaying to a couple of rufous females. Several Barnacle Geese were present with Pinkfeet and Greylags north of Aughton Church, though I was looking distantly from North Duffield, so couldn't be sure how many there were (eleven, it turned out). I headed up to Thorganby, which yielded little water and 35 Dunlins, and then finished at Tower Hide, Wheldrake, where 480 Golden Plovers were loafing in the meadows, when they weren't being flushed by low-flying aircraft.
