30th Nov - frost last ni9ght -3C, today fog clearing then sunny, 5C, light ENE

Willey; late morning a Grey Squirrel, along with Redwings, was enjoying the Yew berries again.

Misterton; in the area of the church and lake Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Redwings, Treecreeper and Green Woodpecker were all present.

Cotesbach landfill; afternoon) a 1W Caspian Gull picked out by Carl among the Gulls on the tip.  Green and Common Sandpiper again.

South Kilworth - old railway; late afternoon.  a good number,100+,  of Fieldfare and Redwing in the bushes and adjacent stubble fields.  A Great Egret flew over towards Stanford reservoir about roost time. Six Greenfinch flew by and landed atop the tall bushes.

29th Nov - frosty night, sunny, light WSW, 6C

Willey; the feed station was busy today with plenty of House Sparrows, Chaffinch, a Yellowhammer, Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Collared Doves plus the other usual visitors. Redwings and 2+ Greenfinch were feeding on the Church Yew trees, also a Goldcrest was present. The occasional Fieldfare flew over.

Cotesbach Landfill; an afternoon visit.  Many, many Gulls, no early ‘white-wingers’ yet.  A Common and Green Sandpiper feeding close to each other in the sandpit area. A few Shoveler and Teal, plus Tufted Ducks were present.  A Buzzard surveyed the scene from its tree perch. Only a single Red Kite seen.

Masses of Gulls

28th Nov - cloudy, light rain at times, light northerly, 8C

Willley; only time to check the feed station today.  Suddenly the number of Pheasants have increased to at least 6, not sure where they are coming from as nine are released in the immediate area.
Coal Tit, Sparrowhawk and Yellowhammer plus the regulars where seen.

27th Nov - cloudy, mist clearing, light northerly, 11C

Eyebrook Reservoir; on the way back from visiting Uppingham I had a short stop here. There seemed plenty of the expected ducks on show and Lapwings. A Kestrel was hunting ove the rough edge.
Also, I had good views of the Red-throated Diver between the dam and island, this has been present several days now.

26th Nov - mostly cloudy and showers, 11C, light- mod southerly

Stanford reservoir; a look this afternoon.
c100 Fieldfare and c50 Redwings along the Leicestershire side, plus Long-tailed Tits and Treecreeper. With so much 'muddy' coloured water running in the reservoir is looking quite brown, which may explain why Wigeon and Goldeneye numbers appear to have decreased.  Although Pochard and Gadwall numbers are good.
A Buzzard and Kestrel were around, a Little Egret on the settling pool and a Grey Heron at the field pool. A Grey Wagtail was on the dam, while 4 Little Grebe were in Keepers bay.

25th Nov - cloudy, misty, light SSE, 11C, drizzle, shower at times

No obs today.

24th Nov - cloudy, dull, misty, calm, 9C

Shawell Lagoons; highlights were 23 Snipe visible around the edge of north lagoon and 126 Lapwing on the shore.

Cotesbach landfill; only a handful of Gulls, mostly Great Black-backed.  7 Teal and 2 Shoveler.

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.  a story to tell today.

I was walking down the path from the on the Northants side when I heard the quiet sounds of Swan 'contact' calls, turning round 9 Swans flew low over the hedge and my head and along the reservoir towards the inlet end.  Immediately I knew they were not Mute Swans and the sound and a hint of yellow on the bill made me think they were likely Whooper Swans, I texted the group this hoping someone else was present and may see where they went, I decided to head to the inlet end in case they had come down.  Fortunately, Chris was at the inlet end and was able to find the Swans off the main reed bed, he sent a photo - seeing this I though that the yellow on the bill was small and did not extend below the nostrils and they looked quite small in stature.  I eventually made it round to the point, but no Swans - Chris texted to say they had flown back from where I had come - dam.

So, I turned round and went to the hide to see if I could see them - they were now distant on the other side of Blowers Lodge Bay.  From here I could see them with the scope and my suspicions were increased that these were actually Bewick's Swans, the juvenile and adult bills were quite distinct and the general small, neat stature of the birds confirmed.  Informing Chris of my suspicions, the aim was to get better photos, he was luckily much closer than I.  I headed back round to the other side, but they had flown off by the time I had got there, in fact they had made it to the inlet end - so they gave me the run around.

We were able to confirm they were, indeed, Bewick's Swans, the first here since 2007.  5 Adults and 4 juveniles.

23rd Nov - cloudy, dull/hazey, light rain/drizzle at times pm, very light NE, 9C

Cotesbach Landfill; a look this morning after Carl told me there was a male Goldeneye present, a new site record for me here.  Quite a few Gulls, a couple of Caspian Gulls (1W) were spotted by Carl among the other usual Gulls.  A few more Teal today (12) and the ever present Tufted Duck. 12 Red Kite were around too.

Brandon Marsh; a look here after lunch, water level pretty high still.  Teal 67+, Shoveler 31, Wigeon c100, Pochard (m) 1, Tufted and Mallard too.  A Single Little Grebe from the Carlton hide. Grey Heron 3, also 3 Water Rail heard.

On the Alders c40 Goldfinch and 2 Siskin were feeding.  2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Greenfinch, a single Redwing over, 15 Stock Doves in the dead trees.

22nd Nov - cloudy, showers pm, 7C, light breeze East

Cotesbach Landfill;  a look this afternoon, the weather was not brilliant, but many Gulls today.  13 Red Kites and c100 Starlings flying over the tipping area.  The Common Sandpiper was watched feeding, pulling and tipping over vegetation looking for food, which it seemed to find.

A couple of Teal and Shoveler, 31 Tufted Duck and 3 Little Grebe, A Grey Heron was standing on an islet.

21st Nov - thick cloud, dull, light Easterly, 5C

Willey; checked the feed station this morning, three Pheasants, c30 House Sparrows, the usual Tits, Greenfinch.  Surprisingly little variety today.
Redwings are really attacking the Yew berries, coming and going all the time, must be 30-50, but difficult to know exactly, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and a Mistle Thrush too.

Stanford Reservoir; a look here this afternoon. A Great and Little Egret were at the settling pond, only the Little Egret was photogenic today.  A single male Goosander and 2 Little Grebes were in Keepers Lodge Bay.  A Snipe was flushed from the by-pass river.  Otherwise, all the other regulars were present. Three Buzzards were hanging around noisily.

20th Nov - sunny spells, light SE, 6C

Willey; just after 1530h about 300 Redwings flew low over the paddock, heading to roost on the old railway I think.

Frolesworth manor lake; a short visit here as I was passing.  3 Great-crested Grebes, a few Tufted Duck, Mallard, Coot and Moorhen, Black-head, Common and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. 7 Linnets on the heap of spoil. A couple of Bullfinch in the hedge. 12 Starling feeding on the horse paddock.

Cotesbach Landfill; a visit after lunch, many Gulls over the tipping and in sandpit area. A 1st winter Caspian Gull was spotted among the Herring Gulls.  The Common Sandpiper was also feeding area the waters edge.- distant fuzzy record photos obtained.  Duck numbers low, only 4 Shoveler and 8 Teal, and c15 Tufted.
Two Red Kites, a Buzzard and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over.

19th Nov - mostly high c,oud, 5C, light Southerly

Stanford reservoir; pm highlights were -
Two Shoveler, 4 Goldeneye, plenty of Fieldfare and Redwing, a male Sparrowhawk hunting, Peregrine hunting before flying off NE, a male Blackcap, Bullfinch heard.
3 Kestrels, 2 Buzzards, a covey of c15 Red-legged partridge flew passed.

18th Nov - a touch of frost, then mostly sunny, light NW, 7C

A busy day, no obs.

17th Nov - misty, cloudy, some drizzle at times, brighter late pm, 8C, light SW

Shawell Lagoons; 112 Lapwings and a Dunlin feeding along the waters edge.  10+ Snipe visible, some flying deeper in to cover, so probably many more hidden. Two Cormorants among the Gulls.

Shawell old sandpit pool; 20+ teal and Two Shoveler. c20 Fieldfares in the bushes feeding. Green Woodpecker heard. Two Bullfinch in the hedgerow.

Cotesbach Landfill; highlight was the Common Sandpiper seen again feeding around the edge of the sandpit area.  Other usual birds again, on ly one Red Kite, 2 Buzzards were sitting out the drizzle/mist.

Stanford reservoir; a look here after lunch. c300 Fieldfare and c100 Redwings feeding on the Hawthorns.  6 Goosander, 5 Shoveler, 44+ Gadwall+ and a Little Grebe in Blowers Lodge Bay.  A Cetti's Warbler sang near the reed bed.  At the inlet area  Kingfisher flew by, a single Little and Great Egret were seen, two Bullfinch near the bridge.

16th Nov - misty, sunny spells am, cloudy pm, 8C, light SW

Willey; checked the feed station area before lunch, most of the usual visitors, Greenfinch 4, House Sparrows 15, Coal, Blue and Great Tits.  Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jackdaws, 2 hen Pheasants.

Quite a few Redwing and Blackbirds in the Church Yew tree plus a Grey Squirrel eating the berries.

Plenty of Holly berries still for the birds.

Cotesbach Landfill;  very few Gulls here today, no tipping, of note several 'white-wingers reported around the coastal area over the last 2 days, so need to check regularly here.  Only one Red Kite, a Grey Wagtail, 4 Little Grebe, 5 Teal and a dozen Tufted Duck.

Shawell lagoons; the highlights here were 109 Lapwing and 18 Snipe.

Lilbourne BCN meadows area; late afternoon until dusk. At least 4 Kestrel, Redwing and Fieldfare, Grey Heron 2, 3 - maybe 5 - Stonechats, numerous Meadow Pipits, one Short-eared Owl briefly.

15th Nov - cloudy, light northerly, 7C

Willey; a busy day pumping away water to avoid flooding around Rose cottage.
8 Mallard on the corner pond, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 7 Collared Doves and a few Redwings and Fieldfares flying around.

I spotted this fungus in a field a few days ago, still need to ID it.

14th Nov - steady rain until mid afternoon, mod NE, 6C

Awfully wet day. Many parts of the country have floods, saturated ground now, after a longish wet period, its going to take a while to dry, not until the Jet stream heads north of the UK, which isn’t in the forecast in the short term.

13th Nov - mostly sunny, light S, 7C

Stanford reservoir; a quickies look here after lunch for an hour, nothing new and fairly quite. Noticeable few Wigeon at the moment, but good Pochard and Tufted Duck numbers.

Lilbourne; late afternoon til dusk.  Checking here for Short-eared Owls which have been reported recently. Right at dusk, and distantly 2 Owls were out hunting which was good, despite the distance.
Other birds included c70 Lapwing, a Grey Heron, Mallard, Meadow Pipits, several Kestrels, 2 Buzzards.
A Roe Deer was walking through the rough vegetation rather casually.

12th Nov - mostly cloudy, some short light showers, 8C, light SW

Cotesbach Landfill; several Shoveler, Teal, Mallard and Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe, 5 Red Kites. A few Pied Wagtails and a single Grey Wagtail.  Otherwise plenty of Gulls, mostly out of sight on the tip area.

11th Nov - some rain early hours. Sunny spells, light-mod WSW, 8C

No obs today.

10th Nov - sunny spells am, more cloud pm, 8C, light northerly

Monks Kirby; a look around the park entrance area which is usually good for finches, however none were about - at all! A Kestrel was perched in a tree, later the same or another was being bothered by a Carrion Crow.  A great Spotted Woodpecker was around and 2 Bullfinch in the park cottage garden, 6 Stock Doves flew over.

Cotesbach landfill;  a look this morning, nothing new, although 7 Little Grebe were on show.

Stanford reservoir; a look this afternoon. The first bird seen was a Stonechat sitting atop the reeds near the dam. Then this adult Yellow-legged Gull was quite close to shore.

 A hint of sa yellow leg can be seen, so can the red skin around the eye.

 Then a female Goosander in the middle of the reservoir swan towards the dam.

 A Raven flew over calling, a Little Grebe, several Goldeneye, two great-spotted Woodpeckers (feeder), plus all the usuals.  The Starlings roost is not very much reduced, not sure why they have given up so quickly.