May 2019

We have a new logbook in the Visitor Centre where you can enter all your sightings, not just birds. 
Your records are very important to monitor all the creatures that live on the Reserve or pass through it. Records of common species are just as important as those for rarities. You can also send in records by email to me HERE

Mallard family.

May 1st  Hobby regulary viewed over the visitor centre during the day, probably charing emerging damselflies. Young male Muntjac barking in the garden plus a pair of adults in the meadow. Possibly a fall of migrating garden warblers as they were everywhere today. Cuckoos heard and seen. House martins. Mallard broods.(JAS)

Reed bunting singing.

A walk along the Anglian Water road from Stirtloe (N of the quarry) revealed a host of warblers including dozens of garden warblers plus black caps, chiffchaffs, willow warblers, sedge warblers, reed warblers, whitethroats, lesser whitethroats, Cetti's warbler, yellowhammer, bullfinch, linnet and reed bunting. Cuckoo x 3.

Male yellowhammer.

A report of a grasshopper warbler there earlier too. I heard three nightingales but an evening visit confirmed at least five. (JAS)

Muntjac male.

Orange tip butterfly in the garden.

Orange tip, brimstone, holly blue and red admiral butterflies seen.

3rd: Reuben Braddock's first visit produced:

50 Greylag Goose
1 Canada Goose
4 Mute Swan
3 Gadwall
2 Eurasian Wigeon
1 American Wigeon -- Drake, on lake to north of North Heronry lake. Had walked around to see/hear Nightingales, and another birder was there already watching it. Seen through scope from north end of this lake, with bird at southern end near small islands. Light blaze on forehead clearly seen, rufous sides and white patch on side near tail.
10 Mallard
16 Tufted Duck
4 Red-legged Partridge
4 Common Pheasant -- Only one seen
1 Little Grebe -- On pond next to Diddington Brook
10 Great Crested Grebe
6 Stock Dove
70 Common Woodpigeon
4 Collared Dove -- Around visitor centre
5 Common Cuckoo -- Three from Heron trail including two song duelling! Two singing near Pumphouse Pit
2 Common Swift
4 Common Moorhen
5 Eurasian Coot
15 Black-headed Gull
2 Herring Gull
4 Lesser Black-backed Gull
30 Common Tern -- Quite a few on rafts. Rough estimate of numbers, probably more. All over the reserve and along the river
30 Great Cormorant -- Nesting site
4 Grey Heron
3 Common Buzzard
3 Great Spotted Woodpecker
5 Eurasian Green Woodpecker -- Several calling, heard throughout walk
1 Common Kestrel - near Diddington Brook
1 Eurasian Hobby -- NE corner of Pumphouse Pit
4 Common Magpie (Eurasian)
30 Eurasian Jackdaw
3 Rook
4 Carrion Crow
12 Sand Martin
2 Barn Swallow
8 Eurasian Blue Tit
8 Great Tit
10 Long-tailed Tit
9 Eurasian Wren
5 Willow Warbler -- Only at northern end of lakes, didn’t hear any from Heron trail
14 Common Chiffchaff -- Probably most numerous warbler
6 Sedge Warbler
4 Eurasian Reed Warbler
12 Eurasian Blackcap
10 Garden Warbler -- Singing throughout reserve. Conservative estimate
2 Lesser Whitethroat -- One in hedge adjacent to Island Pit. One in hedge on farmland near Diddington
9 Common Whitethroat
6 European Robin
4 Common Nightingale -- All quite close to each other adjacent to Anglian Water road. One seen as it perched briefly on top of bush singing before diving back down again.
2 Song Thrush
10 Eurasian Blackbird
4 Common Starling
6 Dunnock
2 Pied Wagtail
5 Common Chaffinch
3 European Greenfinch
3 European Goldfinch
2 Common Reed Bunting

5th: 100 house martins, 50 swallows. 10 sand martins over Heronry North. Redshank at Sailing Lake, Shelduck x 2 at S. end of Island Pit.
Our Breeding Bird Survey produced the first swift and a couple of new nightingales and three turtle doves.

6th:   Swift x 2 (Steve May).

7th:   Nightingale x 5 on Concrete Road at Stirtloe plus single black tern. (JAS)

8th:  Nightingale singing behind Lafarge plant. (Adrian Hyde)

10th: 2 hobbies over VC most of afternoon. Sparrow hawk, lots of swifts. RC pochard and oystercatchers on sailing lake. (JAS) Treecreeper (Wayne Garden).
Buzzard x 4, hobby x 2, (D Harlow)
Hobby and brown argus butterfly plus cuckoo by moorings plus treecreeper.

11th: (From Butterfly transect) Hobby, lots of swifts, swallows, whitethroats, blackcap, garden warbler, willow warbler, chiffchaff, reed warbler, cuckoo, reed bunting (fam) common terns. Muntjac, squirrel, rat, raven and nightingale at Offord D'arcy,  Cuckoo, blackcap.

12th: Family of tree creepers (river view), l-r plover (Bill's Bench), l-t tits, orange tipped butterfly, pheasant, magpie, collared dove, brimstone butterfly.

13th: Turtle dove (R Pope) R-c pochard pair at Hayden Hide, mute swans with 6 cygnets.

14th:  Common Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Reed Bunting, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Blue tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird, Common Tern, Black Headed Gull, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Red Crested Pochard, Coot, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Cuckoo calling, Green woodpecker, Buzzard, Heron, Wood Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Cormorant.
Small Copper, Orange Tip, Brimstone, Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue Damselfly (Andrew Lee)

Crane over VC, g-s woodpecker, heron x 7. (Matt Hall)

Banded Demoiselle by Andrew Lee.

15th: Garden warbler, cuckoo, whitethroat, Canada geese with goslings, lapwing, red kite,
buzzard. (JAS) Gt crested grebe, mute swan, robin, collared dove on Meadow Trail.

16th: Meadow Trail: Cuckoo x 2, blackcap x 5, red kite x 2, coot x 5, b-h gull x 11, garden warbler x 2, grey heron x 2, moorhen x 4, carrion crow x 3, fox (MH)

Third Thursday Walk: Blackcap, b-h gull, blue tit, bullfinch, buxxard, crow, common tern, coot, moorhen, cormorant, dunnock, gadwall, g-c grebe, g-s woodpecker, green woodpecker, heron, mute swan, oystercatcher, peregrine, robin, tree-creeper, stock dove, swift, tufted duck, wood pigeon, Canada goose, cuckoo, r-c pochard, muntjac. (D Wilson)

Heron Trail: Hobby, garden warbler x 3, blackcap x 4, robin x 2, wren x 3, green woodpecker, g-s woodpecker, cuckoo.

17th: Heron Trail: Blackcap, garden warbler, lesser whitethroat, chiffchaff, yellowhammer, willow warbler, whitethroat, song thrush. Goldcrests with young at Wray House.

21st: Greenfinch, cuckoo, dunnock, l-t tit, buzzard, goldcrest.
Evening walk: Sparrow hawk, swifts, house martins, kingfisher, gs and green woodpeckers. Unidentified distant wader on Heronry South, possibly L-r p. (JAS)
Damsels: Common blue, azure, blue tailed, variable, red eyed and banded demoiselle.
Dragons: 4 spotted chaser, scarce chaser and first Norfolk Hawker. 

22nd: Norfolk hawker in flight. Speckled wood, brimstone, buzzard. Little Egret (on Heronry South, TG)
Hairy dragonfly, cinnabar moth, orange tip butterfly.
Tern rafts; c 40 common terns . Herring gulls causing disturbance (TG)

23rd: Norfolk hawkers, scarce chasers, four spotted chasers.

24th: Four spotted chaser, scarce chaser, black tailed skimmer, hairy dragonfly; variable, common blue and red-eyed damsels. Brimstone, peacock. brown argus, orange-tip, speckled wood and small copper butterflies.
Little egret on Heronry South. Swifts (TG) Badgers at dusk near Stirtloe.

25th: Red crested pochard x 2 from Kingfisher Hide, cuckoo. Brimstone and small tortoiseshell.
House martins and swifts: (TG)
Great tits and squirrels at bird table, brown rat, blue tit, magpie.
Swifts over the village (Ann and Mike Thomas)
Hairy, black tailed skimmer, four spotted chaser, scarce chaser. Azure, blue tailed, red eyed damsels and banded demoiselle. (Meadow Trail)

26th: Cetti's warbler x 3, garden warblers, blackcaps, chiff-chaffs, whitethroats, lesser whitethroat, lesser black-backed gull. Flocks of martins following showers of rain across the site, small groups of swifts, buzzards, red kites. Dead mole on meadow trail. First spotted orchids in flower.

28th: Cuckoo spit on the meadow trail. This is from common froghoppers and is perfectly natural.

29th: c 60 house martins over the Heronry Lakes, cuckoo x 2, blackcap, lbb gull, oystercatcher, cormorant x 30, herring gull, yellowhammer. (TG)

31st: Loads of dragonflies at edge of meadow. Norfolk hawker at garden pond!

April 2019

Hi everyone! 
April started slowly but a smattering of spring migrants passing through made for some interesting sightings. 
I have altered the format this month to allow me to paste in people's reports exactly as they wrote them. It also saves time as I don't have to fight against the template.
Please keep sending your sightings as this could be the most exciting month of the year.


4th:   Chiffchaff x 16, blackcap x 9, swallow x 1, goldeneye x 6, tufted duck x 195, pochard, shoveller x 3, gadwall x 7, black headed gull x 495, r-l partridge x2, buzzard, green sandpiper. (Terry Brown)

5th:   Yellowhammer on the meadow trail and the haul road, willow warbler x 3. Oystercatcher x 3, green sandpiper, goldeneye x 2. (A+K Harrold)
Mining bees using the mound. (MR)

7th:   Quite a large number of sand martins, house martins with a few swallows mixed in, over Hayling and the river, in the grey gloom this morning. (Mark Brandon)

8th:   One green woodpecker and what looked like two swallows(I was a long way off but I think they were too small for hobbies) perched on tall dead tree off to the right of the main path to the river, dunnock near centre. female bullfinch at riverside, jay at riverside, yellowhammer near field, two blackcaps (male) singing merrily in Rory's Wood. Song Thrush in full voice on main path to river,wren near the gravel workings and many great tits, blue tits, blackbirds and robins plus a couple of long tailed tits. (Francis Burnley)

9th:   Heron, blue tit, wren, sparrow, great tit, coot, mallard, Canada goose, swan, tufted duck and robin. (Chloe, Jake and Graham.)

Red crested pochards on Weedy Pit

10th: Long staying pair of red crested pochards on Weedy Pit. Teal on Rudd pit. (NH)
Mallard pair with 9 ducklings on the Hayling Pit. (VB)
Red crested pochards moved to sailing lake. Little gull x 2 and greed sandpiper x 3 on Heronry North. (Martin)
Collared dove, reed bunting blue tot, great tit and robin. (Phoebe)

Little gull on Heronry North.

Red crested pochard x 2, common tern x 2, little gull x 2, teal x 6, gadwall x11, pochard x 11, goldeneye x 5, tufted duck x 172, yellowhammer x 10, linnet x 15, sparrowhawk, buzzard, Cetti's warbler, green sandpiper x 2, blackcap x 17, chiffchaff x 11, willow warbler.
Brimstone, peacock, orange-tip, speckled wood butterflies. ((Terry Brown)

Red crested pochard pair on Weedy Pit, Little gull x 4 and common tern x 4 on Heronry N. Kingfisher, willow warbler x 3, scaup x 2, sparrowhawk at the VC, swallow x 3, widgeon x 5, pochard.  Little ringed plover x 3, dunlin x 3, ringed plover x 3, oystercatcher x 4, redshank x 10, green sandpiper x 5, lapwing x 2, snipe x 4, little egret. (Martin)

Singing willow warbler x 7+ on Meadow Trail (D Harlow)

Little gull and year-old black headed gull.

Peregrine (fm) over Heronry South  at 6 pm. Cetti's warbler at the Visitor Centre (JAS)

Peregrine over Heronry South.

14th:  Cetti's warbler on boardwalk in meadow. (CB) Red crested pochard on sailing lake and Island Pit, both drakes. Green sandpiper on Heronry North (A&G Williams) a kingfisher on the Hayling Pit (SE)  Flock of c20 swallows over village reported to TG.

16th:  Otter x 2 at south end of Island Pit (Steve May). Red crested pochard drake on Weedy Pit (GSM). Blue tit, magpie, gull, squirrel (Sienna and Cassia) Common tern, yellowhammer x 6, whitethroat, black cap x 4 (A Scott)

Common Terns 17th April. (P. Hagger)

17th: Crane flying south over river viewpoint. Red crested pochard drake on Weedy Pit (female appeared later so probably on nest). Tern rafts launched and immediately occupied. Buzzard, red kite, kestrel and sparrow hawk. Dunlin on island in Heronry South among nesting? b-h gulls. Green sandpiper x 2 on Diddington Pit. Green woodpeckers. Gulls and rooks following the tractor on Peter's Field. Butterflies- orange tip, comma, speckled wood, holly blue, brimstone, green-veined white, peacock.

From Cambridge Bird Club: Paxton Pits - 2 Garganey (Jamie Wells); Yellow-legged Gull (Mark Brandon); 3 Garganey, Red-crested Pochard, Blue-headed Wagtail with 7 Yellow Wagtail (Martin Davis)

Mallard on nest (P. Hagger)

18th: Third Thursday Walk: Blackbird, blackcap, b-h gull, blue tit, bullfinch, buzzard, crow, chiffchaff, common tern, coot, cormorant, gadwall, goldcrest, great crested grebe, great tiit, green woodpecker, heron, greylag, herring gull, house sparrow, l-t tit, magpie, mallard, moorhen, mute swan, oystercatcher, pheasant, redshank, robin, rook, treecreeper, stock dove, teal, tufted duck, willow warbler, wood pigeon, wren, Canada goose, red-crested pochard. 39 spp. (David Wilson)

Cetti's warbler 19/4/2019 (J Hill)

Grass snake (Oliver Mallet)

Redshank x 3, common sandpiper x 2 (Sailing Lake) Adult little gull x 2 on Heronry North.
Chiffchaff x 17, blackcap x 21, willow warbler x 9, goldcrest, buzzard x 2, yellowhammer x 7, common tern x 24 and red crested pochard drake. (Terry Brown)
18th: From Cambridge Bird Club: Paxton Pits - RING OUZEL, 9 Little Gull, Garganey, Lesser Whitethroat, Raven over east (Jamie Wells)

19th: Whitethroat and willow warblers at the mound, garden warbler, blackcap x 6, willow warbler x 6, chiffchaff x 10, common tern and yellowhammer. (MA) Cuckoo heard at River Viewpoint. Poss hobby passing high over VC. Cetti's warbler in Meadow (T and V G)
From Cambridge Bird Club: Cuckoo, 3 Nightingale (John Raven); 3 Black Tern, pair of Red-crested Pochard (Martin Davis)

20th: Cuckoo, blackcap, yellowhammer, chiffchaff, black tern. Orange tip, peacock and speckled wood butterflies. (J P F) Osprey over Heronry lakes (TG)

21st: Cuckoo at river, garden warbler near Kingfisher Hide. (PC)
Black redstart fem. in the quarry. 12 black terns in the quarry.(GTH) Cuckoo also on meadow trail.

22nd: Adult little gull on Heronry South (Steve May) Robin, swift?? chaffinch, magpie, sparrow, chiffchaff, green woodpecker, great tit, blue tit, pheasant, mallard. (Jake, James Chloe and Sharon)
Black terns x 14+ in quarry plus nightingales and 3 cuckoos. (A and M Thomas) L-t tits at Cobham Hide, little gull at Kingfisher Hide. (A&J Hull +Christine, Harriet, Carole, George and Mark)

23rd: Little tern and arctic tern x 3 from Kingfisher Hide. (D Harlow)
Bar-tailed godwits x 21 also from Kingfisher Hide. (D Harlow and J Wells)

Sedge warbler singing.

24th: Ten warbler spp: Grasshopper, Cetti's, reed, sedge, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat, garden, blackcap, chiffchaff and willow! (Neal Parkin) Cuckoo x 2 near the visitor centre. 15 linnets on dandelions in the sheep field. GS Woodpecker at the gulley.

Orange tip butterfly on a Geranium.

Butterflies included holly blue, brimstone and orange tip.

Hedgehog found on the Reserve near the Hayling Pit, turned inside out by a badger. Oystercatcher, herring gull x 3, lapwing, buzzard and sparrow hawk. Rat on the bird table at the visitor centre, 3 muntjac in the sheep field. Large red damselfly at the moorings. (JAS)

Muntjac showing scent gland and tusks.

25th: 2nd year little gull over Heronry North.

26th: Chiffchaff, blackcap, willow warbler, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat, reed warbler, garden warbler. Cuckoo heard as well as oystercatchers calling. Brimstone, orange tip and speckled wood butterflies. (RS Buxton).

27th: Dozens of sand martins over Weedy Pit plus swallows and house martins over Heronry Lakes.

28th: Cuckoo and buzzard over the Visitor Centre (JAS)
Arctic Tern x 2. Little tern. RC Pochard.

3 Otters including two young on Island Pit. American Wigeon drake on PHP. (GR)

29th: Cuckoos, buzzard, yellow wagtail.
David Bale reported from the Anglian Water Road at Stirtloe: 7:45 am.
Blackbird, bullfinch, reed bunting, coot, cormorant, crow, stock dove, gadwall, goldfinch, greylag geese, blackcap, chiffchaff, Cetti's warbler, goldcrest, reed warbler, sedge warbler, willow warbler, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat x 7, cuckoo, b.h gull, heron, jackdaw, magpie, mallard, moorhen, robin, rook, starling, mute swan, common tern, at east 5 nightingales, skylark, mistle thrush, song thrush, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, great spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, woodpigeon, wren and yellowhammer.