Author: Linsey Gooding

West End:- 7 x Canada Goose, 25 x Greylag Goose, 5 x Wigeon, 32 x Mallard, 13 x Pochard, 1 x Tufted Duck, 1 x Pheasant, 100+ x Woodpigeon, 2 x Coot, 7 x Great Crested Grebe, 3 x Herring Gull, 9 x Cormorant, 4 x Grey Heron, 1 x Kingfisher, 1 x Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 x Magpie, 3 x Carrion Crow, 1 x Marsh Tit, 8 x Blue Tit, 3 x Great Tit, 4 x Long-tailed Tit, 1 x Goldcrest, 1 x Nuthatch, 1 x Treecreeper, 1 x Mistle Thrush, 1 x Blackbird, 2 x Robin, 1 x Chaffinch

West End this afternoon. Water rail calling from in front of the hide, 41 GC Grebes, 16 Pochards, 3 Teal, 6 Wigeon, 1 Tufted Duck fem, Little Grebe, Little Egret, Redwing, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit, Tree Creeper, Goldcrest, Chaffinch.

WeirWood after a few quiet days here, todays arrival was pre-dawn. First bird was a Tawny Owl on the fence of the trapping area which gave prolonged views before it departed into the woods. It was a lovely clear but frosty morning. From the c/pk 15 Pochard, 8 Teal and 5 Wigeon. On the feeders Marsh and Coal Tits as usual. A Little Egret was still present as was a Kingfisher. At Whillett’s a Water Rail was heard and 5 Reed Buntings were present. Back at the c/pk 2 Fieldfares flew in, then from here I visited the dam. Here plenty of Black-headed Gulls, 250+, were joined by 4 Common and 6 Herring Gulls. 46 Great-crested Grebes were present this end and a Little Grebe here too. On the dam a Grey Wagtail with 14 Meadow Pipits and a male Linnet which was a little out of place. In the c/pk 2 Goldcrests plus a Coal Tit with a small tit flock and below the dam 4 Redwings and a Fieldfare noted.

West End:- 3 x Canada Goose, 23 x Greylag Goose, 6 x Egyptian Goose, 11 x Wigeon, 9 x Mallard, 16 x Pochard, c30 x Woodpigeon, 1 x Coot, 1 x Little Grebe, 2 x Black-headed Gull, 14 x Cormorant, 1 x Little Egret, 3 x Grey Heron, 1 x Buzzard, 1 x Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 x Magpie, 2 x Carrion Crow, 1 x Coal Tit, 1 x Marsh Tit, 5 x Blue Tit, 2 x Great Tit, 1 x Goldcrest, 1 x Mistle Thrush, 4 x Redwing, 1 x Robin

This afternoon still 17 Pochards,plus 6 Teal,5 Wigeon and a single Crossbill flew E over the car park calling at 2pm.

Whillet’s at dusk

22 Reed Buntings and 327 Starlings roosted,single Water rail heard several times.
Kingfisher perched up in reeds and Little Egret and Snipe flew towards west end.
Second meadow 7 Common Snipe dropped in to feed and a Woodcock flew over at 16:45, 10 pairs of Teal flew west and several Tawny Owls heard calling.

Also male Sparrowhawk hunting the starlings coming into roost, while a female Sparrowhawk was after the Woodpigeons.

Mid-afternoon at the west end: a great view of an adult Goshawk flying away from us in the carpark towards 100’s of disturbed Woodpigeons. It looked quite grey with plenty of white at the base of tail, and size-wise the consensus being possibly a male? Thanks Alastair for the early ‘heads up’ (literally!). The Pochard notably were looking very attractive, and AG also spotted a lone Little Grebe. Stephen, welcome to the group. If it was you who had been discussing your wish to see a Goshawk earlier, before you had to leave with your partner, what can I say!!!

West End:- 1 x Canada Goose, 39 x Greylag Goose, 2 x Egyptian Goose, 3 x Wigeon, 13 x Mallard, 14 x Pochard, 5 x Tufted Duck, 2 x Pheasant, 150+ x Woodpigeon, 1 x Moorhen, 5 x Great Crested Grebe, 2 x Black-headed Gull, 1 x Herring Gull, 5 x Cormorant, 3 x Grey Heron, 1 x Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 x Magpie, 5 x Jackdaw, 2 x Carrion Crow, 1 x Coal Tit, 1 x Marsh Tit, 12 x Blue Tit, 4 x Great Tit, 1 x Goldcrest, 1 x Grey Wagtail, 2 x Chaffinch, 3 x Goldfinch

No sign of Goldeneye but 83 Great Crested Grebes.

WeirWood from 8:00hrs on a bright frosty morning. From the dam it was pretty quiet except for a loan Meadow Pipit on the dam. Little else of note sadly. The c/pk was a little livelier with a Redpoll, 4+ Siskins, a couple of Redwings and 2 Goldcrests. The west end produced most of the usual birds. 17 Pochard, 12 Mandarins, 12 Wigeon, also a Little Egret. On the feeders it was nice to see Long-tailed Tit joining the Marsh and Coal Tits plus others of course. The only gulls were 5 Common Gulls and a handful of Black-headed. At Whillett’s 2 Water Rail again plus 2 Reed Buntings. Back at the c/pk 2 Kingfishers were zooming around the far bank and a male Goldeneye appeared at the right end of Pintail bank, I hadn’t noticed it before. That was about it.