31 July 2016
– Mostly sunny, westerly.
Both Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper were either present or heard going over today with a single Little Egret amongst a few Black-headed Gulls on the gravel spit in front of Oak Hide.
The family party of Little Grebes has increased to three and there were three Teal, 12 Tufted broods (one with five young Gadwall). One of the broods of Tufted in the North Causeway bay was subject to predation by a Lesser Black-back Gull which took a single young and swallowed it on the wing and then came back for a second and despite the attentions of a female, and the regular diving of the young, the Gull was successful in picking off a second juvenile shortly after.
In the middle of the morning there was a flock of 22 House Martins feeding high over Railway Pool which soon disappeared but it was not clear whether these were migrants moving south or local birds as an hour later a few House Martins were feeding at the north end of Siden Hill Wood and these were certainly birds from Hampton. In the period between 10.30am – 11.30am at least ten Sand Martins went south in ones and twos, a juvenile Green Woodpecker showed well near Railway Hide with both the adults and butterflies included plenty of Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and a few Common Blues near the south-west pond.
Small Copper butterflies were found today nectaring on ragwort flowers near the south-west pond and by the horse paddock, on the Old Road.
30 July 2016
– Sunny intervals, north westerly.
A small movement of hirundines again took place this morning with ten Sand Martins and ten House Martins together over Railway Pool and the railway embankment at 9.15am. These soon departed south with a further ten Sand Martins and six House Martins moving through by 12.15pm.
At 10.00am, a Green Sandpiper flew over calling and a little later a Spotted Flycatcher was found along the Old Road. On the pool margins there was at least one Common Sandpiper and three Little Egrets and other counts today comprised nine Mute Swans (three adults and six juveniles), a Black Swan, 195 Greylags, a farmyard Goose, two Canadas, 31 Gadwalls and a brood of three on Railway Pool, 32 Mallard and a brood of three on Railway Pool, a single Teal, 22 Tufted and 11 broods, seven Cormorants, eight Herons, a juvenile Great Crested Grebe, eight Little Grebes (six adults, three juveniles from elsewhere and a new brood of two on Car Park Pool), seven Moorhens, 117 Coots, 91 Lapwings, 61 Black-headed Gulls, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls and at least two Reed Warblers, one in front of River hide and one by the Dragonfly Pool.
Butterflies today included Red Admiral, Gatekeeper, Green Veined White, Speckled Wood, large and small White and both Common and Holly Blue.
29 July 2016
– Mostly sunny with occasional showers.
At 8.00am there were 24 Sand Martins and a single Swift feeding over the central stream and parts of Railway Pool. These birds quickly moved on south at 8.10am followed by a further eight Sand Martins soon after. There was a party of 15 Starlings feeding on the Islands before moving to the flood plain and there were at least two, probably three young Whitethroats feeding and call actively in the back gate compound nearest to Railway Hide.
28 July 2016
– Showers, north westerly.
Two Sand Martins and 12 Lesser Black-backs went south between 8.00am and 8.30am. There was a Whitethroat in the willow clump on the end of the crop field and another, with a Sedge Warbler by Oak Hide.
Four Little Egrets roosted on Car Park Pool in the morning and two Common Sandpipers and a single Green Sandpiper were also present.
At Mercote Mill, east of the A452 there were at least seven fledged Sand Martins along with two Kestrels and a flock of 41 Pied Wagtails, mostly juveniles.
27 July 2016
Partly cloudy, sunny intervals, north westerly, warm.
Railway Pool this morning held five Oystercatchers and singles of Common and Green Sandpiper, the latter only staying for 30 minutes before it flew off east. There was also a single Little Ringed Plover and in the early afternoon a Peregrine made several sorties over Railway Pool before flying off to Siden Hill Wood having not caught anything.
Lesser Black-backs were again marauding the Tufted families and one took a chick on Railway Pool.
Sedge Warblers continued to show well in the marsh and there were a number of sighting of Marbled White around Railway Pool.
In the evening the counts included the Black Swan, two Teal, eight Oystercatchers, three Little Egrets, seven Little Grebes of which two were juveniles from off site, a new Gadwall brood of three on Railway Pool, a total of ten Tufted broods and sadly, a dead Barn Owl was found along the Old Road.
Update : Dead Barn Owl, found by Graham Rowling: we have just had (October 2016) a post-mortem returned by the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme which suggests that the cause of death was an unknown trauma, possibly a collision, and the bird appears to have been a bird of the year.
26 July 2016
– Mainly overcast with occasional sunny intervals; some very light drizzle early evening; light SW.
There was no further sign of yesterday’s Great White Egret but other sightings included Grey Wagtail and Willow Warbler from the Pumping Station area with Yellowhammer noted singing west of the railway line. There were two Ravens soaring high to the north-east, 107 Greylag Geese on the floodplain and, across the pools, four Little Egrets, a brood of four Little Grebes, a recent brood of three Gadwall, Little Ringed Plover and Redshank.
25 July 2016
– Overcast with sunny intervals, light westerly breeze.
The undoubted highlight of the day was a Great White Egret which was first reported feeding on the Reedbed Pool from 1130-1330 and giving great views. It was then found again around 1530 when it flew in over the Car Park from the north east, returning to the Reedbed Pool where it stayed for about 15 mins before flying off. While actually the second record of 2016 (the earlier one was on 25 March), this was only the fourth record for the reserve. There was a report yesterday from Borrow Pit Lake, just north of the RSPB Middleton Lakes reserve & around 15 miles away, so it’s possible that this bird had moved south.
Other records included 142 Greylag Geese on Car Park Pool, two Common Sandpipers, Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk (f) and Green Woodpecker on the Railway Embankment. The weather conditions were clearly favourable for butterflies with Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Comma, Red Admiral and Marbled White all noted.
Apologies for the delay in providing the updates from 25 July 2016 as a result of the switch over to the new website.
24 July 2016
– Warm with sunny intervals; light westerly breeze.
Raptors were in evidence with a Hobby again hunting martins high over Siden Hill Wood and a Sparrowhawk seen with prey over Railway Pool. Other records included seven Little Egrets on the Railway Pool gravel bar and 15 Rooks on the flood plain.
There were two Common Snipe, the first returning birds, Kingfisher and Common Sandpiper on Railway Pool later in the day and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was on the Oak Hide feeders.
23 July 2016
– Generally sunny and very warm with a light westerly breeze.
The results of this week’s Saturday morning count were as follows: eleven Cormorants, seven Herons, four Little Egrets, one adult Great Crested Grebe and the fully grown juvenile, five Little Grebes and three juveniles (from offsite), four Mute Swans with six cygnets, 25 Greylag Geese, two Canada Geese, 25 Mallard, 25 Gadwall, 4 Teal, 17 adult Tufted Ducks and eight broods (totalling 44), eight Moorhen, 93 Coot, 87 Lapwing, six Oystercatchers, 15 adult Black-headed Gulls and a single juvenile, four Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Raven over Siden Hill Wood and a Kingfisher on the Reedbed. The Dragonfly Pond produced 5+ Small Red–eyed Damselflies and a Ruddy Darter.
22 July 2016
– Sunny and warm with a light westerly breeze.
No records.
21 July 2016
– Generally sunny amd warm; light westerly.
Early morning records were as follows:
Car Park Pool: Three adult Little Grebes, two female Tufted Duck plus a single juvenile, four juvenile Black–headed Gulls, singles of Oystercatcher and Lapwing and a group of eight Sand Martins feeding overhead.
Railway Pool: Four adult Little Grebes with two juveniles, Great Crested Grebe – adult plus juvenile, four Teal, six Tufted Duck broods (including one of thirteen); a brood of well-grown Gadwall juveniles, 45 Lapwing, nine Herons, three Oystercatchers, three Common Ternsand singles of Little Egret & Common Sandpiper.
Also across the reserve at that time were 45 Swift, 12 Sand Martins and there was a group of three juvenile Whitethroat seen near Railway Hide.
Later in the morning a Hobby was hunting the Martins over Car Park Pool for a while before finally heading off in the direction of the Dragonfly Pond. Siden Hill Wood had four Buzzardssoaring overhead with a juvenile again heard calling from there and a Raven circled Car Park Pool before dropping down into the wood. Also noted were 6+ Stock Doves, two CollaredDoves and on Railway Pool there were eight Lesser Black–backed Gulls with a juvenile in attendance.
Further late evening records included 11 Teal on Railway Pool plus three broods of TuftedDucks (eight in total) on Railway Pool and a further five juveniles with a Gadwall ‘foster mother’. Three Green Woodpeckers were around the railway embankment and 100+ Starlings roosted in the Reedbed.
20 July 2016
– Sunny and very warm; light westerly.
The combination of a mid-week count and other records produced the following: one LittleEgret, eight Little Grebes and four juveniles, three Gadwall broods on Railway Pool totalling twenty and all well-grown, six Tufted Ducks broods split across the pools and totalling twenty eight, four Pochard, two Common Terns over, six Common Sandpipers and four Oystercatchers.
In addition, Green Woodpecker was again in evidence, with an initial sighting of two and then subsequently a juvenile on the Causeway.
19 July 2016
– Sunny and exceptionally warm; very light SW breeze.
On an extremely warm day, the only records were of up to two Common Sandpipers across the pools and a Pochard seen from Car Park Hide.
18 July 2016
– Sunny, very warm, light southerly breeze.
The Kingfisher sighting on the Reedbed was notable as only the second this month, this species generally being recorded only sporadically across the summer months. The pools yielded Little Egret, six Oystercatchers, seven Common Terns and two CommonSandpipers, one of which was showing well in front of Oak Hide. Early afternoon a female Sparrowhawk was soaring over Car Park Pool and was then seen to stoop vertically into the bushes on the Siden Hill side of the river.
Other records of note were around eight Stock Doves across the reserve, both Great Spottedand Green Woodpecker, two of each, along the Causeway, two Sand Martins feeding overhead and three Bullfinches in the plantation. The sole butterfly record was of a RedAdmiral which was seen along the Old Road.
17 July 2016
– Cloudy start then sunny & v. warm; humid with light W breeze.
First found on the reserve in 2011, Purple Hairstreak has since been seen most years (none in 2014), albeit on few occasions and only in very small numbers. A sighting of four is therefore an excellent record and equals the site’s maximum count – the location being the third oak tree along the Old Road from the car park gates towards the Dragonfly Pond.
A Hobby was again present over Car Park Pool along with a Kestrel hunting the margins. Green Woodpecker was seen near the back gate and, across the pools, there were three Common Sandpipers, two Oystercatchers, two Teal and a male Shoveler, with three Stock Doves also noted on site during the afternoon. In terms of breeding records, four juvenile Whitethroats were noted being fed by an adult to the left side of Railway Hide and a Water Rail, possibly a juvenile, was seen briefly in flight from the Reedbed Hide.
16 July 2016
– Overcast but warm and close; light SW breeze.
The regular Saturday morning count by Graham Rowling and Dave Scanlan produced the following this week: eight Cormorants, four Herons, two Little Egrets, one adult Great Crested Grebe and the fully grown juvenile, six Little Grebes and a juvenile, three Mute Swans with six cygnets, twelve Greylag Geese, two Canada Geese, 34 Mallard, a single Shoveler, 17 adult Gadwall and seven broods, 19 adult Tufted Ducks and six broods, eight Moorhen, 90 Coot, 118 Lapwing, two Oystercatchers, 19 adult Black-headed Gulls and seven juveniles, four Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and a single Little Ringed Plover.
15 July 2016
– Cooler and overcast with some showers p.m.; light SW.
Green Woodpeckers have been a frequent sighting of late and a single was noted along the path to Railway Hide, a favoured locality for them. Also in the same area was a group of three Great Spotted Woodpeckers, possibly indicative of local breeding success. Other records included two Little Ringed Plovers on Railway Pool and a Hobby seen over Car Park Pool at midday.
14 July 2016
– Sunny intervals; warm and dry; light north-westerly breeze.
With no sightings of Cuckoo so far this month, the one seen perched in a tree at the top of the Causeway, by the streamline, was certainly noteworthy. Two Little Egrets were also around the pools during the day, together with four Lesser Black–backed Gulls and an adult HerringGull.
There were several raptors about on the Reserve: both an adult male and a juvenile Kestrelwere hunting the pool margins, a Hobby put in a brief appearance early afternoon and two Buzzards were soaring over Siden Hill Wood from where a juvenile was calling. Other records were two Green Woodpeckers heard calling, four Stock Doves by Railway Hide, four Linnets on the Causeway and c.40 Sand Martins feeding over the pools.
13 July 2016
– Sunny spells with an occasional shower; warm with a light westerly breeze.
Two Hobbies were feeding over the central streamline around 10 am and also noted on the pools during the morning were singles of Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover and Little Egret. Early evening there was a group of six Magpies, with at least two juveniles, moving along the Old Road near the car park entrance and a pair of Green Woodpeckers flew over.
During the working party, a Sparrowhawk was seen over Railway Pool and a late evening walkabout produced another sighting of the same species, this time chasing warblers over the Causeway. Also noted then were two Little Ringed Plovers on Car Park Pool, Song Thrushand a mixed group of some 30-40 Swifts plus Sand Martins feeding above the pools.
Seven attended the working party with the focus being on pulling Ragwort, especially in the vicinity of Car Park Hide where it seems particularly abundant this year. Thanks to all who turned up.
Finally, the Brewood Ringers made another visit to site early morning and netted the back gate area. Results as follows: Robin 4 (all juv); Sedge Warbler 1 (juv); Reed Warbler 9 (5 juv); Lesser Whitethroat 2 (1 juv); Bullfinch 2 (1 juv); Blackcap 11 (9 juv); Chiffchaff 3 (all juv); Wren 3 (2 juv); Great Tit 2 (1 juv); Chaffinch 3 (2 juv); Goldfinch 1; WillowWarbler 1 (juv); Kestrel 1 (adult male). A total of 43 new birds. In addition there were two retraps and one control – a Reed Warbler originally ringed at Ladywalk on 24/7/15 as a juvenile. There has been a further report of a Black–headed Gull with a Marsh Lane ring being seen at Earlswood but there are no further details at present. Thanks to Ben Dolan and his colleagues for the above information.
12 July 2016
– overcast and cooler with periods of rain, sometimes heavy. Light westerly breeze.
No records.
11 July 2016
– Largely overcast but warm with some sunny spells; moderate westerly breeze.
Two Little Egrets were seen on Railway Pool along with the same number of Oystercatchersand singles of Redshank, Little Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper. GreenWoodpeckers were again around, with two along the path to Oak Hide and a Great SpottedWoodpecker on the Oak Hide feeders. The only raptor noted was a male Kestrel.
A mix of adult and recently-fledged juvenile Swallows was feeding over the Old Road and a juvenile Mistle Thrush was found with a flock of 50+ Starlings in the fields alongside.
10 July 2016
– Largely overcast but warm with some sunny spells; light westerly breeze
With no autumn records for the past couple of years, Whimbrel has been a rare spring-only visitor to the reserve in recent times, so the record of a single bird on Car Park Pool was definitely noteworthy. It was seen mid-morning from the North Causeway Hide and flew NE from the nearer island, calling in flight and being chased by a number of Lapwings.
Other sightings on Railway Pool included singles of Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Redshank and Little Egret, along with four Herons. At least six Gadwall broods were around, varying between two and ten in number and a Tufted Duck brood of seven was noted on Railway Pool. Breeding success around the reserve was further evidenced by a GreenWoodpecker family party which included two juveniles and, by the Back Gate Copse, juveniles of both Bullfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker were seen.
9 July 2016
– Overcast with some showers; light south-westerly breeze.
The regular Saturday morning count was as follows: four Cormorants, two Herons, one adult Great Crested Grebe and the fully grown juvenile, six Little Grebes and a juvenile, four Mute Swans with six cygnets, nine Greylag Geese, two Canada Geese, 18 Mallard plus a brood of three, four Teal, 20 adult Gadwall and five broods (Railway Pool), 18 adult Tufted Ducks and 3 broods (two on Car Park Pool and one on Railway Pool), eight Moorhen, 67 Coot, 80 Lapwing, four Oystercatchers, seven Common Terns and three juveniles, 50 Black-headed Gulls and 100 juveniles, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, singles of Little Ringed Plover and Redshank and, finally, a Hobby.
8 July 2016
– Humid after damp start; sunny intervals; light westerly breeze.
There were several sightings of a Hobby during the day as it hunted in the vicinity of Oak Hide and over Railway Pool. Again Sand Martins were noted to be on the move, with 20+ birds moving south during the morning. A Common Sandpiper was still around on Railway Pool and other records included two Green Woodpeckers, three Jays, Little Grebe, Little Egret and six Oystercatchers.
The light breeze and sunny intervals offered favourable conditions for butterflies with Ringletsmuch in evidence across the reserve, six Marbled Whites and a Small Skipper along the track to Railway Hide while a Gatekeeper was seen along the Concrete Road.
7 July 2016
– Overcast; light southerly breeze.
No records.
6 July 2016
– Mostly overcast, occasional sunny intervals, south-westerly wind.
Two Little Egrets were feeding and roosting on the west bank of Car Park Pool in the morning and a single bird was roosting on dead branches over the River Blythe, as viewed from Tower Hide, in the early evening.
On the pools, there was a single Common Sandpiper, an adult and one juvenile Redshank, a male and two female Teal and still plenty of Black-headed Gulls and Terns about.
A Kingfisher flew from the ditches to the north of Tower Hide, east across the flood plain to the river at 7.30 p.m.
Swifts and Sand Martins were dropping down from high up or heading south along the flood plain to feed over the central stream before some moved on south. There were at least 15 to 20 of each at any one time, with totals probably significantly above this.
Buzzards were very vocal in the wood and to the north, suggesting that there may be a fledged young about. Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Goldcrests, Song Thrush and Blackbird were all in song in the evening, although the quantity of song is now beginning to drop away.
5 July 2016
– Sunny intervals, blustery north-westerly wind.
A definite autumnal feel in the windy conditions but, nevertheless, they were proving ideal for Swifts and Sand Martins which were moving through in noticeable numbers. Between 9 a.m. and 10.45 a.m., an estimated 40 each moved south with the Sand Martins in a relatively broad front from the river across to Siden Hill Wood and most of the Swifts following a line from the central stream over railway hide.
A few Ringlets and Meadow Browns were flying in the more sheltered areas and there was a Black-tailed Skimmer, together with a female Pheasant and one half fledged young by the edge of the crop field. The bird was, nevertheless, capable of limited flight.
Later in the day, six Black-tailed Godwits landed on the islands in front of Car Park Hide at 5.30.
4 July 2016
– High cloud, sunny intervals, light westerly wind.
At 12.15 today a Hobby circled over Railway Pool but moved off quickly and there was a male Kestrel hunting around the Reedbed margins. Eight Oystercatchers were on the pools and definite Sand Martin passage saw six heading west at 1 p.m., with a further ten half an hour later.
Insects were also more in evidence in the better weather with eight Marbled Whites between Oak Hide and Railway Hide and Broad-bodied Chaser and several Emperor dragonflies on the Dragonfly Pool.
3 July 2016
– Mostly sunny, north-westerly wind.
At least two Common Sandpipers fed along the margins of the pools today and an adult Mediterranean Gull was amongst the Black-heads on Railway Pool at 2 p.m.
A Little Egret roosted on the gravel bar and, along the Old Road, there was a Coal Tit and a Lesser Whitethroat in the hedges and four Mistle Thrushes flew towards the Aeromodellers.
The first Purple Hairstreak butterfly was in the first oak on the left out of the car park gates, eight Marbled Whites were counted today along with a Dingy Skipper, only the second record of that species ever on the Reserve.
2 July 2016
– Overcast and drizzly a.m., sunny intervals p.m., westerly wind.
More signs of return passage this morning with the arrival of a Curlew and six Common Sandpipers, the latter all on Railway Pool. Further Swifts were on the move with at least 25 this morning and at least 75 Sand Martins were feeding over the pools, no doubt some of those also preparing to leave.
Other birds of note were a Hobby, a Redshank with a single juvenile, a further brood of Gadwall taking the total to six, with other counts as follows: three Cormorants, two Herons, one adult Great Crested Grebe and the fully grown juvenile, seven Little Grebes and two juveniles, five Mutes and six cygnets, seven Greylag, two Canadas, 40 Mallard, three male and two female Teal, 25 adult Gadwall and six broods, 22 adult Tufteds and two broods, eight Moorhen, 65 Coot, 61 Lapwing, six Oystercatcher and a fledged juvenile, ten Common Terns and a juvenile, 250 Black-headed Gulls and 180 juveniles, five Lesser Black-backed Gulls, two Buzzards, both Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker, three Jays together on the Oak Hide feeder and a Bullfinch in the horse paddock.
1 July 2016
– Mostly sunny, occasional showers, westerly wind.
There was a real feeling of Swifts on the move this morning. At 8 a.m. there were four feeding over the central streamline with ten to 15 Sand Martins but within a few minutes another eight had come in from the north with singles occasionally peeling off and heading south over the railway. At 9 a.m. the birds over the central stream had disappeared and either the same birds or a different group totalling at least 18 were feeding over the Old Road with more Sand Martins. The blustery westerly wind meant that a few House Martins over Siden Hill Wood were tending to concentrate in the lee.
A Tufted brood of five were feeding on the edge of the Reedmace between Oak and Railway Hide and there was still plenty of song from Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat and Blackbird.
A Nuthatch was again vocal and active by the cottages, along with a pair of Bullfinches and Linnet pairs were present on the causeway and by Railway Hide.
Despite the windy conditions, several Ringlets and a single Marbled White were seen along the track to Railway Hide and a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker fed at the Oak Hide feeder.