Month: October 2026

WeirWood mid afternoon visit. At the west end there were 53 Teal, 3 Gadwall and 4 Lapwing all under the heronry. Plus 5 Snipe and 3 Mandarins in the narrows. Along Pintail bank 2 more Teal but nothing else of note. In the area 15 Great-crested Grebes plus a couple of Kingfishers zooming about. In the beautiful sunshine a Buzzard plus an juv’ Goshawk female over.

At Whillett’s a female Stonechat, male Reed Bunting and a rather showy Water Rail. A nice tit flock along Legsheath Lane inc’ a Goldcrest and Marsh Tit.

At the dam little of note at first until 3 Spoonbills flew over and were joined by of all things an Avocet. They all carried on to the west end but on checking later they were not to be seen, pity. However it was better than the last few days.

West End:- 9 x Mute Swan, 10 x Egyptian Goose, 1 x Mandarin Duck, 3 x Gadwall, 49 x Mallard, 10 x Eurasian Teal, 1 x Common Pheasant, 1 x Stock Dove, 10 x Common Woodpigeon, 3 x Common Moorhen, 3 x Northern Lapwing, 4 x Common Snipe, 1 x European Herring Gull, 8 x Great Crested Grebe, 13 x Great Cormorant, 6 x Grey Heron, 1 x Eurasian Sparrowhawk, 1 x Common Kingfisher, 1 x Eurasian Jay, 2 x Common Magpie, 35 x Eurasian Jackdaw, 3 x Carrion Crow, 9 x Eurasian Blue Tit, 19 x Long-tailed Tit, 7 x Common Starling, 34 x Redwing, 2 x European Robin

WeBs highlights with Bob

Dam end

9 Mute Swans (1ad,8 immatures) flew in over dam and landed,189 Canada Geese,1 Grey Wagtail,1 Kingfisher,5 Meadow Pipits on dam slope,37 Chaffinches NW,3 Redwing,1 Mistle Thrush,2 Jay,1 Greenfinch in tree in paddock,1 GBB Gull.

West end

5 Snipe,2 Lapwing,13 Teal,3 Gadwall,17 Egyptian Geese,50 Greylags,Geese,2 Kingfisher,2 Grey Wagtails,7 Skylarks (2 W,5 N) 1 Mandarin,2 Raven,1 Immature Goshawk,1 Sparrowhawk,3 Buzzards,30 Great Crested Grebes,19 Grey Herons.

Whillet’s

1 Dartford Warbler (female) 1 Stonechat ( female) 4 Bullfinches,late Willow Warbler,Chiffchaff,40+Starlings,3 Song Thrushes & 3 Red Admirals.

West End:- 51 x Greylag Goose, 5 x Canada Goose, 1 x Mute Swan, 4 x Egyptian Goose, 3 x Gadwall, 2 x Eurasian Wigeon, 8 x Eurasian Teal, 2 x Stock Dove, 5 x Common Woodpigeon, 1 x Water Rail, 2 x Northern Lapwing, 4 x Common Snipe, 18 x Great Crested Grebe, 11 x Great Cormorant, 14 x Grey Heron, 1 x Eurasian Sparrowhawk, 3 x Common Buzzard, 13 x Eurasian Jackdaw, 3 x Rook, 4 x Carrion Crow, 3 x Eurasian Blue Tit, 3 x Long-tailed Tit, 2 x European Robin, 2 x Grey Wagtail

West End:- 35 x Greylag Goose, 8 x Canada Goose, 5 x Egyptian Goose, 3 x Gadwall, 67 x Mallard, 9 x Eurasian Teal, 1 x Tufted Duck, 1 x Common Pheasant, 6 x Stock Dove, 8 x Common Woodpigeon, 6 x Common Moorhen, 2 x Northern Lapwing, 3 x Black-headed Gull, 1 x Little Grebe, 7 x Great Crested Grebe, 15 x Great Cormorant, 1 x Great White Egret, 11 x Grey Heron, 1 x Common Buzzard, 1 x Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 x Common Magpie, 44 x Eurasian Jackdaw, 7 x Rook, 4 x Carrion Crow, 1 x Common Raven, 1 x Marsh Tit, 3 x Eurasian Blue Tit, 2 x Common Chiffchaff, 1 x Eurasian Wren, 26 x Redwing, 2 x European Robin, 1 x Pied Wagtail

Brief visit to west end this afternoon with Nigel. 1 Great white Egret,4 Snipe,10 Teal,20 Egyptians 1 Mute Swan & 2 lapwings

WeirWood from a rainy midday, firstly at the west end, here 2 Great Egrets were present from 13:30hrs sadly only briefly before they flew off south west. Of note were 39 Teal, 3 Gadwall and 4 Mandarin all around the heronry area. 3 Snipe were also here plus a Lapwing. A Kingfisher was seen zipping through plus 2 Chiffchaffs in the bushes outside the hide. A single Mute Swan was about in the narrows and a rather bedraggled Buzzard made its way across the reservoir. 14 Great-crested Grebes were also seen.

At Whillett’s 3 House Sparrows, a Stonechat and 2 Greenfinches were noted. A brief visit to the dam yielded nothing of note other than various gulls as usual plus 2 Grey and 14 Pied Wagtails.

Hazel Dormouse in one of the small nest boxes in the study area. Seen with Bob D.

Weir Wood Reservoir – Dam end:- 15 x Mallard, 4 x Common Moorhen, 31 x Black-headed Gull, 2 x European Herring Gull, 1 x Great Black-backed Gull, 17 x Great Crested Grebe, 12 x Great Cormorant, 2 x Grey Heron, 1 x Common Buzzard, 3 x Common Magpie, 1 x Carrion Crow, 3 x Pied Wagtail, 3 x Meadow Pipit, 4 x European Greenfinch

West End:- 2 x Greylag Goose, 9 x Canada Goose, 9 x Egyptian Goose, 3 x Gadwall, 38 x Mallard, 9 x Eurasian Teal, 1 x Common Pheasant, 9 x Common Woodpigeon, 7 x Common Moorhen, 1 x Northern Lapwing, 3 x Common Snipe, 1 x Black-headed Gull, 14 x Great Crested Grebe, 7 x Great Cormorant, 2 x Grey Heron, 1 x Eurasian Sparrowhawk, 1 x Common Buzzard, 1 x Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 x Common Magpie, 56 x Eurasian Jackdaw, 49 x Rook, 5 x Carrion Crow, 1 x Marsh Tit, 2 x Eurasian Wren, 1 x Eurasian Blackbird, 3 x European Robin, 2 x Pied Wagtail