The gravel pit restoration has now reached the edge of the pits so all of us have to be careful to avoid the contractors who are progressing quickly. In a frustrating development the edges of the pits have been completed flattened wiping out the best butterfly area but also more areas used by nesting birds each spring.
The Little Stint was present until Tuesday 3rd October before heading south. The most movement has been around the influx of Wigeon to a count of 36 & also gulls with 18 Lesser Black-backed Gulls being joined by 2 Common Gulls. The Teal count was 35 on Sunday which is well below the normal level given the time of year.
Midweek sightings included the regular Red Kite & five Ringed Plover.
Sunday produced a number of new sightings including a Redpoll(a first for the year) & Crossbill heading south, female /eclipse Mandarin duck on far lagoons & the strangest sighting was an escaped adult Saker falcon (or perhaps a Saker x Gyr cross) in poor condition on mounds around the site.
The monthly count also produced: 22 Little
Grebe, 33 Cormorant, 10 Grey Herons, 12 Mute Swan, 205 Greylags, 260 Canada
Geese, 8 Shelducks (first on Pophills and later on main pit), 17 Gadwall, 245 Mallard,
2 Pintail, 6 Shoveler, 47 Tufted Duck, 1 adult Water Rail giving good views out in
open at main pit, 247 Coot, a Ringed Plover, 29 Lapwing, 4 Dunlin, Ruff, 3
Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper (Pophills), 270 grounded Skylarks
and 150 Meadow Pipits first thing, a Grey Wagtail, a Redwing south (first of autumn), 3
Chiffchaffs, a big tit flock in plantation included 15 Goldcrest, 25
Long-tailed Tits, 10 Coal Tits, 30 Blue Tits, Nuthatch and Treecreeper; 4
Jays, Raven, 50 Goldfinches on thistles and 105 Linnets in the oat crop.
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