Woolston Eyes Who are we? History Articles Links Media Newsletters Live Newsletter hidden News Wildlife Surveys hidden Live Ringing Update hidden News Item hidden Monthly Sightings hidden Flora and Fauna Habitat Bird Species Flowers - Shrubs and Trees Butterflies Dragonflies and Damselflies Amphibians & Reptiles Insects - Bees and Wasps Aquatic Invertebrates Mammals Grasses - Sedges - Rushes and Typha Fungi Moths Mosses & Liverworts Insects Beetles Insects - Unsorted Permit Form hidden Article hidden New Sighting hidden Location Map hidden Privacy Policy hidden P Downloads hidden About Us hidden new-site New Home index Visiting hidden new-site Support Us hidden new-site What Could You See hidden new-site Annual Reports hidden new-site Latest Sightings new-site Latest News new-site Contact new-site Login hidden new-site FAQs new-site Policies hidden

Woolston Eyes Monthly Sightings

2026-03-07

The warm spring weather from earlier in the week has disappeared over the past couple of days, with a surprisingly cold southerly breeze early this morning. We started on No.3 bed, where we struggled to find any Black-necked Grebes till a winter-plumage bird came out of the reeds after a couple of hours. The flock of 23 Wigeon was a nice surprise, as they are pretty uncommon on the Reserve. As ever, a couple of Marsh Harriers were actively hunting, while 17 Common Snipe were feeding in the cut reed edge in front of the Morgan Hide and a single male Stonechat also showed briefly. Surprisingly, given the wind direction, just two Sand Martins passed through. Then it was over to No.4 bed, where diligent scanning from the viewing platform turned up 13 Black-necked Grebes, including four still in winter plumage. The arrival of Wigeon continued when 16 more dropped in from the north-west, giving an excellent total of 39. Photo of an Oystercatcher Cheers David Bowman (with Helen Wynn and Brian Baird)

Submitted by: David Bowman