Bittern-less

For the past two winters there's been sporadic sightings of Bittern at Holywell Pond, this is most likely a wintering bird, but due to the vast reed-bed, and ponds to the West, its only been seen on the main pond a handful of times, normally in flight.

Today I had a text from BD, saying 'Bittern at Holywell, in reeds in front of North Wood'. Alan and Sid had seen it fly across the pond and land in the reeds opposite the hide, but it hadn't moved (in sight) for half an hour. I sat until dusk, with no joys. I'll catch up with it someday !

The White-Fronted Goose was still amongst the Greylag flock, in the field on the way down to the pond.

On the move...

Busy times as I continue to chase my dreams, Holywell has been getting neglected. I was over the moon to have a chance to visit last Friday, and it didn't let me down. This week the movement of waders has been evident with a single Green Sandpiper, 2 Wood Sandpiper, 2 Black-Tailed Godwit, an impressive evening roost of Curlew (135 on Monday) and 2 Little Egret.

A Wood Sandpiper in the fading light, with Curlew roosting behind.

Record shot of the two Little Egrets in the Main Meadow last night.

The Fox

I've had a long day on Final Cut Pro today, editing the Northumberland National Park by Night film. An evening visit to Holywell was what I needed, especially on a stunning evening like tonight.

It was still, only a slight breeze, the 2 Swallows at the cut had now become 6, and both Chiff Chaff and Willow Warbler were in song. Little Grebes on the pond had doubled in number, and the Shoveler pair had been joined by an extra female.

Heading down to the fields, I picked up a shape in the distance, at first I thought Hare, but then realised, it was a Fox! Relatively in the open I checked the wind, using the blinding low sun to my advantaged I approach it from the cover of a hedge. It was still some distance away.

Stopping at every gap, and looking, it still hadn't moved, but I could now pick out the shape of its ears in the grass, it was asleep! Basking in the warm glow of the setting sun. Reaching the field boundary I crossed into the next, out of sight, and scent, I quickly made up the ground, before reaching the cover of the wood.

It was still, silent, but thankfully Woodpigeon-less. A minefield of leaves, twigs, and sticks lay ahead. The sun was now behind me, casting my shadow towards the Fox, I had to be careful. Moving gently through, I saw a gap, and headed for it, lying on my belly when I got there. Gradually moving my binoculars up, I immediately realised I was quite close, and it was still asleep. Nose to the ground, it lifted its head and yawned, surveying  the field ahead. It got up with a stretch and moved off slowly, as if it had been lying for a while, not eager to leave the warm glow of the sun and its bed.

Following it right, a second Fox ran across my vision, much closer this time, I lay motionless for a while, but didn't see the second animal again.

Repositioning to higher ground I watched the sleepy Fox head across the field, sniffing as it went, now in hunt mode. It stop momentarily to observe a pair of Curlew, who soon flew off, next a Lapwing which seemed to be toying with it, approaching quite close. The Fox dropped like a Collie and tried to make ground, pouncing at the last second, but too slow for the brave Lapwing.

It reached an area of rough ground, disappearing into the long grass. Holywell never fails.

Down Holywell...

Heading down to Holywell today, yesterdays flock of 30 strong Golden Plover flew over the road at Earsdon. 3 Fieldfare and 2 Redwing were nice to see flying overhead on my way down to the Pond, the pond itself was relatively quiet, although there was a good number of Pochard (14 male and 4 females) along with 4 Coot, 12 Mallard, 13 Tufted (8 males, 5 females), 6 Moorhen, 2 Herring Gull, and the Mute Swan pair nest building in the northern reeds.

The feeding station at the pond held 5-6 Reed Bunting, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, a female Great Spotted Woodpecker and a single Brown Rat.

The top feeding station still has at least 8 Tree Sparrows knocking about. Down at the public hide a Redshank, and a Snipe fed on the shoreline with 12 Canada Geese around the Island.

The East Pool had the most activity, thawing from the recent freeze it held 4 pairs of Gadwall, 30 Greylag, 20+ Mallard, 2 Coot and 4 Moorhen. It was great to see and hear the Lapwings displaying over their breeding grounds.

White-Front

Its wasn't until late yesterday afternoon I managed to get down to the East Pool to see the reported Eurasian White-Fronted Goose, reported by SP and BD in amongst the Greylags.

In the fading light I grabbed this record shot.

I've been back to back with star stuff for the past couple of days, including a radio appearance with BBC Newcastle, you can listen to the clip HERE (from 50.12)

I had a Barn Owl over the car heading back from Hadrian's Wall this morning, and a Short-Eared Owl flying over Killingworth this afternoon.

Tundra

Yesterday I had a text off SP, letting me know that there was a Tundra Bean Goose amongst the Pink-Footed Goose flock at the Obelisk. So this morning I picked up SW at 09:00 and headed along to Holywell, MH had just pulled up as we arrived. We headed down, and thankfully the geese were there, 350+ Pink-Footed Geese. It took us some time to work our way through the flock in the dull conditions, but eventually MS spotted a likely candidate standing asleep, it soon revealed itself to be the Tundra Bean Goose. 

The surrounding Pink-Footed Geese provided a great comparison, as it slept it seemed to stand on longer legs, and as it moved closer the clean orange legs, and narrow tail band could clearly be seen, coupled with the orange subterminal bill band. Mike did his best to get some digi-scoped images, although the light was terrible !

Great find by SP !

Back to Patch

It's been some time since I had a proper visit to Holywell, its been getting a bit neglected, but I managed to get some time to head down there today, and I'm pleased I did! 

Walking down towards the Members Hide I was pleased to find at least 10 Tree Sparrows between the hedgerow and the feeding station, hopefully when we get some more boxes up, last summers success will be repeated and a new colony will be formed.

Opening the shutters in the hide it was great to see an increase in wildfowl, the best its looked for a while now including 21 Tufted Ducks (16 males), a pair of Wigeon, 41 Mallard, 1 Little Grebe, 4 Pochard (3 males), 1 Shelduck, pair of Mute Swan, 3 Coot, 2 Moorhen, 3 Teal (2 males) and a female Scaup, with a supporting cast of Herring, Black Headed, Common Gull, 100+ Lapwing, 20 Starling, 70+ Woodpigeon, 5 Pink-Footed Geese overhead, a single Jay and a couple of cock Pheasants in the min meadow.

A single (presumed female) Short-Eared Owl was hunting in the East Meadow, with 120 Greylag, 23 Curlew and 2 Shelduck between the Eastern Pools and the North Pool. The Common Buzzard put in an appearance being pursued by a male Kestrel over the North Wood.

Heading out to the Cattle Fields in search of anymore Owls the single bird followed me over, and began quartering the area. The flooded potato field by the Obelisk held the majority of the Pink-Footed Goose flock with over 300 birds, joined by good numbers of Lapwing, Black Headed Gull, Woodpigeon and Rooks, also 6 Linnets.

3 Grey Partridge flushed as I headed for the dene, where the feeding station was, as usual, busy, with the regulars, plus 3 stunning Bullfinches feeding on Bramble seed.

A good afternoon wander round the patch.

Common Blue

Spotted this little beauty on my way out of Center Parcs yesterday, posed long enough for a few images.

Back on the patch, the past few days have provided some great sightings including, Green Sandpiper, Barn and Short-Eared Owl hunting the main meadow, large numbers of Golden Plover, Tufted Duck with 5 ducklings and at least 6 Common Terns on the pond making use of the newly gravelled island (the most I've ever seen).

I've been down the Dene today with SW recording some narration for my final project. Picking him up at 11:00 we first headed to the Grey Wagtails, pleased to find them taking food into the nest, although no chicks were to be seen, I presume they've only hatched today or more likely yesterday.


Moving on to a remoter part of the dene, we spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on a fallen tree, writing and recording the narration. Amongst the hail, rain, wind and glorious sunshine we managed to see and here some of the Dene's secrets. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were active overhead, moving from tree to tree, until we caught sight of them copulating, I'd never witnessed this behaviour before with GSW's. Next some commotion from behind, and then the culprit, a couple of Common Buzzards, interacting, possibly a pair? After the Buzzards had eventually moved on the Blackbirds could be heard 'kicking off' as it were, a characteristic sound which could only mean one thing, a Tawny Owl, first the slightest of calls, then a fly-by out of the Ivy.


Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Jackdaws, Stock Doves, Chiff Chaff, Blue Tits and Wrens were all showing signs of nesting. The Dipper showed well on our walk back to the car.

The Windflower

Anemone nemorosa, is known as both the Wood Anemone and the Windflower, the latter derived from its latin name is directly related to Greek Legend. It is said the wind, Anemos, sends his Anemones in the earliest days of spring, to herald his coming.





nemorosa relates to the species habitat, meaning wooded or covered with trees.




Interestingly the flower has no scent as it does not require fertilisation by insects to produce seeds.




The flower has no true petals, instead six modified sepals.




For the majority of today I've been on the ground filming these beautiful little flowers, hopefully the weather may provide an opportunity to revisit them tomorrow.




If there was ever a moment for pictures to transfer scent, this would be that time. A few Blackthorns clustered together in a corner of the Dene, filling the air with their scent.

A Quiet Corner

I'm currently stuck inside, grafting on a 3000 word assignment, but here's my 2012 Wildeye Film Competition Entry for now. I've got a full wildlife week planned ahead, watch this space.

More GoPro magic...

Last night I went for an evening wander around patch, in the hope of Owls, unfortunately not a sign of any, yet, but I did witness the Geese coming to roost, with an audience of 35 Curlew on the public shore.


Back down the dene again this morning, it was beautiful, full of song, and I'm pleased to see the Dipper pair have been active over the past few days, hopefully a sign of good things to come, if their not disturb. The feeding station was again chocker block with birds, so the GoPro saw some more action.

Best viewed in HD.


There was plenty of confiding Robins singing close to the path, here's a short clip of one individual.

In the Dene...

Had a lie in til 09:00 this morning, so arrived at Holywell a bit later, heading straight to the Dene's feeding station. More filming was on the cards, with the hope to capture some of the woodland species.


The feeding station was alive with activity on arrival, mainly Blue and Great Tits, but also Coal Tit, Long-Tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Robin, Wren, Blackbird, Dunnock and Chaffinch. A couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were disputing territories overhead, and a couple of Grey Wagtails made their way down the Burn.




A couple of mammals visited the feeding station whilst I was there, managed to capture a Bank Vole on film, but here's an image of the the second mammal.




The GoPro also came out, here's a clip.

Holywell

A full day of filming saw the morning start out at St Mary's for an hour or so, before the tide retreated and the wind began to pick up.


For the rest of the day I was on patch, between the Pond and the Dene. The pond was quiet as usual, although the NWT were working with chainsaws in the North Wood, 4 Tufted, a pair of Pochard, 2 Mute Swan, 4 Canada Geese, 1 Little Grebe, Moorhen, Mallard, Teal, 3 Gadwall and a lone Grey Heron were on the pond, with Brambling and Tree Sparrow in the feeding station.


The reeds reflecting in the warm light caught my eye from the members hide.




The main project for the day, in the Dene, was to film the Snowdrops. Pocketed up and down the burn, I quite enjoyed exploring the different patches of plants and their positioning.




The Dene seemed to be alive with song, with at least 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming. I've uploaded a short audio clip below, the microphone used wasn't ideal but I think its worked quite well, capturing the essence of the woodland, how I experienced it.





Heading back up to the pond as the light began to fade 2 Treecreepers amongst a Tit flock made an appearance, as did 3 Grey Wagtail on the burn. A pair of Shelduck were on the pond as I passed.




After tea I dropped my sister off at Cubs and headed back to Holywell, to photograph the stars. Passing the public hide the silhouettes of 300+ Geese could be seen, a mix of Greylag and Pink-Footed Geese could be heard. I've only ever seen the geese come to roost once, as it seems the majority of the time they arrived and leave in darkness. 


Generally once it gets dark you can walk anywhere, past the pond, through the dene and farmland and you'll not see a soul, but tonight I caught sight of a torch heading in my direction. It turned out that it was another photographer with the same idea!

This evening...

I'm pleased to find the Blue Tits have taken up residents in the camera box again, with the male voicing its presents from the roof tonight.

Then it was down to Holywell,  nice warm night, with the pleasure of a nice sunset and a visit from the Barn Owl.

Geltsdale, Bishop Middleham, then Holywell

On Thursday I had an invite from Ewan, to his patch and home, Geltsdale. Arriving at about 10:30 we had a couple of hours to burn before Gary was due to turn up. Before heading out into the fells Ewan took me for a wander round his neighbours garden, looking for Spotted Flycatchers, unfortunately it wasn't to be. Out on the fells with the dogs we soon picked up two Short Eared Owls quartering the ground. Also about were a number of Kestrels, Meadow Pipit, Curlew, a male Sparrowhawk, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Roe Deer, Rabbit, and Brown Hare.

When Gary arrived at about 13:30 we headed straight to Longtown in search of Yellow Wagtail, at the location we picked up two birds amongst a number of Pied Wagtail, 8 Goosesanders were also in the area. The rest of the day was spent back on the fell, where more Short Eared Owl, and a Barn Owl were seen. A great day in a beautiful place.

Today I've been to Bishop Middleham with Brian, check his blog for the update, I'll just leave you with some pictures, another good day with a lifer of a Corn Bunting.

Carline Thistle Carlina Vulgaris

Ringlet Aphantopus huperantus

Five-spot burnet Zygaeana trifolii

Fragrant Orchid

Red Helleborines Epipactis atrorubens

To finish the day off I took my sister and a friend down to Holywell, we stopped firstly at the Public Hide, two Green Sandpiper were feeding on the scrape, then we moved on to find the Barn Owl, and it showed giving us some brilliant views.

Sunday and Monday at Holywell

Sunday saw me down at Holywell at half 9, it was cold with quite a heavy cloud cover, the pond was 80% frozen.

From the car 60+ Greylag could been seen in the West fields, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Starling and House Sparrow were feeding on the green. On the pond, 2 Mute Swan, 5 Teal, 23 Mallard, 21 Pochard, 6 Tufted, 2 Drake Goldeneye, 2 Grey Heron, 6 Moorhen, 8 Coot, 100+ Black Headed Gull, 20 Common Gull, 50+ Herring Gull and a lone Great Black Backed Gull. Usual suspects in feeding station.

The geese flock was next on my cards, to have a closer look incase of something different lurking amongst them. A quick look in the public hide produced nothing more. I approached the geese slowly and cautiously as they were quite close to the path, the 60+ seen from the car had turned into a 120+ strong flock, although all Greylag. Down the dene there was a pair of Stock Dove.

Monday, arrived at the hide at 17:00, with heavy snow clouds and a setting sun, it was colder -3. A 100+ skein of geese flew overhead as I walked down, joining another 100+ in the East field, again all Greylag. On the pond 2 Mute Swan, 250+ Gulls steadily increasing as I sat, 17 Wigeon, 1 Drake Goldeneye, 21 Pochard, 4 Tufted, 1 Cormorant, 20 Mallard and a lone Grey Heron.

Holywell Today

Planned to meet my friend Brian Moorhead at Holywell this morning for a walk down the Dene, I arrived late at about 10:15.


On the pond there was 2 Common Tern, 6 Little Grebe, 2 Mute Swan + 3 Cygnets, 19 Mallard + 2 medium ducklings, 24 Coot, 2 Tufted Duck + 7 ducklings, 4 Moorhen, 5 Grey Heron, 1 Sedge Warbler singing too the right of the hide, Black Headed Gull, House Martain, Swallow, Swift, Sand Martain, Lesser Black Backed Gull.


Also about were Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, and a Flock of Racing Pigeons.

We left the hide and headed for the North Pool, which contained water but was well vegetated around edges preventing a view of the mud, although we did see a Whitethroat at the top of one of the Hawthorns along the way. I was keen to have a walk down the Dene with Brian as his knowledge of other flora and fauna is vast compared to mine, there was a large number of Butterflies about and Brian began showing me the different species. During the day we saw Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Green-veined White, and Small Skipper. My confidence has now significantly increased in the identification of Butterflies thanks to Brian, and am very keen in continuing this newly sparked interest.

Green-veined White Artogeia rapae Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Small Skipper Thymelicus flavus

Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria

During our walk through the Dene and surrounding farmland we also seen Linnet, Yellowhammer, Whiethroat, Skylark, Female Sparrowhawk, 2 Grey Partridge, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Rook, Lapwing, and a Harris Hawk on the soar near the obelisk.

At the small dipping pond within the dene 1 Common Darter was seen.

After dropping Brian off I stopped at Backworth flash, well now Backworth lake, for a quick look, and noticed a Juvenile Herring Gull in a bit of a tangle, it had a Morrison's carrier bag attached to its leg which was preventing it from taking off, so I waded in grabbed it and took it back to the gate, where I removed the bag and successfully let it go, it made a bee-line straight back for the tip. Only other bird present was a single Snipe which I flushed during the rescue.

An interesting day, gaining somemore knowledge and experiences.

Back.... for the moment

Been real busy these last few weeks, although I have managed to get down to Holywell.

10/07/09

Me and my sister went down to Holywell later on at about 21:30 in the hope of Bats and Owls. Before it began to become dark, a large number of Swifts were seen feeding above the North Wood, and also a large roost group of Jackdaws and Rooks, performing their flight before they enter cover, this is the first time i've seen this roost at Holywell with over 500+ present above The Avenue. I hope this is a winter roost, although I believe it may only be a post breeding roost which will separate into larger winter roosts. A Grasshopper Warbler was heard reeling West of the pond, as the sun began to set 3 Noctule bats began hunting, with the characteristic high, straight flights with a number of twists and turns. As we made it back to the car 2 Pipestrelle bats were flitting about the tree's near the cut. A good night out, although disappointed by the owls.

16/07/09

On the 16th I was down at Holywell to give a hand to the NWT and their volunteers weeding the meadows of docks, thistles, ragwort and hogweed, ready for it to be cut and bailed, and also to be interview with the other wardens by a journalist from the Chronicle (will be out 11th August, see my claim to fame :P). I got down earlier and went down to the hide birds of note included, 1 Lesser Whiethroat, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 3 Sedge Warbler, 2 Common Tern, Tufted Brood of 6, 24 Coot, 1 Chiffchaff, and a Family party of 3 Oystercatcher. A large House Sparrow flock was also present in the hedge line at the back of the houses, along with Swallows on the wires.

On the meadows species noted included, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Broad Bellied Chaser, and a large amount of Sorrel.

The 17th was the beginning of a 4 day camp at Kielder with the Scout Troup, although I was working throughout the day at the Otterburn show. The trip up there produced a good sighting of a Female Goshawk as we entered Kielder forest, as well as 2 Ravens. Whilst at Otterburn Common Buzzards, and a Pair of peregrine were seen, and at Stonehaugh a Family of kestrels and other pair of Peregrines were present. On Sunday night I made an attempt to see the Ospreys, which was rewarded with the sight of an adult hunting in the distance, throughout the weekend Siskins were seen and heard as well as Tawny Owls, and a few Giant Wood Wasps.

Today 21/07/09 I took a mate and the left over bread from camp down to the Marden Quarry, with highlights of a brood of 3 Tufted Duck and a brood of 3 Greylags.

My Holywell list now stands at 104 and I've missed quite a few good birds including Little Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Whinchat, Cuckoo, Hobby, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Greenshank and today's Crossbills, hoping to get out a bit more with the camera now, until I head off to do the West highland Way on the 1st August.

A Weekends Worth of Holywell

Sorry for the lack of updates recently the Outdoors is starting to take a backseat and revision taking over, I need to get three C's to get into the Wildlife and Media degree at Penrith so I'm really starting to hammer the revision.

Friday the 24th April finished school at half 12, so I took the afternoon off for an hour at Holywell. Got down there at about 14:00 and it was warm and sunny. There was another local birder already in the hide, the usual question 'Much about?' and a reply of 'Yes, a Goosesander' sure enough there was a female Goosesander floating around the island, adding another patch tick for the year. I hadn't taken my camera but thankfully I was sent some pictures.

Also on the water was, 1 Great Crested Grebe, Pair of Wigeon, 2 Cormorant, 14 Tufted, 8 Greylag, the Canada X Greylag, 3 Grey Heron, 2 Canada, 2 Little Grebe, and 3 Mute Swan. 2 Stock Dove flew over the pond, a Male Kestrel was hunting to the east, 6 House Martain and 2 Swallow were skimming the surface of the water, 2 Chiff chaffs and 1 Willow Warbler, were heard singing in the North Wood. A group of retired women entered the hide so we fled to the Public Hide, this was a good choice as the first bird picked up was a Drake Garganey just to the right of the hide, again I was kindly sent some photographs.

Also at the Public Hide was a lone Redshank. Biked back to pick my lil sister up at about 15:00.

Saturday 25th April, been to help dad at work in the morning so another lunch time visit, before I left I heard my first Willow Warbler form the house. Got to the Hide at about 13:00, again another regular was in. On the water, 8 Mallard, 15 Tufted, 7 Pochard, 2 Pair of Shoveler, 5 Cormorant, 2 Mute Swan, 4 Grey Heron, 2 Lesser Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull, Coot, and Moorhen. 2 Willow Warbler, 3 Chiff Chaff and 1 Blackcap (patch tick) were singing in North Wood. 1 Sedge Warbler (tick)was singing to right of members hide, first of the year. A female Kestrel and a Female Sparrowhawk were seen up in the thermals to the NE. Also seen, 2 Long Tailed Tits, Reed Bunting, Feral Pigeon, Pheasant and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker. At the Public Hide another Sedge Warbler was singing, the lone Redshank still, and the Canada X Greylag with 9 Greylag.

From the Public hide I went into the East fields 5 Wheatear (tick) were in the cow field just East of Pond, 1 Whitethroat (tick) in gorse on backtrack, a Lesser Whitethroat (tick) in Scrub land heading towards West Hartley Farm, another Male Wheatear in field by the farm and a pair of Grey Partridge (tick) in the field by Obelisk.

On the way back home I picked up 2 Linnets and a Grey Heron in Red House Farm by the Pond.

Today, 26th, Warm and sunny, got a puncture last night so I walked to Holywell this morning, left at about 10:00, went through the fields to see what I could find. First a Skylark was heard just off the car boot, I continuously heard this species right up to the hide which I was quite pleased about. 1 Whitethroat was heard just before I crossed the Beehive Road, and a Female Sparrowhawk overhead once I got to the other side. There was a couple of small flocks of Linnets, and a single Yellowhammer until I entered the boundary of my Holywell Patch.

Following the hedgerow I picked up 4 Whitethroats, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, Pair of Yellowhammer, 2 Grey Partridge, Reed Bunting, Goldfinch and 1 Meadow Pipit (tick).

I got to the members hide at 11:00 opened the shutters and was welcomed by a female Ruddy Duck (tick), I noted 8 Greylag, 2 Canada, 1 Curlew and then I heard the whirring of a Grasshopper Warbler (tick) to the right of the hide. A pair of Shelduck landed on the pond and then a Female Marsh Harrier appeared to the left of the hide (11:15) in quartered the ground for 21 minutes, occasionally being mobbed by a local Corvid, it landed 3 times for no longer than 3o seconds, and it also began mobbing a cormorant which was fishing around the posts in the water. It landed for the fourth time just out of clear view from the hide at 11:36, it was not seen again. I got some pretty poor photos as it was still a long way off for my 200mm lens.

I really enjoy watching Marsh Harrier's, I enjoy watching that characteristic quartering technique that quite a few Birds of Prey use, but the Marsh Harrier seems to add its own personality to the hunting technique. The boldness of this bird was also interesting, 3 Mallard flew under it and it put a quick stoop in. A couple of years ago I was filling the feeders up and a female Marsh harrier was busy hunting just across the water, it dropped down into the reeds and came back up with a Coot, showing these birds will have a go at anything if they have a fair chance.

Whilst watching the Marsh Harrier, I saw a Common Buzzard being mobbed by a Carrion Crow in the distance, and a female Kestrel hovering to the West.

On the water were, 10 Pochard, 4 Cormorant, 4 Grey Heron, 1 Mute Swan, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 19 Tufted, 2 Black Headed Gull, 1 Lesser Black Backed Gull, 8 Mallard and 3 Little Grebe. Willow Warbler, Chiff Chaff and Blackcap were singing in North Wood. Down at public end a Weasel was running through the rough stuff, 5 Shelduck were sleeping, 2 Stock Dove drinking and a Sedge Warbler singing.

Over the three days I've seen Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, and Small White.

Off the patch to round it up took the dog for a walk along the beach at Cresswell, a Juv Red Throated Diver was just off shore, along with Sandwich Tern and Sanderling on the shoreline.

In all a good weekend with 11 new species seen, bringing my patch list to 95 for the year.