Saturday 20th August 2011

A lovely morning, bright and sunny with cloud moving in and taking over by mid afternoon. A slight increase in Mute Swan numbers this week, to 41. Great Crested Grebes were in the low 30's and Coots appeared down to just 25. While heading down the main path a couple of Swifts were over the main lake. Shortly after a dozen House Martins moved in from the north along with another 4 Swifts but they soon departed south.


At Fingers three Gadwalls were present and 2 Shovelers were also in the mix with the Mallards. The Moorhen with the single remaining youngster appeared to be building a new nest but may have just been making good to the old one. A Treecreeper was also spotted along the Spit and Kingfisher was heard.

There were a number of Chiffchaffs calling around Fingers and Blackcaps were also heard ticking. Plenty of Reed Warblers were also flitting about across the Spit and alongside the main path. Green and Great-spotted Woodpeckers were also seen and heard. Juvenile Sparrowhawk was also heard although hard to pin down the location it seemed to be from the far side of Kingsmead.

On 100 Acre there was nothing at all on the small lake and little on the big lake although a single Common Sandpiper, at least 6 Little Grebe and a male Pochard kept us interested. Goldfinch are also coming together into larger groups with 20+ on the east side of the big lake. There are plenty of Teasels to keep them going through the autumn.

Back in the park Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler were both heard singing in the south west corner of the main lake and 4 Mistle Thrush flew over south as we headed up the west side of the lake. Greenfinch were also present as normal in this area.