31st Dec - Frost last night -3C. Sunny, 4C, very light NE

Willey;

A Ferret-Polecat corpse was on the Coal Pit lane near the village junction.

A Cormorant flew over early.

Shawell Sandpit/land fill; morning

A Green Sandpiper was feeding, two Egyptian Geese flew in.

Plenty of Teal and Gadwall as usual, plus 16 Shovelers.  Additionally, to female Goldeneye were sleeping on the water.

A few Red Kites and Ravens today.  Two lapwings at the south pool.

Stanford res; afternoon.

c5 White-fronted Geese with the Greylag/Canada Geese on adjacent field.

Two Great and one Little Egret.

Kestrel hunting.

Lots Common Gulls coming in to roost.

30th Dec - high cloud, light NE, 6C

Bittesby Country Park; afternoon.

Redwings, Fieldfares And Song Thrushes eating berries.  Two Kestrels hunting.

Two Stonechats on the meadows.

A Woodcock rose from near my path from the wood.  A Jay, Green Woodpecker and two Pheasants nearby.  

Mixed flock of Chaffinch, Linnet, Reed Bunting on the sunflower field area.

63 Golden Plovers flew over low.

29th Dec - blanket cloud, light NE, 6C

Lilbourne Meadows; morning

Very similar to most recent visit ; a Little Egret, Grey Heron, Raven over, c100 Lapwings, a Kestrel, usual Ducks and 2 Mute Swans.

Stanford res; afternoon.

The White-fronted Geese c35, were on the Welford road field, later flying on to the res.

We now have four Scaup, a male has joined the three females, often in the valve tower area.

Otherwise the usual wintering wildfowl were present, including three Goosanders and a drake Goldeneye.

 

28th Dec - Cloudy, dull, light/mod NE, 6C

Soar Brook Lake; morning

Decided to check the Greylag flock that is usually here in case some White-fronts had dropped off here.  Oddly, even the Greylags were not present today.

Interestingly, there was 15 Cormorants, a record site count, nearly twice the previous highest count.

Stanford Hall; afternoon.

Checking here the geese again, but just principally Canada Geese only a few Greylags.

c150 Woodpigeons were feeding on the parkland and a Raven flew over calling.

Stanford res; afternoon.

The White-fronted Geese are still present sometimes on the res, sometimes on the adjacent winter cereal fields.  

Still several Great Egrets and Little egrets (4+ each), a hunting Kestrel over the inlet rough paddock. Also, on the inlet grass fields were c300 Lapwings, maybe these have moved in with the Easterly weather (as the WFG did).

The Glossy Ibis was feeding at the paddock pool and showed well.

27th Dec - cloudy, becoming dull, late drizzle, light NE, 6C

Willey; morning

 c40 Redwings and 10 Fieldfares around the Church and old railway trees/bushes.  A few Greenfinches too.

Single Stock Dove at the feed station.  Several Common Gulls dropped on to the pasture behind the Church.

Shawell Sandpit/landfill; morning

Very much similar to last visit, a Great-crested Grebe was new.  Five Shovelers, 28 Gadwall, plenty of Teal.  c10 Red Kites several Ravens.

Blatherwyke Lake; afternoon.

What a great lake and area, never been before.

A Tundra Bean Goose has been re[ported for a couple of days, so not having seen one for a few years, I decided to have a look.  However, I could not find it among the Greylags, but quite a few had moved off to nearby fields, so possibly it was with them.

There was 12 White-fronted Geese present here, very close to the viewing lane side.

A nice collection of other birds including  Lapwings, Wigeon, Pochard, Tufted, Mallard, 3 Goosanders, 15 Little Grebes, Gadwall (one drake had a white-head!), Shoveler, Little Egret, Red Kites and Buzzard.

26th Dec - sunny, gentle NE, 6C

Willey;

Red Kited over early, 0800h.

Two Ravens over Perkins fields, SW, calling, 0815h.

25th Dec - sunny, mod NE, 4C

Two Red Kites over, 0830h, the village

I did briefly check the feed station in the Paddock and church area, just the regulars, though.

When passing I checked the inlet fields at Stanford res and could see the White-fronted Geese mixed in with Greylags.

24th Dec - Sunny, mod-steady NE, 5C, feeing very cool.

Shawell sandpit/landfill; morning

Very similar to last visit, although today 55 Lapwings were at the south pit.

10 Red Kites, a few Ravens.

6 Redwings and 4 Goldfinches along boundary hedge.

Stanford Res; mid-day

Chris gave me a call to say he had found 3 Scaup, we had not had Scaup here for a few years now, so well worth going to have a look.

Unbelievably. as travelling there, a text from Chris said that he had now got 35 White-fronted Geese on the water.  I thought a mis-type and expected 3, however, the count went up again.

Luckily when I arrived the Scaup were just off Fisherman's point and I could see the WF Geese lower down.  Walking down towards the Sand Martin bank area I found Chris and a joint count of the White-fronts, as they had split into groups, gave us a total of 56 - amazing.

I did also note 2 Great Egrets, 2 Goldeneye and 3 Goosanders too.

23rd Dec - cloudy, dull, light-mid wind NE, 7C, feeling cold

 Lilbourne Meadows; morning

Wigeon, Mallard, Teal , Shoveler, Gadwall and Lapwings on the flood pools.  These were disturbed a little when a Peregrine  did a circuit overhead.

A Little Egret, Red Kite and Kestrel.  A few more Redwings and Fieldfares than recently.

Shadwell sandpit/Landfill, afternoon.

Nothing new today, 10 Red Kites minimum, good number of Gulls over the landfill.

36 Stock Doves came in to the spinney, a Green Woodpecker.

 

22nd Dec - cloudy, dull, light easterly, 9C, mist early morning and later afternoon

 No obs today

21st Dec - cloudy, mist and dull first thing, mist clearing remaining cloudy, light SE, 8C

Shawell Sandpit/Landfill; morning.

No Goldeneye today.

A Green Sandpiper was present preening and washing.  A single Cormorant, four Pochards, plus the other usual ducks.  38 Lapwings on the south pit shore.

A Sparrowhawk sat on the side of a works tower eyeing up potential prey.  Again on ly a couple of Red Kites, due to the mist.  

Green Woodpecker again, a few Redwings and a couple of Fieldfares.

The distant - misty - Green Sandpiper --

20th Dec - A misty/foggy start, clearing slowly, broken cloud afternoon, light SE/S/7C

 Shawell Sandpit/landfill; morning

A new bird for the year, a female Goldeneye.  Not a regular bird here, a couple last year, then none the previous two years at least.

Also, 3 each Wigeon and Pochard, 29 Gadwall. plus Tufted, Teal and Mallard.

A few Little Grebes, plenty Coots and 3 Moorhens.

Only a couple of Red Kites spotted, but the misty conditions probably meant they weren't flying.

Walton and Foxton; Afternoon

Checked these two villages for House Sparrows.

In Walton I found some in the hedge along Park Lane. Three or so were showing/calling occasionally, but with the Thermal camera I could see a total of 14!  Two more were found along a High street garden hedge.  A Great Spotted Woodpecker was also present.

In Foxton, I found 4 in the garden-field hedge at the corner of Langton road, and a further 4 along the Main Street about 100m away from the others.   Also, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a singing Collared Dove.

19th Dec- Sunny, mod SW, 9C. A rain free day!!

Willey;

A few more Fieldfares around this morning c10 moving along old railway track with c30 Redwings.

Still several Greenfinches around Church and lane trees.

Stanford res; afternoon.

c100 Fieldfares and some Redwings feeding along Leics bank.

A couple each of Little and Great Egrets.

A Water Rail crossed the gap in the main reed bed.

Five Goosanders, four Teal, a female Shoveler.  Plenty of Pochard still.

18th Dec - Cloudy, rain from 100h until evening (13mm by 1800h), light SSE, strong a sort spell late afternoon, 10C

Willey;

Checked out the Church Yews and lane, steady to and fro of Redwings to the berries, seemingly more Blackbirds to day, but not Fieldfares with them.  There is c 20 Fieldfares feeding in the top fields and hedges though.

A good number of Greenfinch again, c20, maybe more.

A Raven over low, four Collared Doves.

17th Dec - drizzle and cloudy am, high cloud, mod brisk S, 9C pm

Willey; a Red Kite this morning.

Lilbourne Meadows; afternoon.

c150 Wigeon, 5 Gadwall, 4 Shoveler, Teal, 2 Mute Swans.

Seven Pheasants, a Kestrel, a Grey Heron.

16th Dec - rain early until 0900h (13mm), then high cloud, ligh NW, 9C

Shawell Sandpit/landfill; afternoon.

Disappointingly few Gulls.

c60 Teal, Gadwall numbers down to 19, c25 Tufted, three Moorhens, Three Pochard (2 drakes) plenty Coot as usual.

A few Ravens and 10 Red Kites.

12 Redwings in the spinney.

A pair Stonechats along the rough boundary area parallel with Gibbet lane past the large dis-used building.

15th Dec - light rain/drizzle at time, mainly am, cloudy, light-mod S, 11C

Willey; 1410h - two red Kites moved wet along Long Spinney.

 Stanford reservoir; afternoon.

The Glossy Ibis was present at the ditch pool feeding.

Three Little Egrets and four each Great Egret and Grey Heron.

c50 Fieldfares, and c30 Redwings feeding there seemed fewer Wigeon than of recent.

14th Dec- Sunny spells, mod-blustery S, 10C

Ash Tree Farm, Bitteswell; morning

A walk around this new small reserve .  c70 Redwings and c10 Fieldfares.

A Red Kite over and a Sparrowhawk hunting the hedge.

A Green Woodpecker.

On the lake 12 Mallard, two Moorhens and a Little Grebe.

Bittesby Country Park; afternoon.

Mainly went to check for Stonechat, but the wind was too much, and if present they would have been in the vegetation bottom.

A few redwings and Fieldfares, a single Meadow Pipit broke cover.

Two Buzzards  over.  c50 Goldfinch in a flock

A Woodcock rose some 15m in front of me from the rough, later I spotted two in the 'vole' wood with the thermal camera, plus a Fox in another covert.

13th Dec - Touch of frost last night. Sunny, light SW, 8C

Lilbourne Meadows;, morning

Checked out the flood pools, the usual Ducks, c 100Lapwing and a Peregrine over.

First Coot back since water has returned!

Shawell, Sandpit/landfill; morning

A new record count of Gadwall here today for me, 48.  I wonder what is making it attractive to them?

Coot, I counted 152, with c60 Teal, c20 Tufted Ducks.

Seven Red Kites and a few Ravens.

75 Carrion Crows counted in the bordering trees, actual number would have been higher.

A Green Woodpecker.

Brampton Valley; afternoon.

Some interesting reports from this area lately, so I had a look.  However, it was very quiet - Buzzard, Red Kite, a few Redwings and Fieldfares, but Finches very scarce.

Stanford res; late afternoon.

A check to see if the Glossy Ibis was showing at the inlet area, unfortunately not.

There were Great, Little Egrets and Grey Herons in the inlet fields.  If the Glossy Ibis had been present where else could you see such a group in the Midlands.  We have had Bittern lately too!

12th Dec - light rain/drizzle from0900h to 1400h - dull mand very damp, mostly light/mod S-SW, 10C

WIlley; afternoon.

Once the rain stopped birds did begin to venture out.

14 Long-tailed Tits in the Church Horse Chestnut busily feeding.  Around the feed station a mixed group of Blue and Great Tits, at least 20.

I noticed 10 Greenfinches feeding in the tree/bushes along the Church lane, these were joined by others and then more from nearby, totally 35.

Three Mallard flew over towards the back pond, which obviously now is about full again, despite it being practicality dry (never known in living memory).l

11th Dec - broken cloud, a few sunny intervals, mod - light S, 10C

Willey;

Four Dunnocks together in hedge near the feed station.

12 Starlings, a single Collared Dove around, plus regulars.

Magna Park Central; afternoon

Explored the screening banks and woodland, primarily for Woodcock with thermal camera, but none today. A couple of Foxes found and a Grey Squirrel though.,

c20 Redwings and 6 Blackbirds feeding on berries.

A Jay, a Buzzard search8ing on the ground under trees, and a Red Kite over.

10th Dec - mostly sunny, mod SW, 11C

Willey; a Raven over at 0850h.

Less Redwings around after yesterdays wind.

9th Dec - rain from very early until early afternoon - mod-light (12mm), with a mod-strong and gusting SW wind all day, 12C

An awful weather day.

A Red Kite passed over home 1250h.

8th Dec - mostly cloudy, a few brief sunny spells, light/mod SW/12C

Lilbourne Meadows; afternoon.

c100 Wigeon, 10 Gadwall, 10+ Teal, 4 Shovelers, 70 Lapwings, 2 Mute Swans.

A Buzzard and Raven over and Sparrowhawk dashed over the meadows.

Only a single Fieldfare, but a Song Thrush did sing a little.

7th Dec - cloudy, light drizzle and some light rain during the day, light- mod SW 13C

Three WebS counts today-

Mere Lane Lake - held a few Gulls, Mallard, Tufted and Shoveler, plus four Little Grebes.

A Water Rail answered from the drainage pools.

Soar Brook Lake - a good numb er of Gulls, coming and going to the nearby pig fields.

Mallard and Teal, two Mute Swans (sadly a dead one too).

Stanford Hall Lake area - A Great Egret, Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Tufted and Little Grebes.   Fewer Canada and Greylag Geese.

Red Kite over.

6th Dec - cloudy, light-mod S, light rain at times, 10C

A couple of WeBs counts today at the small sites produced a Water Rail at Magna Park lake.

Stanford Res; afternoon.

Nine Great Egrets, eight Grey Herons, and 3 Little Egrets.  Two Goosander and one Goldeneye.

c100 Fieldfares and c50 Redwings on the bushes.

A couple of Reed Buntingsn and Goldcrests, a Treecreeper on the water side willows.

5th Dec - cloudy, light rain at times, 8C

Willey; morning

a Green Woodpecker flew ij to the Church Horse Chestnut tree.  A single Stock Dove came to the paddock feed station.  

Redwings coming to the Church Yew trees and a few Fieldfares around the pasture behind .

4th Dec - rain most of the day, light SW, 7C

Frolesworth

c50 Red-legged Partridges on arable fields near Sharnford tractors, obviously released birds.

3rd Dec - Early fog clearing quickly, sunny, light S, 9C

Lilbourne Meadows; afternoon.

As the other day, plenty of Wigeon and Teal on the flood pools, along with c100 Lapwings, Mallard, 8 Gadwall and Shovelers.   

Three Tufted Ducks on the island pond, a Little Egret flew over.

c100 Starlings in flocks on the pastures.

Eight Long-tailed Tits are the feeder.

2nd Dec - Sunny, light-mod S, 10C.

Willey; two Mistle Thrushes around the Church Yews at midday.

Shawell Sandpit/landfill; afternoon.

28 Gadwall, c 40 Teal, a few mallard and Tufted, Little Grebes, two Mute

C20 Red Kites and Ravens.

150 Great Black Black-backed Gulls, plus H, LBB, B-H and Common.

12 Stoc Doves and a few Redwings in the spinney.

Catkins are beginning to develop and to show.

1st Dec - cloudy and windy with rain most of the day, 7C

 No obs today.

30th Nov - frost -1C last night. Today sunny, light W, 7C

Lilbourne Meadows; morning

Two Buzzards, a Red Kite and a Kestrel.

c200 Wigeon and c100 Teal and three Gadwall and a few Mallard on the flood pools.

c 200 Golden Plover flying over, may have landed on the DIRFT development site. c 100 lapwings on adjacent arable field.  A Snipe flushed from the path.

Bittesby Country Park; afternoon.

Six Stone chats today, showing well on the vegetation.   Two Buzzard,, a Red Kite and Kestrel over.

I spotted three Woodcocks with the aid of a thermal camera.

A few Redwings and Fieldfare feeding on berries.

Plenty of fallen apples if the weather turns cold and an abundance of Sloes.

29th Nov - rain until mid day, then sunny spells, light-mod S-W, 8C

Willey; morning

c200 Starlings feeding on the top pastures first thing.

A steady flow of Redwings coming and going to the Church Yew trees for berries, also c10 Greenfinch.  

A male a female Black were in the church hedge and then lane hedge.

Stanford red; afternoon.

At 1310h the Glossy Ibis was in the field muddy gate area art the Welford road end, then flew behind the hedge to the wet ditch.  At 1613h it flew quite high SW over the dam end,presumably to roost.

Several Great and Little Egrets around again and Grey Herons.  

c100 Teal, also Shovelers, Pochards, three Goosanders and two Goldeneyes.  12 Lapwings were flying around the res.

A Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and Great Spotted Woodpecker at the dam end.  A Cetti's Warbler was heard a the Welford road end, near the style in the waterside brambles.

28th Nov - cloudy, mod SW, increasing to strong/gust as rain from passes through mid-afternoon, 11C

Willey; morning

I discovered a hibernating Peacock butterfly in the wood heap, not fully 'asleep' as it opening and shut its wings.  Placed in a safe place for the winter. 

c40 Redwings and 5 Fieldfares along the old rail track, otherwise quiet around the area.

Shawell Sandpit/landfill; afternoon.

Not an awful lot of Gulls in, similar to last visit.

I counted 36 Gadwall, my highest site count, previous winter high was 22 on Nov 15th  and previous ever high was 32 on 18th Feb 2023.

Tufted numbers still low, c15, but 47 Teal and only one Shoveler.

Plenty of Kites and Ravens again, but too windy to count them properly.

27th Nov - cloudy, mod SW, 14C

Eyebrook res; afternoon.

Visited here to see if I could find the American Wigeon that has been present a few days, after a good search I found it with other Wigeon and Mallards north of the island.  It was showing well in the mid-distance and quite active in the duck flock.  Also, in this area was a juvenile Whooper Swan.

A few, c20, Golden Plover were at the inlet with Lapwings, more Lapwing at the island and bay shore.  Several Goldeneyes and Pintails were on the water.  

A Starling murmuration was noted over the Rutland side over the conifers, presumably dropping in to the reed bed over there.