A few interesting wildfowl had turned up on a small lake in Lincolnshire at a place I have never been to. So, after a bit of googling the lake was found to be near to Thealby, just north of S****horpe. The lake is called Bagmoor and was created by mining for the local steelworks. Myself and Kevin C set off from Rochdale at 9-30am, along the M62, M18/180 reaching Bagmoor around 11-00am. The lakes water was crystal clear as we set up our scopes to look for the birds (it didnt feel like S****horpe to be honest) within 15 minutes we saw the birds we had come for: - a male Ring Necked Duck (from America), 4 Red Crested Pochard, winter plumaged Red Necked Grebe plus a few Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Tufted Duck and 60 plus Pochard. As we enjoyed the spectacle a Little Gull flew in and gave pretty good views. A few more birders arrived and we tried hard to find the Ring Necked Duck for them, which had joined the flock of Pochard and Tufted Ducks in some kind of feeding system that involved all being in a line and diving in turn to come up with food, very strange. We found the duck for them and headed for some lunch.
We headed around 5 miles to Alkborough (this place used to be a bombing range for the RAF and is where the River`s Trent & Ouse join the River Humber) Upon arrival the area seemed to have been flooded after our recent spell of bad weather. It was good for ducks though, with lots of Teal, Wigeon in the area. A couple of Marsh Harrier`s also, then a burst of song from a Cettis`s Warbler. We tried to walk out to the Humber but it was flooded. We headed for home and Kevin found a Barn Owl hunting the fields just above Alkborough. Great end to an unusual day out.
