Harold Park & Park Dam

Sunday 3rd January a.m.
A cloudy but dry start to the day with a temperature of 6°C on our arrival at Harold Park where we headed straight for the Lake.It was good to see a male Goosander here along with the two resident Great Crested Grebes.Others included Mallards,Tufted Duck,Coot & Moorhen.We then headed for the small pond higher up in the park & were surprised to see another four Goosanders here along with Canadas,Mallards & Moorhen.
 We then went the short distance down the road to Park Dam where there were c75 Canadas grazing in the adjacent field.On the lake we counted five Little Grebes, along with Coots,Moorhen,BH Gulls, Common Gulls & Tufted Ducks.There was a bigger Gull which had a pale back & we noted as  a Herring Gull.We moved to the middle of the Lake & saw two Pied Wagtails fly past us, soon after a Grey Wagtail flew over our heads & landed at the other side of the Lake under the Dam wall.We noticed a couple of other birders arrive at the edge of the Lake so walked round to find D.P. & his wife adding a few birds to their New Year list.The bird we had logged as a Herring Gull had a fly round showing its pink legs, it was joined by a couple of younger birds which were difficult to ID.Looking at the snaps we took we think they were 1st Winter Herring Gulls, they did seem larger than the adult Herring Gull though.

GC Grebe

male Goosander

female Goosander

Goosanders on small pond

Little Grebes at Park Dam

Four of the five Little Grebes seen

Herring Gull & BH Gull

Herring Gull & Common Gull

1st Winter Herring Gull with adult

Harold Park Goosanders & Mallards

Harold Park pond with the Lake in the background