Morning on Newchurch with very little to report, Sunny and hot with increasing cloud.

Just 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls over Big Pool. Interestingly they were made up of 3 adults and an immature bird and were calling constantly, identical to Wednesday's sighting over Big Pool.

Had a morning on patch and did a reasonable walk. Overcast but warm.

The highlight was 2(1ad) Water Rails on Shemmy Moss. The adult was watched feeding a tiny black fluffball of a chick at the edge of the rushes by one of the near dried-up pools. An Oystercatcher flew over Shemmy Moss calling.

Also on Shemmy was a male Kestrel, actively hunting.

A morning on patch, warm but mainly overcast!

A Grey Heron flew from Lymm Vale pool.

There were 2 juvenile Blackcaps north of Big Pool.

Yesterday I suddenly realised that today was BTO WeBS Core Count Day, so my plans changed so that I could do it on the correct day  Out this morning, warm and getting sunnier as the morning went on, very pleasant.

Ducks were represented by two species only, 59 Tufted Ducks and 53 Mallards (plus 3 ducklings), both counts up significantly on last month. There were 57 Canada Geese and 4 Greylag Geese, similar to the June totals. The extra adult on Big Pool made it 3 adult Mute Swans (plus 3y). There were 144 Coot across the two pools and just 1 Moorhen, on Small Pool. This Coot count was up 90 birds on June, a massive increase! A count of 6 Great Crested Grebes (plus 3y) was a few birds down this month. The first big surprise was a Cormorant which flushed from under bankside vegetation by Big Pool Lazy Man's Peg, not a usual July species.The next big surprise was a 2nd calendar year Common Gull which took off from Big Pool and flew north, a rarity in July for me, but every year there are relatively good numbers (3-figure counts) in July on the Dee and Mersey estuary counts, so one may have drifted in! Also seen were an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull (my 'resident' bird) and 7 Black-headed Gulls. A Grey Heron was on Big Pool north shore as it has been all week. The only other addition was a fly through Sand Martin. (oh and a feral Mallard that is resident and paired up!).

This gave a total of 340 birds of 15 species. This was circa double the individuals and four more species compared to the year lows of May and June.

On the mosses part of patch today mainly, in hot sun again.

A Water Rail was calling from thick sedge cover on Shemmy Moss.

A Hobby was watched at length and stayed for at least 1.5hrs, being still there when I left. It was perched up contact calling lots at first and making hunting forays. When flying it was mobbed by 4 Swallows. Seeing as it was calling I searched for a second bird, but no sign at all. A Green Woodpecker flew across Shemmy Moss, a rare bird than Hobby these days on patch! It was heard calling a few times, as it flew and then 15 minutes later. A Coal Tit and a Nuthatch were seen by Small Pool.

Hot and sunny, am and pm on patch! All around Big Pool.

I found a Patch Lifer today but a discussion with a Warrington Anglers Baliff meant that I wasn't allowed to broadcast it. They are clamping down massively on bank access and chopping trees down to block access even away from fishing pegs The bird in question was a juvenile Black-necked Grebe. Luckily this species breeds in Cheshire and can be seen at many local waters pre and post-breeding so not a difficult bird to see in the region. The grebe seemed to arrive with a large flock of Tufted Ducks which dropped in, and it stayed with them for the first hour but after that spent more time alone, but always out in the centre of the pool. Whilst trying to get photos of the grebe another patch rarity, a Curlew, flew over calling. A Grey Heron was also seen, fishing the edges of Big Pool. For the second consecutive day a Kingfisher flew across the pool.

Another sunny and hot day, started at 8am but still hot by then!

The only birds of note were an adult and juv Grey Wagtail on Beach Peg on Big Pool.

Morning and afternoon on patch in hot sunshine.

A young Moorhen on Shemmy Moss had caught a female Emperor, probably as she was ovipositing.

A Swift was over Shemmy Moss. A Song Thrush was watched at length smashing a snail on a stone, taking out the contents and then heading away with it, presumably to feed young.

On Newchurch am, overcast but warm.

There now seems to be 5(2ad) Mute Swans on Small Pool, so a cygnet is missing. Given that the young are now a considerable size this was a surprise!

On Shemmy Moss 2 Swallows and 2 Linnets flew over.

On patch pm, dull and warm and windy.

A juvenile Grey Wagtail was on one of the fishing pegs on Big Pool shoreline where fellow patcher Dave has seen male and female too. Looks like successful local breeding.

On patch am, on the mosses only, overcast but warm.

A Water Rail was calling from reeds on Shemmy Moss.

Nearby 2m Reed Buntings were chasing.

A morning in the sweltering heat again.

A surprise was a female Mandarin close to Beach Peg on Big Pool, but she was as surprised as me and swam off to the island and into cover. The semi-resident Lesser Black-backed Gull was back on Big Pool. A lone Sand Martin flew over Big Pool.

Proof of breeding was seen with 2 young Long-tailed Tits which flew across the main track. After seeing two Long-tailed Tit nests predated it was nice to see youngsters.

On patch am and pm, but too hot pm really. Hot & sunny all day.

The Spotted Flycatcher was seen again in Gull Pool Wood, viewed from the Whitegate Way. A Skylark was singing over the nursery fields by Abbot's Moss.

An afternoon on patch, warm and mainly sunny.

An Oystercatcher flew over Big Pool SW Glade calling. There were a Sand Martin and 3 Swifts over Big Pool.

WeBS Count Day again. Overcast am, sunny pm, warm.

A slight increase on last months low count. There were 68 Canada Geese and 4 Greylag Geese today. Also 7(3ad) Mute Swans, the family plus an adult extra on Big Pool.The only ducks were 21 Mallards plus 2 ducklings and 15 Tufted Ducks. A count of 55 Coot (plus 3y) was up on last month. Also 2 Moorhens and 5 young were seen. There were 10 Great Crested Grebes plus 1 young. Also seen were 5 Black-headed Gulls and 3 Sand Martins.

A Raven was in Gull Pool Wood. A family of 5(2ad+3y) Blackcaps were south of Small Pool.

A total of 187 birds of 11 species were seen, young omitted as per WeBS guidelines!

An afternoon on Patch, sunny & breezy.

The 6(2ad + 4y) Mute Swans were still on Small Pool.

A Whitethroat was singing from a gorse and bramble bank north of Big Pool, the first in this location this year.

A brief morning on patch, warmish and overcast.

A Swift flew very low over the north side of Big Pool. A Blue Tit with 4 young was also north of Big Pool.

A morning walk to dodge the showers at first but then sunny later!

The 6(2ad) Mute Swan family was still complete.  In the Lymm Vale fields a total of 29 Canada Geese included 5 adults and a creche of 24 well-grown young. A Little Grebe was on Gull Pool, it's breeding location. A Grey Heron was stood in the middle of the field next to Lymm Vale. There were 4 Sand Martins over Big Pool and a total of 3 Swifts were seen today, 2 high over Big Pool and 1 over Shemmy Moss.

A Blue Tit was feeding 2 young by Big Pool. A Treecreeper flew along the edge of Gull Pool Wood viewed from the Whitegate Way.

A morning walk, hot & sunny.

A surprise today with 8(4ad) Mute Swans on the pools! There were the usual 2ad+4y on Small Pool and an adult pair on Big Pool. There were 8 (2ad,6y) Moorhens on a pool on Shemmy Moss. An Oystercatcher flew over Shemmy Moss.

A Kestrel was hunting on Shemmy Moss. A male Blackcap was seen carrying food back to the nest west of Small Pool.

On patch am and pm, hot and sunny but a nice breeze at times.

Good news is that there are still 6(2ad, 4y) Mute Swans. A Cormorant flew over Big Pool. There were 2 Sand Martins passing through but still not had a Swift on patch this year!

A recently fledged Great Tit was near Big Pool and a Robin was carrying food back to the nest.

Another morning in the intense heat, blazing sun and no shade!!

A Grey Heron was seen around Big Pool.

On the main track west past the two pools a juvenile Pied Wagtail and a juvenile Dunnock were feeding.

Morning and afternoon and all there was birdwise to show for it was an Oystercatcher flying over Big Pool!

A shortish visit am, warm but very little sunshine.

The Mute Swans still number 6, 2 adults and 4 cygnets!

The best sighting was 2 Common Sandpipers flitting over Big Pool near what is known as Secret Peg.

WeBS Count Day. Morning on patch and was lucky as it stayed dry & bright and quite warm.

A much lower count, the lowest this year by far. There were still 25(19drk) Tufted Ducks on the pools plus 8(7drk) Mallards. No other duck species were seen. There were 21 Canada Geese and a single Greylag Goose. The 2ad Mute Swans still had their 4 cygnets. The highest count of any species was 33 Coot, including 5 occupied nests and 3 chicks. Also 2 Moorhens were seen. A good total of 9 Great Crested Grebes was seen, and in addition there was 1 well-grown chick. Just 4 Black-headed Gulls and a flyover Lesser Black-backed Gull were recorded.

Just 107 birds of 11 species were seen.