Pitsford Reservoir WeBS count

Hello

More rain today but the day was still birdable with mild temperatures and glimpses of sunshine.

Today was the turn of Pitsford Reservoir to be WeBS-counted! North of the causeway there were eleven Pintail, a Goldeneye, a Great White Egret, just three Little Egrets, no Coots or swans, a Ruff, a Dunlin, seven Common Snipe, about seventy-five Golden Plovers, three Green Sandpipers (Holcot Bay), two Kingfishers (using tern rafts as a perch in the Holcot Bay), an adult Yellow-legged Gull, five Stonechats, a Grey Wagtail and several fly-over Siskins.

South of the causeway there were eight Great White Egrets, just three Little Egrets, two Green Sandpipers in the Catwalk Bay, two Goldeneye, a Rock Pipit in the mouth of Moulton Grange Bay, four Stonechats, two Grey Wagtails, small numbers of Siskins and Redpolls moving south and two Ravens.

A Grass Snake was active which seemed rather late and butterflies included Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Comma reflecting the warmth of the day despite the rain showers.

Up to five thousand Starlings were gathering to roost at Summer Leys LNR this evening and birds on view for much of the day were the three Glossy Ibis, thirteen Common Snipe, a Jack Snipe, a Water Rail, two Great White Egrets, two drake Pintail and a Stonechat.

A Great White Egret and a Water Rail were at Clifford Hill Pits and fifteen Crossbills flew over Salcey Forest mid-morning.

Two pairs of Stonechats were at Harrington Airfield this morning and good numbers of Redwing were moving over with far smaller numbers of Siskins and Redpolls similarly moving south. A Corn Bunting, six Stonechats and four Bramblings were in the Brampton Valley below Hanging Houghton this afternoon.

Eyebrook Reservoir still hosted the American Golden Plover plus a Knot, a Scaup and a Rock Pipit and an adult Whooper Swan remained at Linford Lakes this morning.

A quieter day at Stanford Reservoir still resulted in sightings of four Great White Egrets, twelve Little Egrets, one hundred and fifteen Cormorants, a Kingfisher, two Water Rails and two Cetti's Warblers.

Regards

Neil M

Jack Snipe.

Water Rail and Jack Snipe.

Glossy Ibis.

Two drake Pintail.

All images from Summer Leys LNR
today courtesy of Tony Stanford.