30th Nov - Mist start, clearing mid-morning, some brightness until pm, then thick cloud and dull, 7C, light SW

Willey;

A busy day.

Usual birds around the Church and lane on the berries.

The cemetery is always a good place for fungi, noticed this one below today.  I believe a Dyer's Mazegill.

29th Nov - Misty, dull, damp all day, 5C, very light SW

Harborough Magna/St. Mary's area; late morning.

Checked the Bird food fields, c100 Linnets, and 20+ Chaffinches.  I didn't see and Brambling, as last year, but visibility was low and maybe just not visible.

Plenty of Redwings and Fieldfares in the area too.

28th Nov - Misty/fog first thing, clearing slowly to mostly high cloud, a few breaks, very light SW, 8C

Willey; mid-day.

A lot more Redwings coming to the berries around the Church and lane (Yew, Sloes, Hawthorn and Holly).    Blackbirds seemed more numerous too.

Three Starlings were after Sloes, they were very fussy which ones they ate!

150 Fieldfares around the adjacent field too.

A couple of Fungi spotted in the Church Lane, one maybe a Scarlet Bonnet.

27th Nov - cloudy, very light SW, 11C

A5 Pools/DIRFT; morning.

Nothing new on the A5 pools than the other day.  On the prepared development are at the back c 450 Golden Plovers.

Shawell sandpit/Landfill; morning.

Not many Gulls as no tipping occurring.

Seven Red Kites, 11 Gadwall was a good count for here.  Four Wigeon and seven Tufted Ducks, a good number of Teal and Mallards, plus 11 Shovelers.

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.

Red-crested Pochards now down to five (three drakes).  All the usual ducks, five Teal, four Little Grebes.  One Great Egret around.

Along the by-pass path c300 Fieldfares, two Goldcrests with Treecreeper and Long-tailed Tits.

A Kestrel, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Bullfinch (male) near the Leics feed station.

26th Nov - mostly high flat cloud, light S breeze, 12C

Shawell Lagoons, morning.

Estimated 220 Lapwings (photo count may revise this) and a Green Sandpiper were notable.

Brandon Marsh; afternoon. Water levels high.

c 300 Lapwings, c30 Shovelers, plus Wigeon, Teal, Tufted Ducks, Gadwall and Mallards.  

A Green Sandpiper busy feeding, four Little Grebes, one Grey Heron and Kestrel hunting.  

An adult Caspian Gull on East marsh.

A few fungi were spotted too.

25th Nov - Sunny, light WSW, 11C

DIRFT/A5 Pools; afternoon.

20 Lapwings and two Dunlins on an island.  A Little Egret feeding and Kestel hunting.

A good number of Tral, Wigeon and Mallard, 14 Shoveler.

Lilbourne Meadows; afternoon.

 Meadows now have good water levels and attracting plenty of Duck, c100 Wigeon and c200 Teal, plus Mallard and a few Lapwings.

Should only get better as winter progresses.

24th Nov - cloudy am, showers pm, with mod-gusting SW, 10C

Willey; 

Green Sandpiper first thing in Hurls Furlong muddy gateway.

Stanford Reservoir; afternoon.

Eight Red-Crested Pochards.

23rd Nov - rain early, then sunny spells, light-mod SW, 8C

No obs today.

22nd Nov - drixxly am, high cloud pm, light W, 8 C

Stanford Reservoir, afternoon.

Twelve Red-Crested Pochards today.  Three Goldeneye.  Great Egret.

More Fieldfares, c100 and Redwings about.  A couple of Goldcrest, three Treecreepers, a Chiffchaff with the roving Tit flock.

21st Nov - a wet day from mid-moning until after dark, cool 7C, light SE

No Obs today.

20th Nov - sunny am, cloudy and light showers pm, light W, 9C

DIRFT/A5 Pools; morning.

The pools are well established again and were holding a good variety of Ducks, including c200 each of Teal and Wigeon.  Plus, c 50 each of Lapwings and Golden Plovers.  

A male Merlin flew over flushing the Plovers and chased one with no success. 

A Dunlin and Redshank were present, another Dunlin on the back pools.  

c20 Linnets and Kestrel hunting.

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.  Water level has risen well, practically no shore now.

The 12 Red Crested Pochard present, plus four Goldeneyes and the mother regular Ducks.  The Great Egret on the point, and a grey heron flew passed.

Three Bullfinches, Redwings and Fieldfares feeding on berries.

South Kilworth rail track path; late afternoon.

A Grey Wagtail was feeding around the puddles.  A Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were hunting over the adjacent fields.  Redwings and Fieldfares feeding on the hawthorn berries.  Four Yellowhammers were present.

19th Nov - cloudy am, then sunny, light WNW, 11C

Shawell Sandpit/Landfill; morning.

A look first thing, nothing new, Five Gadwall and several Wigeon still. only four Shoveler.

The recent rain has brought the water up, meaning several islands had flooded leaving less for the Gulls to rest on making ring reading less likely.

Draycote Water; afternoon.

I wanted to see the Long-tailed Duck which had been present several days. I only managed distant views of it and then flushed by a fishing boat not to be found again, but plenty of places for it to have gone to.

The Great Northern Diver was showing well and the adult Black tern was still present.

18th Nov - sunny spells, light, 11C

 Willey; Ravens seen several times over the village during the day.

The final estimate of Starlings, from photographs, going in to the Sawell roost as seen last Monday is 13000.

17th Nov - rain until mid-afternoon, light-mod W, 8C

Stanford Reservoir; later afternoon.

Three Goldeneye.  14 Red-Crested Pochards still present.

A Kingfisher at the settling pool.

16th Nov - sunny am, cloud increasing, light SE, 11C

Willey; morning.

Church Yews and lane hedge - Three Mistle Thrushes,  Redwings, Goldcrest, Chaffinch,  Greenfinches, eight House Sparrows and a single Starling.

Pitsford Reservoir; afternoon.

A wisp of 15 Snipes flew up and landed in cover. Two Dunlins distantly with Lapwing flock in Holcot Bay.  At least five Great Egrets and three Little Egrets, Grey Herons too.  Three drake Pintails, four Goldeneye among the other usual ducks.  

Redwings and Fieldfares around the field hedges/trees plus a Great Spotted Woodpecker.  In the feed station area only one Tree Sparrow and Greenfinch seen.  A Kestrel nearby.

15th Nov - steady rain until mid-afternoon, 11C, light SW

Shawell sandpit/Landfill;

A late look here after the rain, Gulls already heading off to roost.  

Eight Gadwall - a good site count. 14 Wigeon, plenty of Teal and Mallard.

14th Nov - foggy/misty start, slow to clear, thick cloud, very light S, 12C

Stanford reservoir, afternoon.

Highlights were, Great Egret, Kingfisher, a Little Egret, the 14 Red-crested Pochards still, drake Goldeneye, 20 Pochard, 11 Little Grebes, two Ravens, 

Shawell; late afternoon.

Checked the Starling roost which is building.  No murmurations flying low and fast direct to roost.  In order to estimate the number a number of photographs taken which will be counted to get the final estimated number.

13th Nov - mosty, slowly clearing, then mostly cloudy, light ESE, 12C

Soar Brook Lake, morning.

Very little in the way of waterbirds, a couple of Little Grebes and Tufted Ducks were the only notables.  Other birds around included Kestrel, a Raven, six Meadow Pipits, c 15 Redwings and two, Goldfinches.

It was interesting to see the range of Fungi fruiting on the relatively new grass area of the industrial park.

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.

Notables were - 42 Golden Plover circled but then headed off south.  The 14 Red-crested Pochards still in Keepers Bay.  A couple of Snipes were on show at the main reed bed., 13 Little Grebes were together.

A Peregrine flew a circuit, being hassled by a Black-headed Gull, before heading off SW.  

Great Egret on the point, and Little Egret and two Grey Herons at the inlet end.

A Jay was heard along the by-pass path.   Definitely more Redwings and Fieldfares present today than last visit.

12th Nov - mostly cloudy, 13C, light SE

Willey;

Three Mistle Thrushes around the Church Yews this morning, very quiet, I guess because not so many other thrushes they are having to chase off.

Magna Park Lake; morning.

here two Water Rails were heard.  

Mere Lane Lake; afternoon.

Two Little Grebes and nine Tufted Ducks and a female Reed Bunting were most notable.

Lilbourne Meadows; late afternoon.

c100 Teal on the new wet area, with Mallards.

A Yellowhammer and 8 Goldfinches were further back.  Few Redwings or Fieldfares.

11th Nov - mostly cloudy, mod SSW, warm, 16C

Shawell sandpit/Landfill, afternoon.

Raven, 50 counted, but a few more would have been out of sight on the landfill.  Ten Red Kites.

Ducks included 12 Wigeon, c60 Teal, Shoveler, Drake Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Mallard. One Little Grebe.

A large number of Gulls on the landfill and resting far side, a reasonable number resting in the sandpit.  I thought the number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls was lower then in recent weeks.  A Yellow-legged Gull was present in the sandpit.

10th Nov - cloudy, dullish, mid SSW, 14C

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.

The number of Red-crested Pochard has increased to 14, eleven drakes, together in Keepers Bay.  So, this now becomes my second highest count here.

Also, in Keepers was a Great Egret, and 10 Little Grebes.  A drake Goldeneye off the dam.  

A Red Kite, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were present too.  Eight Ravens were around the adjacent fields on the Leics side.

9th Nov - sunny spells, showers pm, light SW, 13C

Willey; morning.

A few more Redwings eating the Yew berries, plus Blackbird and Mistle Thrush.  Several Greenfinches too.

Stanford reservoir, afternoon.

Twelve Red-crested Pochards today, nine drakes.  

Here are a few more stats of my RCP records at this site since 2011.

Highest ever count was 17 (2/11/14), second highest 13 (9/11/14), ten on two occasions (26/10/14 and 8/11/22).

Other notable sightings today were a drake Goldeneye, three Red Kites, twelve Little Grebes, four+ Ravens.

Raven

8th Nov - sunny spells am, brisk SSW pm with showers later, 12C

Stanfiord Reservoir; afternoon.

The 10 Red-Crested Pochards we’re still present (seen this am by Chris Hubbard), eight drakes.  

Also, present a female Goosander and drake Goldeneye. 

7th Nov - cloudy, some light drizzle at times, light S wind, 13C

No obs to report today.

6th Nov - fog clearing, cloudy, heavy shower mid-pm, then sunny speels, 12C, light S

DIRFT Pools; morning.

Similar birds as yesterday, just more of each species, certainly looking attractive for the winter now.

Eyebrook reservoir; afternoon.

Lots of Lapwing now at the inlet end and 14 Golden Plover.  A couple of shelducks and 12 Goldeneye.

Two drake Red-crested Pochard out on the water with the Tufted Ducks.  Only one Little Egret, Grey Heron  and Red Kite seen

Mostly Black-headed and Common Gulls until roosting time when larger Gulls returned.

5th Nov - cloudy, some drizzle, light SW breeze, 13C

Shawell sandpit/Landfill; morning

67 Teal, Gadwall pair, 10 Shoveler, 19 Wigeon, 13 Mallard, Tufted Duck now increased to 14.

16 Red Kites.

c150 Gulls in the sandpit, many more distantly at the landfill.

DIRFT/A5 Pools; afternoon.

At last, some water has started to refill the pools in the non -developed area and currently are attracting a good number of Mallards and Wigeon, plus a Grey Heron.  On the rough area of weeds c70 Linnets were feeding and two Stonechats were feeding (m & f).

Stanford reservoir; late afternoon.

The Great White Egret was present, plus al the regular ducks.  In particular numbers of Wigeon and Shovelers seem pretty high at the moment.  Also, Pochard numbers have increased.

Looking through the Gull roost Chris Hubbard spotted an adult Mediterranean Gull. Gull numbers were good this evening.

3rd Nov - sunny spells, 13C

Willey; morning

A Sparrowhawk flew up Church Lane into the Holly tree.

A small flock of Starlings flying over to the fields, c 70 Redwings around the Church Lane area and fields.

At least four Greenfinch around the Church Yew tree.

Shawell sandpit/Landfill, late afternoon.

A Gadwall pair, 32 Wigeon, two Little Grebe.

At least 200 Jackdaws gathering pre-roost in the spinney tree tops.

4th Nov - Grass Frost last night. sunny, light NW, 12C

Willey; early afternoon.

A small number of Redwings around, some coming to the church Yew.  Four Chaffinches preset, also going to the Yew tree, presumably to catch insects. A Goldcrest too.

A Green Woodpecker called nearby.

2nd Nov - Mostly cloudy, wind increasing, becoming mod-strong gusty (20 mph) pm, S, 13C

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.

Unfortunately, Bird Flu is taking a slow but steady toll, most obviously of the Swans and Geese, lets hope it doesn't spread to the hundreds of other birds present (Ducks, Gulls, etc).

12 Ravens were feeding on bird carcasses around the shores, will they catch Bird Flu??

One drake Pintail, a good number of Shoveler and a few more Pochard than last week.  Five Red-crested Pochards, (3 drakes) in Keepers bay.  

A single Kestrel and a Green Sandpiper near the dam.

1st Nov - Showers, breezy, SSE-SSW, 14C

No obs today to report.