Day spent around here today, from about 11 to just gone 4:

Goldcrest, bullfinch, song thrush, jay, etc.
1 Cetti's warbler heard
2 willow tit
2 or 3 kingfisher
3 or 4 water rail heard
22 teal
23 gadwall
28 shoveler
80+ tufted duck
18 goldeneye
29 goosander
6 - 8 little grebe
30+ great crested grebe
30+ lapwing
11 grey heron
40+ cormorant
Hundreds of black-headed gull
1 common gull
40+ lesser black-backed gull
70+ herring gull
1 yellow-legged gull (3rd winter, and many thanks, John, for allowing me to view this beautiful bird through your scope)

-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 19th of November 2017 08:47:55 PM

Yellow Legged Gull - 2 x 3rd Winter (one our regular the other with a full yellow bill and slightly smaller bird in the roost ) + 1 Adult which arrived about 3.3o to roost. I think its the first time ive seen 3 different yellow legged Gulls in one day at Pennington.
Mediterranean Gull - 2 adult in the pre roost
Kingfisher-3
Pochard -2 (Male in picture be...low)
Little Egret-1
Goosander-26
Goldeneye -24
Grey Wagtail-1
Pink footed Geese - 26 > N
plus the usuals

Pictures - Pochard,Adult Yellow Legged Gull ,2nd 3 rd w YLG (distant grab shot) regular yellow legged 3rd w

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Sunday 19th of November 2017 07:38:28 AM

This early afternoon:

Third winter Yellow-legged Gull still sat on its bouy

Little Egret feeding and showing very well from Horrocks Hide and later roosting in trees in Teal Scrape

1 Chiffchaff mobile around Ramsdales

43 Pink-footed Geese west at 13:21

2 noisy Water Rails from Tom Edmonson Hide

A flock of 20 or so Goldfinch by the screen at the back of Teal Scrape contain at least 6 Siskin and 4 Lesser Redpoll, all feeding in Alders; with another 2 Siskin by Bunting Hide

Just for a change, no sign of the adult yellow-legged gull in the roost this evening, but the 3rd winter bird was present (not often seen in the roost). Other than that not much to report except for a leucistic black-headed gull (see photos).

-- Edited by colin davies on Thursday 16th of November 2017 08:07:54 PM

So far this morning:

Yellow-legged gull 1 3rd winter

Goosander 27 inc 7 males

Goldeneye 13 inc 5 males

Pink-footed goose 15 over west

Siskin 5

Cetti's warbler 1 singing in Ramsdales

Redwing 30 western end

Water rail 1 western end

-- Edited by colin davies on Wednesday 15th of November 2017 11:43:18 AM

Back in July this year a colour ringed adult Mediterranean Gull was observed by Bill Harrison. Having been also sighted at Woolston Eyes in May this year its visit to the flash on 17th July was followed by its reappearance in Newport, Wales only a week after it had been seen at the flash!

A map of its movements can be seen on the following link here 

 

 

This morning, 7:30-10am:

1279 Pink-footed Geese over either well north or just south of the flash, with 1173 east in 7 skeins and 106 west in 3 skeins

393 Redwing north in 14 flocks

66 Fieldfare north in 2 flocks

270 Canada geese flew in from the west in one large flock at 08:40 and dropped onto the flash

1 Redshank flying about

1 Little Egret still present

7 Whooper Swans including 2 adults flew low SE at 4:15pm today and an adult Mediterranean Gull roosted.

 

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

Gull Roost of note tonight

Yellow Legged Gull- 2 - 1 Adult and the regular 3rd Winter bird
Mediterranean Gull - 1 Adult
Black Headed Gulls-6000+
Great Black Backed Gull - 1...0+
Herring Gull- 200+
Common Gull -150+
Jackdaw-400+
Kingfisher -1

 

 

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Friday 10th of November 2017 08:53:52 PM

Highlight of the gull roost this evening was the return of the 3rd winter yellow-legged gull, the first time I have seen it in 3 weeks. Still up to its usual habits, it divided its time between sitting on a bouy and harrasing coots for mussels. I watched it from the gap in the south east corner where I always start, about 2 hours before sunset in order to watch the pre-roost. While I was there 15 whooper swans flew over calling, heading south.

By the time I got to Green Lane for the roost proper there were impressive numbers of gulls. It's very difficult to give exact figures because there are so many birds and they are dropping in all of the time and there are so few observers, often only me. There has been a definate build up this week though, with tonight probably 500 herring gulls (including a few of the race argentatus), 200 lesser black-backs, 6000 black-headed gulls, a single great black-back and a few hundred common gulls. Unfortunately I coudn't pick out anything else unusual,  but it's a fantastic spectacle, just so many birds. As well as the gulls there are a few hundred jackdaws flying around, often right over the heads of the gulls almost as if they were deliberately antagonising them. I even saw a jackdaw land on a bouy, the first time I have seen this. People go on about starling murmurations, but this is equally impressive in my opinion.

 

-- Edited by colin davies on Thursday 9th of November 2017 07:26:06 PM

There was an Iceland gull in the gull roost this evening, a 2nd winter bird which may be last winters bird returning. As far as I know this is the first "white winger" of the autumn in the area, and its appearance coincides with a build up of large gulls since Monday, with at least 300 herring gulls and 100 lesser black-backs tonight.  The herring gulls also included a number of darker Scandinavian birds of the race argentatus. and these are also the first I have seen at the flash this winter. At least 5000 black-headed gulls tonight.

Sorry for the really poor quality photos, they were taken on my phone, through my telescope, with the bird at least 100m away in very poor light at about 16:50 and then heavily cropped! It's amazing that I got anything actually.

 

This mornings walk around the flash was pretty uneventful with fog hanging over the water. Highlights were:

Goldeneye 8

Redwing 50 (mainly western end)

Willow tit 1

Cetti's warbler 1 singing in Ramsdales

Water rail 1 calling western end

 

There were two youths with fishing gear standing on one of the islands in Ramsdales. I shouted to them, but they simply put their hoods up so that I couldn't see their faces, clearly an acknowledgement that they knew that they shouldn't be there. As expected, there wasn't a bird in Ramsdales.

 

-- Edited by colin davies on Wednesday 8th of November 2017 07:44:33 PM

8:00am - 11:30am today and then later the gull roost 3:30pm - 5:15pm

Meditteranean gull 1 adult in the roost, definately a different bird to that I saw on Friday with John.

Black-headed gull 6000 in the roost

Lesser black-backed gull 70

Herring gull 70

Common gull 100

Goldeneye 8

Kingfisher 2

Goosander 2

Redwing 50 mainly around Sorrowcow pond

A good day at the Flash with the following seen

Goosander - 12

Cormorant-61

Shoveler-40

Cetti's Warbler-2

Teal-60

Kingfisher-4

Siskin-2

Goldcrest-2

Goldeneye-12

Wigeon-1

Jackdaw - c1100 going into roost on the south bank

Then in the gull roost until after Dark of note

Black Headed Gull-c6000

Common Gull- 55

Yellow Legged Gull - 1 Adult a very large specimen and the first Adult this winter at the flash

Mediterranean gull - 1 Adult and 1 1st Winter

Pictures of the Yellow Legged Gull and Mediterranean Gulls taken almost in the dark at great distance through the scope so they are not very good

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Friday 3rd of November 2017 08:12:06 PM

Single Whooper Swan present on the flash this morning.

Info thanks to Bill Harrison

I was delighted to see (and hear) a hawfinch over the ruck today. There might have been two others earlier but they were just that bit to distant for me. The flight call of the species is incredibly feeble for such an intimidating finch.

Also today:

120 redwing over mainly SW

Fieldfare 5

Lesser redpoll 5

Pink-footed goose approx 300 in flocks of approx 100, 150 50

Goldeneye 5 (sub adult male & 4 females)

4 Goosander

 

 

 

Quick hour coming home from Rivington on bike,

Rammies,Horrocks and Teal Hide only.

300+ Tufted Duck
20+ Great Crested Grebe
7 Little Grebe
9 Gadwall
6 Shoveler
30+ Teal
1 Goldeneye
3 Goosander
1 Kingfisher
25+ Lapwing
2 Snipe

Probably missed a few, light in Rammies and Horrocks not so good at times.

An evening visit, primarily for the gull roost produced:

2nd winter Yellow-legged Gull

390 Herring Gull

330 Lesser Black-backed Gull

c5000 Black-headed Gull

22 Pink-footed Geese fairly low east (SE?) at 5:48pm

Several Redwing bursting out of the thick scrub and bushes by Sorrowcow Farm pond just after dusk and heading out high into the sky

And the Jackdaw roost is officially massive with a very conservative 900 on the south side (probably easily over 1000) and another 400 in a separate roost on the north side by the golf course!

So far today:

Goldeneye 3 (all females / juvs)

Goosander 9 (male & 8 females / juvs)

Pink-footed goose 500+ over in two flocks of 200 (east) & 300 (west)

Cetti's warbler singing in Ramsdales

Also, still plenty of redwings at the western end and quite a few goldcrests.

 

Adult Mediterranean Gull roosted this evening.

Info thanks to Phil Rhodes

 

3rd winter yellow-legged gull present again this afternoon and still stealing mussels off the coots, in fact at times this behaviour can be a pretty good way of locating the bird because it's the only gull I have seen doing this.

-- Edited by colin davies on Friday 20th of October 2017 05:00:26 PM

3rd winter yellow-legged gull again this morning from Horrocks hide. Also small passage of redwings and skylarks over south west.

Third winter Yellow-legged Gull present on the spit early afternoon today.

Info thanks to Bill Harrison 

Yellow legged gull 3rd w still present this morning,also of note 7 Goosander and 9 Snipe .

 

Picture Yellow Legged Gull

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Sunday 15th of October 2017 06:48:55 PM

The yellow legged gull is a 3 rd winter so possibly our long staying 2nd winter from earlier in the year

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Saturday 14th of October 2017 07:30:19 PM