This morning a Water Rail pottering round the bay on big island and a female Common Scoter was on no 2. Other birds included 3 Teal, 10+ Gadwall, 1 Shoveler, 1 Little Egret, 3 Little Grebes, 28 Lapwings, 1 Little Ringed Plover and c40 Sand Martins.
This morning, the drake Lesser Scaup remains on no 3. Other birds included 4 Teal, 14 Gadwall, 1 female Common Scoter, 6 Goosander, 1 Little Egret, 4 Little Grebes, 13 Lapwings, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpipers, 5 Black-tailed Godwits, 18 Swifts, 25 Sand Martins and a Willow Warbler in song.
A late evening visit 19:55-21:10 today (29th). No.1 - 3 Pochard (2m), 1 Great Egret which then departed south-west towards dusk, 3 Little Egret and 1 Green Sandpiper. No.3 - 9 Goosander and 1 Little Grebe.
No definite sightings of the Lesser Scaup on No.3 however the light was pretty poor by this point and most of the ducks were asleep along the western shore making picking it out difficult. Does anybody have any photos of it from the past week or so showing its current state of moult? The only photos I can find online are from the 14th.
-- Edited by Jonny Scragg on Tuesday 29th of July 2025 10:25:25 PM
This morning the drake Lesser Scaup still on no 3 favouring the SW corner. Other birds 3 Teal, 10 Gadwall, 6 Goosander, 1 Kestrel, 3 Little Grebes, 1 Little Egret, 41 Lapwings, 1 Redshank, 1 Snipe, 3 Curlew, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, c20 Sand Martins, and the Reed Warbler still singing on the East side of no 1.
This morning the drake Lesser Scaup remains on no 3. Also 4 Teal, 16 Gadwall, 10 Goosander, 2 Little Grebes, 1 Little Egret, 44 Lapwings, 3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin, 6 Ring-necked Parakeets and the singing Reed Warbler still on the E side of no 1.
The drake Lesser Scaup remains on no 3 this morning. Also 1 Teal, 12 Gadwall, 251 Tufted Ducks, 6 Goosander, 4 Little Grebes, 1 Little Egret, 21 Lapwings, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, c20 Swifts, c50 Starlings and the singing Reed Warbler still on the E side of no 1.
This morning the drake Lesser Scaup remains on no 3, also a juvenile Black-necked Grebe is on no 2. Other birds included 1 Shoveler, 17 Gadwall, 5 Goosander, 2 Little Grebes, 4 Little Egrets, 37 Lapwings, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 Common Terns, 5 Jays and 1 singing Reed Warbler.
This morning the drake Lesser Scaup remains on no 3. Also 3 Teal, 6 Gadwall, 3 Pochard, 8 Goosander, 2 Little Egrets, 3 Oystercatchers, 10 Lapwings, 6 Little Ringed Plovers, 12 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpipers, and 1 singing Reed Warbler.
Drake Lesser Scaup showing very well on no.3, c20 yards out from the hide late morning.
Other birds included 8 Teal, 2 Pochard, 9 Goosander, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Little Egrets, 2 Oystercatchers, 19 Lapwings, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 16 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpipers, 1 adult Common Gull and 1 Reed Warbler.
This morning, a Cuckoo flew straight through west at c8.30am. Also 6 Common Scoters (5 males,1 female) were on no 2 until 8.56am when unusually they departed west. Other birds included 3 Teal, 6 Gadwall, 5 Goosander, 2 Little Egrets, 2 Oystercatchers, 31 Lapwings, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Curlew, 1 Redshank, 4 Common Sandpipers, 1 Green Sandpiper, 17 Ring-necked Parakeets, and 2 singing Reed Warblers (E side of no 1).
This morning, the eclipse drake Garganey is still on no 1 although elusive at times. Also 4 Teal, 2 Gadwall, 167 Tufted Ducks, 1 drake Common Scoter, 3 Little Egrets, 1 Oystercatcher, 23 Lapwings and the 4 well grown chicks, 6 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Green Sandpiper, 5 Common Sandpipers, and an adult Mediterranean Gull.
This morning 4 Teal, 1 eclipse drake Garganey, 4 Gadwall, 4 Little Egrets, 17 Lapwings, 1 Oystercatcher, 2 Little Ringed Plovers and 1 Common Sandpiper.
29-6-25 From 6am to 9:15am with another site regular
Total 10 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 dropped in early then flew off, 5 flew through, 2 down at 9am. 1 Green Sandpiper 2 Ringed Plover 3 Common Sandpiper 2 Oystercatcher 2 Little Egret 7 Heron 10 Gadwall 5 Teal 1 Shoveler c55 Tufted Duck 1 Willow Warbler 1 Chiffchaff 2 Reed Bunting a few Swift and Sand Martin
- 2CY Surf Scoter Only ever seen distant blobs on the North Welsh coast and a single bird in Penzance some years ago, so this was a decent opportunity to see one a lot closer. I got home from work and took my son up to see it, luckily it was still there so that was a Lifer for him. A really smart looking beast, I think theyve got some class about them.
Surf Scoter showing well amongst a small group of Tufted Duck early this morning, before the Tufted Ducks all flew off. Luckily the scoter flew back round and came down (albeit in the middle). What a cracking bird. Thanks to someone letting my look through their scope so I could grab a record shop on my phone.
This morning 5 Teal, 20 Gadwall, 1 Little Egret, 2 Oystercatchers, 6 adult Lapwings, 1 Common Sandpiper, and 1 Reed Warbler (singing from Reedbed along E bank of no 1).
This morning an eclipse drake Mandarin, 1 Teal, 15 Gadwall, 1 Little Egret, 23 Lapwings, 2 Oystercatchers, 2 singing Reed Warblers (on no 1 in the NE corner and in the reedbed on the W side adjacent to big island).
This morning 1 Teal, 12 Gadwall, 1 Wigeon, 1 Little Egret, 1 Hobby, 2 Oystercatchers, 5 Lapwings, 1 Greenshank and c150 Swifts. Also 3 singing Reed Warblers and 2 singing Sedge Warblers on no 1 this morning.
Late morning today, the lingering Greenshank remains for it's 4th day. Otherwise 1 Teal, 11 Gadwall, 1 Wigeon, 1 Oystercatcher , 4 Lapwings, 1 Kestrel and the Reed Warbler still singing in the NE corner.
Mid morning 2 x Avocet which were still present at 11.45 when I left also 1 x Greenshank, 1 x Wigeon and 1 x Arctic Tern flew over No 2 and No 3 @10.30 am
-- Edited by Colin Broadhurst on Saturday 31st of May 2025 11:50:49 AM
This morning, 10 Sanderlings, 11 Dunlin, 10 Ringed Plovers and 6 Oystercatchers. Other birds included 6 Gadwall, 1 Wigeon, 6 Lapwings, c300 Swifts, 6 House Martins and c20 Sand Martins.
This morning 2 Gadwall, 1 Oystercatcher, 6 Lapwings, 2 Ringed Plovers, 1 Sanderling, 1 Ring-necked Parakeet, c250 Swifts (including an aberrant bird with a pale patch on the upperwing), c40 Sand Martins, 1 House Martin, c10 Swallows, Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat.
This morning 1 Teal, 1 Goosander, 4 Oystercatchers, 8 Lapwings, 9 Ringed Plovers, 1 Dunlin, 1 Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper and the singing Lesser Whitethroat is still along the railway line.
This morning, the breeding plumaged Grey Plover remains for its third day. Also 1 Teal, 3 Gadwall, 1 Oystercatcher, 5 Lapwings, 6 Ringed Plovers, 1 Common Sandpiper and 1 Redshank. Five species of Warbler singing with Blackcap, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff.
No sign of the Garganey this morning. Birds included 1 Teal, 1 Gadwall, 1 Sparrowhawk, 5 Lapwings, 1 Common Sandpiper, c10 Swifts, c15 Sand Martins, and 2 Swallows. The Lesser Whitethroat is still singing along the railway embankment but has moved further along towards Denton.
This morning, a drake Garganey on no 1 by the big island. Also 1 Gadwall, 1 Oystercatcher, 6 Lapwings, c30 Swifts, c30 Sand Martins, 1 House Martin, c10 Swallows and a Yellow Wagtail. The Lesser Whitethroat is still singing along the railway line.
This morning, a Short-eared Owl appeared over at 8.15am. After a brief interaction with the juvenile Peregrine, it flew low towards the SW corner of the covered reservoir. Other birds inlcuded 6 Teal, 1 Shelduck, 2 Goldeneye, 1 juvenile Peregrine, 2 Oystercatchers, several Lapwings, 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Sand Martins, 1 House Martin, 3 Swallows, 1 White Wagtail, and 1 Wheatear.
This morning, pretty quiet with 2 Greylag Geese, 5 Teal, 2 Shoveler, 2 Goldeneye, 1 Oystercatcher, several Lapwings, 6 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Common Sandpiper, c20 Sand Martins, 1 House Martin, 2 Swallows and 6 White Wagtails.
This morning 24 Teal, 3 Gadwall, 4 Shoveler, 7 Goldeneye, several Lapwings, 1 Oystercatcher,7 Little Ringed Plovers, 1 Dunlin, 1 Common Sandpiper and 2 Blackcap in song.