A brisk wind over the lagoons was keeping many birds in the air. Noticeable this morning were the Glossy Ibises rising from the marsh, having a fly around before settling down again. Small flocks of eight to ten birds were mobile, across the Northern lagoon. A single Flamingo was feeding, several Spoonbills and Grey Herons were on the water's edge. Five White Storks flew over and rested in a nearby field. Nothing unusual was seen in the gull roost, as the numbers swelled into the afternoon. The Marsh Harriers continued tormenting the Teal flocks and other wildfowl driven out of the reeds included Mallard, Gadwall, Pochard, Pintail and Shoveler. A male Marsh Harrier saw off two Common Buzzards and an Osprey flew over, very high and without paying any attention to the lagoons below. It was difficult to find birds in the reeds due to the wind but, among the tamarisk bushes, the male Bluethroat was being very obliging and feeding in the open. A small number of House Sparrows are usually around the car park and nearby bushes. I saw two in the tamarisks near the Bluethroat but was surprised when the next one turned out to be a Spanish Sparrow. During the morning, I had watched the wintering Crag Martins and found two Swallows flying over the marsh. After 1pm, there was an influx of House Martins. Somewhere around sixty birds appeared from high level and dropped down to feed over the water. This was an interesting number of House Martins and I assumed they were incoming Spring migrants.
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