Saturday 23rd July 2016

Sightings today from Joe Hughes and myself.

An excellent selection today, particularly waders with eleven different species as return passage moves up a gear.

Stoneybeck Lake - 1 Pochard, 1 Little Grebe, 9 Little Ringed Plover (including 3 chicks, possibly two separate broods, a good breeding record), 3 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank and a Common Buzzard).

Castle Lake - 44 Greylag Geese (numbers not building as quick as previous years), 1 Teal, female Pochard with two ducklings, Great Crested Grebe pair still sitting, 2 Cormorant, 3 Little Egret including a juvenile, 2 Grey Heron, 10 Oystercatcher, 1 Ringed Plover, c40 Lapwing, 7 Snipe, 1 summer plumage Black-tailed Godwit, 42 Curlew, 4 Green Sandpiper, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 4 Common Sandpiper, 10 Black-headed Gull, 1 Peregrine, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Little Owl, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 3 singing Corn Bunting near Alan's Pool.

Two mediocre pictures of the Wood Sandpiper

A1 Flashes - (not much water left, but some great looking mud!) 1 Greenshank, 6 Green Sandpiper and 12 overflying Curlew.

River Stell - a female Tufted Duck with 7 ducklings, 2 Grey Heron and a Common Sandpiper.

Low Hardwick - a singing Grasshopper Warbler.

Monday 18th July 2016

Catching up with sightings from Monday with thanks to Joe Hughes and John Olley;

Castle Lake - 3 Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 LRP, 1 Little Egret, 2 Buzzard, up to 8 Corn Bunting between the lake and Island Farm, 4 Grey Heron, 200 Lapwing, 20 Curlew and 2 juvenile Yellow Wagtail.

Sunday 17th July 2016

Catching up with sightings, firstly for Sunday with thanks to Joe Hughes;

Castle Lake - 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpiper, 3 Snipe, 1 Ruff, 2 Corn Bunting, 2 Curlew and a Buzzard.

Wednesday 13th July 2016

Sightings from this morning;

Castle Lake - drake Wigeon in eclipse plumage, female Shoveler with three well grown juveniles, female Pochard with two ducklings, three Tufted Duck broods of six,six and seven ducklings respectively, 5+ Little Grebe, single Great Crested Grebe still sitting, one Grey Heron, an Oystercatcher pair with a juvenile (three breeding pairs this summer), 2 Little Ringed Plover, single Dunlin, 5 Snipe back already, one summer plumaged Redshank, 7 Green Sandpiper (4 at the north end and 3 below the hide), 2 Common Sandpiper, one each of Yellow and Grey Wagtail, one, possibly two Reed Warbler singing intermittently and a Corn Bunting still singing between the hide and the sewage works.

A1 Flashes; 29 Greylag Geese (not be long before numbers start to build up), 3 Oystercatcher, 65 Lapwing and 7 Curlew.

Stoneybeck Lake; 8 Greylag Geese, 5 Oystercatcher, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 30 Lapwing including a new chick and a single Snipe.

Sunday 10th July 2016

Sightings for Sunday with thanks to John Olley and Alan Jones.

Castle Lake -  2 Little Tern briefly then high east, single Common Tern, Little Egret, 3 Grey Heron, 7 Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Snipe, 160 Lapwing, 20 Curlew, 18 Oystercatcher, 2 LRP, Ringed Plover, two broods of 6 Tufted Duck ducklings, Pochard with 2 ducklings, 22 Shelduck ducklings, 3 Corn Bunting, 250 Sand Martin, 60 Swift, 20 Pied Wagtail.

Tuesday 5th July 2016

Today's sightings;

Castle Lake - 1f Pochard with 2 ducklings, c20 Tufted Duck with two broods of 6 & 7 ducklings, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 10 Oystercatcher with at least 1 juvenile, 4 LRP, c80 Lapwing, 7 Curlew, 3 Redshank, 6 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 5 Black-headed Gull of which two were juveniles, 1 Little Owl, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Greenfinch (scarce away from the village) and a singing Corn Bunting.

A1 Flashes - 6 Greylag Geese and 2 Grey Heron.

Wildlife Garden - Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and a family of Great Tit's.

Stoneybeck Lake - 3 Greylag Geese and 8 Oystercatcher.

Sunday 3rd July 2016

Sightings for today with thanks to Joe Hughes;

Castle Lake - 3 LRP, 1 Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 17 Curlew, 5 Oystercatcher, 1 Buzzard, 1 Little Owl, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Wigeon and 2 Corn Bunting.