In addition to the records already submitted for today, reserve totals of 97 Robins and 42 Moorhen were of interest. The unseasonably warm conditions produced a total of 12 Red Admirals across the reserve! This has been the best season for many years for this migrant species and it will be interesting to see how long butterflies remain on the wing.

View from the Morgan Hide this morning.

Cheers David

View from the Morgan Hide this morning.

Cheers David

View from the Morgan Hide this morning.

Cheers David

Photo of a Rabbit from the track into No.3 bed this morning.

Cheers David

One of those beautiful mornings on No.3 bed, with plenty of birds under sunny and ever-changing skies. There was a steady southward movement of Redwings, totalling about 220 over the morning. Teal numbers have noticeably increased, with 300 out on the open water at one point and a single Pintail and four Wigeon also present early on. The Black-tailed Godwit flock remains steady at around 40, with 200 Lapwings and a handful of Snipe alongside them. Overhead, a single Raven, two Kestrels, three Sparrowhawks and four Buzzards added interest. Of the finches, around 100 Greenfinches, 1 Brambling, 1 Siskin, 3 Lesser Redpolls, 35 Chaffinches and 15 Linnets were decent totals. An interesting bit of news from Kieran Foster was that the small, late Grasshopper Warbler, ringed on the bed a couple of weeks ago, was shown by DNA analysis not to be an “Eastern Grasshopper Warbler” as hoped. Cheers David Bowman

A nice sunny day on number 3 bed today not too much about a few Godwits some Red admiral Butterflies, as i wa making my way back out i spotted this wasp i believe its Dolichovespula sylvestris (Tree wasp)

Another shot of the Black Tailed Godwits

I just arrived onto number 3 bed when the rain started so just spent 2 hours in the John Morgan hide, loads of Greenfinch at the feeders 1 common gull far across the other sideamong the B H Gulls, 4 herons about 40 Black tailed Godwits, suddenly they all took to the air and luckily they all landed a lot closer about a dozen of them came onto the the scrape with a few of them comming very close giving me a great view and a chance to take some nice photos.

For the first time in over two years I was able to carry out a complete walk around all parts of the reseve including the river to the north of Nos. 1 and 2 beds as the paths along the river have now been reopened. There was an autumnal chill in the air as I set off but the morning was sunny and very pleasant. On No.1 bed was a small flock of Redwing and 120 Pink-footed Geese flew east. A splendid dog fox crossed in front of me on Butechersfield Tip. Two Shelduck were in the basin and later on No.3 bed whilst a Raven was calling noisily in the Copse. On No.3 bed were a hundred Lapwing and about 40 Black-tailed Godwits. 80 Black-headed Gulls were on the water. A flock of about 20 Redwing was on No.4 bed and 60 Teal on the Loop. Reserve-wide totals included 75 Mallard, 63 Robins and 36 Moorhen.

Black-tailed Godwit in the company of a Moorhen on scrape in front of John Morgan Hide

Pied Wagtail on scrape in front of John Morgan Hide

Little Egret flew on to No.3 area briefly around 12.30pm before headed off West around 15 mins later. (record shot only) Other birds: Black-tailed Godwits, Lapwings plus a Pied Wagtail on the scrape in front of the John Morgan hide. Greenfinch and Willow Tit on feeders.

The first Bramblings of the autumn were seen today with singles on the Winter Feed area and by the South Meadow. On No.4 bed there were 60+ Teal and 3 Snipe but no sign of Saturday’s Garganey. Carey Randall reported a Little Egret on the oxbow below No.2 bed and it was still feeding along the river edge at midday.

An unseasonally warm morning brought in some good birds. On No.3 bed, a Little Egret came out of its roost, early on, only to be pushed off by one of the five feeding Grey Herons. A trip to the Loop of No.4 bed turned up a few Wigeon plus the surprise of the day - a drake Garganey, the second latest ever for the Reserve. Back on No.3 bed, a single Ruff was located among the flock of 40 Black-tailed Godwits and 260 Lapwings. Later, the wader flock was scattered by a Peregrine which rattled through at low level before disappearing to the west. Other sightings of interest included: a few Redwings (ringed by Kieran Foster et al), the odd Lesser Redpoll, some Pink-footed Geese (heard but not seen) and 160 Teal. The linked video shows the Egret, Wigeon, Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk plus the Ruff milling around with the Lapwings.

To watch David’s video click here… or copy and paste the following link into your browser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnAJswuyxWg

Photo is of the Wigeon from this morning.

Cheers David Bowman (with David Spencer, Alan Warford and Helen Wynn)

Spotted on No.1 Bed this morning by Ash Radford and photographed by David Riley a Pink Barred Sallow moth, Xanthi togata. This is a fairly common moth frequenting damp woods and marshy areas. Other sightings included an early morning Tawny Owl, a Woodcock, singing Cetti’s Warbler and passage of Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail, and Redwing.

WeBS Count for 7th October with thanks for all those who took part in the count. Little Grebe 7,Great crested Grebe 3, Cormorant 15, Mute Swan 22, Grey Heron 11, Canada Goose 72, Wigeon 7, Gadwall 37, Teal 189, Mallard 88, Pintail 1, Shoveler 44, Tufted Duck 105, Water Rail 1, Moorhen 32, Coot 40, Lapwing 115, Snipe 5, Black-tailed Godwit 40, Redshank 1, Kingfisher 1,Peregrine 1, Kestrel 1, Buzzard 1, Black headed Gull 104, Common Gull 1, Lesser Black backed Gull 7, and Common Tern 1. The latter is the latest ever record for Woolston with few records in the County in October especially inland.

This morning saw five of us sitting on top of Butchersfield Tip at dawn, soaking up some driven rain, ready for the monthly Visible Migration Watch. After a slow start, we managed to pick up some decent sightings, including: A Ruff in with a flock of Lapwings (a first for one of our Migration Watches), 600 Lapwings, 6 Golden Plovers, 83 Meadow Pipits, 39 Skylarks, 17 Pied Wagtails, 60 Pink-footed Geese and 2 Siskins, among hundreds of commoner birds. Afterwards, Helen, David Spencer, Alan and I went into No.3 bed where, earlier, a late Common Tern had passed through. A single Redshank was among the Black-tailed Godwits and Lapwings, while 40 Siskins, 60 Linnets and 120 Greenfinches were were feeding actively. The video shows a few of this weeks birds, including: Grey Wagtail, Pintails, Black-tailed Godwit and Stonechat.

Click here to watch David’s video………….

or cut and paste the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBPAUhMuvtM into your broswer to view.

Cheers David Bowman (with David Spencer, Dave Steel, Alan Warford and Helen Wynn)

I only had a short time on number 3 bed on friday but i saw 1 wigeon a small party of Long tailed tits 6 snipe 1 terrapin 1 domestic cat by the tower hide.3 Red admirals butterflies, I couldnt find the Ruff among the Godwits. then at about 12.40 a Hobby made a show over the far side landing on the hide across from the J morgan hide I managed a record shot of it. Ray Eden was in the hide and let me view it through his scope (thanks Ray)

A nice few hours on No.3 bed today, starting with two skeins of Pink-footed Geese passing over, totalling 137. Six Pintail were still in front of the Rotary Hide, with 46 Black-tailed Godwits, 7 Snipe, 420 Lapwings, 60 Teal, 42 Shoveler, 1 Water Rail, 2 Kingfishers and 7 Little Grebes from the Morgan Hide. On a walk round the perimiter of the bed, photographing some of the emerging fungi, two Chiffchaffs were calling.

Cheers David Bowman

After being away for nearly three weeks, it was good to be back on No.3 bed yesterday morning. There were some nice birds about, too. A Yellow-browed Warbler was calling near the path to the Tower Hide first thing, then two Golden Plovers dropped in (always a scarcity on the Reserve), five female Pintails were still in front of the Rotary Hide and a Stonechat was in the seed crop on the North Meadow. Of the more regular species, 46 Black-tailed Godwits, 7 Snipe, Water Rail and Kingfisher are worth a mention.

Photo is of the Stonechat

Cheers David (with David Spencer)