When the skies are clear and there’s a light south-easterly, the place to be is sitting on top of Butchersfied Tip, ready to count the passing migrants. Tuesday night brought a huge movement of Scandinavian finches across the North Sea, so we made a 6.30 am start, picking up 2 Tawny Owls and a Woodcock en route to our watchpoint. Thrushes were piling through from the start and by midday we’d totalled: 2,400 Redwings, 530 Fieldfares, 38 Blackbirds and a handful of Song Thrushes, nearly all on an easterly flight path. While we always expect a few continental Blackbirds to appear at this time of year, this was the first time we’ve actually seen them arrive, mixed in with the Redwing flocks. With so many birds moving there is always a chance of something different. First, a Merlin arrived, scattering the Starling and Lapwing flocks feeding below the Tip. Then 6 Bramblings dropped in and 130 Pink-footed Geese flew east. The highlight, though, was the Hawfinch which passed at eye-level, beautifully lit to show every detail. Finally, we picked out 3 Golden Plover and a Dunlin milling around with the Lapwings, the former a Reserve scarcity these days. The photo is of the view north from Butchersfield Tip at dawn. Cheers David Bowman (with Dave Steel)

A pleasant morning’s ringing on No1 bed with 44 birds ringed including 7 Blackbirds, probably the highest number ringed in a morning on the bed. Goldcrests are still present in reasonable numbers and 8 were ringed. Sightings included: 160 Pink-footed Geese flying west, 1 Tawny Owl on the track by No2 bed, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Raven, 75 Jackdaws, 30 Fieldfares, 290 Redwings and 1 Siskin

An adult Iceland Gull flew West over No3 bed around 14:30. Due to the dark markings on the primary flight feathers, it appears to be the scarcer Canadian subspecies: Kumlien’s Gull.

A heavily-cropped (hence poor quality!) pic is attached.

Goosander that flew through No3 Bed this morning

Another pic of the Egyptian Geese

Family group of 6 Egyptian Geese (2 adults, 4 juveniles) which visited No3 Bed for an hour or so this morning, before heading south.

Female Stonechat which showed well infront of the John Morgan Hide late morning

A sunny but initially cool autumn morning with a few butterflies still about. The Buddleia on the south bank of No.3 bed held 3 Red Admirals and a Comma whilst a further Comma and a late Small White were on No.1 bed. Photo; Red Admiral

A walk round Nos. 1,2 and 3 beds yesterday produced a total of 98 Tufted Duck including a flock of 63 on the river near to Bollin Point. About 60 Lapwing flew west over No.3 bed. Some late butterflies included 8 Red Admirals, 3 Commas and 2 Speckled Woods. A Painted Lady was on No.4 bed today. Photo; Evening Primrose near the Sandpit Pond.

Although it was pouring down at dawn this morning at Woolston Eyes, once the weather cleared birds started passing through fairly steadily. Totals included: 3 Swallows, 1 Green Sandpiper, 10 Snipe, 550 Redwings, 8 Fieldfares, 6 Siskins and 20 Skylarks. Highlights of the resident species were 3 Cetti’s Warblers, 2 Willow Tits, 2 Water Rails, 1 Kingfisher, 400 Teal and 95 Shovelers. The one that got away was a probable Yellow-browed Warbler which called twice, distantly but couldn’t be located. The link is to a short video showing some of the past weeks sightings, including: Kingfisher, Teal, Shelduck, Water Rail, Goldeneye, Wigeon and Cetti’s Warbler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBMPgnlHL3g&feature=youtu.be Cheers David Bowman (with Dan Gornall and David Spencer)

Young male Garganey leading a flock of Wigeon. The flock appeared from the NE and landed on No3 late morning. With Garganey being a summer visitor and Wigeon largely being a winter visitor it’s somewhat an unusual pairing!

Young Water Rail on the scrape this morning

WeBS Count on 12/10/2019 Little grebe 17, Great crested Grebe 2, Cormorant 12, Mute Swan 34, Grey Heron 8, Greylag Goose 70, Canada Goose 83, Shelduck 1, Wigeon 2, Gadwall 81, Teal 420, Mallard 55, Shoveler 95, Pochard 1, Tufted Duck 34, Water Rail 2, Moorhen 29, Coot 72, Goldeneye 1, Kingfisher 1, Snipe 1, Black headed Gull 55. A total of 1076 birds.

On a morning of brilliant light there was a trickle of movement through Woolston Eyes, as well as some good views of the resident birds. We started at dawn in the Morgan Hide before going down to Bollin Point to complete the monthly Wetland Birds Survey. Movements included: 1,000 Pink-footed Geese, 9 Swallows, 45 Redwings, 55 Meadow Pipits and 19 Skylarks. Wildfowl highlights were of 1 Goldeneye, 2 Wigeon,400 Teal and 85 Shoveler, while a Kingfisher, 2 Water Rails and a Cetti’s Warbler showed well in front of the Morgan Hide. Raptors were plentiful, too, with 2 Peregrines, 1 Kestrel, 8 Common Buzzards and 7 Sparrowhawks. Walking off the bed in early afternoon one of the Buddleia bushes held 20 Red Admirals and 3 Commas, with others dotted around the bed. Photo of the Ship Canal near Bollin Point Cheers David Bowman (with David Spencer, Helen Wynn, Alan Warford, Sue Haddock and Les Jones)

A beautiful morning on No.3 bed, with some migrants moving, though not at anything like the levels from Saturday. At dawn eight Rooks flew west, always an uncommon bird at the western end of the Reserve. Two late Swallows then came out of a roost and moved south and over the morning c.100 Redwings, 12 Grey Wagtails, 15 Skylarks and 10 Meadow Pipits passed over. A Green Sandpiper was present all morning and two more later flew in, with a handful of Snipe also dropping in. As ever Willow Tits and Cetti’s Warblers were present and a Kingfisher spent some time fishing in front of the Morgan Hide. Altogether, a very pleasant few hours birding. Photo of this morning’s KIngfisher Cheers David Bowman (with David Spencer)

It was a really good morning, on No.3 bed on Saturday, for both volume and variety of species. The cool, light SSE wind brought a constant passage of migrant thrushes. By mid-day 2,100 Redwings and 18 Fieldfares had passed southwards, along with 20 Swallows, 37 Meadow Pipits and 18 Grey Wagtails. A single Jack Snipe then came in from high to the north, circled a couple of times and then dropped in out of sight. A skein of c.500 Pink-footed Geese then flew east and 16 Wigeon came in to join two which were already on the bed. Of the resident species, highlights were: 5 Cetti’s Warblers, 2 Chiffchaffs, 385 Teal, 180 Gadwall and 23 Common Snipe. The day finished just as well as it began, with a Green Sandpiper in front of the Morgan Hide, followed by a Great White Egret, which Helen, Brian, Steve and I watched lumbering across the reed-bed before disappearing from sight. Cheers David Bowman (with Helen Wynn, Dave Steel, Alan Warford, Brian Martin, Steve Atkins and Les Jones)