Saturday 30th (06:41 - 09:43) - A strange morning that alternated between looking as if it would clear; or cloud up completely. But did neither until after 09:30 when clouds started to move away and in fact there was a brief (all too brief) red sunrise while it made up its mind. Increasing S breeze, good visibility

Main features of the day were
- 2 Great Crested Grebes again, but these were initially seen together in the NW corner (traditional nest site) before they moved off in different directions and stayed well-apart throughout
- Cormorant seen flying in, but not noted thereafter
- Greylag Goose party heard over pre-dawn; and then a pair later
- 74 Canada Geese logged was just like the old days when skeins left The Flash at first light. 15 of these on the lake
- 7 Aythya-type ducks seen flying off in the direction of The Flash but, unusually, 12 seen arriving
- no raptors seen today
- no gull roost: yet again very moderate numbers before I left: larger passage of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and more Herring Gulls
- the bird-scarers and / or shooting parties seemed to have discouraged Wood Pigeon parties but today they in higher numbers than recent weeks around the lake. And they at least think Spring is on its way: after tow males seen wing-bashing yesterday there were several birds in 'song' this morning; and several more seen doing display flights
- fewer Redwings heard and seen in flight today, with the largest party of 21 birds
- again fewer Fieldfares but again some of these in trees around the lake
- Jay heard
- just corvid seen flying NW this morning. The usual S-bound roost dispersal seems to have coincided with the brief sunrise and I ended with a low count
- very few finches again

The more detailed notes from the lake
- no Little Grebe noted today
- 2 Great Crested Grebes: see above
- 1 Cormorant: adult seen arriving 08:53 but not thereafter
- what appeared to be the same Heron seen several times: first heard in flight well pre-dawn at 06:50
- the 2 resident Swans throughout
- party of at least 4 Greylag Geese heard flying SE at 06:52; later at 07:52 2 seen flying SE
- after several small parties of Canada Geese heard a large party of 37 birds flew E at 07:40, with 5 peeling off to annoy the swans. Later more flew in, all from the direction of The Flash and more small groups seen, including a party of 4 unusually flying S to the E of the lake. A total of at least 74 birds (unseen calling groups assumed to be 2 birds), with 15 on the lake
- 49 Mallard: 35 drakes. Visited the dam before 07:00 but there was no congregation there - just 4! They mostly seemed to be along the S side. Later did a full 'sweep-count' from the dam
- 19 Pochard, again all in the SE area: 11 drakes
- 34 Tufted Duck logged today: 16 drakes
- at least 7 Aythya sp. ducks flew off. The wing-beats of 2 or more birds were heard at 07:22; and then 5 seen leaving towards the Flash at 07:35. Quite what the 12 birds that flew in from the W at 07:50 is a mystery as they landed out of my sight in the NE area, but had moved by the time I could see it properly. Perhaps some of the Pochard and Tufted Duck counted later: perhaps they flew off
- no sighting of any raptors today
- [one of the fishermen reported seeing a Water Rail along the N side, near the main reed-bed, "over the Christmas Week"]
- 7 Moorhens logged
- 60 Coots logged today with the main group on the SW grass comprising up to 50 birds
- gulls today:
- - no Black-headed Gulls roosted. c.30 arrived at 07:29. Very few more arrived and there were only c.75 present by 07:45 when birds started leaving. Later counts on the lake gave me c.85 at 08:00; and c.125 at 09:00. But at least 300 birds were flushed off the grass to the W and appeared over the lake c.08:15
- - no Lesser Black-backed Gulls roosted either. 5 birds arrived at 08:15. Later a single at 08:24. Otherwise 292 logged over-flying with several parties of >30 birds c08:20. So at least 298 for the morning
- - 12 Herring Gulls (5 adults and 7 immatures) were specifically identified today. 4 first winter-types arrived at 08:15 and commandeered the boat-launching platform for the next 30 minutes at least. A party of 5 (3 adults) flew over NW at 08:24 by which time there was also an adult on the lake. 2 singles later
- - no Yellow-legged Gull-types noted today
- - no Great Black-backed Gulls
- no Feral Pigeons
- no Stock Doves
- the first Wood Pigeon was logged at 07:38 when a bird that had been roosting near where I was standing lost its nerve. Next was a bird heard in song at 07:41: A different day with 29 seen in the trees around the lake, including 2 birds singing and 2 more performing display flights; none was on the wires to the E; 7 singles / small groups seen flying E; 11 ditto flying W. No parties were seen over the fields / Wards Rough to the E and none overhead either. So just 47 for the morning
- no Grey Wagtail yet again today
- 4 Pied Wagtails, all heard
- 10 Fieldfare logged, with 3 of these seen flying out of trees along the W side
- At least 4 Song Thrushes logged, 3 of which were in song. But one of these has me confused - either it is unusually mobile around its territory or there are 3 birds in the SW area that are never singing at the same time! Song comes from both sides of the M54, with song from 2 different locations in Stafford Park wafting across the traffic-free M-way. Very confusing
- at least 45 Redwings logged. I noted 6 birds calling overhead while still too dark to see. Later 8 birds seen in the trees around the lake, with the balance of 31 seen in flight, mainly to the E amongst which was a group of 21 birds flying SE at 09:12
- no Mistle Thrushes today
- no Goldcrest today
- corvid passage started normally with 39 Rooks flying S at the late time of 07:53, but then1 Jackdaw and 2 Rooks flying in from the E and continuing W at 07:55. At this time the sunrise colours tempted me and the camera to the lakeside for the reflections during which time a party of just 40 Jackdaws was seen low to the E at 08:08, but I suspect that there were many more low, 'behind the hedges' in Castle Farm Way and below my sight-line. Rather few thereafter and some were passing to the W as well. Totals today were 96 Jackdaws and 62 Rooks
- party of 12 Starlings seen flying SSE over the W end
- 14 finches logged: a slightly better number that included a single Goldfinch. The Bullfinches seem to have disappeared ahead of the 'year-list' tomorrow - they did the same last year and it took me over a week to get them on the year-list!
- 3 Reed Buntings heard, one of which was along the N side

Checked the street lights I passed-by for insects etc. clinging on in the
wind:
- nothing

My complete log of the birds at the lake today was
no Little Grebes; 2 Great Crested Grebes; 1 Cormorant; 1 Heron; 2 adult Swans; >6 Greylag Geese; >75 Canada Geese (15 on lake); 49 Mallard (35 drakes); 19 Pochard (11 drakes); 34 Tufted Ducks (16 drakes); at least 7 unidentified Aythya sp.; no Ruddy Ducks; no Sparrowhawks; no Buzzards; no
Kestrels; no Water Rails; 7 Moorhens; 60 Coots; no waders; >300 Black-headed Gulls; >298 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 12 specifically identified Herring Gulls; no Yellow-legged Gulls; no Great Black-backed Gulls; no Feral Pigeons; no Stock Doves; 47 Wood Pigeons; no Collared Doves; no Kingfishers; no Green Woodpeckers; no Great Spotted Woodpeckers; no Sky Larks; no Meadow Pipits; no Grey Wagtails; 4 Pied Wagtails; 19 Wrens; 6 Dunnocks; 33 Robins; 13 Blackbirds again; 10 Fieldfares; 4 (or 6) Song Thrushes; 45 Redwings; no Mistle Thrushes; no Goldcrests; 1 Long-tailed Tit party; no Coal Tits; no Willow Tits; 17 Blue Tits; 8 Great Tits; no Treecreepers; 1 Jay; 15 Magpies; 96 Jackdaws; 62 Rooks; 8 Crows again; 12 Starlings; no House Sparrows; 6 Chaffinches; 7 Greenfinches; 1 Goldfinch; no Siskins; no Linnets; no Redpolls; no Bullfinches; 3 Reed Buntings; no Yellowhammers; no unidentified Finch flocks

(Ed Wilson)

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Saturday 30th (06:28 - 08:46) - Much better morning with the overnight rain having cleared away and the still gusty wind dying away while I was at the lake. Started to cloud up again later

Main features of the day were
- no gull roost and again very moderate numbers before I left, though proportion of Herring Gulls increasing, and Great Black-backed Gulls again
- immature drake Shoveler on the lake
- seemed to be plenty of ducks on the water before dawn, but 24 Aythya-types seen flying off, not all in the direction of The Flash
- Sparrowhawk and Kestrel seen; but no Buzzard
- several good-sized parties of Wood Pigeons seen
- many Redwings heard and then seen in flight, with one party of >100 birds
- many fewer Fieldfares but some of these unusually in trees around the lake
- Mistle Thrushes seen, but not heard singing today
- Jay heard
- corvids seen flying NW this morning ahead of the usual S-bound roost dispersal
- very few finches and no sign of the reported Brambling

The more detailed notes from the lake
- no Little Grebe noted today
- 2 Great Crested Grebes seen: 1 in NW area; and 1 along E end of N side. Is it possible that the 'other' birds of these are on a nest already?
- no Cormorants seen
- what appeared to be the same Heron seen several times
- the 2 resident Swans
- no Greylag Geese seen or heard
- Canada Geese heard again but not seen
- 45 Mallard: 29 drakes
- the immature drake Shoveler did not associate with the other ducks, preferring to plough through the middle of the gulls on the lake
- 24 Pochard all together in the SE area sleeping off a hard night's diving: 20 drakes
- 37 Tufted Duck logged today: 20 drakes
- 24 Aythya sp. ducks flew off. 14 left at 07:14 and these seemed to fly off SW rather than toward The Flash. 5 more left towards The Flash at 07:16; and then another 5 at 07:31. But there seemed to be many more ducks than this on the surface at 07:00, though it was too dark to see how many might be coots
- a Sparrowhawk seen diving down to the N at 08:30
- no sighting of Buzzards today
- a Kestrel flew S over the lake at 07:46
- only 4 Moorhens logged: with the strong winds it would have been hazardous for these to have inhabited the dam-face, so I guess they were elsewhere in the reeds?
- only 52 Coots logged, but the main group kept changing location in response to dogs and joggers and so was hard to count
- gulls today:
- - no Black-headed Gulls roosted. c.40 arrived at 07:28. Numbers only slowly increased to c.200 by 07:40 when the group broke up and birds started to leave. Later counts gave me c.65 at 08:10; c.270 at 08:30; c.450 at 08:55, though no 'arrival' had been seen
- - no Lesser Black-backed Gulls roosted either. 5 birds arrived at 08:35, increasing to 14 a few minutes later. Later counts gave me 48 at 08:55. Otherwise 116 logged over-flying. So at least 164 for the morning
- - 10 Herring Gulls (8 adults and 2 immatures) were specifically identified today and in with the Lesser Black-backed Gulls at 08:55
- - no Yellow-legged Gull-types noted today
- - 2 adult Great Black-backed Gull, briefly at 08:25 today
- no Feral Pigeons
- no Stock Doves
- the first Wood Pigeon was logged at 07:54: A better day with 13 seen in the trees around the lake, including 2 birds 'sparring' noisily in the trees; none was on the wires in the windy conditions; 28 singles / small groups seen flying E; 34 ditto flying W; and 350 others in large groups, with at least 230 over the Wards Rough trees joined by c.50 others; and a party of c.70 apparently different birds flying SW. So 425 for the morning
- no Grey Wagtail again today
- 7 Pied Wagtails mostly heard
- 20 Fieldfare logged, with 6 of these in trees along the N side
- 2 Song Thrushes logged, all in song
- at least 281 Redwings an excellent count. I noted 27 birds calling overhead while still too dark to see. Later 11 birds seen in the trees around the lake, but the balance of 243 seen in flight, mainly to the E amongst which was a group of at least 110 birds that flew off NW at 08:05
- 2 Mistle Thrushes seen on the lights over the Ricoh Car Park at the W end, but not heard
- 1 Goldcrest heard in the SE area alongside the M-way
- 15 Magpies logged
- corvid passage started normally with 21 Rooks flying S at 07:38, but then went 'weird' with at least 27 Jackdaws and 24 Rooks flying in from the E and continuing W at 07:45 - cannot recall this behaviour in the mornings! Things more or less normal after that with a party of >100 Jackdaws flying S at 07:50 and thereafter smaller parties of Jackdaws and Rooks heading S to give acceptable totals today of 251 Jackdaws and 186 Rooks
- party of 18 Starlings seen flying S to the E
- just 8 finches logged: 4 Greenfinches flying over; and 4 Chaffinches heard calling. Otherwise none!
- 4 Reed Buntings heard

Checked the street lights I passed-by for insects etc. clinging on in the
wind:
- nothing

My complete log of the birds at the lake today was
no Little Grebes; 2 Great Crested Grebes; no Cormorants; 1 Heron; 2 adult Swans; no Greylag Geese; Canada Geese heard; 1 drake Shoveler; 45 Mallard
(29 drakes); 24 Pochard (14 drakes); 37 Tufted Ducks (20 drakes); 24 unidentified Aythya sp. flew off; no Ruddy Ducks; 1 Sparrowhawk; no Buzzards; 1 Kestrel; no Water Rails; 4 Moorhens; 52 Coots; no waders; >450 Black-headed Gulls; >164 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 10 specifically identified Herring Gulls; no Yellow-legged Gulls; 2 Great Black-backed Gull; no Feral Pigeons; no Stock Doves; 425 Wood Pigeons; no Collared Doves; no Kingfishers; no Green Woodpeckers; no Great Spotted Woodpeckers; no Sky Larks; no Meadow Pipits; no Grey Wagtails; 7 Pied Wagtails; 17 Wrens; 7 Dunnocks; 27 Robins; 13 Blackbirds; 20 Fieldfares; 2 Song Thrushes; 281 Redwings; 2 Mistle Thrushes; 1 Goldcrest; 2 Long-tailed Tit parties; no Coal Tits; no Willow Tits; 19 Blue Tits; 13 Great Tits; no Treecreepers; 1 Jay; 18 Magpies; 251 Jackdaws; 186 Rooks; 8 Crows; 18 Starlings; no House Sparrows; 4 Chaffinches; 4 Greenfinches; no Goldfinches; no Siskins; no Linnets; no Redpolls; no Bullfinches; 4 Reed Buntings; no Yellowhammers; no unidentified Finch flocks

Also recorded
Mammals:
- no Rabbits
- no Grey Squirrels
- new molehills noted along S side

(Ed Wilson)

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Friday, 29th (06:28 - 08:46) - A dark, cloudy and often wet morning that found me never straying far from the hut on the SW shore. So all numbers affected by limited viewing. And I gave in when little seemed to be happening

Main features of the day were
- no gull roost and very moderate numbers before I left
- Sparrowhawk and Buzzard seen despite the conditions
- Lapwing in front of me was a surprise
- few passerines in general, but many Redwings heard (or the same few flying around a lot) with at least 13 put up by Sparrowhawk

The more detailed notes from the lake
- the Little Grebe still around
- only 1 Great Crested Grebe seen, but views limited
- no Cormorants seen
- Heron heard only
- the 2 resident Swans
- Greylag Goose / Geese heard flying over but not seen: woke the Swans but they seemed unable to locate the noise either
- Canada Goose / Geese also heard but not seen
- 38 Mallard was a good count from my vantage / hiding place
- 3 Pochard only logged today, but not able to see the usual loafing area
- 10 Tufted Duck logged today: when I was last here the loafing birds were mainly at the W end and therefore ought to have been in the count ?
- 2 Aythya sp. ducks flew off at 08:47
- a Sparrowhawk flying to the NE flushed at least 13 Redwings from the NE trees at 08:21
- 2 sighting of Buzzards today
- just the 2 Moorhens on the SW grass logged
- 49 Coots were feeding on the SW grass: I did not count the rest of the lake this morning
- 1 Lapwing was on the grass in front of me by 08:30: no idea where it had come from; and it was unusually bold and did not fly when I left the hut
- gulls today:
- - no Black-headed Gulls roosted. c.40 arrived at 07:44. Next group seemed to be c.30 birds at 07:54, after which numbers built rapidly to c.500 before dispersal started at 07:59. Later count gave me c.550 at 08:20
- - no Lesser Black-backed Gulls roosted either. 12 birds arrived at 07:57. Later count gave me 35 at 08:30; Otherwise 73 logged over-flying. So just 108 for the morning
- - 2 Herring Gulls, both immatures, were specifically identified today and in with the Lesser Black-backed Gulls at 08:30
- - no Yellow-legged Gull-types noted today
- - 1 adult Great Black-backed Gull, briefly at 08:27 today
- no Feral Pigeons
- no Stock Doves
- the first Wood Pigeon was logged at the late time of 08:38. Just 2 birds seen!
- no Grey Wagtail today
- 3 Pied Wagtails not unreasonable in the circumstance
- no Fieldfare logged
- 3 Song Thrushes logged again, with all 3 in song
- I logged at least 28 Redwings calling (though there may have been fewer individuals involved). Then 13 more (?) flushed out of NE area by Sparrowhawk
- no Mistle Thrushes today
- no Goldcrests again
- 10 Magpies logged
- corvid passage started with a small, low-level Jackdaw party at 07:59; a moderate-sized passage of Rooks a few minutes later; and then several groups of Jackdaws, though I feel I missed the main party in the dark, wet and windy conditions. Totals today were 111 Jackdaws and 81 Rooks
- no Starlings seen
- no finches logged!
- only 1 Reed Bunting heard

Checked the street lights I passed-by for insects etc. clinging on in the wind:
- nothing!

My complete log of the birds at the lake today was ******* did NOT walk around and most of the time I was sheltering in the hut********
1 Little Grebe; 1 Great Crested Grebe; no Cormorants; 1 Heron; 2 adult Swans; 1+ Greylag Goose; 1+ Canada Goose; 38 Mallard (?? drakes); 3 Pochard (3 drakes); 10 Tufted Ducks (7 drakes); 2 unidentified Aythya sp. flew off; no Ruddy Ducks; 1 Sparrowhawk; 2 Buzzards; no Kestrels; no Water Rails; 2 Moorhens; >49 Coots; 1 Lapwing; no other waders; >550 Black-headed Gulls; >108 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 2 specifically identified Herring Gulls; no Yellow-legged Gulls; 1 Great Black-backed Gull; no Feral Pigeons; no Stock Doves; 2 Wood Pigeons; no Collared Doves; no Kingfishers; no Green Woodpeckers; no Great Spotted Woodpeckers; no Sky Larks; no Meadow Pipits; no Grey Wagtails; 3 Pied Wagtails; 4 Wrens; no Dunnocks; 11 Robins; 6 Blackbirds; no Fieldfares; 3 Song Thrushes; c.40 Redwings; no Mistle Thrushes; no Goldcrests; no Long-tailed Tit parties; no Coal Tits; no Willow Tits; 3 Blue Tits; 1 Great Tit; no Treecreepers; no Jays; 10 Magpies; 111 Jackdaws; 81 Rooks; 6 Crows; no Starlings; no House Sparrows; no Chaffinches; no Greenfinches; no Goldfinches; no Siskins; no Linnets; no Redpolls; no Bullfinches; 1 Reed Bunting; no Yellowhammers; no unidentified Finch flocks

(Ed Wilson)

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Thursday, 28th (15:10 - 16:30) Evening Log - Missed this mornings outing, but did manage to find time to do an evening watch. It was a pleasant evening for a change, with plenty of blue sky and a setting sun. Something we haven't seen for awhile. As usual plenty of gulls on the water when I arrived and a few other bird species logged as well.

Main features of the evening were:
- 2 Yellow-legged Gulls in amongst several hundred Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a dozen or so Herring Gulls.
- at 3:28pm a flock 13 Lapwing appeared to the north of the lake but were very hesitant as to where they were heading. Eventually they decided on the fields to the NE of the lake.
- A Green Woodpecker called briefly from Wesley Wood at 4:09pm. The first few quite awhile.

The more detailed notes from the lake:
- Just the 1 Great Crested Grebe seen this evening just in front of Wesley Reedbeds.
- A single Cormorant circled the lake when I arrived but didn't appear to land. At the time I was just going through Teece gate and when I got lakeside it wasn't to be seen.
- The 2 resident Swans were at the dam end and were rewarded with their wait when the "Bread man" arrived just after 4:00pm.
- Not too many ducks when around. A legacy it appears from yesterdays canoeist perhaps!
- - However the Mallard were still about to be counted and 48 was a good log
- - The Tufted Duck obviously were put off and yesterdays 22 was now only 15, with 7 drakes.
- - Similarly the Pochard were definitely not amused and there was just 1 drake in amongst the Tufted
- 3 Moorhens around the lake with 2 under the dam
- Not sure where the Coots have gone with only 34 logged, a bit different than yesterdays 86!
- gulls this evening:
- - There were several Black-headed Gulls when arrived with 70 logged.
- - The Lesser Black-backed Gulls roost wasn't as big as past ones, but still quite impressive never-the-less with c.700 logged. At 3:55pm c.200 up and left towards Belvide Reservoir to the east. The next big push occurred when a bird scarer went off in the fields to the east and a flock of c.300 Lesser's came over the lake from the west at 4:05pm. The combination of both was enough to send another 300 or more birds off to the east. Having said that a good number of those from the west decided to drop down for a quick wash and brush up, before they left at 4:15pm, leaving just a 100 birds on the water. At 4:20pm these had had enough and joined another large flock of 150 birds on a fly past and leaving the lake devoid of any gulls.
- - Herring Gulls also figured well, with 16 logged when I arrived. These were bolstered with a further 10 birds which arrived at 4:05pm with the c.300 Lesser's.
- - And yes this evening there were 2 Yellow-legged Gulls on the lake. There was one on the water when I arrived, and a second joined the first bird when those Lesser's arrived at 4:05pm. When it arrived it headed straight for the first bird and gave it a good old nip. Really strange, but there it again it might have a been a pair! and this was its greeting. Both were beautifully clean looking birds with slightly darker grey backs and wings than their counterparts. These two were quite distinct, in that the first bird had a very clean, bright white head with a small dark patch just behind the eyes, very reminiscent of Black-headed gulls. The second bird had a clean head but had a distinct black line running diagonally up its breast. Dirt from somewhere that hadn't been washed off from its bathing.
- - A single Great Black-backed Gull graced its presence by flying past and heading east just after 4pm.
- Not many Wood Pigeon about with only 4 logged.
- 2 Grey Wagtails for a change, with one very vocal bird in and around the RICOH grounds
- Lots of Pied Wagtails heading towards the Town Centre with 12 logged.
- Fewer Robins about with 7 logged, which isn't bad considering I was rooted to the spot. One bird was singing from the reedbeds, a bit unusual!
- 7 Blackbirds seen and heard, with a gathering of 3 or 4 birds chattering away around Teece Gate. Possibly because of all the Magpies that had congregated there for the evening roost.
- 2 Song Thrush heard
- 2 Mistle Thrush seen, with one changing its roost at the eleventh hour. Just as I was leaving at 4:30pm a very fast individual came out from the gloom of Wesley Wood and was making tracks to get to the other side of the M54.
- Not many Redwing with only a handful flying overhead.
- Just the 1 Fieldfare heard calling as it flew east.
- 22 Magpies logged with 12 on the dam squabbling over some food left there. A further 6 were in the woods alongside Teece Drive.
- I very nearly missed the main corvid passage which came across the lake at 4:08pm. At the time I was looking at the second Yellow-legged Gull through the scope and fortunately I took my eye away from the scope and just caught them flying north. In total there were 97 Rooks and 160 Jackdaws.
- No Starlings this evening.
- A single Treecreeper heard calling from the alder/birches adjacent to the road on the west bank. The same as yesterday morning. Possible roost here!
- There were a few Finches about with:
- 20 Chaffinches logged this evening with with one flock of 15 that were headed SW across the lake towards the Town Centre at 4:05pm. Possibly the Magistrates where finches have roosted in previous winters.
- 1 Greenfinch logged
- 2 Goldfinches overhead
- 5 Reed Bunting seen diving into Wesley Reedbeds

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake this evening was:
1 Great Crested Grebe; no Little Grebe; 1 Grey Heron; 1 Cormorant; 2 Mute Swans; 48 Mallard; 1 Pochard; 15 Tufted Ducks; 3 Moorhens; 34 Coots; 13 Lapwings; c.100 Black-headed Gulls; c.1100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 26 Herring Gulls; 2 Yellow-legged Gulls; 1 Great Black-backed Gull; no Buzzards; no Kestrel; 4 Wood Pigeons; no Feral Pigeon; 1 Green Woodpecker; 2 Grey Wagtails; 12 Pied Wagtails; 5 Wrens; 5 Dunnock; 7 Robins; 7 Blackbirds; 2 Song Thrushes; 6 Redwing; 2 Mistle Thrush; 1 Fieldfare; no Goldcrest; 1 Long-tailed Tit party; 4 Blue Tits; 3 Great Tit; 1 Coal Tit; no Willow Tit; 1 Treecreeper; no Jay; 22 Magpies; 160 Jackdaws; 97 Rooks; 2 Crows; no Starlings; no Brambling; 20 Chaffinches; 1 Greenfinches; 2 Goldfinches; no Bullfinches; no Redpoll; no Siskin; 5 Reed Buntings

Also
Mammals:
- 2 Rabbits between Wesley Woods and the west bank.

(Martin Adlam)

Thursday 28th (11:55) - Caspian Gull sighted on the lake. It was first reported on Birdguides today and another sighting was reported on Yahoo Groups Shropshire Birds

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Wednesday 27th (07:45 - 09:40) Morning Log - As I sit here typing out my notes from this mornings lakeside visit, you really do wonder about the British weather. When I arrived it was a cloudy 3c and as I left, the sun had come out with lots of blue sky. And now, well its 2:30pm and its raining. Expect the unexpected. I think I'll have that etched my grave stone when the time comes.

However there is some truth in that, as the unexpected did happen again and again, as my notes will reveal. The first was wave after wave of winter thrushes heading east! Do they know something we don't, or was it the weather front with all that rain that pushed them east. The second was 3 Brambling's and lots of other finches.

So the main features of the morning were:
- 3 Brambling's with a Chaffinch in tow at 09:00am. They came over the northern bank of the lake and headed south along the dam and up & over the M54.
- Chaffinches were also up in numbers with 14 seen and heard from around the lake.
- There I was under a smallish alder in Wesley Wood, when I looked up to see two silent Redpoll looking down at me, until they took flight that is.
- Also 1 Siskin in the same area
- Throughout the morning over 200 Redwing in 10 flocks headed east. The largest flock consisted of c.160 birds.
- Not to be outdone, Fieldfare figured quite high as well, with over 500 birds logged in 13 flocks. The biggest being c.200 seen at 8:30am
- The Woodpigeon flocks seemed to be back for the winter. With nothing about for quite a few weeks all of sudden there were 3 reasonable sized flocks heading north across the fields to east. The first was c.100 at 8:10am, followed by 70 at 08:30am and 50 at 08:35am. The numbers aren't huge, but could be a start for things to come.
- 3 Buzzards seen through the morning with an early bird at 08:00am, also a Kestrel seen at this time which was also heading south.

The more detailed notes from the lake:
- 2 Great Crested Grebes seen this morning. Same as Saturday, one at either end of the lake.
- A single Cormorant attempted to land on the lake at 08:00 but headed off east instead.
- The 2 resident Swans were at the slipway until I arrived at the dam. They came shooting across the lake in the hope I guess that I was the "Bread Man". They were disappointed I'm afraid
- There were plenty of ducks when I arrived, but:
- - there was another unexpected visitor who arrived on the lake in the form of a canoeist, who in the process of launching his canoe put up all the Pochard and most of the Tufted Ducks. Needless to say 50 plus ducks circled the lake before heading off towards the Flash.
- - However the Mallard seemed undeterred and along with 14 skittish birds on the south bank there were 16 others logged from around the lake. I say skittish, they appeared very nervous about grazing on the south bank and if one bird twitched another would run a few steps back to the water. Eventually it came too much for them and despite there not actually being anything to cause alarm, they all legged it back into the water. Sorry but it was funny.
- - 22 very "alert" Tufted Duck decided to take a chance and sit it out at the west end. There were 9 drake and they were very wary of the bright orange "thing" at the other end of the lake.
- 8 Moorhens around the lake with most around the dam
- 86 Coot logged, which is considerably more than from the weekends tally. Of these 58 were grazing on the SW grass bank
- gulls today:
- - There were no gulls on the lake when I arrived and then the first 5 Black-headed Gulls arrived at 7:55. These were followed by flocks of 7, 13, 17, 18 and 11. By 8:40 there were only 6 left
- - Yet again there were no Lesser Black-backed Gulls and despite flocks of 13, 20, 14, 14 and 4 which passed over heading south, only 5 dropped onto the water.
- - What was a surprise was to see 2 Great Black-backed Gulls venture down to the lake at 9:10am. One landed on the water but at exactly the same time the second Buzzard of the morning came down close to them, which was enough to see them head off north west.
- As mentioned above plenty of Wood Pigeon about for a change. The first flock of 100 or more were very fast moving, almost like Racing pigeons, very purposeful.
- A lone Feral Pigeon flew across the lake and headed north
- A single Grey Wagtail this morning calling from the RICOH grounds
- Lots of Pied Wagtails this morning with a grand total of 20 birds seen heading east and northeast.
- Still quite a few Robins about with 8 logged around the lake this morning
- 10 Blackbirds seen
- 5 Song Thrush seen and heard
- Winter Thrushes were mentioned earlier, with quite a few mixed parties. a single Redwing was feeding on the Hawthorns by the Castle Farm Way gate at the northeast end of the lake
- 4 Mistle Thrush singing in Wesley Wood, a tree by the M54 footbridge and two in Teece Drive
- Only 1 Goldcrest heard this morning from the northbank wood.
- 1 Jay heard screeching from Teece Drive
- 8 Magpies logged with most up on the dam
- The southerly corvid passage consisted of 7 Rooks and 12 Jackdaws. Where have they all gone!
- Four parties of Starlings flew over the lake. The first was a great whoosh, as they passed over my head at speed, as I stood on the west bank at 8:19am. There were approx. 50 birds in this flock and they were in a real hurry to get to Shifnal. The second party of 23 (8:21am) were in hot pursuit and the others were two single birds at 8:40 and 9:03 which were also on the same flight path
- A single Treecreeper heard calling from the alder/birches adjacent to the road on the west bank.
- Finches were fairly plentiful again
- 3 Brambling's as noted above
- 14 Chaffinches logged with one flock consisting of 3 birds. Most were seen and heard on the north bank
- 13 Greenfinches was a good number with two flocks of 4 and 6 logged.
- 6 Goldfinches around Teece Drive and RICOH grounds
- 3 Bullfinches heard with one female spotted in Wesley Woods
- 2 Redpoll in Wesley Wood
- 1 Siskin that flew up from Wesley wood and into the RICOH grounds at 9:35am.
- Just 3 Reed Bunting heard calling from Wesley Reedbeds with one taking off at 8:38am

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was:
2 Great Crested Grebe; no Little Grebe; 1 Cormorant; 2 Mute Swans; 30 Mallard; no count made Pochard; 22 (+ many in flight) Tufted Ducks; 8 Moorhens; 86 Coots; 71 Black-headed Gulls; 65 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 2 Great Black-backed Gulls; 3 Buzzards; 1 Kestrel; c.230 Wood Pigeons; 1 Feral Pigeon; 1 Grey Wagtail; 20 Pied Wagtails; 11 Wrens; 5 Dunnock; 8 Robins; 10 Blackbirds; 5 Song Thrushes; c.200 Redwing; 4 Mistle Thrush; c.500 Fieldfare; 1 Goldcrest; 1 Long-tailed Tit party; 7 Blue Tits; 8 Great Tit; no Coal Tit; 1 Willow Tit; 1 Treecreeper; 1 Jay; 8 Magpies; 12 Jackdaws; 7 Rooks; 2 Crows; 75 Starlings; 3 Brambling; 14 Chaffinches; 13 Greenfinches; 6 Goldfinches; 3 Bullfinches; 2 Redpoll; 1 Siskin; 3 Reed Buntings

Also
Mammals:
- A Rabbit in the Celestica grounds

(Martin Adlam)

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Sunday 24th (08:00 - 09:30) Morning Log - Another chilly start to the day with a slight easterly breeze that made it like -3c and not 3c.. The low cloud was still present and when a flock of Lesser Black-backed Gulls circled overhead you could see them disappear and reappear at probably only 200ft above me.

Main features of the morning were:
- A Little Grebe just off the north bank
- 3 Cormorants that didn't land but headed north and disappeared very quickly into the murky conditions.
- A lot of Chaffinches with most of them seen in Wesley Wood and along the northbank.

The more detailed notes from the lake:
- 2 Great Crested Grebes seen this morning. Same as yesterday, one at either end of the lake.
- The 2 resident Swans were at the slipway until the "Bread man" arrived at the dam.
- ducks
- - Plenty of Mallard with 50 logged today, plus a pair in courtship with plenty of head bobbing.
- - 41 Pochard logged this morning with 23 drake
- - 38 Tufted Duck was up on yesterday's 24. 18 drake
- 12 Moorhens around the lake with a majority of them on the dam
- 68 Coot logged, with 50 on the SW grass embankment close to the slipway.
- gulls today:
- - Only a handful of Black-headed Gulls on the lake, with just 50 logged. As yesterday they had all but gone by 9:30
- - There were even less Lesser Black-backed Gulls with only 2 on the water. Overhead c.200 flew in at 8:15am but didn't stay. Instead they split up into two groups with one lot heading east and the other circling overhead and drifting west.
- Very few Wood Pigeon about with only 4 seen
- A lone Feral Pigeon flew across the lake and headed north at 08:30am
- A single Grey Wagtail this morning calling from the Celestica grounds
- Very few Pied Wagtails again with just 8 logged.
- Plenty of Robins this morning with 10 logged around the lake.
- 6 Blackbirds seen
- 3 Song Thrush seen and heard
- There were three small parties of Redwing overhead including one that had 2 Fieldfare in tow.
- 1 Mistle Thrush singing in Wesley Wood and another sitting in a tree by the SW footbridge over the M54
- 2 Goldcrest seen feeding and calling by the wide bridge on the northbank.
- 8 Magpies logged with 6 just behind the Yacht Club
- The southerly corvid passage consisted of 6 Rooks and a few Jackdaws. The low cloud made it impossible to see any more, though I could hear them overhead.
- 4 Starlings came up from the direction of the Northbank reedbeds and headed S at 8:20am and then a single bird flew east across the lake at 8:25am
- Finches were fairly plentiful
- 21 Chaffinches logged with one flock consisting of 5 birds. Most were seen and heard on the north bank
- 6 Greenfinches was slightly down on yesterday
- 3 Goldfinches around Teece Drive again
- 3 Bullfinches by the wide bridge on the north bank. 1 male and 2 females
- A Redpoll was heard calling as it flew over the dam in a southerly direction.
- 4 Reed Bunting heard calling from Wesley Reedbeds

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was:
2 Great Crested Grebe; 1 Little Grebe; 3 Cormorants; 2 Mute Swans; 50 Mallard; 41 Pochard; 38 Tufted Ducks; 12 Moorhens; 68 Coots; 50 Black-headed Gulls; c.220 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 2 Wood Pigeons; 1 Feral Pigeon; 1 Grey Wagtail; 8 Pied Wagtails; 10 Wrens; 3 Dunnock; 10 Robins; 6 Blackbirds; 3 Song Thrushes; 8 Redwing; 2 Mistle Thrush; 2 Fieldfare; 2 Goldcrest; 1 Long-tailed Tit party; 7 Blue Tits; 5 Great Tit; 1 Coal Tit; no Treecreeper's; 8 Magpies; 5 Jackdaws; 6 Rooks; 2 Crows; 5 Starlings; 21 Chaffinches; 6 Greenfinches; 3 Goldfinches; 3 Bullfinches; 1 Redpoll; 4 Reed Buntings

Also
Mammals:
- Fresh mole hills
- 2 Grey Squirrels

(Martin Adlam)

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Saturday 23rd (08:15 - 09:30) Morning Log - Late start this morning. Decided I would finish off that last bit of grocery shopping this morning, but had underestimated the amount of people that would be following suit. My local supermarket was packed at 7:15am, surprised I managed to get to the lake when I did.

The weather when I arrived was pretty dire. There wasn't any fog, but the low cloud and lack of sun made it very murky.

Main features of the morning were:
- Good view of a Water Rail in Wesley Brook.
- A Grey Heron swallowing a decent sized fish
- 3 Cormorants working the lake from east to west
- A pair of Treecreeper's in Wesley Wood which was good to see

The more detailed notes from the lake:
- 2 Great Crested Grebes seen this morning. One at either end of the lake.
- 1 Heron patrolling the NE bank in amongst the reeds. At 08:45 it made a stab at a fish, turned it in its bill before swallowing it head first. It was either a Roach or Perch, unfortunately the light was too poor to see if it had stripes (Perch)
- The 2 resident Swans were at the slipway
- There were no Canada Geese this morning
- ducks
- - Still plenty of Mallard with 49 logged.
- - 32 Pochard logged this morning with 19 drake
- - 24 Tufted Duck located in 4 different areas of the lake, with 15 drake
- I had a good view of a Water Rail in Wesley Brook, whilst I was standing on the bridge looking downstream at 9:00am. There is a yellow plastic boon, which the River Authority left behind after a fuel spillage, and just behind this the Water Rail was feeding.
- A Kestrel was sitting on the wires just the other side of Castle Farm Way.
- 9 Moorhens around the lake with 2 in Wesley Brook.
- 64 Coot logged, with 40 on the SW grass embankment close to the slipway.
- gulls today:
- - There were only c.100 Black-headed Gulls when I arrived and by the time I left there were just a handful.
- - The Lesser Black-backed Gulls were a lot fewer with only 8 on the water and by 8:40 they took off and headed north.
- - No Herring Gulls
- - No Great Black-backed Gulls
- A few more Wood Pigeon logged with two in "song". I guess "Woodies" sing! though their cooing is not often referred to as singing or is it.
- No Grey Wagtail. Surprisingly enough!
- Not many Pied Wagtails I guess I missed the main parties as I was late in arriving.
- The lack of Robins from last night was more than doubled this morning with 9 heard and seen around the lake.
- 7 Blackbirds with many seen feeding.
- Only 1 Song Thrush heard
- 1 Redwing was heard when I arrived and at 9:05am 22 flew east along the north bank.
- 1 Mistle Thrush singing in Wesley Wood
- Just the 1 Goldcrest heard in Wesley Wood
- 9 Magpies logged with 5 sitting in the tall trees just behind the shelter on the SW bank.
- The southerly corvid passage consisted of 5 Rooks and 6 Jackdaws. The low cloud made it impossible to see any more
- No Jays heard this morning
- Finches were fairly plentiful
- 8 Chaffinches logged with most along the north bank
- 8 Greenfinches in one flock headed east along the north bank at 9:00am
- 3 Goldfinches around Teece Drive
- 4 Bullfinches in Wesley Wood. There were 2 males, a hen and one other calling but not seen.
- No Redpoll
- Just 1 Reed Bunting heard calling from Wesley Reedbeds

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was:
2 Great Crested Grebe; 3 Cormorants; 1 Heron; 2 Mute Swans; no Canada Geese; 49 Mallard; 32 Pochard; 24 Tufted Ducks; 1 Kestrel; 1 Water Rail; 9 Moorhens; 64 Coots; c.100 Black-headed Gulls; 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; no Herring Gulls; no Great Black-backed Gulls; 20 Wood Pigeons; no Grey Wagtail; 3 Pied Wagtails; 8 Wrens; 4 Dunnock; 9 Robins; 7 Blackbirds; 1 Song Thrushes; 23 Redwing; 1 Mistle Thrush; 1 Goldcrest; 1 Long-tailed Tit party; 5 Blue Tits; 9 Great Tit; 1 Coal Tit; 2 Treecreeper's; no Jay; 8 Magpies; 6 Jackdaws; 5 Rooks; 4 Crows; no Starlings; 8 Chaffinches; 8 Greenfinches; 3 Goldfinches; 4 Bullfinches; no Redpoll; 1 Reed Buntings

Also
Mammals:
- Fresh mole hills

(Martin Adlam)

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Friday, 22nd (15:00 - 16:20) Evening Log - Same time and same viewpoint for this evenings log. Still chilly at 5 degrees centigrade but at least the fog was gone, that is until I left and it started to drop once again.

When I arrived the lake was covered in gulls and also on the SW grass bank.

Main features of the evening were:
- Excellent Gull roost, with two Great Black-backed Gulls. 1 Adult on the water and an immature on the SW grass bank
- Another good passage of Pied Wagtails heading towards the Town Centre, plus two that headed for Celestica at 3:30pm and one individual that was at quite a height and heading east across the lake!
- Only the one Redpoll this evening, which was heading SW.

The more detailed notes from the lake:
- just the 1 Great Crested Grebe seen again this evening
- 2 Heron came gliding in at 3:40pm and put all the gulls up. There was such a melee I didn't see where they landed. Possibly they didn't and were on their way towards Bayliss's pools.
- The 2 resident Swans were present throughout
- There were 26 Canada Geese on the SW grass bank grazing alongside the Coot.
- I didn't do a comprehensive duck count, as I couldn't see into the NE Bay
- - There were quite a few Mallard along the dam with at least 41 logged
- - 31 Pochard were logged again with 22 drake
- - 33 Tufted Duck logged again this evening with 23 drakes.
- 11 Moorhens with 9 in the water just below the dam.
- 58 Coot logged, with 52 on the SW grass embankment close to the slipway. There were possibly more in the NE Bay
- gulls today:
- - There were a good number of Black-headed Gulls when I arrived with c.500 logged. By 4:11pm they had all gone.
- - The lake was covered in roosting Lesser Black-backed Gulls with c.3000 on the water and 200 on the SW grass bank. Throughout the next hour smaller groups arrived and then slowly but surely they all left and by 4:11pm they had all gone. The largest group to leave was c.2500 when the two Grey Herons arrived, the Lesser's split up with most heading east towards Belvide Reservoir. After this, small groups broke away until at 4:11pm when the last 35 birds left and headed north.
- - In amongst the Lesser's there were 12 Herring Gulls which was quite low considering their were 31 on Wednesday.
- - Good to see 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, with an immature on the SW grass bank and an adult on the water.
- Just 2 Wood Pigeon logged.
- 2 Grey Wagtail, with one coming into roost at 16:11.
- Plenty of Pied Wagtails this evening with a steady stream of birds heading towards the direction of the Town Centre. Apart from that is, the first two, which were seen at 3:30pm heading towards Celestica. This is not the first time they've roosted here, but with Celestica closing this Christmas, I guess they will have to find another roost. The rest of the birds seen overhead followed the norm and 12 were recorded. Having said that there was one that headed east at height at 3:50pm. Obviously knew where he was going!
- Whether the Robins have moved on I'm not sure, but only 3 were heard and only one of those was singing.
- 6 Blackbirds again
- Only 3 Song Thrushes heard
- 1 Redwing this evening seen flying along the north bank in an easterly direction.
- 2 Goldcrest calling along the RICOH hedge
- 13 Magpies logged with quite a few on the dam and 5 roosting at Teece Drive
- corvid passage consisted of 15 Rooks and no Jackdaws, not even one heard. The fog was probably the reason for lack of corvids. Even though it wasn't at ground level there was was quite a bit of low cloud.
- 1 Jay heard screeching in the RICOH grounds.
- 1 Redpoll seen at 3:40pm heading SW
- Fewer Chaffinches this evening with only 4 logged
- 2 Greenfinches logged
- Just 3 Reed Buntings roosting in Wesley Reedbeds tonight.

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was:
1 Great Crested Grebe; 2 Heron; 2 Mute Swans; 26 Canada Geese; 41 Mallard; 31 Pochard; 33 Tufted Ducks; 11 Moorhens; 58 Coots; c.500 Black-headed Gulls; c.3200 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 12 Herring Gulls; 2 Great Black-backed Gulls; 2 Wood Pigeons; 2 Grey Wagtail; 15 Pied Wagtails; 4 Wrens; 1 Dunnock; 3 Robins; 6 Blackbirds; 3 Song Thrushes; 1 Redwing; 2 Goldcrests; 1 Long-tailed Tit party; 2 Blue Tits; 4 Great Tit; 1 Jay; 13 Magpies; no Jackdaws; 15 Rooks; 2 Crows; no Starlings; 4 Chaffinches; 2 Greenfinches; 2 Goldfinches; 1 Redpoll; 3 Reed Buntings

(Martin Adlam)

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Thursday, 21st (Around 3.00pm) Afternoon log - Viewed from the top of the dam and towards the jetty.  So foggy only a partial view.

Huge gull flock on the water, vanishing into the gloom.  Certainly several hundred Black-headed Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Also seen:
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 2 adult Mute Swans seen. 
- 4 Canada Geese
- At least 32 Pochard
- over 50 Mallard
- 15 Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhen
- c.50 Coot

Left Hollinswood in bright sunshine - surprised to see the lake so densely foggy - Could have been much more hidden in the gloom?

(Malcolm Thompson)

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Wednesday, 20th (15:00 - 16:20) Evening Log - Despite the cool 4 degrees centigrade the weather wasn't that bad. The fog, that had lingered for much of the day, had lifted and I had clear view across the lake.

As in all my evening visits of late, I stood on the on the road on the west bank, which apart from giving me a good view across the lake, was also a lot quieter without the traffic behind you if you were in the Castle Farm Way layby.

Main features of the day were:
- Excellent Gull roost, with one Yellow-legged Gull present
- A good passage of Pied Wagtails heading towards the Town Centre!
- Not many finches but 2 Redpoll flying over were a bonus

The more detailed notes from the lake:
- just the 1 Great Crested Grebe seen this evening
- no Cormorants
- 1 Heron on the northbank
- The 2 resident Swans were present throughout
- There were 4 Canada Geese on the SW grass bank grazing alongside the Coot.
- A single Greylag Goose flew east across the lake at 4:05pm
- I didn't do a comprehensive duck count, as I couldn't see into the NE Bay
- - There were quite a few Mallard along the dam
- - 31 Pochard were logged
- - 33 Tufted Duck logged this evening. 23 drakes.
- No Buzzard this evening
- 5 Moorhens with just 4 on top of the overflow at the dam.
- 63 Coot logged, with 51 on the SW grass embankment close to the slipway. There were possibly more in the NE Bay
- gulls today:
- - There were a good number of Black-headed Gulls when I arrived with c.400 logged. By 4:16pm they had all gone.
- - The lake was covered in roosting Lesser Black-backed Gulls with c.2500. Throughout the next hour a further 300 birds arrived and then slowly but surely they all left and by 16:20 they had all gone.
--------At 3:42pm c.300 headed N and c.400 E.
--------At 3:45 c300 headed E and 200 N.
--------At 3:55pm 80 flew E
--------At 3:58 c.500 headed E
--------At 4:11 100 flew E
--------At 4:15pm c.200 flew E
and the last remaining birds flew East at 4:20pm
- - With so many Lesser's it wasn't a surprise to find 31 Herring Gulls in amongst them
- - and 1 Yellow-legged Gull
- - what was surprising was not finding a Great Black-backed Gull
- No Feral Pigeon
- No Stock Doves logged.
- Just 2 Wood Pigeon logged.
- No Collared Dove
- No Grey Wagtail, must be a first as it is most unusual not to hear at least one
- Plenty of Pied Wagtails this evening with a steady stream of birds heading towards the direction of the Town Centre. First one seen was at 15:30 and then the rest up until I left at 4:20pm In total 18 were logged.
- A few Robins singing around the west end with 5 heard.
- 6 Blackbirds was pretty good as I was just standing in one location
- No Fieldfare logged
- 4 Song Thrushes heard
- No Redwings this evening.
- No Mistle Thrushes
- 1 Goldcrest calling along the RICOH hedge
- No Ravens
- 10 Magpies logged with quite a few on the dam
- corvid passage consisted of one Jackdaw at 3:40pm, followed by one large flock of c.150 birds at 4:02pm In amongst these were 40 Rook
- 1 Jay heard screeching in the RICOH grounds.
- No Starlings this evening
- A few Chaffinches around with 7 logged
- 2 Greenfinches logged
- 7 Reed Buntings roosting in wesley Reedbeds tonight

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was:
1 Great Crested Grebes; no Cormorants; 1 Heron; 2 adult Swans; 1 Greylag Goose; 4 Canada Geese; ? Mallard; 31 Pochard; 33 Tufted Ducks (23 drakes); no Buzzard; 5 Moorhens; 63 Coots; c.400 Black-headed Gulls; c.2800 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 31 Herring Gulls; 1 Yellow-legged Gull; no Great Black-backed Gulls; no Feral Pigeons; no Stock Doves; 2 Wood Pigeons; no Collared Dove; no Kingfishers; no Green Woodpeckers; no Great Spotted Woodpeckers; no Sky Larks; no Meadow Pipits; no Grey Wagtail; 18 Pied Wagtails; 4 Wrens; 4 Dunnocks; 5 Robins; 6 Blackbirds; no Fieldfare's; 4 Song Thrushes; no Redwings; no Mistle Thrushes; 1 Goldcrests; 1 Long-tailed Tit party; no Coal Tit; no Willow Tits; 2 Blue Tits; 1 Great Tit; no Treecreeper's; 1 Jay; 10 Magpies; c.150 Jackdaws; 40 Rooks; 2 Crows; no Starlings; 7 Chaffinches; 2 Greenfinches; no Goldfinches; no Siskin's; no Linnets; 2 Redpoll's; no Bullfinches; 7 Reed Buntings

Also recorded
Mammals:
- 1 Grey Squirrel

(Martin Adlam)

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Sunday, 17th (07:00 - 09:30) - The temperature when I arrived was 6 degrees centigrade, but dropped to 4 degrees when I left. Around the lake there were a few sheltered areas where it was even colder with pockets of frost. A few clouds drifted over but despite a few drops of rain when I arrived it remained dry throughout.

Like yesterday evening I perched myself on the road on the west bank, which gave me a great advantage point to watch the corvids heading south.

Main features of the day were:
- 2 Swans on the lake and 3 fly-over's.
- Just the 1 Buzzard seen at 8:12
- A pair of Ravens to the north.
- Very few gulls!
- reasonable number of finches including 2 Redpoll flying over the SE corner

The more detailed notes from the lake:
- just 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Cormorants flew over the lake at 08:30 but didn't land
- 2 Herons on the northeast bank, patrolling the reedbeds.
- The 2 resident Swans almost had 2 Adults and a juvenile joining them at 09:00, but they thought better of it and headed towards the Flash.
- no geese today
- 24 Mallard was a bit of a surprise. the numbers seemed to be dropping for some reason.
- 18 Pochard logged today. 11 drakes.
- 41Tufted Duck logged today. 29 drakes.
- just 1 sighting of a Buzzard today, at 7:46. Where it came from is a mystery but it glided over the lake from the direction of the Industrial park south of the M54.
- Only 5 Moorhens with just 2 on the dam.
- 72 Coots logged today, with 59 on the SW grass embankment close to the slipway.
- gulls today:
- - no Black-headed Gulls roosted, but a c.50 arrived at 07:00, followed by c.250 at 07:20. By 08:10 they had all gone.
- - no Lesser Black-backed Gulls roosted either. After a lone bird arrived at 08:03 and landed on the lake, there was a small passage of birds flying both South (27 birds) and West (28 birds). At 08:00 the loner had gone.
- - There were no Herring Gulls logged.
- - no Yellow-legged Gull-types noted today
- - no Great Black-backed Gulls today
- 5 Feral Pigeons seen individually
- No Stock Doves logged.
- Very few Wood Pigeon logged, with just small parties overhead of 2, 3, 4, 13 and 7
- A Collared Dove was a pleasant surprise at 7:25. I don't think I've seen one here before. I know Ed has, but still an interesting bird to note.
- 1 Grey Wagtail appeared to have roosted in Wesley Reedbeds.
- Not many Pied Wagtails heard this morning, with the first being logged heading west a 7:46. Others followed but only 5 logged in total
- Still plenty of Robins singing around the lake with 17 logged.
- Didn't see many Blackbirds with only 8 logged
- 35 Fieldfare were in a single party flying south across the dam.
- A few Song Thrushes around the lake with 5 logged.
- As soon as I arrived you hear Redwings calling from all over the lake. It wasn't until the light was better that I could physically see any. The first party heading south was 4 and then at 7:45 15 were seen heading in the sam direction.
- 2 Mistle Thrushes today with one seen at the W end while another was singing in the Celestica grounds
- no Goldcrests this morning
- A pair of Ravens just clipped the lake at the east end, before they landed in one of the oak trees on top of the hill, to the north of the lake.
- 8 Magpies logged
- corvid passage consisted of 1 small flock of Jackdaws at 7:35 with 8 birds, then a steady flow from 7:55 onwards with several flocks consisting of 8, 31, 80, 46, 5, 8, 18 and 12 birds. Rooks didn't feature until 7:40 when unusually 3 birds were seen heading north. Whether they met up with the main parties heading south at 7:45 we'll never know but there were several parties heading south after this time, with a mixed flock of 12 Rooks mixed in with 8 Jackdaw. After this the flocks were separated and birds logged were 5, 85, 10, 10, 8 and 14. Totals today were 216 Jackdaws and 132 Rooks.
- A pair of Jays heard screeching in the RICOH grounds.
- 2 Starlings were seen coming out of the reedbeds on the northbank at 08:00am and heading south.
- Plenty of Chaffinches around with most along the hedgerows to the northeast and Wesley Woods in the NW
- 7 Reed Buntings seen leaving the Wesley Reedbeds. The first at 7:30am

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was:
2 Great Crested Grebes; 2 Cormorants; 2 Herons; 4 adult Swans, 1 Juvenile; no Greylag Geese; no Canada Geese; 24 Mallard; 18 Pochard (11 drakes); 41 Tufted Ducks (29 drakes); 1 Buzzard; 4 Moorhens; 72 Coots; c.300 Black-headed Gulls; 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 80 overhead; no Herring Gulls; no Yellow-legged Gulls; no Great Black-backed Gulls; 5 Feral Pigeons; no Stock Doves; 29 Wood Pigeons; 1 Collared Dove; no Kingfishers; no Green Woodpeckers; no Great Spotted Woodpeckers; no Sky Larks; no Meadow Pipits; 1 Grey Wagtail; 5 Pied Wagtails; 6 Wrens; 4 Dunnocks; 17 Robins; 8 Blackbirds; 35 Fieldfare's; 5 Song Thrushes; 19 Redwings; 2 Mistle Thrushes; no Goldcrests; 1 Long-tailed Tit party; no Coal Tit; no Willow Tits; 4 Blue Tits; 4 Great Tits; no Treecreeper's; 2 Jays; 8 Magpies; 216 Jackdaws; 132 Rooks; 5 Crows; 2 Starlings; 19 Chaffinches; 11 Greenfinches; 2 Goldfinches; no Siskin's; no Linnets; 2 Redpoll's; no Bullfinches; 7 Reed Buntings

Also recorded
Mammals:
- 2 Grey Squirrels
- new molehills noted

(Martin Adlam)

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Saturday, 16th (3:00pm - 4:15pm) Evening Log - Apart from an isolated shower just before I arrived, the remainder of the evening remained cloud free, which probably explained why the temperature dropped dramatically. By the time I left it was down to 4 degrees Centigrade. Pretty chilly.

I decided to give the west bank a go again, and look across the lake towards the dam. It was a bit disappointing to see very few gulls on the water, with most being Black-headed Gulls, however you do get a great view of other species coming into roost from here.

Main features of the evening were:
- a Water Rail squealing from Wesley Reedbeds
- a single Great Black-backed Gull
- a fairly large party of Pied Wagtails roosting in the Celestica grounds. Most odd!

The more detailed notes from the lake:
- 3 Great Crested Grebes seen
- 2 Cormorant at the dam end when I arrived. They took off once together and came down towards the west end for 10 minutes or so, before eventually taking off at 3:21pm and disappearing southeast towards Bayliss's Pools.
- 1 Heron came in from the northeast and landed on a half submerged branch next to the sailing clubs hut on the waters edge.
- the resident Swans were feeding alongside the ducks and coots up by the overflow.
- 4 Canada Geese were spotted flying east just south of the M54
- Because of my location it was never going to be easy to do a proper duck count, so the figures here probably don't reflect the true count.
- From what I could see there were 34 Mallard around the lake with most feeding on bread thrown into the water by the overflow
- Only 7 Pochard logged and they all flew down to west end around 4:00pm
- 29 Tufted Duck sighted, I'm sure there were plenty more.
- A Water Rail was heard squealing in the Wesley Reedbeds at 3:54pm
- 9 Moorhens was a pretty good count with most around the dam
- 70 Coots logged with 53 on the SW grass bank
- gulls today:
- - When I arrived there were c.220 Black-headed Gulls roosting, but as per the norm smaller parties arrived and left, and then by 4:0pm there was nothing on the water.
- - It was exactly the same with the Lesser Black-backed Gulls . When I arrived there were 70 on the water, at 3:30pm there were only 35 left and despite a party of 70 flying overhead and a brief drop in by 25 of them, they had all left by 4:00pm. Unusually quite a few were heading towards Chelmarsh and not Belvide Reservoir.
- - There were at least 2 Herring Gulls, which appeared on the lake when the second wave of Lesser's came in. But they also left just before 4:00pm
- - a single Great Black-backed Gull appeared from nowhere. I must have overlooked it on the water, but it was up and over the trees on the northbank at 3:55pm
- there were one or two Wood Pigeon about but no significant numbers.
- There was 1 Grey Wagtail seen on the dam when I arrived and then two more breezed in at 3:45pm and started feeding alongside the slipway. Twenty minutes later another bird came in from the west.
- Pied Wagtails. Single birds started flying overhead towards the Town Centre at 3:40pm and then an exceptional party of 11 birds came in from the west, flew along the northbank and dropped into the Celestica grounds at around 4:10pm.
- There were a few Robins singing when I arrived and even when I left.
- Only 2 Blackbirds seen
- No Fieldfare this evening
- 2 Song Thrushes seen and heard along the RICH/Lake hedgerow
- 1 Redwing seen ducking down into Wesley Wood at 3:10pm
- No Mistle Thrushes seen or heard
- 1 Goldcrests in Wesley Wood
- A few tits around with 2 Blue Tits, 2 Great Tits and a Willow Tit heard at exactly the same spot I saw it last weekend.
- In total I logged 12 Magpies with 5 appearing to be roosting by the Teece Drive gate.
- corvid passage started at 3:30pm with 2 Jackdaw, but things didn't really get started until 15 minutes later when the main parties came streaming over. Counts of 8, 30, 2, 16, 66, 4, 2, 8 and finally 70 (at 4:10pm) saw all the Jackdaws pass over heading north. Similarly but not in such large numbers the Rooks came over in smaller numbers with 5, 2, 2, 3, 1, 6, 21, 8 and 5 logged. Totals then Jackdaw 208 and 53 Rook.
- 2 Jays in the RICOH grounds were making an awful din at around 3:30pm
- 3 individual Starlings were seen. i was seen at 3:40pm heading east another, possibly the same bird flew west at 3:48pm and at 4:00pm another circled the Wesley Reedbeds for a short while before disappearing west.
- finches
- - There were a few Chaffinches around with 5 in the bushes just alongside Wesley brook.
- - I managed to log 5 Greenfinches but these were all single birds heading west along the northbank
- - a pair of Goldfinches also logged heading west.
- Not so many Reed Buntings roosting tonight but never-the-less 5 wasn't bad.

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake this evening was:
3 Great Crested Grebes; 2 Cormorants; 1 Heron; 2 Mute Swans; 4 Canada Geese; 34 Mallard; 7 Pochard; 29 Tufted Ducks; 1 Water Rail; 9 Moorhens; 70 Coots; c.220 Black-headed Gulls; 104 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 2 Herring Gulls; 1 Great Black-backed Gull; 6 Wood Pigeons; 4 Grey Wagtail; 20 Pied Wagtails; 4 Wrens; 3 Dunnocks; 4 Robins; 2 Blackbirds; 2 Song Thrushes; 1 Redwings; 1 Goldcrests; 1 Long-tailed Tit heard; 1 Willow Tits; 2 Blue Tits; 2 Great Tits; 1 Treecreeper's; 2 Jays; 12 Magpies; 208 Jackdaws; 53 Rooks; 1 Crows; 2 Starlings; 5 Chaffinches; 5 Greenfinches; 2 Goldfinches; 5 Reed Buntings;

Also recorded
Mammals:
- 1 Brown Rat by Teece Drive Gate.

(Martin Adlam)

16th, Saturday (06:30 - 10:30) Morning Log - The onset of the cold weather seemed to have already moved some birds around.

Highlight was yet another 'one that got away' - I flushed a medium-sized bird out of the grass at the W end at 06:30. Never saw a thing, but it sounded interesting, though did not call. If I had to take a shot in the dark (well it was!) I would say Woodcock, but only because I cannot think what else might roost in the grass

Other notes from the morning (bit busy with Christmas and it will take a few days to get the full logs up-to-date)
- at least 4 Cormorants
- the returning Swans' rings read today - R17; and 7AUL
- party of 4 Greylag and 18 Canada Geese arrived from the SE
- 9 Pochard and 46 Tufted Duck on the lake, but no fewer than 26 Aythya-type ducks seen flying off before 07:30 while it was too dark to identify them
- Sparrowhawk over pre-dawn
- at least 5 Buzzards in / over trees and fields to the E / SE
- no gull roost last night but up to c.900 Black-headed Gulls arrived; c.750 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew S or W over the lake, but rather few on the lake - too much disturbance on a Saturday? lack of operational tip?
- several large parties of Wood Pigeons both to E & W gave me almost 500 birds for the day
- good numbers of winter thrushes over the fields to the E - I logged c.190 Fieldfare and c.120 Redwings
- big passage of corvids as well, especially Jackdaws: logged 561 Jackdaws and 149 Rooks

A full report later

(Ed Wilson)

Top

Friday, 15th (06:24 - 10:15) - Cloudy and dull with very few brighter bits. Light drizzle did not come to anything. Light W wind fading away before increasing from WSW. Felt fresher, though still mild.

I spent much of the time along the S side where the view is different and passerines are in shorter supply, but gave me better views to the E and NW.

Main features of the day were:
- no Swans to start with, but 2 flew in
- very early Buzzard
- good number of gulls after disappointing start: but fewer than yesterday
- reasonable number of finches again

The more detailed notes from the lake:
- the Little Grebe not seen today
- the 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 5 Cormorant sightings with 2 at the lake: 2 flew S to E 08:35; and 1 flew W to N; then a juvenile by 09:05; and an adult by 09:20 from the N
- 3 Herons seen today: first seen at 07:19 there were singles at each end of the lake at 09:10. And another seen flying S over Ward's Rough
- there were no Swans until 2 adults arrived from the E at 08:09. Unable to get close-enough to read any rings to check whether they were the AWOL 'residents'
- no geese again today
- 42 Mallard again today, but I made it 24 drakes today (25 yesterday!): the off-dam count at 06:45 gave me 34 birds (21 drakes), but a later sweep count at 09:20 produced the 42 birds
- 25 Pochard logged today. 17 drakes. See also Aythya sp. ducks below
- 41Tufted Duck logged today. 23 drakes. See also Aythya sp. ducks below
- c.15 Aythya sp. ducks flew off: a party of c.12 small ducks in the middle of the water at 06:45 had gone when I next looked a few seconds later! 2 left to the W by 07:49; and another at 07:51
- a Sparrowhawk flying S over the lake being pursued by a small posse of Jackdaws at 08:08
- just 1 sighting of a Buzzard today, flew low over my head while it was still very dark at 07:24
- just 7 Moorhens with just 4 of these along the dam
- 64 Coots logged today, but lots of disturbance of the birds off the SW grass this morning made them hard to see and count
- gulls today:
- - no Black-headed Gulls roosted. c.50 arrived at 07:34, but very few more joined this group, with only c.85 by 08:15 and c.200 by 08:25. Later counts gave me c.500 at 08:40; c.320 at 09:00; and c.450 at 10:00
- - no Lesser Black-backed Gulls roosted either. After a lone bird at 08:05 there was a large passage of birds flying both W to the N and S to the E. I logged at least 1220 birds before 09:05 when a few juvenile birds were the first to settle on the lake. Thereafter there was a steady arrival with c.280 by 09:15, but there were only c.230 at 10:00 after a large party of some 200 birds flying N had 'sucked' many birds off the water. So 1700 for the morning
- - 7 Herring Gulls, at least, were specifically identified today. An immature arrived at 08:47 - again ahead of any Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A second by 09:10. At 09:25 there were 3 adults and 3 immature's; while at 10:00 there seemed to be just 4 immature's. I suspect in practice that these immature's were not all the same birds, but impossible to be certain
- - no Yellow-legged Gull-types noted today
- - no Great Black-backed Gulls today
- no Feral Pigeons
- 6 Stock Doves were on the wires to the NE at 08:15 and stayed there for at least 20 minutes!
- the first Wood Pigeon was logged at 08:18. No parties today. 23 singles were logged flying E. 14 logged flying W. 2 birds were seen on the wires to the E. And 8 were seen in the trees and bushes around the lake. Thus the day count was therefore 47 birds
- 1 Grey Wagtail only today heard flying off from the SW area at 07:44
- only 3 Pied Wagtails heard this morning: probably a reflection of my position rather than a genuine reduction
- large number of Robins logged today - 35!
- also large number of Blackbirds - 30 at least
- c.30 Fieldfare were in a single party flying W to the N at 08:14
- 3 Song Thrushes logged again, and again 2 in song, though one of these sang more continually today
- all the 24 Redwings logged were bird heard calling before light: exactly how many birds were involved is hard to say
- 2 Mistle Thrushes today with one seen at the W end while another was singing distantly
- no Goldcrests again
- 16 Magpies logged was a more usual number. The small roost near the Teece Drive gate protested at my arrival in the dark again
- corvid passage consisted of an early mixed party of c.110 Jackdaws and c.30 Rooks very high overhead at 07:52; and thereafter mainly small groups with many more Rooks today. But c.50 birds far to the E at 07:58 seemed to be Rooks: in the dark conditions it is possible they were gulls(!), but the flock was the wrong 'shape' for a flight of gulls and also swirled around a bit - not something that the gulls were doing today. Totals today were 259 Jackdaws and 232 Rooks.
- no Starlings seen
- yesterday's House Sparrows not seen today
- another good count of Chaffinches today, with several different small parties along the N side
- 3 Reed Buntings heard

Checked any street lights I passed-by for insects etc. as usual
- nothing

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was:
no Little Grebes; 2 Great Crested Grebes; 5 Cormorants; 3 Herons; 2 adult Swans; no Greylag Geese; no Canada Geese; 42 Mallard (24 drakes); 25 Pochard (17 drakes); 41 Tufted Ducks (23 drakes); c.15 unidentified Aythya sp. ducks flew off; no Ruddy Ducks; 1 Sparrowhawk; 1 Buzzard; no Kestrels; no Water Rails; 7 Moorhens; 64 Coots; no waders; >500 Black-headed Gulls;>1700 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 7 specifically identified Herring Gulls; no Yellow-legged Gulls; no Great Black-backed Gulls; no Feral Pigeons; 6 Stock Doves; 47 Wood Pigeons; no Collared Doves; no Kingfishers; no Green Woodpeckers; no Great Spotted Woodpeckers; no Sky Larks; no Meadow Pipits; 1 Grey Wagtail; 3 Pied Wagtails; 18 Wrens; 8 Dunnocks; 35 Robins; 30 Blackbirds; c.30 Fieldfare's; 3 Song Thrushes; c.24 Redwings; 2 Mistle Thrushes; no Goldcrests; 3 Long-tailed Tit parties; 1 Coal Tit; no Willow Tits; 15 Blue Tits; 10 Great Tits; no Treecreeper's; no Jays; 16 Magpies; 259 Jackdaws; 232 Rooks; 11 Crows; no Starlings; no House Sparrows; 22 Chaffinches; 2 Greenfinches; 4 Goldfinches; no Siskin's; no Linnets; no Redpoll's; 4 Bullfinches; 3 Reed Buntings; no Yellowhammers; no unidentified Finch flocks

Also recorded
Mammals:
- no Rabbits
- 1 Grey Squirrel again
- no new molehills noted

(Ed Wilson)

Top

Thursday, 14th Evening – An adult Yellow-legged Gull present in the Gull roost this afternoon c 15.00, also present 1 imm Great Black-backed Gull and more than average numbers of Herring Gulls

(Kevin Pryce).

(06:20 - 10:02) Morning Log - Broken cloud, windy and mild. Good visibility. In the rather dull and windy conditions all species were distinctly late in appearing / calling, but eventually most things were recorded

I spent much of the time in the lee of the wind along the N side where the view is different and rather limited, though I did quite well any way

Main features of the day were
- apparently only 1 Swan today
- very large number of all gulls later
- a good-sized mixed party of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starlings seen to the E
- closer to the Magpie roost and so a large count - at least 32 birds seen
- my first House Sparrows of the year within my recording area!
- reasonable number of finches in the Teece Drive area, though no 'roost' of Greenfinches in the NE area

And
- a flightless female Scarce Umber moth on one of the street lights

The more detailed notes from the lake
- the Little Grebe seen briefly again today
- the 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 2 Cormorants: an adult by 09:20; a juvenile by 09:25
- 2 Herons seen today: an adult flew across the lake at 07:20; an immature was standing on the SW grass at 09:35
- as far as I could see there was only 1 adult Swan present today: I saw single birds at each end of the lake, but on each occasion could not see 'the other'. Then at 10:00 as I was leaving and while I could no longer see the water an adult flew off W which may or may not have been the same bird
- no geese today
- 42 Mallard today: in the windy conditions the off-dam count at 06:45 gave me just 20 birds (12 drakes), but a later sweep count at 09:10 produced 42 birds (25 drakes)
- 22 Pochard logged today. 15 drakes
- 48 Tufted Duck logged today. I counted 25 drakes
- no Aythya sp. ducks seen flying off
- 3 sightings of Buzzards today, certainly 2 different birds as seen in the air at the same time
- just 6 Moorhens with only 5 of these along the dam in the windy conditions
- 69 Coots logged today
- gulls today:
- - again not entirely sure whether there were Black-headed Gulls roosting this morning. I could not see any at 06:35 but there were at least 75 by 07:18 with no sign of more arrivals until 07:40. Rather few more arrived to bring the total to just c.150 by 08:20, though not positioned that well to count them. But there was then a continual arrival thereafter and I logged c.610 birds at 08:50; and then at least 1300 birds at 09:35
- - no Lesser Black-backed Gulls roosted. There was a large passage of birds flying higher than usual, all SW in scattered groups rather than in V-formations or tight groups. I logged at least 1100 before 08:40 when birds started settling in the lake rather than flying over. The steady arrival continued until there were at least 1500 birds at 09:35. So 2600 for the morning! Strangely the birds that 'piloted' landing on the water were the numerically smaller Herring Gulls
- - 23 Herring Gulls, at least, were specifically identified today. After 1 adult flew SW at 08:23, 3 birds (1 adult and 2 immature's) were the first large gulls to settle on the water at 08:28. They were joined by the huge flock of Lesser Black-backed Gulls over the next hour. I counted 22 Herring Gulls (14 adults) at 09:40, but there were probably more
- - no Yellow-legged Gull-types noted today
- - 5 Great Black-backed Gulls today. 4 adults and 1 1st winter were present at 09:40
- no Feral Pigeons
- no Stock Doves
- the first Wood Pigeon was logged at 08:06. A small party of 10 birds was seen to the E today. 6 birds were logged flying E. 10 logged flying W. no birds were seen on the wires to the E. And just 3 were seen in the trees and bushes around the lake. Thus the day count was a disappointing 29 birds
- 1 Grey Wagtail only today heard flying away from the dam at 07:52
- 8 Pied Wagtails again heard this morning
- all the c.60 Fieldfare were in a single party seen to the E together with 2 flocks of at least 130 Redwings and 22 Starlings at 08:58
- 3 Song Thrushes logged, 2 briefly in song
- 162 was a good count of Redwings: in addition to the 2 parties of c.130 mentioned there were 8 heard overhead before dawn, 19 birds in trees around the lake and another 5 seen in flight
- no Mistle Thrushes today
- no Goldcrests either
- a Jay seen in the NW area
- 32 Magpies logged with 25 flying from a roost in the NE area
- corvid passage was never going to be easy to see from my 'vantage' point on the N side, so I was well-pleased to reach totals of 230 Jackdaws and 96 Rooks today. A big party of c.100 Jackdaws swirled over at 07:48 after which a continuous passage of small parties of both species passed until c.08:15, with scattered groups thereafter. I would not have been able to see birds passing to the E
- just the one group of 22 Starlings seen
- the party of 4 House Sparrows in the bushes near the Teece Drive gate were the first birds of this species this year within my self-defined recording area (they are of course around the Priorslee Estate). What caused them to venture away from their usual haunt is hard to say, but they were close to where the finches were feeding on the ground: not that I saw any of these birds leave the cover of the bushes. 3 males and 1 female
- no special finch sighting today, but reasonable numbers, eventually, of all species with a group of 7 Chaffinches and 8 Goldfinches feeding in the roadway near the Teece Drive gate
- 1 Reed Bunting only recorded, but I was not well positioned to see or hear these for much of the time

Checked any street lights I passed-by for insects etc. as usual
- the Scarce Umber noted above

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was [all totals, especially passerines, affected by the poor weather]
1 Little Grebe; 2 Great Crested Grebes; 2 Cormorants; 2 Herons; just 1 adult Swan; no Greylag Geese; no Canada Geese; 42 Mallard (25 drakes); 22
Pochard (15 drakes); 48 Tufted Ducks (25 drakes); no unidentified Aythya sp. ducks; no Ruddy Ducks; no Sparrowhawk's; 2 or 3 Buzzards; no Kestrels; no Water Rails; 6 Moorhens; 69 Coots; no waders; >1300 Black-headed Gulls;>2600 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 23 specifically identified Herring Gulls; no Yellow-legged Gulls; 5 Great Black-backed Gulls; no Feral Pigeons; no Stock Doves; 29 Wood Pigeons; no Collared Doves; no Kingfishers; no Green Woodpeckers; no Great Spotted Woodpeckers; no Sky Larks; no Meadow Pipits; 1 Grey Wagtail; 8 Pied Wagtails; 24 Wrens; 6 Dunnocks; 25 Robins; 16
Blackbirds; c.60 Fieldfare's; 3 Song Thrushes; c.162 Redwings; no Mistle Thrushes; no Goldcrests; 1 Long-tailed Tit party; 1 Coal Tit; no Willow Tits; 7 Blue Tits; 5 Great Tits; no Treecreeper's; 1 Jay; 32 Magpies; 230 Jackdaws; 96 Rooks; 6 Crows; 22 Starlings; 4 House Sparrows; 16 Chaffinches; 14 Greenfinches; 8 Goldfinches; no Siskin's; no Linnets; no Redpoll's; 2 Bullfinches; 1 Reed Bunting; no Yellowhammers; no unidentified Finch flocks

Also recorded
Mammals:
- no Rabbits
- 1 Grey Squirrel
- no new molehills noted

Insects:
- 1 Scarce Umber (Agriopis aurantiaria) [1933]
[numbers are the British Checklist Numbers]

(Ed Wilson)

Top

Wednesday, 13th (06:26 - 09:48) - Started with high overcast and scattered clouds below giving some light drizzle. Some holes appeared in the high cloud but before they could help, increasing low-level cloud made it very dull. Though it often threatened to clear it did not. Stayed mild. Moderate / fresh W breeze. Good visibility

Main features of the day were the low numbers of most things other than gulls in these often dull conditions
- the Little Grebe glimpsed briefly again
- 7 Lapwings appeared overhead
- probably no gull roost but later large number of gulls with highest count of Herring Gulls this winter
- a Great Spotted Woodpecker in flight

And
- a Mottled Umber moth on one of the street lights

The more detailed notes from the lake
- the Little Grebe seen once, briefly again today
- the 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 2 Cormorants: 1 by 08:30; a second by 09:20. Both seemed to be adults
- Heron not seen today
- the 2 adult Swans present throughout
- 1 Greylag Goose flew SE at 08:11. Oddly these single-bird records do not seem to relate to the lone bird sometimes with Canada Geese at The Flash
- 22 Canada Geese today: c.12 birds flew ESE to the S at 07:16 probably from the Town Park; then 10 birds arrived from the N at 09:28
- 40 Mallard today: this was the off-dam count at 06:45 when when I noted 24 drakes. When I did the sweep count at 09:25 I could only locate 32 birds (but still with 24 drakes!)
- 26 Pochard logged today. and 14 drakes - one more drake than yesterday. But 1 of these drakes flew off W at 07:30. See also Aythya sp. below
- 44 Tufted Duck again today. I counted 23 drakes, whereas yesterday I logged 27 of the 44 as drakes. See also Aythya sp. below
- 6 Aythya sp. ducks seen flying off W, with 1 at 07:31; and then 5 at 07:33
- the eclipse drake Ruddy Duck not seen (despite the sighting of the Little Grebe!)
- no raptors today
- 11 Moorhens with 8 of these along the dam
- 73 was the count of Coots today
- 7 Lapwings seen overhead while I was in the NE area: did not see them arrive or leave
- gulls today:
- - not sure whether there were Black-headed Gulls roosting this morning. I could not see any at 06:35 but there were at least 300 by 06:48 with no sign of more arrivals until 06:55. Hard to see the birds in the dark on the wind-ruffled surface. Rather few more arrived to bring the total to c.450 by 07:00. Despite birds seen leaving from 07:26 and with no obvious arrivals there were c.1100 present at 07:50! This had reduced to c.500 by 08:05, but by 08:10 there were over 700. All very confusing! Later counts gave me c.270 at 08:25; c.650 at 08:50; and c.800 at 09:15. Must have been at least 1500 birds involved?
- - no Lesser Black-backed Gulls roosted. I logged 280 birds on passage with several parties of birds flying S to the E. The first birds arrived on the lake at 08:05 when 7 adults were present. Then at 08:25 there were 5 immature's only. After 08:40 a steady stream and then a flood of birds began to arrive from the N and by 09:40 there were over 1000 birds on the water. So about 1300 at least, though probably more
- - 38 Herring Gulls, at least, were specifically identified today - certainly my highest count of the winter. 2 immature's flew W at 08:20; 1 adult flew SW at 08:30 and another flew W to the N at 08:35. Then as the Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived so too did some Herring Gulls and I counted 34 (22 adults and at least 12 immature's) at 09:15, with probably more later. As is often the case many of the juveniles were attempting to stand on the red / orange buoys while others tried pecking at the buoys. It is odd that this species often does this trick, but Lesser Black-backed Gulls rarely do
- - 1 adult Yellow-legged Gull-type noted at 09:15 - a dark-backed, clean-headed adult
- - 2 Great Black-backed Gulls today. A near-adult at 08:50, but a full adult at 09:30
- no Feral Pigeons
- no Stock Doves
- the first Wood Pigeon was logged at the even later time of 08:11. No over-flying parties today, indeed few anywhere with none seen in the Ward's Rough area either. 4 birds were logged flying E. 10 logged flying W. No birds were seen on the wires to the E. And 8 were seen in the trees and bushes around the lake. Thus the day count was just 22 birds - a Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen flying away from the NW area: unusually I did not hear it call
- 2 records of Grey Wagtail again today after 07:51, but probably the same bird involved
- 8 Pied Wagtails heard this morning - not as many as yesterday
- just 5 Fieldfare'sseen in flight to the E in a single group
- 2 Song Thrushes logged, both in song today
- 11 Redwings today: with 6 heard overhead before dawn. 5 birds seen in flight to the E
- no Mistle Thrushes today
- no Goldcrests either
- one of the first tits heard this morning was a Willow Tit at the W end: the frequency of the records at the moment suggests that they are roosting here somewhere, but they have usually quietened down by the time it is light-enough to see where they might be
- corvid passage was largely absent. I did see a party of Jackdaws low to the E below the tree-line so I guess I missed most of them, though that would not explain where the normally higher-flying Rooks were! The totals this morning were 132 Jackdaws and 75 Rooks
- no Starlings seen
- no special finch sighting today - indeed hardly any finches at all
- 7 Reed Buntings recorded again with 6 seen flying off (2 from the N side)

Checked any street lights I passed-by for insects etc. as usual
- the Mottled Umber noted above

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was [all totals, especially passerines, affected by the poor weather]
1 Little Grebe; 2 Great Crested Grebes; 2 Cormorants; no Herons; 2 adult Swans, no cygnets; 1 Greylag Goose; 22 Canada Geese; 40 Mallard (24 drakes); 26 Pochard (14 drakes); 44 Tufted Ducks (23 drakes); 6 unidentified Aythya sp. ducks flew off; no Ruddy Ducks; no Sparrowhawks; no Buzzards; no Kestrels; no Water Rails; 11 Moorhens; 73 Coots; 7 Lapwings; no other waders; >1500 Black-headed Gulls; >1300 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 38 specifically identified Herring Gulls; 1 adult Yellow-legged Gulls; 2 Great Black-backed Gulls; no Feral Pigeons; no Stock Doves; 22 Wood Pigeons; no Collared Doves; no Kingfishers; no Green Woodpeckers; 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker; no Sky Larks; no Meadow Pipits; 1 Grey Wagtail; 8 Pied Wagtails;14 Wrens; 7 Dunnocks; 24 Robins; 13 Blackbirds; 5 Fieldfares; 2 Song Thrushes; 11 Redwings; no Mistle Thrushes; no Goldcrests; 2 Long-tailed Tit parties; no Coal Tits; 1 Willow Tit; 9 Blue Tits; 5 Great Tits; no Treecreepers; no Jays; 8 Magpies; 132 Jackdaws; 75 Rooks; 13 Crows; no Starlings; 7 Chaffinches; 4 Greenfinches; 1 Goldfinch; no Siskins; no Linnets; no Redpolls; no Bullfinches; 7 Reed Buntings; no Yellowhammers; no unidentified Finch flocks

Also recorded

Insects:
1 species of moth
- 1 Mottled Umber (Erannis defoliaria) [1935]
[numbers are the British Checklist Numbers]

(Ed Wilson)

Top

Tuesday, 12th (06:25 - 10:05) - Started clear and moonlight with a touch of frost developing in the shelter of trees etc. against the light / moderate (and increasing) SW wind. Later some thin cloud gave a fiery sunrise after which the cloud lowered and it became rather dull for a while. But the sun broke through
and some bright winter sun. Good visibility throughout.

Amazingly I saw another shooting star today: and a brighter one with the hint of a trail. The half-moon was great through the scope at 06:50. I was also able to find 2 of the 3 planets that are in close conjunction in the morning sky - I suspect they were Mercury and Jupiter as neither had the red tinge of Mars, though Mercury is moving closer to the sun and this may be the last day it is visible.

Main features of the day
- the Little Grebe glimpsed briefly
- 5 Cormorants again - seem to be back
- smaller numbers of all duck species though 18 Aythya ducks flew off early
- no gull roost again
- later low numbers, but with more Herring Gulls than recently
- better number of Wood Pigeons
- rather few winter thrushes
- better numbers of corvids, especially Jackdaws
Some numbers probably affected by distraction caused by the splendid sunrise

The more detailed notes from the lake
- the Little Grebe seen once, briefly today
- back to 2 Great Crested Grebes today: the immature in the NW area from before first-light; and an adult in the dam and along the N side
- 5 Cormorants seen: 2 seen flying N to the E at 08:35; 1 arrived from the E at 08:36; 2 arrived from the N at 09:35. All seemed to be adults
- 1 Heron again: probably the reason all the gulls went up at 07:28, but I did not see it until 1 on the N side at 08:22
- the 2 adult Swans present throughout
- no Greylag Geese today
- 7 Canada Geese today: a lone bird arrived at 07:03; and 6 more at 07:10, all from the direction of The Flash
- 34 Mallard only today: this was the off-dam count at 06:45 when there were 20 drakes. When I did the sweep count at 09:25 I could only locate 22 birds (13 drakes), though had noted only 1 drake fly out in the interim
- 25 Pochard logged today. 13 drakes. See also Aythya sp. below
- 44 Tufted Duck today. I counted 27 drakes. See also Aythya sp. below
- 18 Aythya sp. ducks seen flying off in the dark, with parties of 6 & 1 & 3at 07:10; 4 & 2 at 07:13; and 2 at 07:17. I suspect all were in fact Tufted Ducks, but it was too dark
- the eclipse drake Ruddy Duck not seen (despite the sighting of the Little Grebe!)
- 1 Sparrowhawk saw me while on a hunting trip along the N side and veered off!
- no Buzzards
- just 8 Moorhens with all 8 of these along the dam
- 72 was the count of Coots today
- gulls today:
- - there were Black-headed Gulls roosting. The first party of c.55 arrived at 06:50 and birds streamed in thereafter with at least 2000 present at 07:12 after which they started to leave. Later counts gave me c.150 at 08:25; c.240 at 09:10; and c.280 at 09:30 - perhaps all from the original 2000?
- - no Lesser Black-backed Gulls roosted either. Small passage of 94 birds included just one sizeable party of 42 birds flying S to the E. The first birds arrived on the lake at 08:55 building to at least 134 by 09:10. So at least 228 birds today
- - 15 Herring Gulls were specifically identified today - about my highest count of the winter. An adult flew low W at 08:40 but all the other 14 (11 adults / near adults; and 3 immatures) were with the party of Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- - no Yellow-legged Gull-types
- - 3 Great Black-backed Gulls was also the best of the winter so far - 2 adults and 1 1st winter, again with the Lesser Black-backed Gull party at 09:10
- no Feral Pigeons
- no Stock Doves
- the first Wood Pigeon was logged at the late time of 08:06, though this was the time I was most distracted by trying to photograph the sunrise. One party of 18 birds flew S at 08:17. There were also at least 50 birds in the Wards Rough area to the E. 15 birds were logged flying E. Just 3 logged flying W. 5 birds were seen on the wires to the E. And 5 were seen in the trees and bushes around the lake. Thus the day count was a much better 96 birds
- no Great Spotted Woodpecker today
- 2 records of Grey Wagtail today after 08:02, but probably the same bird
- 18 Pied Wagtails heard this morning - the best count for ages: not clear why - it was colder last night but not that cold to bring them back to a town centre roost?
- no Meadow Pipit today
- 31 Fieldfares seen to the E in 2 parties
- 3 Song Thrushes logged: 2 of these in song today
- 5 Redwings today: with 3 heard overhead before dawn. 2 birds seen in flight
- 3 Mistle Thrushes today. 1 heard in song and seen singing at the W end before flying off NW. Also 2 birds flew off S from the Ricoh factory area
- 1 Goldcrest heard alongside the M54
- unusually 10 of the Magpies logged today were together in the NW trees - usually no more than 6 seen in this area
- corvid passage was mostly Jackdaws today with a big party of c.160 birds low over the E end of the lake at 07:39. Many of the Rooks were seen flying to the W of the lake and I therefore may have missed some before I realised this. The totals this morning were 278 Jackdaws and 105 Rooks
- a party of 32 Starlings seen to the E at 08:20
- no special finch sighting today
- 7 Reed Buntings recorded: 3 were heard calling at the W end; 1 was seen flying off from the N side; and then, rather unusually, a party of 3 males flew W over the SE trees at 09:20

Checked any street lights I passed-by for insects etc. as usual
- nowt

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was [all totals, especially passerines, affected by the poor weather]
1 Little Grebe; 2 Great Crested Grebes; 5 Cormorants; 1 Heron; 2 adult Swans, no cygnets; no Greylag Geese; 7 Canada Geese; 34 Mallard (20 drakes); 25 Pochard (13 drakes); 44 Tufted Ducks (27 drakes); 18 unidentified Aythya sp. ducks flew off; no Ruddy Ducks; 1 Sparrowhawk; no Buzzards; no Kestrels; no Water Rails; 8 Moorhens; 72 Coots; no Lapwings or no other waders; >2000 Black-headed Gulls; 228 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 15 specifically identified Herring Gulls; no Yellow-legged Gulls; 3 Great Black-backed Gulls; no Feral Pigeons; no Stock Doves; 96 Wood Pigeons; no Collared Doves; no Kingfishers; no Green Woodpeckers; no Great Spotted Woodpeckers; no Sky Larks; no Meadow Pipits; 1 Grey Wagtail; 18 Pied Wagtails; 22 Wrens; 8 Dunnocks; 25 Robins; 16 Blackbirds; 31 Fieldfares; 3 Song Thrushes; 5 Redwings; 3 Mistle Thrushes; 1 Goldcrest; 1 Long-tailed Tit party; no Coal Tits; no Willow Tits; 9 Blue Tits; 11 Great Tits; no Treecreepers; no Jays; 14 Magpies; 278 Jackdaws; 105 Rooks; 10 Crows; 32 Starlings; 13 Chaffinches; 7 Greenfinches; 3 Goldfinches; no Siskins; no Linnets; no Redpolls; 1 Bullfinch; 7 Reed Buntings; no Yellowhammers; no unidentified Finch flocks

(Ed Wilson)

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Monday, 11th (06:28 - 10:12) [sheltering in the SW hut 06:35 - 08:45!] - Cloudy with light rain as I arrived but that soon changed to rain and then spells of very heavy rain until after 08:25 when a clearance could be seen heading in from the W / NW. Rain finally stopped c.08:45. Moderate SW fell away as the clearance arrived when it became noticeably cooler and fresher-feeling. Good visibility except in heaviest rain, but very dark under the low cloud

The rain and the limited visibility (and audibility) from the hut all contributed to a low count

Other features of the day
- 5 Cormorants, with 4 at least on the lake
- some odd behavior during the heaviest rain when all the Coots ran off the SW grass and went and 'sat it out' on the water
- no gull roost again
- later distinctly low numbers of gulls, with an adult odd Herring Gull the only unusual record
- very low number of Wood Pigeons
- very few winter thrushes
- low numbers of corvids
- small flock of finches in the NE area seemed to be all Chaffinches

The more detailed notes from the lake
- the Little Grebe not seen today
- 1 Great Crested Grebes again: I made a special mental note to look for these but for most of the time I drew a complete blank, but the immature suddenly 'appeared' along the S side. And then promptly disappeared again - 5 Cormorants seen: 1 arrived from the E at 08:33; 3 more approached at 08:42, though I am unsure that they all landed. Another at 08:47 which did land, with then 4 seen together on the lake until 1 left at 09:45; and another at 10:02. All seemed to be adults, one with a hint of the silver plumes showing on the neck
- 1 Heron again: heard at 07:09 what was presumably the same bird walked in to view along the S side at 07:29 before relocating to the NW reeds
- the 2 adult Swans present throughout
- no Greylag Geese today
- no Canada Geese either
- 46 Mallard on the lake again when the sweep count at 09:15 gave me 27 drakes - same as yesterday!
- 28 Pochard logged today. 15 drakes
- 56 Tufted Duck today. 1 female flew off W at 07:44. I counted 32 drakes
- no Aythya sp. ducks seen flying off in the dark, but positioned in the SW hut it would have been difficult to see or hear them
- the eclipse drake Ruddy Duck not seen
- no Buzzards
- 11 Moorhens with 6 of these along the dam
- 66 was the count of Coots today
- gulls today:
- - I could not see any Black-headed Gulls roosting, but the 30 birds present at 07:23 were not seen to fly in either - and as I did not walk around until after the rain stopped the observation of the roost area was limited. These birds seemed to have gone by 07:28. 35 counted at 07:35 may or may not have been the same birds. Thereafter a small arrival and then a consistent set of counts despite the usual comings and goings. The counts gave me c.55 at 08:10 but c.120 by 08:12; c.230 at 08:35; c.280 at 08:55; c.240 at 09:20. Seems to be c.300 for the mornings
- - no Lesser Black-backed Gulls roosted. Small passage of just 32 birds included no sizeable flocks. A lone immature was present for a few minutes at 08:30; and 3 adults at 09:45. So just 36 logged
- - 2 Herring Gulls were specifically identified (a high proportion in the circumstances). A 1st winter was with the immature Lesser Black-backed Gull; and then a strange adult with very restricted black on the wing-tips was present at 09:45 and seen to fly off at 10:00 - I was very glad that I had seen it on the lake because in-flight it looked even more strange and invited identification as a 'white-winged gull'
- - no Yellow-legged Gull-types
- - no Great Black-backed Gulls
- 3 blue morph Feral Pigeons flew N at 09:40
- no Stock Doves
- the first Wood Pigeon was logged at the late time of 08:35. No parties seen. Indeed only 5 birds were logged flying E. Just 4 logged flying W. No birds were seen on the wires again. And with just 4 seen in the trees and bushes around the lake the day count was a dire 13!
- no Great Spotted Woodpecker today
- 2 records of Grey Wagtail today after 08:18, but probably the same bird
- just 1 Pied Wagtail heard after the weather cleared
- no Meadow Pipit today
- 3 Fieldfares seen flying NW to the E
- 2 Song Thrushes logged: Only 1 of these in song today [but none singing in the rain before 06:20 en route from Newport this morning]
- 2 Redwings seen in the N side trees after the weather cleared
- 1 Mistle Thrush heard in song and seen singing at the W end, with presumably the same bird singing to the NW later
- 1 Goldcrest heard in the NW area
- a Willow Tit heard at the W end again - must look for it one of these days!
- corvid passage was difficult to see in the very dark and wet conditions and rather to my surprise they did not pass low across the E end of the lake, but many were high up. Rooks were especially scarce and while birds trickled past all the while the totals were exactly 100 Jackdaws and just 22 Rooks.
- no Starlings seen
- 2 parties of Chaffinches in the trees around the lake, but could find nothing other than the odd Greenfinch with them this morning
- 1 Reed Buntings heard calling but in the conditions I was not surprised at the low number recorded

Also
- another Grey Squirrel along the N side

Checked any street lights I passed-by for insects etc. as usual
- nowt

My complete log of the birds at and around the lake today was [all totals, especially passerines, affected by the poor weather]
no Little Grebes; 1 Great Crested Grebe; 5 Cormorants; 1 Heron; 2 adult Swans, no cygnets; no Greylag Geese; no Canada Geese; 46 Mallard (27 drakes); 18 Pochard (15 drakes); 56 Tufted Ducks (32 drakes); no unidentified Aythya sp. ducks; no Ruddy Ducks; no Sparrowhawk; no Buzzards; no Kestrels; no Water Rails; 11 Moorhens; 66 Coots; no Lapwings or no other waders; >300 Black-headed Gulls; 36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 2 specifically identified Herring Gulls; no Yellow-legged Gulls; no Great Black-backed Gulls; 3 Feral Pigeons; no Stock Doves; 13 Wood Pigeons; no Collared Doves; no Kingfishers; no Green Woodpeckers; no Great Spotted Woodpeckers; no Sky Larks; no Meadow Pipits; 1 Grey Wagtail; 1 Pied Wagtail; 12 Wrens; 7 Dunnocks; 27 Robins; 23 Blackbirds; 3 Fieldfares; 2 Song Thrushes; 2 Redwings; 1 Mistle Thrush; 1 Goldcrest; 2 Long-tailed Tit parties; no Coal Tits; 1 Willow Tit; 13 Blue Tits; 12 Great Tits; no Treecreepers; no Jays; 15 Magpies; 100 Jackdaws; 22 Rooks; 10 Crows; no Starlings; 20 Chaffinches; 7 Greenfinches; 4 Goldfinches; no Siskins; no Linnets; no Redpolls; 2 Bullfinches; 2 Reed Buntings; no Yellowhammers; no unidentified Finch flocks

Also recorded
Mammal:
- no Rabbits
- 1 Grey Squirrel
- no new molehills noted

(Ed Wilson)

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10th, Sunday (15:20 - 16:10) Evening log - Decided to stand on the west bank for a change and watch the Gull roost. Turned out to be a cracking choice, firstly because it was out of the cold southwesterly wind and secondly because I know I wouldn't have seen the bird of the month for me, in the form of a Merlin.

Main Highlights:
- At 15:35 I looked up from the scope and to my left a Merlin popped up over the motorway. It shot over the grass bank, across the slipway and over the top of Wesley Reedbeds before zapping through a gap in the trees on the northbank. For such a small bird of prey, it really is surprising how fast they can travel. I am so pleased I chose the west bank for this evenings bird watching.
- A Water Rail was heard squealing away in Wesley reedbeds at 15:50
- Gulls
- - Plenty of gulls this evening with c.580 Black-headed Gulls on the water. A few still sporting "black" heads.
- - The Lesser Black-backs were slightly less at c.350 with several Herring Gulls thrown in. No Yellow legs seen, though I was a bit further away from the gulls tonight.
- Is this another Magpie Roost at the end of Teece Drive, by the gate. Last night it was 38 in the Northeast wood but tonight there were 36 possibly more roosting in the trees just inside the RICOH grounds.

Other highlights from this evening:
- just the 1 Great Crested Grebe seen, just beyond the Wesley reedbeds.
- 11 possibly 12 Pochard in the southeast corner of the lake
- Didn't do a duck count but Tufted Duck and Mallard present
- 1 Moorhen on the slip way, plus a little earlier today there were 3 on top of the overflow by the dam.
- Managed 58 Coots, though there were probably more in the northeast bay of the lake. Most were on the grass bank next to the slip way. But at 15:45 something put them and the gulls into flight and there was a mass scramble to get into the water. I looked hard and long along the south bank and overhead but couldn't see anything that could have caused such a panic. What it did do was start an exit for all the gulls, especially the Black-headed gulls. Once they were up it seemed to start a mass exodus of all the gulls on the lake!
- The Gulls have been previously mentioned, but it is interesting to note that by 16:00 there were none on the lake bar a handful of Black-headed gulls. When the gulls were spooked on the southbank others on the lake followed. First c.100 Black-heads took off at 15:45, then 200 left at 15:50, ten minutes later there were only a dozen or so left, when the rest took off. As for the larger gulls they dispersed in smaller groups and were all gone by 16:00.
- There were no Wood Pigeon about when I arrived but a single bird appeared from the north and flew across the lake to roost in the south wood. A further 4 birds were spooked by something in Wesley Wood at 15:55 and relocated themselves in the tall trees further along the north bank.
- a single Grey Wagtail came from the direction of the town centre and dived down into the trees on the northbank.
- throughout the 45 minutes I was on the west bank, small parties of Pied Wagtails flew west towards the town centre, by the time I had left 13 birds had passed overhead.
- As I arrived a party of 25 Fieldfare flew over the lake heading northwest. 5 minutes later another flock of 35 birds followed on a similar flight path.
- 4 Song Thrushes heard in the woods and bushes behind me, along the RICOH boundary hedge
- Redwings were heard calling from Wesley Wood
- 4 Blackbirds heard in and around Wesley Wood
- There were a few Robins, Wrens and Dunnocks calling as the light faded
- 2 Goldcrest calling. The first from Wesley Wood and the second by the Yachting Club gate
- I had a good sighting of a Great Tit as it almost landed on me. But just at the last second it veered away and perched on the branch next to me. It was dark and it just didn't know I was there. A Willow Tit also came close and settled down into the bushes behind me.
- there were one or two small parties of Rooks and Jackdaws heading north. With 41 Jackdaws in total and just 10 Rooks. Earlier in the day at 14:35 there were nearly c.300 corvids caught in a thermal. They were spiraling up and and over the lake towards the north. It was quite a sight.
- a small party of 7 Starlings were seen heading southwest, but didn't stop to roost at the lake
- there were a few finches coming into roost with Goldfinches, Chaffinches and Greenfinch all seen.
- Reed Buntings were plentiful with 12 seen coming into roost at different locations along the west bank. One bird in particular came in at Mach 1 and landed in the reed bed close to the slipway. How they can stop at such speed is quite something.

My complete log of the birds for the evening was:
1 Great Crested Grebes; Mallard; 11/12 Pochard; Tufted Ducks; 1 Merlin; 1 Water Rail heard; 1 Moorhen; 58 Coots; c.580 Black-headed Gulls; c.300 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 7 Herring Gulls; 5 Wood Pigeons; 1 Grey Wagtail; 13 Pied Wagtails; 3 Wrens; 2 Dunnocks; 4 Robins; 4 Blackbirds; 60 Fieldfare's; 4 Song Thrushes; Redwings heard; 2 Goldcrest; 1 Willow Tit; 2 Great Tits; 36 Magpies; 41 Jackdaws; 10 Rooks; 3 Crows; 7 Starlings; 3 Chaffinches; 2 Greenfinches; 2 Goldfinches; 12 Reed Buntings

(Martin Adlam)

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(06:28 - 10:33) - Morning Log [09:20 - 10:00: walked fields and then the lanes to the SE / E See Local Bird News]

Started clear to far E with good sunrise, and even some frost. But lowering high cloud soon brought sprinkles of rain at 07:35. Though these did not last the cloud continues to lower and thicken and rain again after 10:00. Light S wind / calm, increasing moderate. Good / excellent visibility throughout

Less exciting than yesterday, but a fly-over Raven was clearly the best of the day

Also walked the fields and lanes to the E / SE in pursuit of the finch flock seen - see below. Nothing too much there either. The fly-overs seen during that walk are included in the main report, but a separate report for the 'residents'

Other features of the day
- both the Little Grebe and the drake Ruddy Duck absent
- 5 Cormorants, with 3 o