Wednesday, 21st

Late Morning

- 13 (yes thirteen) Common Sandpipers. 4 flushed from the dam to join the others sunning themselves on one of the right hand corners angling platform.

(Mike Cooper)

Early Morning

Some notables this morning at the lake

Best was at least 14 Common Sandpipers, perhaps a few more tucked up hidden by all the vegetation on the dam. This number is unprecedented on return passage and has been rarely exceeded on Spring passage. No doubt due to the thundery weather

Other probable weather related movements included
- party of at least 175 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flying SW, a scatter of Black-headed Gulls with them
- a party of c.40 Swifts that flew fast E and seemed to be different from the regular flock of c.50 that appeared as usual just before 05:00
- 1 Sand Martin flying SW
- parties of 10 and 3 Swallows heading S
- 12 House Martins flying high S that seemed to be different from the birds from the estate (the estate birds included begging recently fledged juveniles)
[While writing about hirundines I forgot to mention the 12 Sand Martins that were feeding low over the lake on Tuesday 13th: unseasonal]

Some other notes
- one of the two pairs of Great Crested Grebes has 2 new juveniles that were in the water this morning
- a party of Common Whitethroats in the trees at the W end: at least 3 were juveniles and these were making calls rather like excited House Sparrows
- sudden activity from Chiffchaffs with 1 singing and no fewer than 9 other birds calling / seen

and
- 3 species of bat flying at 04:45
- 4 new species of moth for my year-list here - Bird-Cherry Ermine, Evergestis pallidata, Shaded Broad-bar, and Willow Beauty
- a few Meadow Brown butterflies: numbers were low this year, easily eclipsed by Ringlets. And I have seen no Gatekeepers (Hedge Browns if you prefer) and their favourite food-source, Blackberry blossom, is largely finished and the first fruits ready
- a crop of what looked like Field Mushrooms on the football field - but was not about to prove it by eating them!

(Ed Wilson)

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Wednesday, 7th - Monday, 19th

Often quiet as the breeding season dies away, but always different and always something of interest

These notes cover the last 2 weeks when I have visited most mornings
- after showing little interest in breeding, indeed almost disinterest, there are new juvenile Great Crested Grebes at the lake
- a Grey Heron continues to haunt the lower pool and probably the same had visited the lake, but the species remains unusually elusive
- higher than usual number of Mallard ducklings have reached full size and are hard to separate from eclipse adults: at least 9 at the lake; and 7 at The Flash with further late small parties at both sites doing well
- early build-up of Tufted Ducks. More at the lake this morning (14 on 19 July) but previously just 2 or 3
- 1 or 2 Common Sandpipers at the lake most mornings. Southbound migrants often linger but I think probably there is too much disturbance for that to happen here and these might all be different birds
- Moorhens bred at the lake and at The Flash as well as on both pools between the two but can be quite elusive while breeding
- after a disasterous start to the season more Coots reaching maturity at the lake with 6 full size; 4 probably large enough to survive; and 4 more from a late brood.
- up to 25 Black-headed Gulls at the lake, but so far the only juveniles have been single fly-throughs on 06th and 08th July
- 3 Common Terns, all adults, briefly visited on 07th July
- after several counts of nearly 100 Wood Pigeons the farmers re-instated the bird-scarers and fewer than 40 is the current log
- large number of Swifts gathering early: typically at least 50 over the trees around sunrise, but most move off. I have never noted such large numbers except during Spring passage and certainly not for days at a time
- Kingfisher at the lake again on several dates. Flies off NW but yet to locate it at The Flash this season
- wagtails remain unusually scarce
- Warbler song mainly finished and juveniles out and about
---- Reed Warblers moving about in the trees and bushes around the reedy areas and many of these juveniles. The song may be males hoping for another brood or juveniles trying their chords
---- Lesser Whitethroat still at W end of the lake this morning (19th July)
---- not seen or heard any Common Whitethroats for a few days - song ceased suddenly last Tuesday (13th July) by which time there were both juvenile Common Whitethroats and Reed Warblers in the long grass at the W end making very similar scolding noises
---- 9 Blackcaps sang until last Thursday and then sporadically afterwards. Juveniles to be seen in the tit flocks
---- fledged Chiffchaffs in with the tit parties as well, pumping their tails as they move about
- Willow Tits frequently heard, mostly alongside the Wesley Brook between the lake and the top end of The Flash. Some days there are clearly 2 different groups each with tit-parties
- both Treecreeper and Nuthatch have been almost daily heard at least, also mostly alongside the Wesley Brook between the lake and The Flash
- very variable number of corvids on roost dispersal. I logged c.430 Rooks on 11th July - perhaps my largest-ever count; the next day just 9! Jackdaws usually leave a few minutes later and c.75 - 120 is typical
- Bullfinches seem to have had a good year with juveniles all around the lake, The Flash and the pools in between: but typically unobtrusive
- other finches in low numbers and no roost build-up yet. Two parties of c.8 Goldfinches this morning (19th) though
- a fly-over Siskin on Monday 12th was on an atypical date
- Yellowhammers still singing away from across Castle Farm Way: they will sing for another 4 weeks yet - about the last species to stop singing and after others have restarted after their moult

and

- now logged two species of bat at the lake and seen a fox on several dates
- a few more species of moth, the best being Swallow Prominents at both the lake and The Flash; and a splendid Poplar Hawk-moth at the lake this morning (19th)

More in a couple of weeks unless anything startling turns up

(Ed Wilson)

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Tuesday, 6th

- 3 drake Tufted Duck
- 2 Common Sandpipers
- 18 Black-headed Gulls and 14 large gulls over - start of build-up

(Ed Wilson)

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Monday, 5th

- 1 very new duckling with the Mallard on the lake: numbers building with 36 today - 8 juveniles in total, 7 almost ready to fledge
- 2 Green Sandpipers seen flying from the lake towards Priorslee Flash: these were my first here for c.10 years
- 1 Common Sandpiper at the lake. In view of the disturbance at the lake over weekends tempted to suggest these Common Sandpipers all different birds
- 1 Goldcrest near the sluice at E end
- 1 male House Sparrow on the dam: site year tick!

and
- 1 pipistrelle-type bat at W end was my first here this year
- skipper-type butterfly was new at the lake but seen too briefly to identify

(Ed Wilson)

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Sunday, 4th

- 1 Common Sandpiper at the lake
- 1 Goldcrest in NE area - still scarce this year but getting better

(Ed Wilson)

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Friday, 2nd

- 1 Common Sandpiper at the lake

(Ed Wilson)

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Thursday, 1st

- a Heron at the lake (but it did fly off at 04:35)
- the Lesser Whitethroat decided to start singing again (but only before 04:30); and then an adult and juvenile perched in the open for a few seconds

Other notes from this morning
- an unseasonal Sand Martin over the lake: but then I seem to note singles every year at this time
- single Swallows and House Martins heard high overhead before 05:00 possibly not local birds - perhaps like the Sand Martin on the move? failed breeders?
- first Kingfisher of the Autumn (gulp!): return here after breeding and good to see as they were scarce after the freeze
- a Chiffchaff singing exclusively the 'chiff' part only - several long series of 'chiffs' interspersed with the usual creaky notes: a juvenile of the year practicing? Could locate the bird to check the age
- first sizeable corvid morning roost dispersal for a while - 69 Jackdaws and 182 Rooks logged outbound

(Ed Wilson)