Category: Sighting

Dam End: a male Shoveller, pair of Gadwall, Little Egret and four Common Terns. On north bank Common Sandpiper and overhead Common Buzzard.

Dam End: a Little Egret flew from the north to the south bank.  Also Lapwing on north shore.

West End: 1 Green Sandpiper.

West End: 2 pairs Common Terns,5 Mandarin,1Kingfisher.

Whillets Meadows: 5 grass snakes;1 slow worm,2 Blue-Tail Damselfly;1Emperor Dragonfly; 2 Buzzards;1 Reed Bunting;1Blackcap;1Cinnabar Moth;1 Barn Owl;1 Reed Warbler,1 Whitethroat. All photos taken in Whillets during survey transect.

These are the highlights from the WeBS counts:

Reservoir Totals:  77 Great Crested Grebe, 13 Grey Heron + 1 Leucistic White Grey Heron, 8 Mute Swan, 10 Greylag, 23 + 1 chick Canada Geese, 3 + 1 young Mandarin, 40 Mallard.

Dam End: 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Common Tern, Skylark heard,  1 + 2J Grey Wagtail, 2 + 4J Pied Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush, 1 Jay.

West End:  1 Green Sandpiper on Pintail Bank, 10 Lapwing, 5 Common Tern, 1 Kingfisher, 5 Swallow, 2J Pied Wagtail, 1J Robin, Garden Warbler + Blackcap + Reed Warbler singing in the car park area. 1 Mink swimming across in front of the viewing area.

Whillets: 2+ Reed Warbler at pool, 1M Reed Bunting, Song Thrush +  Chiffchaff + Whitethroat heard, 2 Stock Dove

West End: 2 pairs of Common Terns,  38 Great Crested Grebes with at least 3 pairs building nests. Heronry now becoming quiet as most have fledged; but at least 8 Grey Herons still feeding around the slowly dropping water levels. 24 Greylag Geese, 2F Mandarin, 1 Lapwing, 1 Black-headed Gull, 2 Swallows, 2 juvenile Pied Wagtails on rafts.  Songsters are still evident with singing Reed Warbler, Blackcap and Garden Warbler around the Car Park area.

Whillet’s Pool: Reed Warbler and Whitethroat with a Song Thrush heard in the meadows. My butterfly transect recording visit included an early Painted Lady; but butterfly numbers generally in the meadows are still low.

Dam End: Late afternoon – a pair of Pied Wagtails with at least 4 young, 1 Grey Wagtail, 4 Mute Swan, c.20 Swallow, c.20 House Martin, 4 Swifts, 2 pairs of Canada Geese with young, 1 Whitethroat.

West End:  2 Mute Swan, 5 Greylag Goose, 1M Mandarin, 8 Cormorant, the two rafts each had a sitting nesting Common Tern,  2 Swift, c.25 Swallow, 4+ House Martin, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Jay, c.30 Jackdaw.

West End:  24 Great Crested Grebe – no obvious signs of nesting yet; 17 Grey Heron – many of the young from the heronry have now fledged, they can be easily identified from the adults and can be seen around the reserve; 2 Mute Swan; 1 Buzzard which is usually mobbed by the 2 pairs of Common Terns on the rafts.  15 Swallow, 1 Moorhen, 1 Coot. A Blackcap is regularly singing in the Car Park and a Song Thrush is still singing loudly. Jackdaws are often flying over as a couple of pairs are nesting in the reserve.

Whillets: Alastair who is one of our official transect butterfly and dragonfly recorders reported the following from the meadows –  2 Dingy Skipper Butterfly, 1 Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly, 1 Red-eyed Damselfly and a Silver Ground Carpet Moth.