12th September

Paid a visit to Shawell lagoons this afternoon.  These are pools of water that are used by the sand quarry, the area is restricted with no access but can be viewed from a couple of points.  Being close to the Cotesbach landfill they attract a large number of gulls, many of the common species, but also the scare and even rare visitors to the UK.  Today, there not as many gulls present as often which meant the chances of seeing anything unusual was less likely.  However, there were at least 3 yellow-legged gulls present - these originate from the Mediterranean and were rarely seen in the UK, now they are very frequent during the autumn and winter and love landfill sites.  The other thing that can be found here are colour ringed gulls, more on that another time.

While driving slowly down the Shawell lane (from the Cathorpe end) I noticed a family of Stoats playing on the verge, the young were most curious about my car and stood up on hind legs to get a proper look.  About a couple of weeks ago I found a dead Polecat, which has been flattened on the A5 by the lagoons.  One was killed there last year too.

Still 30-40 Swallows present around the village area.