Having visited No.3 bed a couple of days ago and found only small numbers of waterfowl it was a surprise to discover so many birds on the water. The numbers seen were as follows: 126 Greylag Geese,78 Canada Geese, 34 Black tailed Godwits, 175 Teal, 136 Shoveler, 2 singing Cetti’s Warblers,a singing Willow Tit and 7 Buzzards reported by a permit holder these no doubt relishing the warm weather of the past 2 days. 32 Tufted Duck included 26 on the Oxbow near the south bund. One Red admiral was feeding on the remaining flowers on the south bank Buddleia and 2 Migrant Hawkers were also feeding nearby.

There was a large passage of Meadow Pipits throughout the morning. Observers in the John Morgan hide counted a total 115 in small groups, all flying along the east bank of No.2 bed ; the ringing team a had an additional 289 flying over the centre of No.3 bed. A female Merlin landed very briefly on Vikki’s island in front of the hide carrying what was presumed to be a Meadow Pipit before flying off south west with its prey.

David Spencer (with S Haddock, H Wynn, L Jones and B Baird)

A couple of hours in the Morgan Hide and prolonged views of a juvenile Marsh Harrier quartering the reed bed area, a distant hobby, female Sparrowhawk, Green Sandpiper, Bk-t-Godwits, Lapwings, Teal, Gadwall, etc. Water rail was also seen and a snipe. Record shot only of the MH as it was on the far side of the reed bed

There were huge numbers of geese on the reserve today. At Bollin Point were about 500 but as they were somewhat distant it was not possible to do an accurate count. However they appeared to be fairly equally divided between Canadas and Greylags. About a hundred were seen to move west and on No.3 bed were a hundred of each species. It appears that about 300 of each species were present. Quite a few butterflies were still on the wing including 4 Small Coppers. This has been an excellent year for this species with a reserve total of 18 during the past few weeks. A Green Sandpiper was on No.3 bed, a Greenshank on the Loop and a Kingfisher at the locks.

Wetland Bird Survey carried out on 8th September 2018

Little Grebe 23, Great crested Grebe 3, Cormorant 20, Mute Swan 31, Grey heron 9, Greylag Goose 74, Canada Goose 212, Wigeon 2, Gadwall 187, Teal 180, Mallard 168, Shoveler 118, Tufted Duck 63, Water Rail 1, Moorhen 37, Coot 9, Lapwing 130, Dunlin 1, Redshank 4, Greenshank 2,Green Sandpiper 1, Common Sandpiper 1, Black tailed Godwit 18, Snipe 35, Black headed Gull 26, Lesser Black backed Gull 2, Kingfisher 1, Sparrowhawk 2 .

The Shoveler count is the second highest at the Eyes (after the 131 on the March WeBS count) since September 2011 and 8 species of wader impressive.

With the prospect of a steadily increasing drizzle, it looked like a good morning to be scanning for wader passage from the Morgan Hide. Eight species of wader was a decent reward, with first a single Redshank dropping in, then four more appearing on the edge of the scrape. Meanwhile, a single Green Sandpiper, two Greenshanks, 18 Black-tailed Godwits, 31 Common Snipe and 120 Lapwings were also in view. A single Dunlin was then picked out among the Lapwing and Snipe before a Common Sandpiper made up the final cast. Wildfowl numbers were also good, with c.100 each of Shoveler, Teal, Mallard and Gadwall. Swallows were again the predominant hirundine, with 48 counted, along with 6 Sand Martins and 2 House Martins. The link is to a video clip showing all eight wader species from this morning.

Click here to watch David’s video or cut and paste the link into your browser………

https://youtube.com/watch?v=rb_IiZS—9w

Cheers David Bowman (with David Spencer, Helen Wynn, Sue Haddock and Brian Baird)

We know autumn has truly arrived on the Reserve when we rendezvous at 6.15 am to trudge to the top of Butchersfield Tip and spend the next six hours diligently scanning for migrant birds, a process we repeat once a month till year end. This morning started well under partially clear skies and pleasant sunshine before becoming interspersed with light drizzle from 9.30 am onwards. It was, as ever, well worth the effort, particularly for the strong southward movement of hirundines. By the end of play Swallows had totalled c.580 and House Martins 140, while 23 Meadow Pipits also passed over. Other more local movements included: 2 Ravens, 330 Lapwings, 3 Grey Wagtails, 6 Snipe and 14 Mistle Thrushes. There were also unusually large roaming flocks of passerines feeding around the tip, with totals of: 2 Nuthatches, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Whitethroat, 2 Goldcrests, 23 Chiffchaffs, 13 Blackcaps, 35 Long-tailed Tits, 30 Blue Tits and 12 Great Tits. Photo of a Snipe from yesterday Cheers David Bowman (with Dave Steel, David Spencer, Sue Haddock and Les Jones)

A nice start to this morning on No.3 bed, with a Painted Lady and a Small Copper feeding side-by-side on one of the south bank Buddleias. As ever, recently, a couple of Green Sandpipers and Greenshanks were with 16 each of Snipe and Black-tailed Godwit, while the Lapwing flock has grown to 300. Raptors were active in the warm sunshine, with a hawking Hobby, one Kestrel, three Sparrowhawks and 10 Buzzards all soaring around the bed. Hirundines were scarce, though, with just two House Martins and 14 Swallows passing through. Photo of the Small Copper Cheers David Bowman

Still good numbers of Speckled Wood

A Rather Late Meadow Brown

A nice Comma

A drizzly Monday afternoon on No.3 bed still turned up some nice birds. A juvenile Marsh Harrier was quartering the reed beds when I arrived, scattering the waders and wildfowl. These included: 2 Wigeon, 2 Greenshanks, 2 Green Sandpipers, 15 Snipe, 16 Black-tailed Godwits and 100 Lapwings. A couple of Kingfishers, a Water Rail and two Willow Tits were the pick of the resident species, while birds passing through included: 2 Ravens, 110 House Martins, 15 Swallows and 14 Sand Martins. As I was leaving the sun began to break through, a couple of Migrant Hawker dragonflies took to the wing and I spent a pleasant final half hour trying to photograph some of the insects present. The photo is of a fly which is scarce in Cheshire, Rhingia rostrate, as it is of a mainly southern distribution Cheers David Bowman

Green Sandpiper from F Lindley Hide

poor pic of one of the Greenshank

Black Tailed Godwit from J Morgan Hide

Snipe from J Morgan hide

A glorious few hours on Number 3 bed today sun shining, birds at least 4 Greenshank pos 5, 1 Green sandpiper about 30 Black Tailed Godwits 7 Snipe 1 raven flew over,a bird i think to be chiffchaff, could be w,warbler butterflies 2 meadow brown aboiut 6 Comma 4 Red admiral 5 small white

pic of the Chiffchaff

Today’s highlight was a Great White Egret which was present on the bed early morning before flying off east. It reappeared briefly mid-morning but again flew off east. Other sightings included 1 Garganey, 1 Greenshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 12 Swallow, 2 Sand Martin, 29 Black-tailed Godwits and 15 Snipe. Photo of GWE by Dave Steel

David Spencer with D Steel, H Allan, L Jones, and B Baird