Category: Sighting

West End:- 104 Great Crested Grebe, 24 Common Terns including 14 young, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Coot, 1 Little Egret, 5 Mandarin including 2 young, 10 Lapwings, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Kestrel, 1 Red Kite, 3 Buzzards, 10 Swallows, 5 House Martins, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Silver-Washed Fritillary, 1 Brown Hawker.
Whillet’s:- 1 Holly Blue, 2 Six-spot Burnet Moths.

On the 7th July, a female Garden Warbler was re-trapped in the study area. The ringing recovery report from the BTO shows that the bird was first caught on 7 Aug 2015 as an adult at Brattles Orchard, near Brenchley in Kent. Although it is not a great distance between these two UK sites; Garden Warblers are trans-Saharan migrants. It has flown to Africa (Senegal / Kenya / Angola area) at least 4 times and has covered some remarkable mileage.

Some photos from last month 16-06-18.

West End:- Still 10 adult Common Terns and their 14 young are growing fast, 2 Lapwing, 2 Mandarin, 89 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Mute Swan, 1 Coot, 3 Buzzard, 5 Swallows, 2 Goldfinches, 4 Black-headed Gull, 1 Herring Gull, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Purple Emperor, 1 Purple Hairstreak.

Sightings from Bill Truckle: 13^th June a Barn Owl flew in front of the hide and over towards Whillet’s; 24th June female Shelduck.

West End:- the partly fledged Common Tern chick seen yesterday was still on the water this morning. Later the wind picked up and it managed to take off and got back onto the right-hand raft. A count of the Tern chicks being fed this morning revealed that there are 4 Common Tern pairs with 3 young, and 1 pair with 2 young making 14 in total. They all looked well with food regularly coming in.  When a Herring Gull flew over the rafts it was quite a spectacle to see 10 Terns attacking it and driving it off. There were 4 Black-headed Gulls around the reserve which were left alone by the Terns. But it was noticeable that the Black-headed’s did not risk actually flying over the rafts.

Bill Truckle saw 92 Great Crested Grebes and a Kingfisher this morning.

26 Cormorant, 6 Grey Heron, 1 Mute Swan, 44 Greylag, 4 Mandarin included 2 juveniles, 10 Mallard, 1 Moorhen, 1 Coot, 2 Lapwing, 1 Feral Dove, 2 Stock Dove, 1 Swift, 2 Swallow, Reed Warbler & Blackcap heard.

Whillet’s:- Grey Wagtail was seen by Richard Lowe this morning.

I recorded a Six-spot Burnet Moth on a knapweed flower; our last record of this day flying moth in Whillet’s was back in 2014 (photo).

West End-10 adult Common Terns,at least 12 young including one which is semi fledged on the water.3 Black-headed Gulls,2 Mandarins.

Whillet’s:- 3 Reed Buntings,1 Garden Warbler,2 Chiffchaff,5 Whitethroats,1 Jay,1 Brown Hawker,1 Rudder Darter,5 Blue-Tail Damselfly,3 White-Legged Damselfly.

Whillet’s:- A moth box overnight produced two new moth species for the reserve: Bird’s Wing & Barred Straw, I also trapped a Poplar Hawkmoth, Buff Tip & Large Emerald. In total 28 moths from 9 species, but none were particularly rare. A butterfly transect count today showed Ringlets & Meadow Browns were on the wing in numbers with a count of 43 & 49 respectively, also noted were 1 Speckled Wood, 1 Comma, 1 Common Blue, 5 Small Skipper.

West End:- Great Crested Grebe numbers are increasing with a count of 78 today. The 5 pairs of Common Terns on the rafts are still busy raising young, with plenty of food coming in.

West End:- (09:30 to 10:00) 59 Great Crested Grebes 3 pairs display dancing and 2 sat on nests, Common Terns active feeding chicks.

Whillet’s:- 2 Reed Buntings, 1 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroats, 1 Marsh Tit, 1 Kestrel, 1 Bullfinch, 1 Common Lizard, 6 Grass Snake, 2 Small Skippers, 3 White-legged Damselfly, 1 Blue-tail Damselfly, 1 Emperor Dragonfly.

Butterfly transect walk and check at the pond after the Work Party had finished.
Whillet’s:- 1 Ringlet (first of the season – picture), 12 Meadow Brown, 1 Common Blue, 3 Large Skipper, plus 1 day flying moth –  Yellow Shell (picture). 2 Blue-tailed Damselflies, many Azure Damselflies, 1 Emperor Dragonfly, 1 Banded Demoiselle. Blackbirds & Song Thrushes were singing also 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Buzzard and 1 Kestrel over.
The meadow pond (picture) was surveyed recently and found to be very healthy with a good mix of species. A short dipping session earlier in the day by one of our volunteers included a Water Stick Insect. Also seen was a large Dragonfly larva with many other larvae and water beetles.