Friday 30 September 2016

An early morning in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - September 30, 2016

There was twenty-six moth trapped and identified last night that covered just nine species, one of which was new for the garden.  The addition to the garden list moved my yearly garden total onto 230 and my all time garden list onto 330.


The following were recorded: Light Brown Apple Moth [2]; Angle Shades [1]; Barred Sallow [1]; Lunar Underwing [17]; Blair’s Shoulder-knot [1]; Black Rustic [1]; Lesser Yellow Underwing [1] and Setaceous Hebrew Character [1].


Black Rustic

An afternoon at Rutland Water, Rutland September 29, 2016

I had decided that I would go out later today and then stay later in the hope of seeing a Bittern that has been present on Lagoon Three.  There had been a report of a Wood Sandpiper also on Lagoon Three, which is quite a late record for the counties and if seen would the latest I would have seen one in the counties.

When I arrived in the Egleton car park David and Andy MacKay had also just arrived and we walked down to Shoveler Hide on Lagoon Three together, having brief views of a Great Spotted Woodpecker on route.


Craig was in the hide and informed us that that the Wood Sandpiper and several Green Sandpiper flew off seconds before we entered the hide.  He left shortly afterwards and it wasn’t too long before another birder said that the Wood Sandpiper was back but was partially obscured by the reeds.  When I looked I couldn’t see it at all but it soon appeared alongside a Green Sandpiper, although still partially hidden by the reeds.  It did eventually provide some nice views before it got a little flighty and moved around the lagoon and was not then always on view.  I did eventually have four Green Sandpipers and one of the Great White Egret was on view occasionally.  There were lots of birds on the water, mainly Wigeon but also good numbers of Gadwall, Teal and Mallard and there were a view Shoveler and Tufted Duck along with three Pintail.


Wood Sandpiper


Wood Sandpiper


Wood Sandpiper


Wood Sandpiper


Wood Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper


Wood Sandpiper

The Wood Sandpiper continued to show on and off but I eventually went to have a look in the North Arm as both the Garganey and Whimbrel had been reported.

After parking I walked out onto the spit to view the north shore and found a Ruff, seven Curlews and two Greenshanks but there was no sign of the either the Garganey or the Whimbrel and so I moved into the field to view the southern bay.  I found very little on my first scan other than six Pochards and thirty plus Little Grebes.  Scanning again I found the two Black-necked Grebes and on moving a little closer found the Garganey amongst a few Teal and a third Greenshank flew off towards the north shore.

When I moved back onto the spit I scanned the north shore again and found one of the two Barnacle Geese, which promptly disappeared, and the seven Curlews were still in the same area.  I then noticed another Curlew-like bird that was clearly much small and on winding the magnification up on the scope was able to confirm that it was the Whimbrel.

I returned to Egleton still hoping that the Bittern would show early evening but went into the centre and then Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four before going back to Shoveler Hide.  Other than a couple of Little Egrets and a Great White Egret there was very little on Lagoon One and on Lagoon Four I counted nineteen Pintail and nineteen Ringed Plovers but could only find three Dunlin, although more had been seen earlier.

On getting back into Shoveler Hide, Norman, who had arrived just before I left was still there, and he indicated that the Wood Sandpiper was still there but had disappeared just after I left and had only just returned.  A Hobby flew over the hide and disappeared into the trees at the back of the reedbed and shortly afterwards Tim arrived but despite us both looking there was no sign of the Bittern and we eventually called it a day and headed off.

Wednesday 28 September 2016

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - September 27, 2016

It was pretty windy this morning and so I decided to head straight to the Lyndon Reserve at Rutland Water.  I saw Red Kites just beyond Cranoe and approaching Uppingham and Buzzards between Tur Langton and Cranoe and just after passing through Blaston.

The Lyndon Centre is now closed following the Ospreys departure but the reserve is still accessible and I walked to Shallow Water Hide after checking out the feeding station.  There were Blue and Great Tits on the feeders along with ten Tree Sparrows and three Greenfinches flew in whilst I was there.


It was pretty quiet walking along the path but when I reached Deep Water Hide I found a female/immature Blackcap along with several Blue Tits and a Robin.  I continued along the path and on approaching Tufted Duck Hide there were numerous House Martins overhead and a Red Kite and Kestrel flew over.  I had seen little before arriving at Shallow Water Hide and when I opened the hide flaps there were plenty of birds on the water and the banks.  The wildfowl were dominated by Wigeon but there were also reasonable numbers of Gadwall, Teal and Mallard along with small numbers of Shoveler.  Surprisingly there were very few Tufted Ducks and I saw just a single Pochard and seven Pintail.  There were three Little Egrets around the edge of the bay and I counted eleven Little Grebes.  There were a few Lapwings and numerous Black-headed Gulls plus a single first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull.


Red Kite


Red Kite


First-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull


Little Egret


Little Egret

Feeling I had exhausted Manton Bay I began to make my way back to the car park and found a Chiffchaff just at the end of the path leading down to the hide.  There were still plenty of House Martins and I did see four Swallows as the quartered the meadows.

I stopped at Deep Water Hide and picked out a single Sand Martin amongst the House Martins and there were four Little Grebes feeding just to the left of the hide.


Winter Little Grebe


Summer Little Grebe

After arriving back at the car park I left for the North Arm hoping that two Grey Plover were still present that Steve had reported earlier.  Although it was still pretty windy, the north arm was quite sheltered, although the light was quite poor.  As I pulled near the gate a Grey Wagtail dropped to the ground and began feeding on the other side and I was able to get a few shots in pretty poor light.  It came quite close and wasn’t concerned until I went through the gate when it flew over me and began feeding further down the road.


Grey Wagtail


Grey Wagtail


Grey Wagtail


Grey Wagtail

I went into the new shelter and found seven Curlews on the north shore along with a couple of Ruff and a single Dunlin.  The two Barnacle Geese were still present and I was surprised to find a rather tatty looking immature Shelduck, which was my first in the counties since August 30th.

I moved out of the shelter to get a better look of the north shore and located a single Greenshank but after finding noting else I moved towards the end of the spit to view the south bay.  There was a second Greenshank on the near shore, which then flew further into the bay but little else except for several Pintail I moved onto Egleton.

After some lunch I went into the centre and was joined by Craig, who picked up one of the Great White Egrets at the back of the lagoon, which was doing its best to hide behind two Mute Swans.  I counted nineteen Pintail and a Snipe flew over but there was little else and so I headed for the northern lagoons.

As I reached the turn to Shoveler Hide a Green Woodpecker started calling and on looking through the gate to the left of the path it flew off the nearest post and disappeared.  On opening the flaps in the hide there was a Great White Egret feeding just beyond the first island and three Green Sandpipers around the edge of the same island.  I continued scanning I found a forth Green Sandpiper and picked up a Hobby over the reedbed area.  Mike then joined me in the hide and initially we could only find three of the four Green Sandpipers but when Mike finally found the forth he also found a fifth.  Steve and Terry then also appeared and Steve soon found not one but two Hobbies over the reedbed and shortly afterwards I picked up a juvenile Marsh Harrier.


Great White Egret


Great White Egret

They all left the hide and shortly afterwards I went to Buzzard Hide hoping that I might see the Bittern, which as far as I am concerned is proving invisible and not surprisingly it wasn’t there.

I met Steve and Terry coming down the ramp Sandpiper Hide and after a brief chat about what they had seen I went into the hide.  There were eighteen Pintail on the lagoon and I counted nineteen Ringed Plovers and five Dunlin on the near spit and the Peregrine was in its usual place close to island one.

Steve had mentioned that one of the Stonechats that were present yesterday had been from Mallard Hide on Lagoon One and so I made my way there.  I had been the hide quite some time seeing only a Kestrel of note when I noticed one the Stonechat feeding from the top of a reed mace.  It was quite distant but I got reasonable views through the scope and could see that it was a male.  I called Steve to make him aware but he was already watching not one but two from Snipe Hide on the Wet Meadow.  It was clear that I was watching one of the same birds but despite trying for over ten minutes I was unable to locate the second.

Steve and Terry had seen a Garganey and a Whimbrel in the North Arm earlier and so I made a return trip to see if I could find then before setting off home.  I walked down the spit to view the north shore and found three Ruff and a Black-tailed Godwit but there was no sign of either the Curlews I had seen earlier or the Whimbrel.  I then moved onto the end of the spit to view the southern bay but again there was no sign of the Curlews or Whimbrel but I did find a Common Sandpiper.  I went through the wildfowl on several occasions but couldn’t locate the Garganey and finally called it a day and headed off to watch the City play Porto at my daughters.

Monday 26 September 2016

An early morning in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - September 26, 2016

There were just twenty-four moths trapped and identified last night covering just seven species but two of those were new for the year.  This takes my annual garden total to 229, with 5451 moths trapped and identified to date, which is better than last year after what was a slow start.


The following were recorded: Light Brown Apple Moth [1]; Garden Rose Tortrix [1]; Red-green Carpet [1]; Barred Sallow [1]; Lunar Underwing [16]; Blair’s Shoulder-knot [1] and Large Yellow Underwing [3].


Red-green Carpet


Blair's Shoulder-knot

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - September 24, 2016

David and I went to a hill top just outside Hallaton today hoping that there might be some visible migration.  It was breezy when we arrived but we managed to get out of the wind by sheltering behind a small copse.  There wasn’t any real sign of migration but we did have quite a few Skylarks and Meadow Pipits on and over the fields.  We also had a Red Kite, a Buzzard and at least six Ravens.  We stopped near the stream at the bottom of the hill as we returned where we saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Goldcrest, two Coal Tits and a Marsh Tit and also heard a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap.

After passing through the village we headed for Eyebrook Reservoir but as it was quiet at the bridge we continued around to view the inlet.  There were plenty of birds on the water and we found five Pintail and two Little Egrets but I single Snipe, I picked up as it dropped in, was the only wader, other than Lapwing, we saw.  There were three Red Kites quartering the fields behind us along with a Buzzard and a Kestrel was over Stoke Dry Wood.  There was another Red Kite and a Kestrel on the Leicestershire side but there appears to have been far fewer Red-legged Partridge and Pheasant released this year.  We stopped briefly a little further along where I counted forty-four Pochards, which is quite a good number for here.

Feeling we had exhausted Eyebrook Reservoir we moved onto the North Arm at Rutland Water and found Roger’s car parked at the end of the unnamed road.  There wasn’t too much in the fishponds and so we went through the gate to view the North Arm.  There were four Pintail, three Ruff and a Whimbrel on the north shore and two of the wintering Barnacle Geese had returned.  When we reached the end of the spit we found Roger in the field to the south and he walked back to join us.  He had seen a single Black-necked Grebe, seven Curlews and two Greenshanks.  David was observing the bay to the south and found both Black-necked Grebes and the Curlew and when Roger and I went a few minutes later we soon found the Black-necked Grebes but not the Curlew.  David then found then on the north shore and they must a flown across without any of us seeing them.  As we scanned Burley Wood we had three Red Kites, a Sparrowhawk, three Buzzards and a Kestrel and there was a third Red Kite over Barnsdale.  Chris Park then joined us and after a brief chat we went to Egleton for some lunch.


After lunch we went to Bird Watching Centre to view Lagoon One.  I stopped at the feeding station and saw a Chiffchaff in the bushes along with several Blue Tits and Chaffinches on the feeders.  From the centre I counted nineteen Pintail but other than a single Little Egret and a Snipe there was little else of note, except for circa 200 Cormorants roosting on the islands.

We moved on towards the northern lagoons and headed for Lapwing Hide to see if we could find a Goldeneye I had seen on Tuesday.  A Hobby was observed on route but a brief stop at Crake Hide produced very little although I did photograph some gulls.


Adult Great Black-backed Gull


First-winter Lesser Black-backed Gulls


First-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull

The fresh southerly wind had whipped up the water in the South Arm and there were very few birds, mainly Great Crested Grebes and there was no sign of the Goldeneye.

We found Andy and Chris in Shoveler Hide and they were watching a Peregrine and a Marsh Harrier, with the Peregrine performing very well for a while.  As we watched the Peregrine we also found a Kestrel and a Hobby, which we making use of the brisk wind over the reedbed area.  There were two Great White Egrets, four Green Sandpipers on the lagoon and masses of Wigeon, amongst which there were smaller numbers of Gadwall, Teal, Mallard and three Pintail.  I picked up a Marsh Harrier over the reedbed a little later, which turned out to be a different bird to the one seen earlier as they were easily separated as one had some damage to its left wing.  A Water Rail was heard on a couple of occasions but failed to reveal itself.


Peregrine


Great White Egret

We moved to Sandpiper Hide on Lagoon Four were we found five Pintail, nineteen Ringed Plovers and two Dunlin.  We then had a debate as to whether we should go to Lyndon to look for a Spotted Flycatcher seen yesterday or go to Dunlin Hide to view the gulls.  The gulls won and we moved onto Dunlin Hide.

Once in the hide we were able to see the gulls far better than from Sandpiper Hide.  Most were Black-headed but there were good numbers of Common, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed.  There were also a few Herring and six Yellow-legged Gulls and two others that we spent quite a bit of time debating.  One was a first-year bird that we all agreed was a first-winter Caspian Gull but the other an adult bird was more divided but once the first-winter Caspian stood up, it became clear that the adult was just an Herring Gull.


First-winter Caspian Gull

We went back into the centre briefly and saw a Great White Egret on Lagoon One, which was probably one of the two we had seen earlier on Lagoon Three.

Chris and Colin were in the car park and they informed us that they had seen three Marsh Harriers, one of which was a male, on Lagoon Three along with three Black-tailed Godwits.

Friday 23 September 2016

A day in West Norfolk - September 22, 2016

With Malcolm driving, he David, Roger and I headed for Hunstanton cliff top hoping that there might be some visible migration whilst we waited for any birds news.  A Jay flying over the road near Wolferton was the highlight of the journey and we arrived at Hunstanton at 08:45.

It was pretty quiet in terms of visible migration, although we did have two Sand Martins, a Swallow, four House Martins and eight Meadow Pipits during our hour stay.  There were quite a few Gannets and Sandwich Terns over the sea and we also had a couple of Brent Geese, twenty-five Common Scoters, a Fulmar, several Cormorants, a Great Crested Grebe, circa 200 Oystercatchers, a few Lapwings, sixty Knot and an Arctic Skua.


There had been a report of six Yellow-browed Warblers at Warham Greens and so we left feeling quite optimistic that we would see at least one.  We drove to the parking area at the end of Garden Drove and then walked along the footpath to reach the area where they had been seen.  There were quite a few birders around but none of them appeared to have seen any Yellow-browed Warblers and there appeared to be very few birds in the small copse.   As we settled to observe the copse an immature Peregrine circled overhead and gave some nice views.


Peregrine


Peregrine

After a good forty minutes or so we had seen very little, with the best being a brief view of a Willow Warbler and there hadn’t been any sign of a Yellow-browed Warbler.  We walked further east to view an area of scrub but the best there was a Reed Bunting and so we called it a day and headed back to the car.  During our stay we did see at least ten Little Egrets on the marsh, three Marsh Harriers over the end of Blakeney Point and up to 200 Golden Plover in flight and a Grey Wagtail flew over just as we reached the car.

We stopped at Burnham Overy for lunch, where c.150 Pink-footed Geese flew over, found two perched Buzzards and had at least another fifty Golden Plover.

With no further news of note we continued on to Titchwell where we knew there would be a good range of birds and hopefully a Pectoral Sandpiper that had been seen several times over the last few days.

After parking we went into the centre to check the book and found the Pectoral Sandpiper hadn’t been seen and that there wasn’t a great deal else.  As we started off along the west bank we heard a Water Rail call and there was a Grey Plover, Snipe and Redshank on Lavender Pool.  There were plenty of birds on the Freshwater Marsh but as we were going through them a Peregrine swept low over the lagoon and a lot of the waders, not surprisingly disappeared.  I had seen four Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit before the mayhem but we then decided it would be best to continue towards the beach hoping that the waders would have returned by the time we made our way back.

There was very little, either on the Volunteer or Tidal Marsh and on reaching the beach we found that the tide was still going out.  There were a lot of birds on the shoreline, mainly Oystercatchers, but there was also good numbers of Knot and Bar-tailed Godwits and flock of thirty-one Turnstone.  There was clearly some movement occurring as we had twenty-four Brent Geese and several parties of Wigeon over the sea, along with a single party of Teal.  There were at least ten Common Scoters, a single Gannet and three Sandwich Terns observed and Roger found a Red-throated Diver, which was still in partial summer plumage.  Scanning the shoreline there was also two Ringed Plovers, several Grey Plover, four Black-tailed Godwits and several Curlews.  An immature Wheatear dropped right in front of us briefly and I was able to get a few shots of it before it was disturbed by a walker.


Juvenile Wheatear


Juvenile Wheatear


Juvenile Wheatear

It was just after the Wheatear disappeared that I had a tweet indicating that the Pectoral Sandpiper was showing in front of Parrinder Hide and so we set off back down the bank.  Just before we reached the hide another birder informed us that it was there but had gone into some long grasses and disappeared.  Malcolm went into the hide but I, David and Roger went and stood outside the left, which I certainly prefer.  David found the Pectoral Sandpiper almost immediately feeding on some short grass on the nearest island.  We were then able to watch it for quite some time and also get a few decent record shots.  I did go into the hide briefly as the bird was clearly closer but the photos I took weren't as good as those from outside and so I went and joined David and Roger again.  David then went and joined Malcolm inside and shortly afterwards I found a Spotted Redshank on the far side, right up against the reeds and just after Roger saw it, it called and flew and we couldn’t relocate it.


Pectoral Sandpiper


Pectoral Sandpiper


Pectoral Sandpiper


Pectoral Sandpiper


Adult winter Ruff

As we went back along the west bank there were clearly more waders than after the Peregrine paid a visit earlier and there were at least 150 Golden Plovers and fifty Ruff and there were still good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits.  I found five Dunlin and a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper that David had seen just before the Peregrine flew over, had returned and was feeding quite close to the path.


Turnstone on the Volunteer Marsh


Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper


Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper


Juvenile Curlew Sandpiper


Moulting juvenile Black-tailed Godwit

We continued along the path but saw very little else of note and decided to go home via Choseley in the hope of finding some Grey Partridge.  We looked down the field edges and stopped at the barns to look more closely and then again at the bend in the road but there was no sign of our target bird.  We did see a few Red-legged Partridges and there were three Buzzards and a juvenile Marsh Harrier visible from the bend in the road but we saw little else before arriving back home.

An early morning in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire - September 21, 2016

Thirty-one moths trapped and identified last night, covered just eleven species, one of which was new for the year.

The following were recorded: Light Brown Apple Moth [5]; Garden Rose Tortrix [2]; Eudonia angustea [2]; Garden Carpet [1]; Common Marbles Carpet [1]; Silver Y [2]; Beaded Chestnut [1]; Lunar Underwing [7]; Large Yellow Underwing [4]; Lesser Yellow Underwing [1] and Setaceous Hebrew Character [5].


Beaded Chestnut

A day in Leicestershire & Rutland - September 20, 2016

As is usual I called at Eyebrook Reservoir on route to Rutland Water but had seen very little when I stopped to observe the old oak and found the Little Owl wasn’t showing, which has been the norm recently.  I continued on to view the area near the bridge and although there was quite a bit of activity there was nothing unusual.  Malcolm then arrived and we spent a little longer at the bridge as he was hoping to see a Kingfisher but with no sign we moved around to view the inlet.

There were plenty of birds around the inlet but we only saw a couple of Snipe with no other waders being present.  There were seven Pintail amongst the wildfowl and two Little Egrets were present, one in the stream and the other on the Leicestershire bank.  We also saw three Skylarks and a Meadow Pipit, both of which have been rather scarce here recently.

We eventually moved on to the North Arm at Rutland Water, seeing a Buzzard just after passing through Preston,  After parking along the unnamed road and viewing the fishponds we walked down towards the spit to view the North Arm.  There was a Yellow-legged Gull on one of the posts on the bund and I picked out a Shag amongst the Cormorants on the far side of the bund.  As we scanned the north shore we found a Ruff, three Black-tailed Godwits, four Curlews and a Greenshank before moving into the field to look east into the North Arm.  Malcolm soon picked up the two Black-necked Grebes and I picked out a single Pintail and counted thirty-two Pochard.  We walked back to view the north shore again and this time found a Dunlin, along with two more Ruff and we also found another two Greenshank and six Pintail.  As we stood looking over the water a Kingfisher flashed by but disappeared all too quickly.  Before we left for the Egleton Reserve we stopped to observe the feeders at the cottage and were rewarded with a Coal Tit, a Marsh Tit and a Nuthatch.


Black-necked Grebe


Cormorant


Goldfinch

As it was still a little early for lunch we went to the centre to view Lagoon One and found one of the Great White Egrets feeding to the left of the lagoon but other than six Pintail and a single Snipe there was little else and even the Great White Egret disappeared.

After lunch we were joined by Mike and made our way to the northern lagoons and as we approached the ramp to Sandpiper Hide another birder informed us that a Peregrine was visible on one of the islands.  Brian Kington was in the hide and told us that there was a Grey Plover and indicated where it was.  This kind of took the focus off the Peregrine as we searched for the plover.  We soon found it on the area connecting islands nine and ten and could see that it was a rather smart juvenile.


Juvenile Grey Plover

The Peregrine was close to island one and therefore quite distant but it was clearly the large female that I have seen on a number of occasions on the lagoon and quite often in the same spot.  We scanned the lagoon for other waders but initially couldn’t find any but I then heard a Ringed Plover calling and picked it up in flight and then watched it come down on the far side of island seven.  As we looked at where it had landed we realised that there were quite a few Ringed Plovers and shorty afterwards they took to flight and we counted thirty-seven.  They quickly gained height and appeared to be heading off west but a few minutes later at least ten were back in the same area.  There was a Reed Warbler just in front of the hide and whilst looking for a Greenshank and Redshank Mike had seen earlier a Hobby flashed in front of the hide before heading off towards Lagoon three.  We picked it up over the reedbed area of Lagoon Three and then found a second in the same area.  Mike then left and headed off the Shoveler Hide, whilst Malcolm and I continued to search for the two shanks.  The Greenshank was suddenly right in front of the hide but we were unable to find the Redshank and moved on to Shoveler Hide.

Mike and Brian were still the hide when we arrived and they pointed out two Green Sandpipers and whilst we were watching a Snipe, Malcolm indicated that there was a probable Ruff between us and the Snipe.  It was back on but it then showed a little better and we were able to confirm Malcolm's suspicions and we also saw a Dunlin shortly afterwards.  One of the Hobbies then flew across the lagoon and passed right in front of the hide as it moved towards Lagoon Two.


Hobby


Hobby


Hobby

Malcolm and I then went to Lapwing Hide and one of the first birds I noticed was a female Goldeneye, which we had spent quite some time on Saturday unsuccessfully trying to find.  With little else in evidence we made our way back and called at Buzzard Hide to get a different view of Lagoon Three.  Brian was in the hide but he had only had further views of the Hobby.

Malcolm and I then went back to Shoveler Hide where we had views of a Water Rail as it got into an altercation with a Moorhen and appeared to win the dispute.

We then went to Dunlin Hide on Lagoon Four to get a better look at the gulls.  One of the first birds I noticed was the Greenshank but there was still no sign of the Redshank.  Black-headed Gulls were by far the most numerous but there were also good numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls, with a few Common and Lesser Black-backed and five Yellow-legged Gulls amongst them.  There were also some Ringed Plovers where they had been earlier and I eventually counted a maximum of seventeen.  Steve then joined us in the hide and asked where the Grey Plover was but we had been unable to relocate it.  As I was scoping the gulls I thought I heard a Grey Plover and as I was sitting down Steve asked did anyone hear a Grey Plover and then sad there is more than one calling.  We then found six birds flying over when they were suddenly joined by a large flock but they quickly moved off east.  Steve ran out the hide to try and determine how many there were and indicated that there were twenty and that they were coming back.  I watched them as they dropped low over Lagoon Three and then disappeared and presumably had gone down.  Steve then said they are flying again and as they came over a definitive count was twenty-one but two peeled off dropping low over the lagoon, whilst the others flew off to the south.

The two then flew around the lagoon before coming down on island one but they didn’t stay there very long as the Peregrine took and interest and started chasing them but then turned its attention on the gulls and was flushing everything.  It flew across the lagoon and we lost it behind the Volunteer’s Training Centre only for it to reappear just a few second later right in front of the hide but after causing some more chaos it dropped back on to the ground in its favourite place as if nothing had happened.


Two juvenile Grey Plover

Steve had said he had found a Garganey and Whimbrel in the North Arm and so Malcolm and I went back to try and find them.  It didn’t take too long to locate the Whimbrel along with six Curlew and we also saw the two Black-necked Grebes, a Dunlin, three Ruff and a Greenshank.  I heard the Whimbrel call and then the Curlew and then noticed that all the birds were moving away from the shore with many of the birds taking to flight.  When looking for the cause we found a runner inside the boundary fence so it wasn’t surprising and he just continued heading for the fishponds and shortly afterwards disappeared into the wood.  I called Tim to make him aware, who was with Steve, and he said that he would come around and try and find the individual.  A few minutes later the runner reappeared and this time ran back almost right along the shoreline, flushing any remaining birds.  I provided and update to Tim who called me back later to let me know he had got his man.  Apparently he was staying at Barnsdale Hall and had got lost but why he couldn't keep to the paths, which I would have thought were much better for running I don’t know.

Malcolm and I spent some more time scanning the ducks on the water but we couldn’t find the Garganey and called it a day.