28th October Wednesday - sunny spells am, cloudy and light rain briefly pm, 14C, light SW

WIlley; a Red Kite Over first thing, and the Kestrel again near the allotments.

Stanford Reservoir; late afternoon.

Visited again to check the Gull roost, should the Sabine's Gull return, and it did at 1645h.  Good views but light faded fast.

Also, two Mediterranean Gulls (ad, 1W) seen, three Goosanders, still 10+ Great and 20+ Little Egrets.

27th October Tuesday - mostly sunny, a few brief cloud showers pm, mod SW, 14C

Willey; I noticed a few fresh Barn Owl pellets around the field barns, so will have to keep and eye open, and cameras up.

The obligatory Red Kite over the field (1400) and a female Kestrel flew and sat on top of the home barns near the church.

Stanford Reservoir - Sabine's Gull.

Yesterday in the Gull roost here, Chris Hubbard discovered a Sabine's Gull among the throng, just as the light disappeared. He also saw it leave the roost this morning and flew off westward.

I thought possibly if may have joined the  other smaller Gulls at the Shawell sandpit and searched there this morning, no luck.  During the afternoon the plan was to check Shawell again and then go to the reservoir for the roost.  Again no luck at Shawell, so off to Stanford.

Chris was already checking and Gulls were just slowly drifting back, but not until 1630h did large numbers return to roost.  Still no joy, and as numbers built, the Gulls tended to move steadily towards the dam end, light was beginning to fade quicker now.  I and a couple of other stayed our vantage point and Chris moved down to where he saw it last thing yesterday.  We got a call it was back there!

Good views of this small Gull in fading light, but well worth it, quite striking wing pattern when it flies.  A few wobbly, bad record photos/video were made.

Shawell Sandpit; morning

Although Sabine's here there was a good selection of birds to watch, including a Green Sandpiper and Peregrine Falcon.

The Gulls included several Caspian and a couple of Yellow-legged.  Many more were too distant to ID for today on the landfill.

26th October Monday - light rain from 0900h till 1400h, dull and cool, mod-blustery at times S, 11C, warming late 14C

Willey

The poor weather didn't help getting out and about but mid-afternoon a few Redwings were finally moving around and I did hear a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling.

The recent wet weather should encourage Fungi and I did spot 'Saggy Ink' caps in the churchyard.

25th October Sunday - 9 mm rain yday. Sunny periods, blustery W, sometimes gusting 40mph, 13 mph.

Stanford Reservoir; afternoon.

13 Great Egrets and plenty of Little too.  A juv Goosander, Teal, Gadwall and Shovelers.

Among the Gulls a 1W Caspian and Yellow-legged.

A few Redwings and Chaffinches near the car park.

Shawell Sandpit/landfill, afternoon.

Very similar to yesterday, however 20 Gadwall and 22 Wigeon plus two great-crested Grebes.

24th October Saturday - cloudy and mod SW, 8C until 1100h then light rain and blustery SW/W stopped 1830h, 10C

Shawell Sandpit and Landfill area; morning.

Nice to see an increase in duck numbers here. On the main and south pits were 71 Teal, 3 Pochard, a Wigeon, 6 Shovelers, c15 Mallards, c10 Tufted, 12 Gadwall and 6 Little Grebes.

Gulls included Herring, Lesser and Great-Blacked, Black-headed and 3 Common.  Three 1W Caspian and two 1W Yellow-legged.

15 Red Kites and several Ravens.

A flock 0f 35 Cormorants flew over, had a look, but continued southward.

23rd October Friday - cloudy light E with showers, then NW becoming strong gusty (40 mph) and light rain, 10C. 17mm rain since yday morning and this evening

Willey; morning

More Redwings around first thing, c30.  In church Yew Mistle Thrush and other regulars, c10 Goldfinches around and several Chaffinches.  Four Long-tailed Tits and Chiffchaff moved through lane hedge.  A Great Spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch too.

A Red Kite over at 1300h

Stanford Reservoir; afternoon.

I had a look here for an hour before it became too wet and wild, winds gusting c45 mph.

Plenty of Shoveler, Teal and Cormorant on the water.

The Egrets were sheltering as much as possible from the wind. I counted 14 Great and 33 Little Egrets, my highest ever counts here are 18 and 44 respectively. If I could have pinned them all down I may have had more today as I did see some flying, possibly leaving the reservoir.

22nd October Thursday - brisk SW, sunny spells, 11C. 5 mm rain since yday morning.

Lilbourne Meadows; morning.

Rather quiet, duck included two Shovelers, 10 Teal, four Mallard, 10 wigeon flew in and three Mute Swans.

A few Linnets, a Kestrel, a Grey Heron, a Skylark, two Meadow Pipits and Long-tailed Tits.

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.

A really good count of Little and Great Egrets, 29 and 12 respectively.

The usual ducks, plus a female Goldeneye (my first for this winter here).  Two Little Grebes. A Water Rail heard near the draw-off tower.

A couple of mid-sized Dragonflies and a Hornet were noted.