19th & 20th Aug 2015

John Friendship-Taylor: Wednesday 19th was very gloomy and in fact, a little chilly. Great for passing migrants you might think, however with the wind firmly blowing from the south, bird movement was rather limited.

A visit in the evening produced a Yellow Wagtail flying south calling, 5 Swifts lingered and a House Martin zipped through. A fair number of gulls were about but nothing different from the usual gathering of Lesser Black Backs and Black Headed.

The local flock of Canada Geese is also now frequenting the reservoir more regularly with around 30 birds about, together with a distinctive Greylag X Canada hybrid.

Today (Thursday 20th) was a mixture of cloud with the odd quick burst of sun. I visited this morning before work and again this evening on my way home.

This morning a Peregrine cruised through NE, while the SW corner of the reservoir was alive with birds with several Song Thrushes, Blackbirds & Greenfinches, together with a smart Lesser Whitethroat, a Whitethroat and a showy Willow Warbler. The reservoir was pretty quiet with a single Great Crested Grebe and usual gaggle of Mallards. As I left, a juvenile and an adult Common Tern dropped in calling loudly, both have been visiting the reservoir on and off in recent days.

This evening produced a few nice things with a really nice gathering of big gulls drawing in 3 adult type Yellow Legged Gulls, together with at least 70 Lesser Black Backed Gulls. A Yellow Wagtail was also heard, going to roost in the scrub on the west side of the reservoir 

I also took a walk down to the Borrow Pit on the other side of the M40 which turned out being worthwhile, seeing both a Wheatear around the rocks on the NW side of the pit (presumably the same one seen there in recent days), plus a nice Whinchat flicking around the weed heads. I heard 1 or 2 Yellow Wagtail here too, plus 2 Little Grebe, 2 Tufted Duck, 3 Coot and a couple of Mute Swans.