30th June - cloudy, light NWS, cool, 16C

Lilbourne Meadows; late afternoon.

Lapwing 19, Little Egret 16, Gadwall with 11 ducklings, 3 Black-headed Gull, including a juv. 

Stock Dove, three Goldfinch. c50 Starlings.

29th June - Sunny spells, light NW, 22C

Lilbourne Meadows; morning.

19 Little Egrets and 3 Grey Herons.  Oystercatcher. Red Kite over.

Misterton;

At last, I found the Spotted Flycatcher here, taking food to a nest too.

Mere Lane Lake area; afternoon.

Little Grebe, mallard, Coot all with young.  A Mute Swan pair, but no youngsters.  Reed Warblers singing.

Small and large Skippers.

Shawell Gravel Pit;

A red Kite over, a Green Woodpecker calling.  Reed Warblers.

Only one marbled White found.

Shawell Sandpit/Landfill;

Four Little Grebes (incl one juv), 12 Mute Swans, 14 Red Kites, Ravens and plenty of Rooks today.

At least 300 Lesser Black-backed Gulls a few Herring and Black-headed.

One Great Crested Grebe and a Grey Heron.

Small Skippers

28th June - sunny spells, light SW, 20C

Stanford reservoir; afternoon

c70 Swifts with House Martins feeding around and over the res.  2 Oystercatcher, 10 Shovelers and 6 Pochard on the dam and a Lapwing flew in off the field.

A Muntjac tried to come through the gate I was near before spotting me, then running off.

Ringlets, Meadow Browns, and 4 Small Skippers, 1 Speckled Wood

27th June - sunny spells, mod SW at times, 22C

Willey; A Red Kite over Perkins area 1430h.

26th June - Sunny, hot, 27C, light SSW

 Willey; A Raven was over the fields to the east circling and calling, 1400h.

Lilbourne Meadows; evening.

Rather quite on the flood pools, no Egrets or Herons.

The Shoveler duck with the seven young still, a few Lapwings and Starlings feeding.  Teal now up to 6 in total.

A Green Woodpecker showed briefly on a fence post.

25th June - Sunny, hot. 27C. little or light ENE

 Willey; Red Kite circling over top lane  fields, opp allotments, 1130h.

Swift Valley; checked this evening for Purple hairstreak, but none found, very few butterflies, just a couple Meadow Browns.  Chiffchaff singing, Kestrel over.

Lilbourne Meadows; Two redshank, one a juvenile, nine Little Egrets, Shoveler female with some ducklings visible along the fence.  

36 Lapwings, c70 Starlings feeding.

24th June - Sunny, 25C

Willey; 1100h, Great Spotted Woodpecker calling from trees near Perkins spinney.

Lilbourne Meadows; evening

Teal 4, Shoveler duck with the 7 ducklings still, 7 Little Egrets, Grey Heron 1. Snipe 1.

Stanford reservoir - dam area

Shoveler 2, juv Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Oystercatcher, Great Spotted Woodpecker.

23rd June - Sunny, hot, 25C, very light SW

Lilbourne Meadows; morning. 

Less about than yesterday, but 6 Oystercatchers, 9 Little Egrets and two Grey Herons.

A Kestrel and 3 Red Kites over one of the meadows being mown.

Cottingham; early afternoon.

Went to see the female red-backed Shrike that had been found this morning.  It was just in Northants on the rail track when I got there, then it flew down the hedge line in to Leics.

Eyebrook reservoir;

I had a quick look here on the way back, pretty quiet, the usual including 65 Lapwings, a Oystercatcher, 2 Shelducks

22nd June - Sunny, 23C, light WNW

WIlley; evening.

This emerald green beetle decided to land on my reading material, a False Oil Beetle I think.

Lilbourne Meadows; morning.

15 Little Egrets and 5 Grey Herons.  The Snipe was showing again, 18 Lapwings.  Three drake Teal.

Two juvenile Little Ringed Plovers, very bright sun, but a distant record shot.

Misterton, afternoon.

Juvenile Grey Wagtail at the lake outflow.  A couple of Buzzards behind the Church over the meadows.

Husbands Bosworth Sandpit

Two pairs of Little Grebes with youngsters, four Stock Doves.

Local Site

Little Ringed Plover pair with three chicks.

21st June - sunny periods, light-mod SW, 22C

Lilbourne Meadows; late afternoon.

Small flock of lapwings, c 15, Curlew flew in, then off NE later.  

Five Grey herons and 7 Little Egrets.

Gadwall with 11 ducklings and a Mallard with 8.

c25 Starlings feeding.

20th June - Sunny spells, 19C

Stanford Reservoir; evening.

Three Oystercatchers, a Common Sandpiper, single Cormorant, three drake Pochards on dam, and a male Yellow Wagtail dropped in.

Lilbourne Meadows;

Female Shoveler with seven ducklings (has lost one).  Little Egret seven.  Oystercatcher 1.  Juv Little Ringed Plover.

c 40 Starlings feeding among the Sheep

19th June - sunny am, cloudy pm, 18C, light ENE

Stanford reservoir; evening

A Collared Dove on the spillway railings (my last record was in 2013).

An Oystercatcher on the dam, and 27+ Pied Wagtails in the area, a Cuckoo was calling.

A Mallard with 7 young ducklings.

Lilbourne Meadows;

9 Little Egrets, two Oystercatchers, a Snipe was again out feeding and preening.

24 Starlings had gathered in the dead trees.

18th June - sunny spells pm, cloudy pm, sunny evening, 18C, light NW

Lilbourne Meadows; afternoon.

17 Lapwings, 10 Little Egrets, two Teal drakes still, Moorhen with youngster.

Three Swifts and a Buzzard over.  

Otherwise fairly quiet.

17th June - sunny periods, some cloud showers pm, 19C, light WSW

Willey; during the afternoon a Jay flew from the Long Spinney in to the trees of the first Perkins hedge.  Also, several meadow Browns out today.

Lilbourne Meadows; morning

Two drake Teal, a Buzzard, 9 Little Egrets, 4 Gadwall, a female Shoveler.

Stanford reservoir;

Drake Shoveler and Pochard, seven Grey Wagtails, two Red-legged partridges, a Sand Martin with the House Martins.

16th June - sunny spells, mod SW

 No obs today

15th June - Showers all day and thunderstorm (am), sunny spells, light SW, 16C

Due to Vintage rally weekend I only managed a short trip early evening to Lilbourne Meadows.

Seven Little Egrets and four Grey Herons feeding on the field flood pools.

Redshank heard, six Lapwings, four Shovelers but no duckling brood seen.

14thn June - cloudy, with increasing sunny during the day, the odd bit of rain, 16C, mod 16C

Soar Brook Lake; morning.

Pretty quiet, a Mallard with 3 mid-sized ducklings.  Two Oystercatchers, partly hidden, possible young around.  Female Grey Wagtail.

Lilbourne Meadows; afternoon.

Quieter here today.  Three Little Egrets, two Shoveler, Oystercatcher heard.

Two Hobbies hawking over the bank and over the pools.  A few Swifts too.

Stanford reservoir; evening.

A smaller number of Swifts and House Martins this evening.  However, a Sand Martin was present.

The Greylag flock now up to 112, although I can only see two broods this year.

Little Egret on the field pool again.  

Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap singing near the first gate, Northants side.  A Grey Wagtail around the outlet pipes.

Both Blue and Great Tits feeding recently fledged young in the trees.

13th June - cloudy, SSW mod, becoming fresh S, 15C, light rain late pm/evening

 Stanford reservoir; evening. 12C/spits rain, fresh S

Many Swift and House Martins, very low over water, plus Swallows, due to the cold and windy conditions.  A Little Egret was at the out field pool.

The female Mandarin put in an appearance on the dam, we wonder whether they are breeding locally.

12th June - Sunny spells, 17C, light SW

Shearsby; a couple of evening ago I visited a farm there to check the Little Owls, which were in their usual trees.  There also a Red Kites nest there which is well hidden now in a tall, dense Willow tree.

Lilbourne Meadows; evening

A Redshank and a Snipe at the flood pools, along with the Shoveler family.  Two Little Egrets.

A young Goldfinch was following a parent.

Stanford reservoir;

Two drake Pochards, early returners.  Three Oystercatchers - one a juvenile.

Green Woodpecker around the dam area, a Lapwing flew over from its field territory.

Three Grey Wagtails, a good number of Pied Wagtail juvs with their parents.

11th June - another cool day, 15C, mostly light NW, mostly cloudy

Willey;  Lots of young Green Woodpecker noise in the top spinney first thing, I think they have fledged!

Stanford reservoir; morning.

A Whimbrel was found this morning on the dam b y Chris Hubbard, so I went to look, it was showing well.

10th June - rasin ealry,then showers ans sunny intervals,,some heavy showers, mod NW wind, 14C

Willey; One Red Kite over the grass fields first thing.

Lilbourne Meadows; evening.

Shoveler duck still with her 8 ducklings.

A Dunlin, 11 Lapwings, 3 Little Egrets,  3 Oystercatchers.

Stanford reservoir; evening.

The Pink-footed Goose was again present with the Greylags, now 40 present.

A Cuckoo singing, Yellow Wagtail and families of Pied Wagtails on the dam. Two Oystercatchers too, looks like they've not raised young this year.

Swifts, Swallows and House Martins feeding overhead.

9th June - Early sun, soon gave way to mod high flat cloud, mod/fresh WNW, 16C

Willey; Four Red Kites, two Buzzards plus Gulls feeding over the grass being picked up that was cut yesterday.

RSPB Ouse Fen

The Great Reed Warbler was in great song, almost continuous, but it was 2 hours before it climbed up the reeds, - too windy, and then not very for very long.

Close by a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling, eventually it too showed for a while.  Some record shots of it in the swaying greenery.

Plenty of other birds to see including Bittern (and booming), Hobbies, Marsh Harriers, Cuckoos.

Lilbourne Meadows; early evening.

Redshank, Oystercatchers, 6 Little Egrets, Little Grebes, a Snipe and all the other recent regulars.

Best was a female Shoveler with 8 new ducklings.