The end of May

The end of May proceeded to be fairly uneventful, with all of the regular migrants settled in or moved on further north to nest and no rarer late migrants unfortunately.
On the 21st and 22nd John had a Little Ringed Plover (somehow I'd forgotten to add this species to the year list!) and a couple of Yellow Wagtails. Also, on the 22nd he saw a Peregrine knock a Swift out of the sky onto the water and following a few failed attempts it managed to pluck the Swift off the surface and carry it away NE. What an absolutely spectacular thing to witness!
On the 30th I had a Common Tern fly through north and Mike Pollard had three Little Ringed Plovers. 

All photos courtesy and copyright of JFT

16th May 2021

It's been a bit of a quiet week from both lack of visitors and, I assume, good birds when people have been. There was a Common Sandpiper on Thursday (JFT) and Friday at least. John also had a few Yellow Wagtails around yesterday as well as a Common Sandpiper. There are fledged families of Grey Wagtail and Long-tailed Tit around and I was told the Robins near the entrance fledged (although I'm fairly sure they were too young to fledge and were more likely predated).

Nothing terribly notable today but a few nice sightings. A big group of c.100 large gulls (the vast majority Lesser Black-backed Gulls) circled over the UCV and then a little later c.250 flew over the reservoir (including at least two Herring Gulls). These are big numbers for here even for winter so to see them in May is quite odd. When the group flew over the reservoir two Common Terns also came in and did a few circuits high over the water before leaving again. 

I had three sightings of Peregrine (my first ones over the reservoir this year), two of which were of a large female casually cruising around and one of a smaller male. The male sighting was great, as it mobbed a Buzzard from a reasonable height before climbing higher again and then went in to a full stoop at something (lost sight behind trees) and then re-appeared carrying it's prey. It's only the second time I've seen a full on on high speed stoop! It flew low towards town and I lost sight of it again behind trees and then JDE.

9th May 2021: Reed Warbler

This weekend was the B.O.S. Long Day Count (see here) and Clive and I did SP44 today. We are lucky to have our local patch as part of this count and it helps knowing that we will pick up the bulk of and a good variety of species on the Grimsbury patch and also knowing what is likely to be seen or not seen so we can target other sites to pick up additional species.

We got off to a good start at the reservoir with two Common Sandpipers and a Yellow-legged Gull (3CY I think) and Herring Gull amongst a group of Lesser Black-backed Gulls loitering at the reservoir. Later it the day we realised there were actually quite a lot of Lesser Black-backs in the area with c.55-60 in the UCV cattle fields.

Up at the Borrow Pit Clive spotted a Whinchat and then I found a Wheatear along the flood alleviation bund. Mike Curnow later confirmed two Whinchat present and Kevin Heath had another Wheatear in the cattle field by the reservoir.

Two (or three?) Reed Warblers were new for the year with individuals heard in the field behind M&S, along the canal by the wood and at the Borrow Pit. 

A couple of sightings of Hobby in the evening, half-heartedly chasing hirundines, topped of a good patch day.

Other notable sightings around the square were Peregrine, Spotted Flycatcher (2 locations) Tree Sparrow (our last local birds?!), Little Owl (my first local one for several years) and Little Ringed Plover.

Courtesy and copyright of Mike Curnow

Above and below, courtesy and copyright of Kyle Smith

8th May 2021

John found two Wheatears in the Cattle Field this morning and when I went up a third had arrived. Overwise there was a Common Sandpiper. A bit disappointing considering the weather.  

7th May 2021: 'Channel' Wagtail

There was a Common Sandpiper and a few Yellow Wagtails at the reservoir this evening, but otherwise it was fairly quiet. Interestingly, one of the female wagtails appears to be a 'Channel' Wagtail. We had a male at the Borrow Pit pool a few years ago, but I have never seen a female.

5th May 2021: Arctic Tern

I had an Arctic Tern this morning, which was present when I arrived but was gone within 10 mins. There was also two Common Sandpipers.

Ian had a Peregrine flyover at lunchtime and I had a Hobby flyover in the evening, so potentially a six BoP day! There was also at least five Yellow Wagtails this evening.

'Record shot'...

4th May 2021: Spotted Flycatcher

Sandra had a Spotted Flycatcher this evening, on the fence near the water treatment works. Also, six Yellow Wagtails.

2nd May 2021: Dunlin

It was a rather quiet end to the week to be honest, but John did have a Dunlin briefly yesterday morning. Otherwise, there has been the odd one or two Common Sandpipers around, Swifts and some Yellow Wagtails. Although numbers of the latter are falling by the day.

Courtesy and copyright of Mike Pollard

28th Apr 2021: Whinchat and Hobby

This morning Ian, John and I were all out early. The conditions looked great and hopes were high, especially for the likes of Arctic Tern. Unfortunately it wasn't to be, but it was a good day nonetheless.

It was a bit quiet to start off with and we'd only seen two Common Sandpipers and eleven (min.) Yellow Wagtails. However, there was obviously a fair few new warblers around, including three Lesser Whitethroats - one of which John actually saw come in from quite high up!

At approximately 7:40 (and unfortunately after Ian and John had left) I found a Whinchat on the fence of the cattle field to the NW of the reservoir before it moved to the fence along the ditch in the cattle field. Where I also saw a Wheatear briefly, with both birds moving along. Mike Pollard arrived and found another two Wheatears in the cattle field. These were all fresh in and in locations people had already looked. By this time the number of hirundines had really built up and there continued to be good numbers all day - mostly House Martins in the evening.

At lunch time there were two Swifts and the peak count of fourteen Yellow Wagtails for the day. In the evening Mike Pollard had our first Hobby of the year, taking the year list to 100 species!

27th Apr 2021

Mike Pollard was out yesterday morning and had a Common Sandpiper and two Yellow Wagtails.

This morning there was three Yellow Wagtails, but not much else. This evening there was six Swifts and a minimum of 18 Yellow Wagtails (I saw 14 together along the west bank and there was 4+ in or flying over the cattle field). Quite the spectacle when I first saw c.15 in flight - I almost didn't believe it! 

25th Apr 2021: Sanderling and Garden Warbler

This morning John and I headed out early. We recorded six (min.) Yellow Wagtails, Common Sandpiper, Lesser Whitethroat and several each of Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler. I stayed later hoping (desperately) for some terns or Little Gulls but they didn't arrive. Mid-morning a Swift arrived and then another two and shortly after a Sanderling appeared on the western shoreline. Clive had also seen a Little Egret up the valley.

A few people came to see the Sanderling but unfortunately it didn't stay long with a high level of human recreational activity. However, John (and Luca!) did record our first Garden Warbler of the year along the river.

A proper photo... courtesy and copyright of Kyle Smith

Swift and Starling courtesy and copyright of JFT

24th Apr 2021: Swifts

Mike was out this morning and it was very quiet, just three Yellow Wagtails of note.

This evening I had our first two Swifts of the year.

23rd Apr 2021: Little Egret

Ian was out very early this morning (just after 5am!) but unfortunately did not get a big reward for his efforts, although he did record our first Little Egret of the year. Other sightings were singles of Yellow Wagtail and Little Ringed Plover.

22nd Apr 2021: BAR-TAILED GODWITS!!

John was out early this morning and saw two BAR-TAILED GODWITS for a short time before they were flushed and flew north-east. This is an incredible sighting and appears to be the first record for the site since August 1974!!

There was also three Yellow Wagtails and a Little Ringed Plover.

Photos courtesy and copyright of JFT

21st Apr 2021: Lesser Whitethroat

John had our first Lesser Whitethroat of the year this morning, as well as two Common Sandpipers, Whitethroat and three Sedge Warblers.