30th Oct - cloudy, light SW-S, 12C

WIlley;

A Red Kite over at 1315h

29th Oct - light rain until late morning, then cloudy, light WSW, 11C

Lilbourne Meadows; afternoon.

c120 Canada and 4 Greylag Geese, 14 Wigeon, 6 Teal, 5 Mallard, 22 Lapwings.

Linnet 10. two small flock of Starling flew over west - c 40 total.

Black-headed Gulls on the island pond coming and going from local fields.

28th Oct - mod-fresh WSW, 13C, sunny spells.

 Bittesby Country Park; afternoon

I did have a wander over here, but clearly the wind was too keen for things to be showing.  A Red Kite, Green Woodpecker and two Pheasants were noted.

A fully ripe Fly Agaric was spotted.

27th Oct - fresh NW, 11C, a few sunny spells.

 No obs today.

But I am wondering where have the Redwings and particularly Fieldfares, got to, with very few being seen.

26th )ct - sunny initially, then clouding over, with light rain/drizzle pm, mod W/NW, 10C

Lilbourne Meadows; morning.

even Mute Swans at the island pond today, plus seven Wigeon.  A few Meadow Pipits, a Goldfinch and two Linnets.

Three Stonechats..  A red Kite over, a couple of Grey Herons.  c40 Starlings flew through.

Rutland Water afternoon.

The water level is 4 metres below full,, which means there is lots of exposed shore everywhere, and of course during the long dry summer much vegetation has also grown up in places that would normally be a narrow shore.

Plenty of common ducks, Herons, Egrets etc, but not much else really, mind you the dull/wet conditions were not favourable either.

I did a Goldeneye in the far distance from Lapwing hide.  And a Marsh harrier from the over lagoon 1 reeds.

25th Oct - cloudy, giving sunny spells later, mod-fresh NW, 10C

Shawell Sandpit/Landfill; morning.

Very similar to usual, but 3 drake Pochard and 6 Wigeon were in, plus 8n Gadwall and 7 Mute Swans. 

12 Ravens were having a good time in the wind around the spinney.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew along the lane hedge trees.

Brandon Marsh; afternoon.

One aim was to find passerine roving flocks, however I didn't find any!

On East Marsh were c120 Lapwing and c70 Wigeon, plus a good number of Teal and Shoveler.

A drake Mandarin had been seen earlier, unusual here, it took quite awhile to find it sitting on a branch under cover over the water.

I did a bit of a fungi forage, plenty to find here.

24th Oct - sunny am, clouding over pm, light shower late, mod-fresh SW, 12C

Willey;

Richard T told me he had a family,of Grey wagtails in his garden, 3 juvs, yesterday.

c25 Fieldfare top field trees again.

c20 Redwings in trees/old railway bushes mid-morning, 7 Fieldfares too..

Green Woodpecker heard, a few Starling around the pastures, then flew off SW.

Stanford Res.; afternoon.

Bittern, finally good views of one of the (two) Bitterns we have here.  It walked along the waterside of the Leics reed bed - amazing looking bird.

Two Kingfishers flying around.

23rd Oct - strong wind and some rain through early, then birsk wind and cloudy, 12C

Willey; c 25 Fieldfare flew in to trees near top corner spinney, then off.

Lilbourne Meadows;, afternoon.

The first bird I spotted was a super male Stonechat atop a hedge, something moved just below it and a female Blackcap popped out and took a look around.  Another Stonechat was present too.

At the island pond a good number of Canada and Greylags, plus Mallard, four Wigeon, c 20 Teal and a Mute Swan.

Gulls kept dropping in to the pond, including Black-headed, Common, Great Black-backed and Herring.

A Kestrel was about too.

22nd Oct - Clody, a few sunny spells pm, light SW/W, 14C

Stanford res; afternoon.

A female Pintail, plenty Teal and Shoverlers still, plus Pochard.  

Two Whooper Swans (found by Chris Hubbard earlier) were still present.

A Snipe at the reed bed edge.

Plenty of Little Egrets and Great White Egrets around (11 and 2 seen in one sweep, with other out of view).

Long-tailed Tits, with Great Tits, two Chiffchaff and Goldcrests moving around the thickets/hedges.

21st Oct - Sunny spells, mod SW, 14C

Willey; morning

Only a handful of Redwings around first thing.  

c14 Greenfinches flew in, some landed on Church Yews.

Three Ravens over and chasing each other.

Stanford Res; afternoon.

Nothing new, still good numbers of Teal and Shovelers.

Pochard numbers seem to have increased, I counted 30 and there would have been more elsewhere.

Three Fieldfares, otherwise few passerines seen.

A Kingfisher flew over the main water.  25 Stock Doves feeding on adjacent field and c200 Starlings.

20th Oct - light rain showers am, then a few sunny spells pm, light SE, 15C

Willey; morning

c30 redwings and 2 Mistle Thrushes in Church Yew and adjacent hedges, plus four Greenfinches.

Lilbourne Meadows; afternoon.

116 and 32 Canada and Greylag Geese respectively, c 30 Lapwings flew in.   C 209 each teal and Mallard.

 Seven Common Gulls with Black-headed Gulls on the lake.   A single Little Egret.

Two Kestrels hunting and three Buzzards 'playing' in the wind over the bank.

Four Stonechats on the meadows, together, and 6+ Meadow Pipits around.

19th Oct - cloud increasing, light rain from 1230h, light SE, 13C

 Shawell Sandpit/landfill area; morning.

With the Herring and Lesser Black-black Gulls a !CY Caspian, a Common  and 14 Great Black-backed Gulls.

c30 Ravens, 5 Red Kites, a Buzzard and a Kestrel.

Ducks included three Shovelers, 21 Teal, a Wigeon.   I counted 115 Coots and 7 Little Grebes and 11 Mute Swans.

Eyebrook Reservoir; afternoon.

Visited with the aim of seeing the juv American Golden Plover which had been reported again during the morning.  Typically, when I arrived it had just flown, and thought to be on an  adjacent field with the Lapwing and Golden Plovers, these were  flighty with the flock rising often and birds heading off, a handful came back to the inlet area, but not the AGP.  Just after a short while someone saw a single ''grey' looking plover back on the close shore, and sure enough it was the AGP, despite the rain and dull weather it showed well.

It is worth noting the water level is very low, with lot of shore and mud at the inlet, so there a good chance of more waders turning up in the area during the late autumn/winter.  A redshank was present today.

At the island a female Scaup was with a small flock of feeding Tufted Ducks.

18th Oct - again cloudy and dull, with very light SE, 14C

Willey; A red Kite over mid-day.

Stanford reservoir; afternoon

A couple of female Pintails near the point, all the usual ducks.  I think there are many winter ducks to arrive yet,  the weather has been incredibly tame during the autumn so far.

A Kingfisher flew along the waters edge.  In the spillway several Pied and Grey Wagtails.

17th Oct - cloudy dull, very light-light NE/E, 14C

 Soar Brook Lake; morning

A couple of Raven in the conifers, Red Kite over.   Little Grebe, Grey Heron and a Little Egret.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew in.

Lilbourne Meadows; afternoon.

A couple of Snipe got up and flew off.  Four Stonechats were busy feeding near the lorry park.

Five Pink-footed Geese flew in low from the north, then turned off eastwards.

A Kestrel was being hassled by a crow.

16th Oct - cloudy, but a little brighter today, very light NE, 14C

 Bittesby Country Park; late afternoon.

Two Buzzards, a Green Woodpecker, two Ravens over. Five Pheasants.

A Stonechat.

Several Dragonflies still.

15th Oct - cloudy, dull, light NNE, 14C

Willey;

A few redwings this  morning around the old railway and Holly Tree, three Fieldfares too, this autumns first here.

Ravens around during the morning.

Stanford Res; afternoon.

Plenty of Teal and Shoveler still, 9+ Pochard.

Two Common Gulls with the Black-headed in Keepers bay.

A couple of Chiffchaffs, otherwise few passerines around the bushes.  Single Field fare present before flying oss.

6+ Little Egrets, two Great White Egrets and several Herons.  Water Rail heard in Northants reed bed.

14th Oct - cloudy, dull, misty at times, almost still NNE, 13C

Willey; 

At last Redwings have arrived a few first thing then c 50 around the Holly Tree area and eating the berries mis-morning.

Beacon Hill, Charnwood

A Snow Bunting was found this morning on the path (one here 2 years ago, having missed the last  Leics county record I popped up these after lunch and fortunately it was still showing well in the area.

13th Oct - cloudy, with light fine drizzle/mist at times, very light NE, 15C

 Willey; 1200h-ish

Two, possibly more, Chiffchaffs in the Church Yews, church lane hedge.

12th Oct - Fog, not clearing until mid-afternoon, then cloudy, very light NE, 12C

WeBs count day, but not too much moving around due to the fog and still weather, just the usual waterbirds.  I did hear a water Rail at Magna Park lake, and a Great White Egret at Stanford Hall lake.  In the trees along the Stanford lane c50 Siskins were feeding.  A Green Woodpecker was preset at both Soar Brook Lake and Mere Lane Lake.

Stanford res; afternoon.

A Cackling Goose was with the Canada Geese, initially spotted by Chris. 

A roving flock contained c10 Chiffchaffs, a female Blackcap, Long-tailed Tits and a Treecreeper.

Several Little Egrets and Grey Herons around the reservoir.

A Hornet was spotted on the ground.

11th Oct - flat cloud all day, very light N, 13C

 Lilbourne meadows; afternoon.

Red Kite over, 8 Teal, a Shoveler and a Wigeon with a few Mallards, Greylags and a Cormorant on the island pond.

Great spotted Woodpecker over. 10 Linnets and a few Goldfinches.

Shawell Sandpit and Landfill area

55 Ravens together on the landfill side bank, a few Red Kites.

Ducks included 25 Teal, 21 Wigeon, four Shoveler, 11 Gadwall, a few mallard and Tufted, 13 Mute Swans, plus Greylag and Canada Geese.

A Peregrine was sitting on a works tower, whilst c 20 Feral Pigeons were flying around the area and dropping down nearby.

10th Oct - mostly cloudy, sunny spells pm, light NW, 15C

 Willey;

Several Song Thrushes and Blackbirds eating Holly berries, but no Redwings yet.

Two, may Three Chiffchaff's in Church Yews and Church lane hedge, plus 6 Greenfinches.

Great Spotted Woodpecker around.

9th Oct - flat cloud, light SW, 15C

 No Obs today

8th Oct - mostly high cloud, breaking pm, light W-NW, 14C

Stanford res; afternoon.

Another stake-out for the Bittern, but no luck.  Two were seen today, which is quite incredible.

13 Little Egrets, a Great White Egret and several Grey Herons.  A Snipe appeared on the reed bed edge.

Water Rail was heard in the Northants reed bed.

Several lapwings were on the floating weed bed, later c60 flew over and landed on the adjacent arable field.

Still good numbers of Teal, Shoveler and Cormorants.

7th Oct - sunny spells, light SW, 14C

Willey; Red Admiral and Speckled Wood seen today.

This morning c50 Stock Doves were feeding in the Barn field were the cattle had been fed.

Shawell Sandpit/landfill; early evening

A check here but there was nothing new and no further sighting of the Ferruginous Duck that cal had on the 1st Oct.

6th )ct - sunny light-mod SW, 19C

Wells harbour; morning

A morning watch here produced a Red-throated Diver and two Great Crested Grebes in the main channel, plus all the normal Waders, Brent Geese, with Pink-feet over and a few seals on the sand bank enjoying the sunshine for a change.

Snettisham Beach

 Had decent views of the Great Short-toed Lark that has been here a few days now.  Busy in the vegetation and showing at times in the clear pebble patches.

5th Oct - mod-fresh breeze W, 15C, sunny spells

Wells Harbour; early morning

All the expected waders and Geese were on view as the tide receded.

Cley Sea watch

a little less windy, more importantly wind moved more W/NW.  More Gannets and Guillemots, most were too far out. A Red-throated Diver quite close in.

Morston; afternoon

juv red-backed Shrike showed well at times.  A male Stonechat too and some super fungi nearby, plus a single Wall butterfly seen.

North Point Pools

A Greenshank over, c 20 Egyptian Geese and two raven over were notable.  Plus the regular Ducks and Geese.

4th Oct - again strong-gusty WSW, a few short showers, cloudy, 13C

Norfolk - another unfavourable weather day in the Wells-Cley area making it challenging to find birds.

Kelling Water Meadows did not produce too much, although distant passerines occasionally rose from the vegetation, who knows what was among the Linnets!

Cley NWT; a few Pink-footed Geese were around, a hunting Marsh Harrier, plenty Black-tailed Godwits, but few other waders.  Sea-watching was again a waste of time.

North Point Pools; held five Spoonbills today, three Cattle Egrets and two marsh harriers.  One a juv/female the other a male.

Wells Harbour area; the tide was in, but there were areas where roosting birds could be seen, including Turnstones, Oystercatchers, Bar-tailed Godwits and Dunlin.  A flock of  50+ Sandwich Terns flew in to the lower harbour area before leaving and heading off west.  A few Brent Geese were present.