The Beast from the East...Delivers!

By all accounts it's been an amazing week on the patch and it all kicked-off last Saturday morning at around 8.30am when I picked out a small flock of Lapwing crossing Wanstead Flats heading north-west, since then the movement of Lapwing hasn't really stopped. On Saturday the count ended up on 108 and then each day following there have been daily counts of 91 on Sunday, 116 Monday, 298 Tuesday, 860 Wednesday and 127 Thursday...so if my maths are correct Team Wanstead have now recorded 1590 Lapwing - simply amazing!

Add in a couple of Golden Plover (surprised we haven't had more), daily sightings of Common Snipe, a single Jack Snipe and a semi-frozen Dunlin on the ice on Perch Lake (Great find by Nick) and you could say the blast of a Russian cold Winter dubbed the "Beast from the East" by the press has certainly lived up to expectations.

Unfortunately I've missed out on most of the fun, due to earning a crust and being tied to my desk all week but I did manage to grab a lunch break, where I discovered a mixed flock of Winter thrushes close to where I work, the birds were gorging themselves on the last of the berries and there must have been up to 50 Fieldfare and a dozen Redwing in and around one tree, small consolation for missing out on the movement of birds at Wanstead but hey...it'll soon be the weekend.