Durham Bird Club's Castle Lake Nature Reserve

Sunday 22 November 2015

Sunday 22nd November 2015

Sightings from this afternoon;

Stoneybeck Lake (90% frozen) - 2 Greylag Geese, 5 Canada Geese, 3 Gadwall, Mallard, Teal, 1f Tufted Duck, 1f Kestrel, 6 Moorhen, Coot, 25 Golden Plover, 50+ Lapwing, 12 Curlew, 1 Pied Wagtail & 1 Mistle Thrush.

Foumarts Lane - 2 Bullfinch.

Castle Lake (90% frozen) - 2 Mute Swan, 1 Shelduck, 180 Wigeon, 16 Gadwall, 50+ Mallard, 11 Shoveler, 205 Teal, 8 Grey Partridge, 1 Cormorant, 200 Golden Plover, 100+ Lapwing, 60 Curlew, 2 Redshank, 10+ Pied Wagtail, 8 Meadow Pipit, 4 Redwing & 20 Linnet.

Thursday 19 November 2015

Thursday 19th November 2015

Sightings from today with thanks to John Olley;

Castle Lake - 1100 Golden Plover, 700 Lapwing, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 60 Curlew, 3 Redshank, 300 Teal, Corn Bunting singing and 20 Pied Wagtail.

Tuesday 17 November 2015

Tuesday 17th November 2015

Sightings from this morning's circular walk around Castle Lake;

Foumarts Lane - 5+ Redwing, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Treecreeper, 2 Tree Sparrow and 2 Greenfinch.

Island Farm - 10 Grey Partridge, small numbers of Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting and 4 Corn Bunting with at least two singing.

Castle Lake - 2 Mute Swan, 1 Shelduck, 12 Shoveler, 200 Teal, 1 Tufted Duck (quite scarce at the moment), 7 Cormorant, 1 Kestrel, 2 Dunlin and 2 Redshank.

Alan's Pool - 1 Redshank and 1 Mistle Thrush.

Low Hardwick - 300 Golden Plover, 300 Lapwing, 7 Snipe, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Skylark over west, 1 Mistle Thrush, 15 Siskin and 10 Lesser Redpoll.

A1 Flashes/River Stell - 1 Mute Swan, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret and 5 Redshank.


The small boggy, marshy pond at the south end of Foumarts Lane has had a clear out, been enlarged and thanks to the recent rain a good fill.

Sunday 15 November 2015

Sunday 15th November 2015

Some sightings from this afternoon;

Castle Lake - 1 Shelduck, 88 Wigeon, c100 Mallard, 5 Shoveler, 210 Teal, 147 Curlew, 2 Redshank and 20 Linnet.

A1 Flashes - 50 Lapwing and a Green Sandpiper.

Low Hardwick - 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 1 Short-eared Owl active from mid-afternoon for 20-30 minutes and 2 Jay.

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Tuesday 10th November 2015

Some sightings from this morning;

Castle Lake - 1 Pink-footed Goose, 63 Greylag Geese, 92 Canada Geese, 7 Wigeon, 7 Gadwall, 10 Shoveler, 60 Teal, 3 female Goosander, 7 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 3 Curlew, 4 Redshank, 80+ Black-headed Gull, 50+ Common Gull and c200 Starling.

Friday 6 November 2015

Friday 6th November 2015

Today's sightings;

Castle Lake - The daily mid-morning arrival of Geese today revealed 4 Pink-footed Geese, c300 Greylag Geese, c100 Canada Geese, 4 Bar-headed Geese and the presumed hybrid Barnacle Goose (pictured below).

Others included 2 Shelduck, c200 Wigeon, 9 Cormorant, 1 Kestrel, 200+ Golden Plover, 300+ Lapwing, 1 Dunlin, 1 Snipe, 11 Curlew, 3 Redshank, 5+ Skylark over south and at least 1 Corn Bunting heard.

River Stell - 2 Mute Swan, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Little Egret and a Grey Heron.

Near Alan's Pool the River Skerne has been dredged.

Foumarts Lane - 4 Mistle Thrush.

Blog post #400 and two day's away from it's fifth anniversary.