A group of thirteen of us met in the car park at Farlington Marshes in blustery conditions.  From the car park, the tide was out, and scanning the mud, groups of gulls including Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull, and sme very smart Mediterranean Gulls were visible.  One or two Curlew, Oystercatchers and Shelduck also were on view.  The car park Robin popped up on some bramble bushes to say hello.

There was not much else to see until we arrived at the lake, where the main highlight was the large number of Pintail ducks gathered on both the freshwater and the nearby sea channels.  Smaller numbers of Teal, Shoveler and Mallard were also present.  The usual flocks of Canada Geese and Brent Geese were grazing in the fields, and a Little Grebe was diving in the lake.

Walking around the sea wall there were hundreds of waders on the exposed mud, mainly Dunlin, along with one or two each of Grey Plover, Turnstone, Ringed Plover and Curlew.  A couple of Rock Pipits were active along the shore.  On the land side, half a dozen Meadow Pipits ran around in the grass and a pair of Stonechat flitted around the hedgerow.  We were able to pick out the long-staying Barnacle Goose amongst the other Geese.  At The Deeps we added Wigeon and Tufted Duck to our growing list.

The intermittent rain showers had become more insistent and so we headed for the cover of the visitors hut to have our lunch.  From there, most of the group opted to return to the car park and call it a day.  A smaller contingent decided to walk back across the grass, on the way spotting a Cetti’s Warbler in some scrub and a couple of Lesser Black Backed Gulls.  A Kestrel was also hovering over the fields as the rain eased up briefly.  Back at the lake this group added Great Crested Grebe and Red Breasted Merganser to the list, all out on the high tide water.  There was also a large group of Redshank resting by the lake.

At the end of the day, we had had a productive walk despite the rain, with around 40 species seen.