Magpie (Pica Pica) from The John Morgan Hide.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striatum) No3 Bed.

Whilst cutting the wildflower meadow area the following were observed; 15 Common Toads, 2 Frogs, 1 Shrew, 1 Field Vole, 2 Red Admirals and a Small Copper.

Red Admiral on number 3 bed

Kestrel on the Bridgeto number 3 bed today

A Water Rail was showing well in front of the Sybil Hogg Hide this evening. A fox was disturbed from the newly cut north meadow area. Good numbers of Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwit from the John Morgan and Tower hides but not as many as recently. 29 Greylag Geese were joined by a further 42 which flew in at dusk. 5 Shelduck were the first of the autumn I believe and 23 Moorhen were present.

Wildfowl count (WEBS) across the Reserve with thanks to Dave Hackett,Dave Steel,Les Jones, Derek Britch and Brian Martin.

Little Grebe 7,Cormorant 7,Grey Heron 7,Mute Swan 24, Greylag Goose 11, Canada Goose 16, Wigeon 6,Gadwall 118,Teal 337, Mallard 31,Shoveler 48,Tufted Duck 14, Moorhen 32,Coot 11, Lapwing 385,Snipe 30,Black-tailed Godwit 53,Green Sandpiper 2 Kingfisher 3,Kestrel 1, Peregrine 1, Buzzard 2, Black-headed Gull 36

Snipe in front of John morgan hide this morning 11.30

a nice Migrant hawker along the footpath just over the bridge Number 3 bed, 10.45 this morning

Comma (Polygonia c-album) No3 Bed

Common Snipe (gallinago gallinago) from The John Morgan Hide

Record shot of Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)I think, from The John Morgan Hide

Record shot of Dunlin (Calidris alpine) from The John Morgan Hide

Marsh harrier appeared a number of times on Monday afternoon Rick an Ian Witter

Yesterday afternoon saw nearly six hundred waders on No.3 bed. Highlight was a Grey Plover, picked up by one of our Amercan visitors, Mike Calzone. The storms brought in two more Greenshanks to join the one already on the bed. Other counts included: 3 Green Sandpipers, 46 Black-tailed Godwits, 50 Snipe, 480 Lapwings, 1 Raven and 1 Water Rail.

Cheers David (with David Spencer)

A good few hours this afternoon, watching the waders on No.3 bed. A Marsh Harrier was active most of the time, regularly flushing the following: 1 Ruff, 1 Greenshank, 1 Redshank, 7 Green Sandpipers, 47 Black-tailed Godwits, 41 Snipe and 160 Lapwings. Blackcaps are now passing through in good numbers, with a few Chiffchaffs and a couple of Reed Warblers were also noted. The link is to a video clip, shot in poor light, which shows (if you can make them out!): Ruff, Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe and Marsh Harrier.

Click here to watch Dave’s video of waders and marsh Harrier or cut and paste the link below into your browser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPibzkEkQ7U

Cheers David Bowman

Common Buzzard (buteo buteo) from footbridge

Green Sandpiper (Tringa ocherous) fro The John Morgan Hide

This Grey Heron Landed briefly in front of the hide, I Managed a couple of shots before it was off again

A nice morning on Number 3 bed with 1 Greenshank 1 Ruff 7 Green Sandpiper a good number of Snipe and only 5 black tailed Godwit, a redshank that i didnt see but Dave spencer had it in his scope. This Green Sandpiper came close enough for a half decent shot,taken from John Morgan hide

Photo of Migrant Hawker.

There were 7 Migrant Hawkers on No.3 bed this afternoon with 4 Common Darters and 2 Brown Hawkers.

Photo of Common Darter

Brian

A male Ruff was present today and yesterday together with c50 Black-tailed Godwit,7 Green Sandpipers and 28 Snipe. A large shoal of Perch under the footbridge attracted the attention of this Pike.

D Spencer et al

Green Sandpiper (Tringa ocherous) from The John Morgan Hide

A really lovely late afternoon/early evening visit, just watching the comings and goings of the 500 or so waders currently using No.3 bed. Occasionally stirring myself enough to take the odd photo. Counts included: 3 Dunlin, 6 Green Sandpipers, 16 Snipe, 56 Black-tailed Godwits and 430 Lapwings, plus 3 Wigeon

Photo of a Tufted Duck

Cheers David Bowman (with David Spencer)

I took this photo from the Rotary Hide, it was on the far side so its cropped a lot but as you can see its pretty big, I wonder how many Black necked grebe eggs it might have taken this year

Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa Limosa) from the John Morgan Hide

Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) from the John Morgan Hide

A very distant Common Snipe (gallinago gallinago) from the John Morgan Hide

Over the past week there have been record numbers of Speckled Wood butterflies at The Eyes. A comprehensive search of the whole reserve produced over 200. A good place to search for these attractive butterflies is along the south bank of No.3 bed where up to 12 have been present. During a brief visit on Monday evening I found 420 Lapwing and 3 Green Sandpipers. Photo; Speckled Wood

This morning we did our first Visible Migration Watch of the autumn season. This involves meeting at 6.00 am and carting all our gear to the top of Butchersfield Tip, at the eastern end of the Reserve and counting every bird which passes. The forecast was for heavy rain from 10.00 am onwards and for once it was spot on. Highlights included: 2 Hobbies, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 1 Little Egret, 6 Grey Wagtails, 9 Pied Wagtails, 2 Snipe, 38 Linnets, 130 Swallows, 2 House Martins, 565 Lapwings, 142 Goldfinches, 12 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcaps, 1 Whitethroat, 4 Goldcrests, 2 Nuthatches, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Peregrine,2 Sparrowhawks, 3 Buzzards and 2 Kestrels. When the rain came, we gracefully retired to the shelter of the Morgan Hide on No.3 bed, where, amongst the commoner stuff, we noted: 4 Green Sandpipers, 120 Black-tailed Godwits, 35 Snipe, 150 Lapwings, 1 Water Rail, 20 Swallows, 80 House Martins, 2 Sand Martins, 21 Shoveler, 142 Teal and 35 Gadwall. Cheers David Bowman (with Dave Steel, David Spencer, Paul Hazlehurst, Helen Allan Les Jones)

2 green sandpiper this evening and a female Sparrowhawk hanging around the main hide. 2 willow tits near frank Linley. 15 house martins over the viewing screen and a minimum of 175 black tailed godwits settled near the tower hide. 2 stock doves around the feeders. Also a migrant hawker on the path from the gate

There were several Migrant Hawkers present on No.3 Bed this afternoon as well as Brown Hawkers and singles of Common Darter and Red-eyed Damselfly.

Photo of Migrant Hawker