30th Sept - sunny, 20C, v light/light S-SW

Bittesby CP; afternoon

No Stonechats found, which was disappointing.

A Jay, Buzzard and Meadow Pipit over the meadows.

A single Chiffchaff in the hedgerow.

Plenty Dragonflies, Insects and several Butterflies, including a Speckled Wood and Small Copper.

Loads of berries on the bushes this year around here - ready for the Thrushes.

29th Sept - mostly cloudy, light-very light W-NW, 16C

Willey; morning

Several Ravens heard calling over the fields to the east during the morning.

28th Sept - mostly sunny, 16C, light W

Lilbourne Meadows; morning

c10 each Swallow and House Martins feeding over several times.

Roving Tit flock included 3+ Chiffchaffs.   Skylark and Meadow Pipits around.

Four Mutes, 14 Mallards, four Teal, one Tufted and nine Greylags on the island pond, plus Black-headed Gulls dropping in frequently.

Stanford res; afternoon.

Another 'stake-out' this afternoon for the Bittern, no joy though, of course it showed briefly after I had left.

A couple of Red Kites over, otherwise similar to last visit, still plenty of Chiffchaffs present.

27th Sept - cloudy, light-mod SE-S, 15C

Shawell Sandpit/Landfill; morning

Quiet, however the first Wigeon back (3 on south pit), otherwise Duck numbers for Tufted, Teal and mallard all were lowered than recently.  Plenty of Red Kites and ravens over the landfill.  

Two Lapwings at the south pit.

Four Swallows and 8 Meadow Pipits over, well spotted by Carl.

Stanford res; afternoon.

A few Swallows here too.  

Cormorant numbers have shot up, 105 counted on the dam, plus a few more dotted around the res - must be plenty of fish here.

A Great White Egret and several Little Egrets.  Two Snipe, first of the autumn, were noted flying around the res.

Roving mixed passerine flocks included , Blue and Great Tits, Treecreeper, Goldcrests, Blackcap and numerous Chiffchaffs.

Food begging by juv Great-crested Grebes is occurring.

A Speckled Wood was seen.

26th Sept - light-very light NE, 15C, cloud filling in by pm.

Stanford res; afternoon.

Chris came up trumps again by finding a Slavonian Grebe early morning, the first here since 2003, so a very scarce visitor here.

Wigeon and Pochard numbers have gone up, c50 and 20 each,  Gadwall appear up a little c25 on the dam alone, Teal and Shoveler remain high too.  Cormorant have increased markedly to c60.

A roving tit flock contained a minimum of 8 Chiffchaffs (counted), with others unidentified flitting in then bushes.

25th Sept - Sunny, light-mod NE, 17C

Willey; a Sparrowhawk first thing flew in to BH wood from over the fields

Quinton Park, Coventry; morning

Whilst my car was in the garage I had a walk around this small park, nothing special.  The usual Canada Geese, Black-headed Gulls and c120 Feral Pigeons, plus Blackbirds, Moorhens and Mallards.

Lilbourne Meadows; evening

Evening are very short now, but Owls ought to begin showing, Barn and eventually maybe Short-eared.

Six Meadow Pipits, Greylag and Canada Geese, a Mute Swan, Mallard, Stock Dove, with many Gulls coming over heading to their roost.

24th Sept - mostly cloudy am, suny spells pm, 15C, light/mod Easterly

Stanford reservoir; evening.

I've been staking out the res in the evenings to see if I could see the Glossy Ibis come in to roost.  It got to just after 1900h this evening and still no luck, although a Kingfisher whizzing up and down and Ravens flying and calling as they went to roost plus searching through the Ducks kept me occupied.

Then at 1915h two  Glossy Ibis flew in quite quickly from the east, and up to Keepers Bay where they were lost behind a tree.  They were quite low and dropping, so certain they were going in to roost. here somewhere.

Just need to find where they spend the day time now!

23rd Sept - mostly sunny, light N-NE, 16C

Willey; a Reeves Muntjac in the BH wood this afternoon, phone pic.

Bittesby CP;

Six Stonechats along the meadows fence line. Also, meadow Pipits, Skylark, Red Kite, Raven.

Rooks and Grey Wagtail flew over.

Speckled Wood, Small White, Red Admiral.  

Stanford res; afternoon.

The main event was the discovery of a Lesser Scaup by Chris Hubbard today.  An eclipse drake, showing well if a little distant.  Fist site and county (Northants) record.

A late Common Tern was also present.

22nd Sept - A touch of frost last night, quite chilly really,. Sunny spells, mod NW-N wind, 16C

Lilbourne Meadows; late afternoon.

A few nice records today.  The Curlew was again present and stayed around the shore of the  island pond.  A Wheatear was feeding from the fence line and ground near the island pond.  

Six Meadow Pipits were on the island, and c20 Linnets feeding on the weeds nearby.  A Yellow Wagtail was around and two Swallows dropped in.

 A Little Egret and six Teal were present too.

20th Sept - mostly cloudy, mod-freshening SSW, 19C

Willey; Three Swallows over the Sheep fields this morning

Shawell sandpit and Landfill; morning

I did look at the lagoons area before here, butt these were very quiet indeed.

Here, a minimum of 30 Ravens were over the landfill, enjoying the wind and 15 Red Kites.

20 Mute Swans still plus the other regulars. 

Little Grebe numbers have dropped off (Stanford res is up!), only three Shoveler and six Teal - again Stanford res is well up.

Stanford res; afternoon.

The Cattle Egret was with four Little Egrets at the inflow Sheep fields, only the second record I think.

I counted 150 Shoverlers, and there were others around the water, plus at least 70 Teal, all loving the floating weed mats.   Five each Wigeon and Pochard.

21 Little Grebes in Keepers bay together.

A Hobby put in a brief fly past along the Leics side.

A roving Tit flock had two+ Chiffchaffs with them.

The Black-necked grebe was out in the middle of the res, managed some distant pics.

The Crab apple tree has surpassed itself this year with an enormous quantity of apples.

19th Sept - broken cloud am, sunny pm, light/mod SW, 24C

Willey; 12 Swallows this morning feeding low over the fields..

Bittesby Country Park;  a thorough search did not find the Whinchats this afternoon.  A Red Kite around though,

Lilbourne Meadows; late afternoon.

Also, very quiet.  A Buzzard hanging in then wind over the bank, the odd Swallow popping in for a drink at the island pond and two Mute Swans.

A Red Admiral.

18th Sept - sunny spells, mod-gust SW, 18C

WIlley; 20 Swallows over the fields first thing.

Shawell sandpit/landfill area; afternoon.

A Common Sandpiper and two Green Sandpipers.

Plenty of Gulls, including Caspian and Yellow-legged.

Raven c20 and Red Kites.  Good to see a flock c200 Starlings on the landfill.

10 Teal

20 Mute Swans (south + main pit).  The latter is a record count here that I know of and probably for SW Leicestershire (see BSWL Baggot and Baker).

17th Sept - mostly cloudy am, sunny spells pm, mod- breezy S, 19C

Husbands Bosworth Quarry; late morning

A quick look here produced two Teal, 79 Mallards, Moorhen and few Swallows and Sand Martins.

16th Sept - mostly cloud am, sunny spells pm, mostly mod-brisk W, easing late, 19C

Willey; 

12 Swallows of the fields first thing.

Evening Swallows and  the odd House and Sand martin feeding over the village.

Bittesby Country Park; afternoon.

Despite the breezy conditions two Whinchats were seen.

A  Red Admiral and Large White

Lilbourne Meadows; afternoon

Three Little Egrets, a Grey Heron and a Curlew were of note.

15th Sept - sunny spells, strong/gusty SW (40mph gusts) at times, 19C

Willey;  a couple of Swallows noted

Soar Brook Lake; afternoon.

Not much showing due to the wind.

138 Greylags, a Cormorant, a Green Woodpecker, two Swallows and a Buzzard over.

14th Sept - cloudy and mostly light SW, 14 with rain developing early afternoon. The most we have had for many months - nearly 10mm

Lilbourne Meadows; morning

A walk through the meadows area enable me to find five Whinchats, sometimes feeding together.  Also, Skylark, Reed Bunting, Kestrel and a Green Woodpecker heard.

Stanford reservoir; early afternoon.

estimated 500 House martins, 100 Sand Martins and 20 Swallows feeding over the water.

Four COmmon Sandpipers again,   Plus still a good number of Shoveler and Teal and 10 Wigeon.  I expect the former two will reduce in number as the weed disappears. 

A juv male Green Woodpecker was near the dam feeding.

13th Sept - Sunny spells, showers around pm, 18C, cooler in showers, 18C, SSW-SW breeze

Lilbourne Meadows; morning.

The main sighting was the Curlew again at the island pond.

A Small Copper near entrance too.

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.

Plenty of Teal and Shoverlers (70+), most feeding or sleeping on the main water where the weed mat is floating.
On this weed mat I noticed a female Ruff was feeding.

Four Common Sandpipers and six Grey Wagtails in the spillway.  Also a melanistic grey Heron.

A flock of Swallows, House and Sand Martins moved in as a showers approached.  A Sparrowhawk flew along the path Northants side.

A male and female Blackcap were seen, a Chiffchaff too.

The only Butterflies were a single Speckled Wood and a few large Whites.

12th Sept - Sunny, becoming cloudy with sunny intervals, light becoming brisk SW, 18C. Showers around pm

Shawell Sandpit/landfill; late afternoon.

10 Red Kites, c 20 Ravens, plenty of Gulls including 38+ GBBGs.

A Common Sandpiper, only four Teal yet and no Shovelers (all at weedy Stanford reservoir!).

13 Mute  Swans which is close or a record here (need to check).

11th Sept - sunny spells am, showers pm, 18C, mod-breezy at time SW

 Bittesby Country park; morning

A check for Chats over the meadows, but none found.

Kestrel Red Kite, Buzzard, 6+ Swallows

Two small Copper Butterflies.

Eyebrook Res; afternoon.

A good selection present today, waders included a Pectoral, 3 Common and a Green Sandpipers, Ruff, Spotted Redshank and a flock of 11 Ringed Plovers flew in.

The juvenile Shag was still present and a juv/female Marsh harrier flew along the inlet area.  A juv Black Tern was on the main water (initially spotted by John Hunt, a Northants birder).

A couple of Pintail and Wigeon were among the other Ducks.

10th Sept - sunny intervals, breezy S, 18C

 A busy day

Lilbourne Meadows; evening

Very quiet, a Shoveler, three Gadwall and Teal, a couple of Stock Doves and a Kestrel.

9th Sept - sunny intervals, 21C, mod-fresh S

Stanford res; afternoon.

A good number of Shovelers and Teal present plus, now 10 Wigeon.

Three Common Sandpipers and five Grey Wagtails around the dam/spillway.

Otherwise, other regulars.

Butterflies were Green-veined White, large White and Common Blue.

8th Sept - sunny spells, light S, 20C

 Bittesby CP; morning

I was pleased to find three Whinchats on the Meadows fence line, they were a bit nervous and disappeared in to the vegetation before I could zoom in for pics.  No doubt another day will see them here again.

A juv Buzzard was calling and a Kestrel hunting near the lake, where the Mute Swan family was feeding.

 A green Woodpecker called, a couple of hen Pheasant were flushed from the vegetation, a couple of Red Kites over and c 10 Swallows feeding.

Butterflies included Large White, Red Admiral, Common Blue, Speckled Wood and Small Copper.

Lilbourne Meadows; evening

c20 Starlings, only a single Lapwing, three Teal and eight Mallards, plus Canada and Greylag Geese.

A few Linnets and a Buzzard on the fence post.

7th Sept - mostly sunny, odd short shower, light-mod S, 22C

 Willey; 

A single Yellow Wagtail with the Sheep first thing, and c50 Swallows on the telegraph wires

Lilbourne Meadows; early evening

Three Kestrels hunting, and two Buzzards hanging in the breeze over the bam.

A Little Egret, Canada Geese and a Mute Swan

6th Sept - sunny periods, light becoming mod S, 22C

Mere Lane Lake; morning

Quite a few House martins and a few Sand martins and Swallows around the lake area and over fields.

Black-headed Gulls kept dropping in to the lake.

Six+ Little Grebes, plenty of Moorhens.

c15 Goldfinches feeding, Green Woodpecker heard, Red Kite over.

Magna Park Lake area

Rather quiet, a Buzzard flew from the trees.

Stanford res; afternoon.

Duck numbers are increasing, 30 Teal, 27 Shovelers, five Wigeon plus Tufted and Mallard.

Nine Little grebes near the dam, two Common Sandpipers, Grey and Pied Wagtail on the dam.

House Martins and Swallows around, a Green Woodpecker too.

Butterflies - Small Copper (2), Common Blue (c10), a Green-veined White, Small White and a Speckled Wood.