31st Oct - steady rain until late morning, then showers pm, some heavy, SE-SW mod-strong blustery wind, 11C. about 20mm rain

Brandon Marsh; visited  here in the afternoon, all the expected birds, including the two female Pintails still (not too frequent here this late),  30+ Shovelers, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck.  Generally, the wind was keeping the passerines low, at the feed station a Nuthatch and Reed Bunting.

A nice group of Fungus spotted.

30th Oct - rain until late morning, then sunny spells, light-mod WSW, 13C

Willey; after the rain stopped I checked the feed station, three each of Chaffinch and Greenfinch, Coal, Blue and Great Tits, Nuthatch and a Gren Woodpecker fly passed.  A couple of Long-tailed Tits and Goldcrests were in the nearby hedge.  Again, only a few Redwings were around the area.

A5 Pools/DIRFT; afternoon.  Nothing new here today, apart from a single Egyptian Goose spotted asleep,  a single Snipe flew off towards the reserve pools and went down there.

Shawell Sandpit; only a few Gulls this afternoon, 65 Great Black-backed, one with a colour ring (JC536 (ringed in Norway), only a handful of other Gulls.  Greylag Geese were numerous, 285 counted and a small number of Canada Geese.  Teal (79), Shoveler, Mallard and Tufted seen.  A single Shelduck and Little Grebe too.

29th Oct - mod-blustery WSW, 14C, lots of showers, some heavy, slightly better pm.

A5 Pools/DIRFT; early afternoon.  A male Merlin flew in and landed on soil heap, a Kestrel dived at it and it flew off, spotted again having a bath at distance then off again.

Stanford Hall; I checked the Goose flock here for any 'wild' Geese that may have dropped it, alas none had.  A few Gulls, Herring, Black-headed and Common - were on the grassland - foot-paddling- for food.

28th Oct - soon becoming cloudy, mod SW, 15C

Shawell Sandpit and Landfill 

A look this morning a good collection of Gulls, plus the usual ducks -Teal, Shoveler, Mallard, Tufted and a couple of Wigeon. Plus a Greylag/Canada Goose flock - which may one day act as a carrier flock for a Pink-Footed Goose, or even a White-fronted Goose maybe.

Although not viewable there were thousands of Gulls at the Landfill site, I've not seen so many this Autumn, so I'm thinking there must have been a significant influx over the pat few days.

c20 Ravens and 10+ Red Kites.

A nice Fungus group nearby too.

27th Oct -cloudy, dullish, 16C, mod SSW

Willey; a Raven around the fields again, a flock of 10 Redwings flew over SE mid-afternoon.

26th Oct - mostly cloudy, light SW, 16C

Willey; a Red Kite over the fields to the easy first thing.

Warwick; popped to see the Hoopoe which has been here a couple of days feeding on a small lawn area between buildings on a light industrial estate.  Noticeable, a good number of Goldfinches and Pied Wagtails around the area too.

25th Oct - sunny periods, light SW, 14C, feeling warm.

Willey; a busy day.  I did notice the Ravens doing their field 'rounds' at 0900h.  

It was noticeable how many insects were out today, particularly Ladybird species this afternoon.  

Also, at the paddock feed station birds have started to appear, including a Coal Tit, a Nuthatch and Chaffinch.  So too have the Jackdaws and Grey Squirrels!

24th Oct - sunny spells am, increasing cloud and dull pm, light-mod S, 13C

Neither Shawell nor the A5 pools produced anything on note this morning.

Brandon Marsh -  visited here this afternoon, nit been recently.  Most the the expected birds, including two female Pintails, a Little Egret and three Snipe.

23 Oct - cloudy, dull. 13C, light SW

Monks Kirby -  on a cover crop c70 Linnets were feeding thius morning, near to Newnham Paddox entrance.  A Skylark flew on to the field and c200 Woodpigeons were feeding to. A Jay flew passed.

Willey; this morning around the feed station and Church area two Gren Woodpeckers and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, c15 Greenfinches flew over and a few Goldfinch,   Only c6 Redwings about, no Fieldfares seen here yet - quite late!

Shawell Sandpit - after lunch notables included a Shelduck, c25 Ravens, 12 Red Kites.

Shawell Lagoons -  69 Lapwings.

A5 Pools/DIRFT; notable three Snipe, c100 Golden Plovers circled looking to land, moved off, back after 5 mins, again moved off after circling a while, headed SE.

22nd Oct - sunny spells, light SW, 12C

Stanford reservoir; late afternoon to check the gull and Starling roost.  Starling came in from 1700h, 3-4000 estimated.  Gull roost building, but many leave too, presumably off to Draycote.

21st Oct - Mod SW, sunny spells,

A5 Pools/DIRFT; pm.  a couple of Egyptian Geese, a Cormorant, Wigeon 20, plus other recent regulars.

Shawell Sandpit; notables were Four Red Kites, six Wigeon, a Little Grebe, a Shelduck and several Ravens.

20th Oct - Morning rain, then showers - some heavy, thunderstorms, pm sunny. Brisk SW, 15C

Stanford res, afternoon.  10 Pochard, 3 Shoveler, plus Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard and Tufties.  Little Egret at inlet.   c15 Goldfinch flew over the dam, a Kestrel hunting nearby..Long-tailed Tit flock and Goldcrest in the hedgerow.  A Raven flew over.

19th Oct - cloudy, some short spell light rain, mild 17C, light- moderate SSW

No obs to report today.

18th Oct, cloudy, rain after midday, light S, 15C

Willey; during the morning a Red Kite drifted SW, towards Newnham Paddox, a couple of Ravens checked the Sheep  fields to the east and late morning a Coal Tit was on the paddock feeder station.

A5 Pools/DIRFT - a quick look here, a lot of work adjacent to it today.  The Canada Goose flock was present including the escape Cackling Goose.

17th Oct - light raim am, sunny spells later, 16C, light SW/SE

This  morning a look at both Shawell and the A5 pools didn't produce anything new and overall were rather quiet.

Swithland Reservoir; a visit here in the afternoon. The water level is pretty low for the time of year with plenty of shore exposed.  Two Great Egrets, plenty of Little Egrets and several Grey Herons.  A good selection of Ducks, including two female Pintail and three Scaup on the southern section.

Three Peregrine were seen at the same time, two Grey Wagtails on the dam.  A Jay and Green Woodpecker heard in the wood.

16th Oct - sunny spells, light S, 14C

A5 Pools/DIRFT; a look after lunch, the Ruddy Shelduck and Cape Shelduck were present, otherwise just the recent usual.

Shawell Lagoons, c50 Lapwings were present and a Cormorant.  Unfortunately, this area is currently drying out and loosing some of its attraction to waterbirds.

Shawell Sandpit;  One Egyptian Goose, 14 Shovelers, 75 Teal, a Shelduck, and a good number of Gulls, including this colour ringed Lesser Black Backed Gull (green/gold YOKN).

15th Oct - cloudy, sunny spells developing, light NE, 14C

A5 Pools/DIRFT; a look this afternoon, somewhat quieter, maybe the nearby work had disturbed them.  two Little Egret, three Shovelers, c50 Teal and eight Wigeon.

Shawell sandpit; late afternoon.  a first winter Caspian Gull was among the Gull flock.  Four Egyptian Geese, c200 Greylag and c50 Canada Geese.  A good count of 23 Wigeon, plenty of Teal too and a few Shoveler.  Two Shelduck.

Three Red Kites,a Buzzard and several Ravens.

14th Oct - cloudy, light WSW, 13C

Monks Kirby; 51 Linnets counted feeding on game/bird cover near Newnham Paddox entrance gate and cemetery.

Willey; a few small flocks of Redwings again moving over westward through the day.

A5 Pools/DIRFT; late afternoon.  a look here produced the Brent Goose still, the female Ruddy Shelduck, and the escaped Cackling Goose.  A single Lapwing and Golden Plover too.  Two Little Egrets, Shovelers, Teal and Mallards.

A flock of  c30 Goldfinches were feeding.

13th Oct - mostly cloudy, sunny spells late pm, 16C, light W

WIlley; a steady passage of Redwings westward during the morning, several hundred, small flocks, up to 30. 

A pair of Bullfinch in paddock hedge, Mistle Thrush Church Yew, a few Redwings stopped for Holy berries before moving on, Green Woodpecker and Nuthatch.

A5 Pools/DIRFT; c1030h.  A Brent Goose (dark-bellied) was present and feeding - initially reported yesterday.

Ten Egyptian Geese and the Cape Shelduck still.

12th Oct - sunny spells, 15C

Willey; Two Ravens over the fields.

Stanford res; afternoon.  Very quiet, although a Yellow-browed Warbler was caught and ringed c0800h.

Ravens -2, Shoveler 6, a Jay, four Tree Sparrows, Bullfinch.

11th Oct - mostly cloudy, 16C

A5 Pools/DIRFT; afternoon.  Cape Shelduck and Cackling Goose still. Nine Egyptian Geese.  Wigeon, Shoveler, Little Egret.

10th Oct - sunny spells, light WNW, 17C

Soar Brook Lake, morning. Did a WeBS count here first thing, plenty of Gulls dropping in from the nearby newly sown field.  Seven Cormorants on the raft and five Little Grebes also.  A Grey Wagtail was present and excited for some reason.  Twelve Meadow Pipits were attracted to a small area on the side bank.

Shawell Sandpit; early pm.  only two Egyptian Geese today.  A Sparrowhawk flew over the landfill, causing c200 Starling to rise up and fly around until it left. c20 Ravens were enjoying themselves in the wind and chasing each other.  14 Shoveler, 100 Teal (counted) and 12 Wigeon were feeding.

A5 Pools/DIRFT; late pm.  Interestingly the large Canada and Greylag Goose flock was not present, only a handful of each, nor the Ruddy or Cape Shelducks.  However, there was 10 Egyptians Geese present, no doubt the same ones as yesterday seen at Shawell sandpit.  Plenty of Teal and Shovelers today. 14 Wigeon too, plus two Little Egret and a Grey Heron.

9th Oct - Sunny,18C, light NW

Magna Park lake; morning. Not much around, a couple of Little Grebe on the lake. 

What looked like  Shaggy Ink Cap was just coming up.

Shawell Sandpit; Two Shelduck, eight Egyptian Geese today, a Peregrine flew through, Caspian and Yellow-legged Gull, plus other usual birds.

Husbands Bosworth sandpit lake; several Little grebes, Teal and a Green Sandpiper.

A5 Pools/DIRFT; late afternoon. Ruddy and Cape Shelducks, Cackling Goose too.  A Common Gull.  Wigeon 6,Little Egret, Cormorant and Kestrel hunting.

8th Oct - Foggy slowly clearing, then cloudy, very light WSW, 16C

Willey; a Barn Owl was disturbed from the hay barn and flew round to the old Ash tree where there is a hole.  I already have a box in one barn, but shall put another up in this hay barn.

A clump of flowering Ivy at the Parsons Close gate was alive with insects, Flys, Bees and Hornets.

Stanford reservoir; afternoon.  Among the Gulls on the water an adult Caspian Gull.  Thirteen Shoveler flew over westward, otherwise just then usual ducks.

A few parties of Long-tailed Tits with other Tits, Goldcrests, Treecreeper and Chiffchaffs with them.

A single Siskin was reported flying towards the point, not too surprisingly I later found a single Siskin feeding on the point Silver Birch tree.

A single Red Admiral was on the wing and quite a few Dragonflies were flying too.

7th Oct - mostly cloudy, light SW-S, 19C

Willey; I didn't see any Swallows today.

Richard T has told me that he had a flock of 16 Long-tailed Tits visit his feeders the other day, and 20-30 Goldfinch feed first thing.

A5 Pools/DIRFT; afternoon.  17 Shovelers, plus Teal, Mallard and with the Greylag and Canada Geese some exotics, namely - The Cape and Ruddy Shelducks, the Cackling Goose and an Egyptian Goose.

Shawell Sandpit; late afternoon.  I counted 76 Teal on the pools, but there would be more in the vegetation.  Five Red Kites, Buzzards and several Ravens.

Three Egyptian Geese were new in (must have been movement to the area as one was noted at the A5 pools too, above). Individual photos- 

Colour ringed Gulls were : Caspian P:W37 and LBBG 5XF (this one seen 24 Sept too).

.

6th Oct - mod WSW easing during the day, 15C, sunny

Willey; this morning a male Sparrowhawk briefly tried to catch a Swallow, but soon gave up.  Six+ Swallows over the Perkins pastures.

A5 Pools/DIRFT; afternoon. A Ruff was feeding among the Lapwing, the Ruddy and Cape Shelducks were still present.  

Shawell Sandpit;  Plenty of Teal, 6+ Shovelers, 16 Tufted Duck, a nice selection of Gulls, a couple of colour rings read XLVH a German ring Caspian Gull and F:967 a Lesser Black Backed Gull which has been seen here previously.  

Ravens, Red Kites and a Buzzard.