Please note that on Wednesday 2nd November, some water management will be being undertaken on Car Park Pool during the morning and there will probably therefore be some disturbance.
31st October 2011
– Mild, mostly overcast, light south-south-westerly wind.
The only record was of a Grey Wagtail on the Dragonfly Pond.
30th October 2011
– Mild, sunny intervals, temperatures up to at least 18 degrees centigrade.
A Barnacle came in with 192 Canadas (the second highest reserve count), and lingered for most of the afternoon. The Linnet numbers were seemingly up on yesterday with over 100 in the Old Road game crop and at least 120 on the Car Park Pool islands and in the crop field. The flock kept breaking up and then re-grouping. There were also 100 Starlings about, and 40 to 50 Greenfinches in the Old Road game crop. The Gull numbers as usual turned over throughout the day and included seven Common and a Herring.
Three Ravens chased each other in the distance over Hampton and later over Siden Hill Wood. A late Migrant Hawker enjoyed the mild conditions along the causeway.
29th October 2011
– Sunny but cool start, south-south-westerly wind. Clouding over as the day progressed.
The cool start precipitated a significant Wood Pigeon passage this morning, with the bulk of the birds through in the first hour after dawn. At least 3000 had moved through by 8 a.m., with no more than 260 through between 8 a.m. and 9.45 a.m., after which the passage largely dried up. A few Skylarks were also moving with at least 40 through by mid-day. 21 Meadow Pipits, singles of Siskin and four Redpoll, at least 225 Fieldfare, 25 Redwing and threeSong Thrushes comprised the balance of the overhead movement.
Both game crops were active, but species were limited almost entirely to Greenfinches andLinnets with at least 160 Linnets and 110 Greenfinches spread between the two game crops and, as of mid-day, no sign of yesterday’s Bramblings.
Other quality birds included a Barn Owl hunting around Cornets End Island at 7 a.m., a Green Sandpiper flushed from the Car Park Pool at 7.15 a.m., and yesterday’s lingering Barnaclereappeared during the morning.
The low water levels have discouraged Snipe and, in the afternoon, the first for a few days appeared and is an indication of their current scarcity. The Common Sandpiper reappeared after a few days absence and there were two Kingfishers.
The wildfowl and other counts, helpfully provided by Graham and Dave were one Great Crested Grebe, four Dabchicks, eleven Cormorants, five Herons, six Mutes, a Black Swan and Cygnet, 415 Greylags, 21 Farmyard Geese at least two hybrid, 143 Canadas, one Barnacle, 80 Wigeon, 33 Gadwall, 63 Teal, 54 Mallard, 23 Shoveler, four Pochard, 14 Tufted, ten Moorhen, 53 Coot, 165 Lapwings, two Snipe, 145 Black-headed Gulls,four Lesser Black-backed Gulls, four Lesser Black-backed Gulls and seven Common Gulls.
28th October 2011
– The misty start quickly clearing, sunny but cool
The Finch and Bunting numbers were similar today as yesterday. Other birds includedGoldcrest and Tree Creeper by the back gate, Bullfinch on the Old Road and a handful ofThrushes and Skylarks both on the Reserve and flying over.
In the afternoon, two Barnacle Geese were with the Canada flock together with three possible Pinkfeet but the latter plus one of the Barnacles departed fairly swiftly leaving a single Barnacle until about 5pm at least.
There was also two Hybrid Geese, one regular Canada Greylag and a smaller Barnacle Cross which has also been seen from time to time.
The Old Road game crop was lively with Finches and Buntings in the afternoon, and included three Bramblings, a fine male and two females.
27th October 2011
– Wet all day
The first sizeable Finch and Bunting flock in the crop field included about 50 Linnets(included one partially albino bird) 30 Greenfinches, 20 Chaffinches, ten Reed Buntingsand three House Sparrows.
Later in the day, two Whooper Swans were reported.
26th October 2011
– Sunny southerly
A miscellany of birds today included 15 Skylark over at 11.40am with up to three singles before that, 12 Siskins and five Redpoll flew through and a Brambling was heard but not seen. Four Tree Creepers included three on the Old Road.
25th October 2011
– Sunny, light southerly after modest overnight rain
The multicolours of the morning sky indicated the passing of the front, and the first, albeit modest rain, for some days.
Unfortunately there was nothing particular in the early morning either brought down or moving east following the front’s departure.
The fairly regular Linnet flock in the crop field stood at about 20 and they were joined by a single Lesser Redpoll. Birds either along the Old Road or on the move included four Pied Wagtails, five Fieldfares, 11 Redwings, two Song Thrushes, a Blackbird, 20 Starlingsand a Yellowhammer.
In the afternoon, a Swallow flew through, the latest Reserve record I believe.
24th October 2011
– Some cloud, mostly sunny, warm south easterly moving slowly round to the south
The only records were of 200 Black-headed Gulls and three Lesser Black-backs with a thin scattering of Fieldfares flying over
23rd October 2011
– Remaining mild, mostly sunny, strong south easterly
Plenty of movement of Gulls with at least 300 Black-headed Gulls, 26 Lesser Black-backsthree Herrings and three Commons. The only other passerines noted were 30 Linnets in the crop field.
22nd October 2011
– Mild, sunny, south easterly
A Merlin that flew south through the Reserve at 11.35am was far and away the best bird of the weekend. Plenty of thrushes were either feeding on the Reserve or moving over with a minimum of 200 Fieldfares during the day, a few Redwings and two Mistle Thrushes.
Other counts of passerines included 20 Greenfinches in the Old Road game crop and 12Goldfinches and 10 Siskins lingered or flew through with a handful of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits.
The waterfowl counts were as follows: One Dabchick, one Great Crested Grebe, 16Cormorants, five Herons, six Mute Swans, a Black Swan, 15 Greylags, 114 Wigeon, 46Gadwall, 60 Teal, 58 Shoveler, 41 Mallards, nine Pochards, 12 Tufted Ducks, 89 Coot, nine Moorhen, a Water Rail, 234 Black-headed Gulls, two Common Gulls, a Herring Gull, at least five Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 216 Lapwings, a Common Sandpiper, 67 Jackdawsand ten Rooks.
Later in the day, a count of 17 Collared Doves at Patricks Farm was of note and a Hornetwas seen in Siden Hill Wood.
21st October 2011
– Mostly sunny. Wind moved round from the west to the south east, becoming warmer
No records
20th October 2011
– Sunny, cool westerly wind.
Not a great deal of change with the Common Sandpiper remaining being the most unusual bird. 70 Fieldfares were in the tops of the trees along the Old Road in the late afternoon, and two Common Gulls were with the Black-headed Gulls on Car Park Pool
19th October 2011
– Sunny, cool north-westerly wind
The best of the birds this morning was a Jack Snipe in front of the north causeway screen and a single White Wagtail with five Pied Wagtails around the cattle feeders on the flood plain. The cold north-westerly wind has rather put paid to visible migration with 20 Wood Pigeons, 20 Linnets and single figure counts of Skylarks, the best of a rather thin lot.
There were 11 Reed Buntings in the crop field and a Redpoll flitted around on the edge of it.
Four Dabchicks, a Great Crested Grebe and the now regular Common Sandpiper were the best of the usual birds on the pools.
18th October 2011
– Increasingly cloudy, north-westerly wind, overnight rain.
There was a Common Sandpiper again on Railway Pool with a Kingfisher there too, and along the Old Road 21 Fieldfares, four Bullfinches and six Siskin.
17th October 2011 –
Sunny intervals, progressively clouding over, wind increasing from the west, some rain overnight of the 17th and 18th.
The best birds of the day were the first Golden Plovers of the autumn, a flock of 70 which circled the Reserve at 10.25 and then flew off east; and the first Tree Sparrows for some time being a pair which visited the Oak Hide feeders. Greenfinch numbers had built up to 40 at the Old Road game cover and there were four Bullfinches along the Old Road. 14 Fieldfares and a Redwing were feeding along the concrete road, ten Linnets were present at the car park and two Common Gulls were with the Black-headed Gulls on Car Park Pool.
16th October 2011
– Another cool start, sunny southerly wind.
Wood Pigeons were again on the move today with at least 390 through by 9 a.m. There seemed to be less visible migration going on today, limited to ten Meadow Pipits, tenSkylarks, one Pied Wagtail, 31 Redwings, 20 Fieldfares, 20 Starlings, three Bramblings(which had paused by the farm but quickly left), four Goldfinches and ten Redpolls .
Other birds this morning included at least ten Chaffinches and six Yellowhammers to the north of Patrick Farm on the field, a Bullfinch on the Old Road, along with at least threeGoldcrest and the usual common species in the wood.
The afternoon yielded a good miscellany of birds, with the best being a second-winter Yellow-legged Gull on Railway Pool and a Wheatear on the floodplain. Other Gulls, with the Yellow-legged Gull included two Herrings and three Common Gulls. There was a Chiffchaff calling by the car park gates and the Old Road game crop attracted the best number of Finches so far this autumn with approximately 20 each of Chaffinches, Greenfinches and Linnets.
The warm weather was good for soaring Raptors, with at least ten Buzzards in the air at once and a Raven also passed through. A few Fieldfares and Redwings continued to move through with a few in the hedges, but no specific counts. Two Water Rails were seen from the north causeway screen on the ever increasing mud fringe.
15th October 2011
– Overnight frost, cold start, sunny south-easterly wind.
The first frost of the year is usually the trigger for Wood Pigeon passage and today was no exception with 300 through by 9 a.m. Other visible migration included 36 Skylarks, 15Meadow Pipits, six Pied Wagtails, 138 Fieldfares, 45 Redwings, 12 Chaffinches, 60Linnets, 20 Siskin and four Redpolls.
The other counts in the morning were 13 Cormorants, 10 Herons, one Great Crested Grebes, five Dabchicks, 14 Mute Swans, a Black Swan but no sign of the hybrid cygnet, 225 Greylags, seven Farmyard Geese, 104 Wigeon (a doubling of last week’s total), 66Gadwall, 57 Teal, 66 Mallard, 54 Shoveler, six Pochard, 19 Tufteds, 59 Coot, 12Moorhen, 150 Lapwings, six Snipe, singles of Green and Common Sandpiper, 340 Black-headed Gulls, four Common Gulls, one Herring Gull and four Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
Seven attended the work party in the afternoon and a lot was achieved. The feeders were cleaned, some branches were removed which were obscuring the view from River Hide, looking towards Car Park Pool, parts of the Railway Pool islands wee sprayed against emerging willow and also around the gravel patches, a channel was strimmed through the Marsh and a start was made on opening up the view looking towards the railway embankment from Railway Hide.
14th October 2011
– South-easterly wind, warm and sunny
In the afternoon today there was a Common Sandpiper on Car Park Pool and Redwings are now filtering through with at least ten behind Oak Hide along with two Fieldfares and 20 along the railway on the Siden Hill Wood side.
13th October 2011
– South-easterly wind, sunny spells.
An afternoon walk in Siden Hill Wood yielded the usual suspects – Nuthatch, Treecreeper,Great Spotted Woodpecker, Coal Tit and Goldcrests – plus at least two each of Siskin andRedwing. There is a fantastic crop of Hornbeam seed so keep your eyes open forHawfinches!
12th October 2011
– Light westerly wind, overcast start clearing to mostly sunny periods, but remaining mild.
Visible migration this morning between 7.30 and 8.45 a.m. yielded the first Redwings of the year, seven, although birds have been present in the locality since the weekend. Other birds on the move during this period were 25 Meadow Pipits, 12 Pied Wagtails, 28 Skylarks, aSiskin, two Goldfinches and at least two Chaffinches, although some birds were unidentifiable in the distance over Siden Hill Wood.
There seemed to be more Dunnocks than of late, particularly along the Old Road, where there were 10 to 12 present, with two flying off from the Old Road hedge at dawn, suggesting some migration. Other birds on the Old Road included a calling Chiffchaff by the car park gates, at least three Bullfinches, three Goldfinches, and a House Sparrow by the cottages.
Other than the ducks, the other birds of note around the pools were a single Common Gull, aSnipe and a Green Woodpecker.
11th October 2011
– Remaining mild, south-westerly wind, with sunny intervals.
There were only a few records today. The Wigeon flocks remain stubbornly around 50 in number. There were five Meadow Pipits over in an hour between 5.30 and 6.30 pm, and the now regular Kingfisher was present.
10th October 2011
– Warm and windy from the west, mostly overcast.
No records.
9th October 2011
– Warm, windy from the west and occasional showers.
Reed Buntings were up to 20 in the crop field and the Water Rail again showed from the causeway screen. Black-headed Gulls reached 400 and there were at least two Kingfishersseen with four Snipe along the shore. 20 Meadow Pipits also flew over in the afternoon.
8th October 2011
– Mostly overcast, westerly wind but milder.
Another interesting cross-section of birds with a Wheatear on the side of the concrete road and 20 Lesser Redpolls in the alders along the road, with a further two flying over. There were also 20 Siskins, 12 Goldfinch, 14 Skylark and 30 Meadow Pipits over prior to 9 a.m., and 46 Meadow Pipits, 25 Skylarks, seven Siskins and a Redpoll over between 10.30 a.m. and 12.45 pm.
The weekend counts were as follows: 11 Heron, 11 Cormorant, four Little Grebes, oneGreat Crested Grebe, six Mute Swans, one Black Swan and the hybrid juvenile, sevenGreylags, a Farmyard Goose, 126 Canadas, 85 Gadwall, 44 Teal, 52 Wigeon, 143Mallard, 47 Shoveler, 14 Pochard, 22 Tufteds, 13 Moorhen, 68 Coot, 187 Lapwing, threeSnipe, 135 Black-headed Gulls, one Common Gull, two Herring Gulls, five Lesser Black-backed Gulls, one Kingfisher, six Collared Dove (Patrick Farm), three House Sparrows(cottages), four Bullfinch, a Goldcrest, a Treecreeper, four Great Spotted Woodpeckers(Old Road) and a Mistle Thrush at Siden Hill.
7th October 2011
– Showery, north-westerly wind.
A miscellany of records included an excellent Gadwall count of 82, then bits and pieces on the move included six Skylark west at 12.40, followed by four Redpoll and a Swallow west at 1.40. There was a Green Sandpiper on Car Park Pool and three Buzzards and aSparrowhawk were also seen.
6th October 2011
– Heavy overnight showers, strong south-westerly wind, mostly sunny from dawn.
An unexpected highlight this morning was a relatively early Jack Snipe which flew around Railway Pool and then seemed to drop into Car Park Pool.
Light visible migration in the clear but cool conditions (down to 7 degrees this morning) consisted of 25 Meadow Pipits, five Pied Wagtails, three Skylarks (plus two on the tip), twoChaffinches, a Siskin, two Linnets and a Redpoll over in an hour and a half from 7.30 this morning.
Also, opposite the car park, there were two calling Chiffchaffs with a further single by the causeway. Reed Buntings scattered around the Reserve totalled 15 and there was an additional Siskin on the central streamline.
A Kingfisher called from the edge of Railway Pool but remained invisible. There are still plenty of Black-headed Gulls moving through with at least 200 this morning along with six Lesser Black-backed Gulls; a second winter Common Gull joined the throng at mid-day, along with a Herring Gull. There were also 20 Herons in total.
5th October 2011
– South-westerly wind. Initially sunny, clouding over with an increasingly strong wind.
27 Skylarks flew over to the south-west between 7 and 8 a.m. this morning and an adultGreater Black-backed Gull was on Car Park Pool. There were 200 Black-headed Gulls, tenLesser Black-backs and a first-winter Herring Gull as well. Heron numbers were up to 20 and at least 120 Jackdaws fed on the far side of Car Park Pool.
4th October 2011
– Cool north-westerly wind, high cloud.
A female Wheatear on the Car Park Pool islands in the evening was only the second of the autumn. A single Green and Common Sandpipers were also present along with Kingfisher, 16 Herons, a Grey Wagtail, 50 Shoveler and 50 Wigeon. Two Ravens were over Siden Hill Wood in the morning, and a Swallow flew through at a similar time.
3rd October 2011
– Strong south, south-westerly wind. Warm, clouding over from the north-west.
Two Goldcrests on the Old Road were the only records in the log.
2nd October 2011
– Remaining hot, south, south-westerly wind. Light evening rain and some cloud.
A Peregrine hunted Railway Pool and ten perched in the top of the dead Larch in Siden Hill Wood during the morning. Wigeon had increased from the day before by ten to 52 and good numbers of Black-headed Gulls were again on the move with at least 500 seen, plus 27Lesser Black-backed Gulls. At least 200 Starlings were present and a Painted Lady on the causeway was, I think, the first of the year.
1st October 2011
– Misty, clearing quickly to another hot, sunny day.
A little more visible migration this morning included the following birds south, during the morning, 41 Swallows, three House Martins, 20 Meadow Pipits, 18 Skylarks and at least ten Siskins.
The fine sunny weather was good for Dragonflies with a count of over 70 Common Darters, at least two Migrant Hawkers and a Red Admiral. The wildfowl counts show a further increase in Wigeon numbers and good numbers of the remaining Duck. Totals as follows: 12 Herons, 17 Cormorants, one Great Crested Grebe, at least seven Dabchicks, four Mute Swans, the Black Swan and fledged cygnet, 138 Greylags, seven Farmyard Geese, one Greylag Canada Cross, 42 Wigeon, 69 Gadwall, 51 Teal, 88 Mallard, 53 Shoveler, ten Pochard, 26 Tufted Ducks, 76 Coot, 12 Moorhen, 119 Lapwing, ten Snipe, one Common Sandpiper, 360 Black-headed Gulls and 12 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.