The winter count finds the largest flock in ten years

Volunteers counted about forty thousand geese on the wetland on Saturday, the largest number since the count began keeping its present method ten years ago. Fourteen people worked in pairs from first light, each pair taking a sector and a fixed line of sight.

The warden puts the number down to water: the level has been held ten centimetres higher than usual since March, and the shallow edges the birds feed on have stayed wet through a dry summer. The count is repeated in January.