Updates:
4th November – record updated (to include Herring Gull and Little Egret numbers) and new paragraphs added.
2nd November – record amended (Common Darter numbers) and new paragraph added
30th November 2018
Sunny, light south-westerly wind.
A reasonable selection of birds today were kept on the move by an adult female Peregrine which would appear to have been around for much of the morning, judging by the relative lack of Duck on Railway Pool. It showed particularly well just before 10 am when it came in from the north and settled on one of the Railway Pool islands before buzzing a few of the remaining Duck in an attempt to get them to fly, but without success. It then flew off over towards Bradnocks Marsh.
The adult Whooper Swan came in from Bradnocks Marsh with two Mutes at about 9 am and settled on Car Park Pool, though the adult Greater Black-backed Gull joined about 150 Black-headed Gulls and at least eight Common Gulls. Slightly un-seasonally, there were also three winter plumaged Great Crested Grebes there as well.
At least three Green Sandpipers were feeding along the margins of Railway Pool and in front of Railway Hide itself, there were at least eight Meadow Pipits and eight Linnets feeding on the gravel with a further eight of the former around Car Park Hide. Ten Redwings and five Fieldfares were feeding on the railway embankment with at least eight of each flying over.
The crop field was lively with Finches and Buntings – there were at least 100 Linnets, 30 Chaffinches, two Yellowhammers and a Greenfinch together with half a dozen Reed Buntings. On the central streamline there were eight Goldfinches five Siskins and a Lesser Redpoll in the Alders.
A female Shelduck was on Railway Pool, at least one Cetti’s Warbler was in song in the Reedbed, a female Goosander flew over, there were two Dabchicks on Car Park Pool in the causeway bay, three Mistle Thrushes, a Grey Wagtail and two Pied Wagtails by the muck heap along the Old Road
Today’s Peregrine which from the first photograph appears to be colour ringed – Photographs by Max Silverman
29th November 2018
Overcast start, mostly sunny thereafter, south-westerly wind.
The Gulls on Car Park Pool today included seven Herrings, eight Lesser Black-backs and 16 Common Gulls and there was also Shelduck, Whooper Swan and Little Egret on site.
Two Green Sandpipers were seen on the Railway Pool margins. Three Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk were noted during the day and there were 30 Fieldfares on the flood plain.
28th November 2018
Wet and windy.
No records.
27th November 2018
Wet and windy
The adult Whooper Swan remained on Car Park Pool today and there were 30 to 40 mixed Linnets and Chaffinches in the crop field. Two Green Sandpipers and yesterday’s Shelduck were present on Railway Pool.
26th November 2018
Overcast, light easterly, turning south-westerly and getting milder.
The first Shelduck of the autumn appeared on Railway Pool today where it joined to Green Sandpipers and a Little Egret.
The usual suspects were on Car Park Pool – the adult Whooper Swan, the adult Greater Black-backed Gull, three Common Gulls, a Herring Gull, five Pochard, 420 Lapwing (the highest count this autumn) and 100 Starlings.
In the crop field there were at least 50 Linnets and by the muck heap along the Old Road, three Yellowhammers, a Grey Wagtail, a male Bullfinch and a handful of Redwings and Fieldfares.
25th November 2018
Mostly overcast, light easterly wind, milder than of late.
The female or immature Brambling was again on site, mostly in the crop field this morning along with 100 Linnets and 50 Chaffinches.
On the pools or in the margins thereof, the Whooper Swan was again present along with two Green Sandpipers, a male and two female Goosanders, six Pochard, the adult Greater Black-backed Gull, two Common Gulls and a Little Egret, whilst a Water Rail and a Cetti’s Warbler were present around the causeway, a Sparrowhawk went over along with a Raven and 20 Fieldfares and 30 Redwings were spread across the Reserve. A Grey Wagtail was by the muck heap along the Old Road as was a Treecreeper.
24th November 2018
Overcast, easterly wind, periodic showers.
The Railway Pool islands are proving attractive to Meadow Pipits with at least 20 today but careful examination of the gravel is required to pick them up.
Other counts today comprised the following: one Whooper Swan, ten Mute Swans, 90 Greylags, the Graylag / Canada hybrid, 57 Canadas, 302 Wigeon, 13 Gadwall, 170 Teal, nine Mallard, 40 Shoveler, 11 Tufted, 37 Cormorants, one Little Grebe, three Herons, one Little Egret, 24 Moorhen, 13 Coots, one Water Rail in front of Railway Hide, 284 Lapwing, two Snipe, 44 Black-headed Gulls, one Common Gull, four Lesser Black-backed Gulls, one Herring Gull, the adult Greater Black-backed Gull, at least one Cetti’s Warbler and 45 Fieldfares on the Old Road by the car park gates.
The crop field was again lively but no counts were made.
23rd November 2018
Overcast, cold easterly wind, occasional showers.
The crop field was probably the most lively place today with an estimated 25 Goldfinches, 50 Linnets, 40 Chaffinches, ten Greenfinches, two Yellowhammers, 20 Reed Buntings and also a female Brambling. The latter commuted between the crop field and the feeders and was a hopeful and expected but nevertheless welcome arrival.
Other counts today included 310 Wigeon, 195 Teal, 35 Shoveler, 320 Lapwing and a Green Sandpiper. Two Water Rails showed in the channels from the north causeway bay and at least one Siskin went over.
Winter Thrushes over or in the hedgerows comprised 120 Fieldfare and 80 to 100 Redwings.
For those of you on Twitter, John Belsey has been kind enough to put various videos of his visit on Friday.
22nd November 2018
Sharp frost and mostly overcast.
Car Park Pool was partly frozen over this morning. In the open water the adult Whooper Swan joined the resident pair of Mutes. There was also a drake Goosander until 10.20 and two Little Egrets which moved onto the river.
The crop field was lively with at least 60 Linnets and 40 Chaffinches together with a few Goldfinches.
Later in the day the adult Greater Black-backed Gull appeared again, six Goosanders came in to Car Park Pool, only one of which was a male.
21st November 2018
Mostly sunny but cold.
The Whooper Swan remains and the Greater Black-backed Gull came in to roost again. There was a single Green Sandpiper on Railway Pool and two Siskins along the central streamline.
20th November 2018
Sunshine and showers, cold easterly wind, 4 degrees.
The adult Whooper Swan was back on Car Park Pool today and the Peregrine from yesterday put in another appearance. The adult Greater Black-backed Gull joined five Common Gulls with the Gull species and other birds included two Little Egrets, four Snipe, a pair of Bullfinches on the railway embankment, a Grey Wagtail on Car Park Pool, at least 350 Teal and one Green Sandpiper.
Both Cetti’s Warbler and Water Rail was seen or heard around the causeway area and a Raven went over in the afternoon. There were at least 11 Chaffinches and nine Linnets in the crop field.
19th November 2018
Sunshine and heavy showers, easterly wind.
On car park pool this morning there was a Pochard, two Little Grebes, four Common Gulls, a Little Egret and two Pied Wagtails whilst, on Railway Pool, there was a Green Sandpiper and both Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were present, with the latter being chased by a Peregrine. A pair of Bullfinches were by the Oak Hide feeder whilst, on the car park feeder there were 20 Starlings, eight Goldfinch, six Great Tits, five Blue Tits, two Reed Buntings, a Greenfinch, a Robin, two Chaffinches, a pair of Pheasants
18th November 2018
Sunny, slightly cooler in the north-easterly breeze.
There were seven Pochard again today, though there were five males as opposed to three yesterday. Eight Common Gulls and the adult Greater Black-backed Gull were amongst the Gulls coming and going on Car Park Pool in the morning.
A Green Sandpiper showed well on the shore line below Railway Pool. The stream started running into the pool at the beginning of the week and there was a slow but appreciable increase in water levels.
The crop field was again lively first thing with at least 50 Chaffinches, 30 Linnets and a Yellowhammer; a Siskin went over the car park and there were two more feeding with Goldfinches by Packhorse Bridge. A few Redwings (seven) and Fieldfares (15) were present.
A female Blackcap showed briefly on the railway embankment and seems more likely to be an over-wintering bird than late migrant.
17th November 2018
Misty to begin with, quickly clearing to sunny on a light south-easterly wind, remaining mild.
A second Dunlin joined what was presumably yesterday’s bird and was present in the morning but appeared to move on thereafter and appeared also to be part of overland passage through the Midlands.
16 Common Gulls were the best counts so far of the second-winter period. The crop field was lively with at least 50 Chaffinches, two Yellowhammers, three Linnets and six Reed Buntings.
Other counts today comprised two Mute Swans, 140 Greylags, 15 Canadas, a Greylag / Canada Hybrid, 276 Wigeon, 245 Teal, ten Gadwall, 15 Mallard, 39 Shoveler, eight Pochard, six Tufted, 24 Moorhen, nine Coot, 316 Lapwing, 146 Black-headed Gulls, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, eight Herring Gulls, the adult Greater Black-backed Gull, 16 Cormorants, two Little Egrets, two Herons, one Little Grebe, two Snipe, one Green Sandpiper, a singing Cetti’s Warbler, 25 Fieldfares and five Redwings, two Ravens over and a late Common Darter in the mild weather along the concrete road by the Dragonfly Pond.
16th November 2018
Misty, light southerly
There was still a drake Pochard on Car Park Pool this morning along with the adult Greater Black-back Gull but by 9.30am there were few other Gulls on site.
A Kingfisher again showed well perched on the fencing in front of Oak Hide and there was at least one Green Sandpiper and one Little Grebe on Railway Pool. Thrushes included 14 Redwing, two Fieldfares and at least two Blackbirds (likely migrants as they were with the aforementioned Fieldfares and Redwings) in the central streamline trees together with eight Chaffinches and at least ten Long-tailed Tits.
A further flock of 15 Fieldfare and ten Redwings went over and at least ten Chaffinches were in the Old Road hedge, dropping into the crop field to feed on the seeds there.
There were two Meadow Pipits (at least) on the Car Park Pool islands and two Cetti’s Warblers were in song, one by Railway Hide and one by the causeway.
In the late morning and early afternoon Treecreeper, Nuthatch and 12 Long-tailed Tits were seen together in the back gate copse and a Dunlin appeared at about 2.45, on Car Park Pool, and remained until dusk.
15th November 2018
Mostly sunny, mild, temperatures up to 15 degrees
A pair of Pochards seem to be new arrivals today and a Kestrel showed well over Car Park Pool but otherwise it was much the same as usual.
14th November 2018
Sunny intervals, 12 degrees, south westerly
Six Black-tailed Godwits were present on Car Park Pool this morning until 8.35am when they flew off south.
The adult Greater Black-back again came into wash and roost along with four Lesser Black-backs, five Herring Gulls and nine Common Gulls. There were again three Green Sandpipers on Railway Pool along with two Snipe and four Meadow Pipits and seven Redwings showed well on the Railway Embankment, gorging on Hawthorne berries. There was still at least one Common Darter along the Concrete Road and there were four Meadow Pipits around the Car Park.
13th November 2018
Remaining mild, some sunshine and showers
There were again three Green Sandpipers on Railway Pool today, best viewed from Oak Hide this morning where a Kingfisher showed particularly well.
Kingfisher – Photo taken by Max Silverman
Green Sandpiper – Photo taken by Max Silverman
Fieldfare counts today totalled at least 150 birds including one group of 120 over the Aeromodellers. There were seven Meadow Pipits on the new gravel in front of Oak Hide, a Yellowhammer in the Old Road crop field and two late Common Darters along the Concrete Road. Likely migrant Blackbirds included three males feeding on the Hawthorne berries along the causeway where there was, as usual, a Water Rail in the channels in the north causeway bay.
12th November 2018
Sunshine and showers
Along the Old Road this morning (by the Aeromodellers) there were two Yellowhammers and eight Fieldfare whilst on the floodplain and by the cattle feeders there were at least four Rooks with the many Jackdaws and also two Pied Wagtails.
The Gull flock on Car Park Pool included two Commons, two Herrings, three Lesser Black-backs and the adult Greater Black-back; there were also three Little Egrets and two Little Grebes there.
As usual Railway Pool was favoured by the Green Sandpipers (three today) and there were two further Pied Wagtails on the margins there.
A Kingfisher showed well on the Reed-bed pool and on the Car Park feeder, amongst other things, there were five Greenfinches, three Goldfinches, two Chaffinches, 15 Starlings and two male Great Spotted Woodpeckers all subsequently dispersed by a Sparrowhawk!
11th November 2018
Sunshine and showers, blustery south westerly
An adult Yellow-legged Gull was briefly on Car Park Pool this morning along with the adult Greater Black-back, nine Commons, 11 Lesser Black-backs, five Herring Gulls and at least 200 Black-headed Gulls.
An influx of Shoveler took the total to 88 and , as usual, there were four Green Sandpipers on Railway Pool with two Little Egrets on the Dragonfly Pool.
Late morning 102 Fieldfare and 18 Redwings went over along with two Siskin. 61 Starlings fed on Car Park Pool and there were 297 Lapwings there aswell.
A large female Sparrowhawk put up the Jackdaw flock on the flood plain which totalled at least 300 (there were also 12 Rooks there) and there was a single Yellowhammer in the crop field with two along the Old Road. A Coal Tit and a Goldcrest were both in the back gate copse.
The Brewood ringers have notified me of a late sighting of a Black-headed Gull originally ringed in June 2007 at Marsh Lane and being sighted on 26 November 2017, 776 miles away in Cangas do Marranos, Pontevedra, North West Spain.
Six attended the work party on Saturday and cleared out the top end of the Marsh and cut back the Willows to the left and right of River Hide looking towards the Railway. Thanks to those who attended.
The Autumn colours looked particularly good.
10th November 2018
Sunshine and showers westerly
Possibly as a result of putting wheat down in the crop field there were 35 Chaffinches there today with a further ten along the Concrete Road. A Greenfinch and five Linnets were also in the crop field, a Siskin went over and both Migrant Hawker (Reed-bed) and Common Darter (by Oak Hide) were enjoying the warmer conditions away from the breeze.
On Railway Pool there were four Little Egrets, at least three Green Sandpipers and a Water Rail and six Pied Wagtails were present on the island margins.
The adult Greater Black-backed Gull joined six Lesser Black-backs and three Common Gulls on Car Park Pool.
40 Redwings and two Fieldfares went over and other bits and pieces included Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, two Jays on the Oak Hide feeders, a Sparrowhawk around Car Park Pool and a female Pochard there aswell.
9th November 2018
Noticeably cooler on a brisk southerly wind, mostly overcast with some showers.
Railway Pool this morning held four Green Sandpipers whilst on Car Park Pool the regular adult Greater Black-backed Gull was joined by at least 13 Herring Gulls, five Common Gulls and a Little Egret. Both Peregrine and Raven appeared at one stage or another in the morning and there were both Cetti’s and Water Rail seen or heard around the causeway area.
8th November 2018
Sun and showers, light south-easterly wind.
Records were similar today as to yesterday – two Green Sandpipers on Railway Pool, the adult Greater Black-backed, two Herring Gulls and three Lesser Black-backs on Car Park Pool, and singles of Skylark and Redwing over early one.
A ringing session early on yielded no birds at all.
7th November 2018
Sun and showers, light south-easterly wind.
200 Starlings left the Reedbed roost this morning and about 100 Redwings went over at dawn.
There was no sign of the Whooper Swan this morning but the highest count of Snipe this autumn involved 29 which flew over from behind Car Park Hide and off towards the flood plain, though some dropped on to the Car Park Pool islands. In addition to the regular adult Greater Black-backed Gull, there were eight Common Gulls and at least one Green Sandpiper on Railway Pool. There were five Yellowhammers in the crop field.
6th November 2018
Sunny, mild up to 15 degrees, south-easterly wind.
The adult Whooper Swan remained on Car Park Pool all day and five Goosanders were present from 10.15 to 11.15 am before flying off site. The group comprised two males and three females.
5th November 2018
Overcast but still.
The adult Whooper Swan remained on Car Park Pool today along with four drake Pochard. Four Green Sandpipers fed in the bowl in front of River Hide and 46 Redwing and three Meadow Pipits went over.
Whooper Swan – Car Park Pool – Photograph by Max Silverman
The turnover of Gulls included six Herring Gulls and four Common Gulls and there were four Little Egrets on site.
The car park feeder was as busy as usual with, amongst other things, eight Long-tailed Tits, male and female Great Spotted Woodpecker, five Pheasant, seven Goldfinch, two Greenfinch, two Chaffinch, four Reed Buntings, one Robin, two Dunnocks, one Starling and three each of Blue Tit and Great Tit.
4th November 2018
Drizzly, light southerly wind.
Both the adult and the first-winter Greater Black-backed Gull were roosting on the Car Park Pool islands along with at least ten Herring Gulls, 16 Lesser Black-backs and nine Common Gulls. Seven Little Egrets wandered from pool to pool, a Grey Wagtail went over, there were two Green Sandpipers on Railway Pool and what is presumably the returning adult Whooper Swan appeared on Car Park Pool mid morning and was present all day.
In the late morning a male Goosander put in a brief appearance, a Raven went over Siden Hill Wood and ten Meadow Pipits were well hidden feeding on the Railway Pool islands. Four Water Rail included two in the causeway area and two on Railway Pool.
Two Bullfinches in the back gate copse were particularly noteworthy as the species seems to have become scarce. Lastly, seven Skylark went over to the west in mid-afternoon.
The main works on Railway Pool have now concluded.
3rd November 2018
Sunny intervals, breezy from the south-west.
There was some counts today with, for example, Little Egret numbers up to eight, Wigeon to 244, Teal to 258 and Common Gulls up to eight. There were also quite a number of Thrushes about with 70 Fieldfares and 20 Redwings over to the south-west.
Two female Goosanders were new in and there were four Lesser Redpolls on the central stream.
Other counts today were as follows: eight Mute Swans (six adults and two juveniles), 186 Greylags, 12 Canadas, a Greylag / Canada Hybrid, 14 Gadwall, 16 Mallard, 12 Shoveler, five Tufted, three Herons, 14 Cormorants, four Little Grebes, 12 Moorhen, ten Coot, 124 Lapwing, five Snipe, 210 Black-headed Gulls, four Lesser Black-backed Gulls, three Herring Gulls, the adult Greater Black-backed Gull, five Siskins along the central streamline, a Water Rail in the causeway channel, at least 400 mixed Corvids on the flood plain, a Grey Wagtail on Railway Pool, at least ten Meadow Pipits over and at least one of the Cetti’s Warbler roaving around the causeway area.
2nd November 2018
Fine and sunny after a cold start
On Car Park Pool this morning there were at least two Little Egrets, four Common Gulls, the adult Greater Black-backed Gull and a Snipe. Whilst on Railway Pool there were two Green Sandpipers and a Kingfisher.
At least 20 Redwings were feeding on the haws along the Old Road and in the sun there were at least five Common Darters on the track behind Oak Hide and Railway Pool and a further five around Dragonfly Pond.
In the afternoon, the Little Egret numbers went up to six and there was a Grey Wagtail on Railway Pool.
Some ground water is seeping back into Railway Pool and the Teal are loving the muddy edges. The gravelling of the islands should be virtually complete by the end of today but some works may run into the weekend.
1st November 2018
Damp start, occasional sunny intervals but cold north westerly
The gravelling of the Railway Pool islands is well underway and it is hoped that the majority of the gravelling will have been completed by tomorrow evening.
There was at least one Green Sandpiper feeding in front of River Hide this morning and there were five Little Egrets, 64 Starlings and two Common Gulls on the Car Park Pool islands.
The gravelling of Railway Pool island