Dave Steel and I made full use of the good weather by covering the east end of the Reserve as well as No.3 bed. With the Black-necked Grebes having largely dispersed, it was good to find one adult and at least three juveniles still present on No.3 bed. Two Redshanks were in front of the Morgan Hide and three Kingfishers was a good count from the same bed. Jason Atkinson reported two Grasshopper Warblers still reeling on the bed and a Coal Tit was also a good record, calling from close to the Linley Hide. Chiffchaffs were clearly moving through, with 9 on No.3 bed and another 7 on the walk from No.1 bed to Bollin Point. Pleasingly, the Peregrine pair still had at least one fledged young to feed, with the male making every effort to catch one of the roosting Feral Pigeons from under Thelwall Viaduct.

Cheers David

Brief visit produced 1 adult and still 6 independent young Black necked Grebes.Also 3 broods of Little grebes single adults feeding single young.On river by south bund,2 adult Mute Swans with 2 half grown cygnets.123 Gadwall and ca.90 Coot. Information to date indicates an excellent breeding season for the Black necks with as many as 19 young fledged.In contrast, a poor year for Great crested Grebes many of their nests having been waterlogged.

Late evening sightings on No.1 Bed, Tawny Owl, 80 Swallows, reeling Grasshopper Warbler and a Hobby flying through from the north east on the tail of the Swallows heading for roost - ably picked out from distance in the fading light by Dave Riley.

The recent fine weather has at last produced some reasonable butterfly sightings. A survey of most of the reserve today found 174 Gatekeepers, 117 Meadow Browns, 16 Small Skippers and a Holly Blue. Numbers remain low for Woolston but hopefully a continuation of the current conditions will lead to an increase in numbers.

Little egret seen on No.3 Bed in front of thr Morgan Hide 22/7/12 at about 1930

Numbers of Gadwall on No.3 bed continue to increase. This evening a total of 296 was present together with 88 Coot and what appeared to be a new brood of 6 Tufted Duck. A search of the canal track for Purple Hairstreaks proved fruitless however!

A lovely morning, with the sun beginning to burn off the mist on No.3 bed by 5.30 am. With a total of 62 species recorded, the highlights were: a Hobby which put in four appearances over the morning, 3 Curlews heading west, a reeling Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Garden Warblers, 204 Gadwall in front of the Morgan Hide, a juvenile Water Rail in front of the same hide, 8 Black-necked Grebes (4 adults and 4 young), 3 new broods of Tufted Duck (6,8 and 7), a new Pochard brood (of 2) and 10 Linnets around the north meadow. In addition, a Nuthatch (always a good bird at Woolston) was reported though I didn’t catch up with it myself.

Other sightings included a few butterflies and dragonflies, including: 4 Small Whites, 2 Small Tortoiseshells, 1 Meadow Brown and 2 Brown Hawkers.

Cheers David

A Greenshank was in front of the John Morgan Hide this morning. Also seen were 2 adult Black-necked Grebes and 4 independent juveniles.

Common Whitethroat (Sylvia Communis) - From Centre Hide, No3 Bed

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) - From Rotary, No3 Bed

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) from Sybil Hogg Hide, No 3 Bed

Black-necked Grebe (podiceps nigricollis) Adult & Chick South Pool

Came back from a week’s birding in Iceland, with Dave Steel and six friends, (Gyr Falcons on the nest, Harlequin Ducks, Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Brunnich’s Guillemots, Orcas, Artcic Fox etc!) to see how the Reserve was doing. Dave and I spent the early part of the morning on No.3 bed, where the ringing team (Kieran Foster, Jason Atkinson et al) had caught Grasshopper Warbler and Garden Warbler. Both adult and juvenile Black-necked Grebes were still showing well (three of each, without much searching), despite the dispersal of 10 to Houghton Green Flash.

Main point of interest was the number of species still in song, desperately trying to complete a breeding attempt - double figures of Reed Warblers and a few Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Reed Buntings, Wrens, Greenfinches etc. At Woolston Weir 2 Grey Wagtails were present.

On No.1 bed, the same situation, with Reed Warblers, Reed Buntings and Linnets all singing away. Lets hope for a change in the weather to give them a fighting chance of getting some young off!

Cheers David

Moorhen Chick Gallinula chloropus - No3 Bed

Black-necked Grebe (podiceps nigricollis) from Centre Hide, No3 Bed

I heard a Grasshopper Warbler reeling near the toilet at 7pm and I then I picked it up close by on top of the vegetation. It was then joined by a second bird that flew in and sat next to it, they both then dropped out of sight. It was still reeling as I left at 9pm.

From the John Morgan hide I counted 135 Gadwall and among them were 8 Great Crested and 6 B.N.Grebes along with a numebr of juveniles at differant stages. I Had great views of 2 males and a single female Ruddy Duck and at one point 5 Black Tailed Godwits circled the pool but did not land. At about 8.30 Starlings started to arrive and by 9pm there were well over 500 of them swiling around as they do. They kept landing on the Phragmites that is close to the hide and was quite a spectacle.

A walk round the whole reserve produced the following counts; 15 Mute Swans with broods of 4 (river) and 5 (loop); 80 Mallard plus 1 young; 63 Tufted Duck with 5 broods on No.3 bed and single broods on Nos 1 and 2 beds and the river (total 27 young);45 Coot plus 14 broods (total 25 young); 149 Gadwall of which 141 on No.3 bed; Little Grebe broods on Nos 1 and 3 beds; 5 adult Black necked Grebes and 12 young of which 8 were independent; 18 Great crested Grebes; 27 Canada Geese and ten young on the river between Nos 3 and 4 beds; 4 Teal and 2 male Ruddy Ducks (No.3 bed) and a Sparrowhawk (No.3 bed)