Month: June 2024

Dam End:- Little Ringed Plover on the dam, Green Woodpecker back of dam and Red Kite over south bank.
West End:- 3 adult + 3 chicks on Black-headed Gull raft, 4 pairs of Common Terns, 23 Great Crested Grebes including 3 on nests, 4 Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting and single Sand Martin maybe very early returning bird.

WeBS

All Reservoir:- 4 Mandarin, 19 Mallard, 5 Stock Dove, 4 Swift, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 5 Goldfinch.
Dam End:- 3 Grey Heron, pair+3 juvenile Greylag Geese, 16+4 juvenile Canada Geese, 2+6 juvenile Egyptian Geese, 2 white feral geese, 1 Red Kite, 1 juvenile Moorhen, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, 4 Herring Gulls, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Swallow, 2 House Martin, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Nuthatch.
West End:- 22 Great Crested Grebe (including 3 pairs now nesting), 41 Cormorant (nesting still active), 10 Grey Heron (nesting still active), 35 Greylag Geese, 4 Canada Geese, 1 Greylag/Canada Goose hybrid, 4 Common Buzzard, Black-headed Gulls – 2+ pair with 3 young on raft, Common Tern – 4 pairs nesting on rafts, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Sand Martin,  1 Reed Warbler, 1 Jay.
Whillet’s:- 3 Reed Warbler, 1m Reed Bunting.
Butterflies – 2 Meadow Brown, 1 Large Skipper.
Moths – 2 Burnet Companion, 1 Brown Chinamark.
Dragonflies – 1 Emperor.
Damselflies – 1 pair+4 White-legged, 2 pair Large Red, 3 pair+12 Azure, 11 Beautiful Demoiselle.
Animals – 3 Grass Snakes, 1 Common Lizard, 4 Common Shrew, 3 Field Vole, 1 Wood Mouse.

The Black-headed Gull family seem to be doing okay and the Common Terns were enjoying the calm conditions. A Reed Warbler was singing in front of the hide and 2 Marsh Tits were briefly in the car park. At 05:55 2 White Storks flew over north which was a nice surprise. 2 Stock Doves, male Bullfinch and 4 Mandarins. At the dam a couple of Grey Wagtail juveniles were mixed in with several juvenile Pied Wagtails. 3 Common Terns, 15 Swifts, a few House Martins, Lesser Whitethroat, a few Whitethroat and a smart male Grey Wagtail.

 Dam End:-  1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Jay, 14 Pied Wagtail (many were juvs), 2 Grey Wagtails (female/juvs), 1 Moorhen, 3 Swift, 1 Herring Gull, 2 Buzzard, 1 Kingfisher, 3 Whitethroat, 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Long-tailed Tit.
North Bank:- 2 Blackcap, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Chiffchaff. Also a Twayblade and a Common Spotted Orchid in flower along North Bank public footpath.

West End:- 33 Greylag Goose, 4 Canada Goose, 9 Mallard, 9 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Stock Dove, 6 Common Woodpigeon, 7 Black-headed Gull — 4 adults, 3 chicks, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 8 Common Tern, 40 Great Cormorant, 14 Grey Heron, 1 Common Kingfisher, 2 Eurasian Blue Tit, 1 Common Reed, Warbler, 1 Common Chiffchaff, 1 Eurasian Blackcap, 2 Eurasian Wren, 1 Eurasian Blackbird, 2 European Robin, 1 Pied Wagtail.

Dam End:- 1 Little Ringed Plover, 17 Pied Wagtails, 16 Swifts, 1 House Martin, 4 Common Tern, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 adult + 6 gosling Egyptian Geese, 2 adult + 4 gosling Canada Geese, 2 adult + 4 gosling Greylag Geese.

West End:- 32 Greylag Goose, 8 Canada Goose, 2 Egyptian Goose, 1 Mandarin Duck, 3 Mallard, 19 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Stock Dove, 1 Common Woodpigeon, 1 Common Moorhen, 5 Black-headed Gull – 2 adults 3 chicks, 6 Common Tern, 34 Great Cormorant, 11 Grey Heron, 2 Common Kingfisher, 2 Common Magpie, 2 Carrion Crow, 1 Common Reed Warbler, 1 Common Chiffchaff, 1 Eurasian Wren, 1 Dunnock, 1 Pied Wagtail.

West End:-13 Great Crested Grebe, 36 Greylag, 3 Canada Geese, 2 Egyptian Geese, 3m+2f Mandarin Duck, 7+4y Mallard, 2+3 chicks Black-headed Gull nesting on raft, 5 Common Terns, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Pied Wagtail, Reed Warbler heard, Heronry active but many young have now fledged and leaf growth makes viewing very difficult.
Whillet’s:- 1 Buzzard, Reed Warbler 2 heard, Garden Warbler and Whitethroat heard.
2 Grass Snakes.
Dragonflies:- 2 Hairy Dragonflies, 1 Four-spotted Chaser at Meadow Pond. (The Four-spotted Chaser hasn’t been seen at Whillet’s for 4 years, although not a rare dragonfly).
Damselflies:- 3 Beautiful Demoiselle, 10+ Azure Damseflies.
Moths & Butterflies:– 1 Red Admiral, 1 Blood Vein, 2 Silver Ground Carpet, 1 Common Carpet. 
Funnel Web Spider webs were very apparent this morning.

6 Common Terns, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Black-headed Gulls, juvenile Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtails, 2 Hobbies along north bank, 06:05 Osprey, Reed Warbler, Bullfinch and Jay.

Dam End:- Osprey caught a fish 16:38, male “White” Wagtail on the dam.
West End:- Black-headed Gulls and Common Terns on rafts, heronry was very busy.