21st Sept - Ruff - rain most of the day, light Westerly, 14C

Willey; A Marsh Tit was heard in a Tit flock as it moved through the Perkins spinney.  No Swallows seen early as rain started early, not until late afternoon was one seen over the cattle fields to the east.
One of the old landed pasture fields has a good number of these fungi over it.

Stanford reservoir; I made it here for the late evening/disk.  A Jay and green Woodpecker were calling. Notable birds included a Snipe, Greenshank and Ruff on the islands.  Up to 4 Ruff have been around for a couple of days, photo by Chris Hubbard.

20th Sept - Blackwit - sunny spells, light to breezy Southerly, 18C

Willey; this morning about 10 Swallows were over the village, Chiffchaff singing and 5 Skylark moved over north.  A Grey Wagtail flew over, yesterday too, so as usual back for the winter around the village.

Stanford Reservoir; a mid-afternoon visit, the number of Wigeon have increased again, to 9 and a second drake Pochard has turned up, still c50 Shoveler, c100 Teal, plus Gadwall, Mallard and Tufted Duck.  Waders included 2 Green Sandpiper on the inlet weir, a Greenshank and Black-tailed Godwit on the island.  This morning Chris had 4 Ruff and a Stonechat still.  About 25 Swallows flew along the water, no other hirundines seen though.

19th Sept - misty start, sun breaking through, fine day, 16C

Willey;  it was misty first thing and not much about, however we moved some lambs in to another field and immediately about 30 Swallows appeared swooping around the lambs for disturbed insects - they must have been watching!

During the afternoon several Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell were making the most of the warm sunshine.

In the evening I went to look for the Barn Owl again, not seen again.  I did take the Bat detector and found the small Bats were emitting at 55 and 77, whilst the larger one was emitting at 101 and 122.

18th Sept -Stonechat - sunny intervals, showers pm, 14C, light NW

Willey; only 5 Swallows seen today around the village, soon there will be none.

Stanford reservoir; news from the ringers this morning of 2 Whinchats and a Stonechat, so mid- afternoon I made my way there hoping to see them.  I did find the Stonechat sitting on the hedge bushes and hawking insects, but not the Whinchats.  Plenty of roving Mixed Tit/Warbler flocks, In one I was able to find several Willow Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat, which was good because around here these have been hard to find this summer.
Four Wigeon were present, so some new arrivals since yesterday, a couple of Little Egrets and 2 Little Grebes were among the usual ducks.  A much smaller number of Swallows and House Martins were around the reservoir today.
Several butterflies were on the wing, Small White and Red Admirals.

17th Sept - Hen Harrier - cloudy, clearing to sunny spells pm and short showers, 17C, light NNE

Willey; First thing there was a good number of Blackbirds and several Song Thrushes, plus a single Mistle Thrush feeding in the Holly tree, church Yew and lane hawthorn hedge.   This morning 11 Swallows were around the cattle fields, then the flock increased to c30, all busy feeding over the pasture.  A Grey Heron flew over the fields on its way to a pond.
About 1900h a Kestrel was hunting over the cross-in-hand spinney field.

Stanford reservoir;  Chris found a hen harrier hunting over the adjacent fallow field so I went to have a look, I did see it hunting for a while before it went to ground.

While looking for the Harrier a Hobby flew passed scattering the hirundines present, of which there were many - 500+House Martins, c50 Sand martins and c100 Swallows.  Later a kestrel and Sparrowhawk were seen too.  Golden Plover were heard calling as they flew passed, whilst a Greenshank was roosting on an island and a Snipe was probing the mud.  All the usual ducks were present, also still only 1 Wigeon and Pochard.  A Little Egret was feeding along the waters edge.  Even ore then ever Greylag and Canada Geese seemed to be present, they seem to be making the most of the uncultivated cereal fields.
There was a couple of roving Tit/Goldcrest flocks with plenty of Chiffchaffs and occasional Willow Warbler. Several Jays were noisy and flying around, as were 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers.  A Kingfisher zipped by on its way to the nearby pool.

16th Sept - cloudy, light fine drizzle am, 12C, light breeze NW

Willey; I counted 14 Swallows flying around, some adults were catching food and feeding the juvs on the wing.  Several Chiffchaffs were about singing too.

Late afternoon a villager told me he has seen a Barn Owl at the old shed across the fields, hopefully it will stay awhile.  About 1930h I positioned myself near the field gate overlooking the area and waited until dark, the Owl did not appear.  While waiting a number of bats fed around the hedge and field, one likely a Pipistrelle or similar another was a lager bats with a different flight, unknown species (I'll have to take the detector).  Also, a Fox walked up the field, unaware of me, and was scent marking.


Mere Lane Lake; I popped in here for a quick look mid-morning. Little Grebes, Mute Swan family, Tufted Duck, Coot and Moorhen were on the water.  Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler in the bushes with the usual Tits and Goldcrest. Three Reed Warblers were still present in the reeds, calling and popping up, a Reed Bunting was nearby too.  A Jay was in the trees adjacent calling loudly.

A colour ringed Reed Warbler I mentioned a couple of weeks ago was ringed at Brandon marsh - still waiting for full information though.

Shawell Lagoons; some Gull watching here during the afternoon.  A good number of LBBGs, some with colour rings that Carl was busy reading, at least 3 were ringed in the Channel Islands. several Herring Gull and at least 5 GBBGs were present, 5+ Yellow legged Gulls and a Caspian Gull.

News of a colour ringed LBBG I read - J374L - in August is that it was ringed 12/7/16 as a chick at Udvaare in Norway, about 817 Km direct.

15th Sept - Grey Phalarope -sunny spells, becoming more cloudy with showers, light NW, 15C

Willey; this morning there were about 10 Swallows around the village and fields.  On one Sheep field there was about 7 Meadow Pipits feeding.  Near the church the Nuthatch was calling loudly and Chiffchaffs were heard singing.

Hollowell reservoir; I visited here mid afternoon to see the Grey Phalarope that has been present a couple of days, it was in the Guilsborough bay among Black-headed Gulls, some chasing it, then along the shore where a Moorhen chased it.  As it is something different its often the case that other birds will not ignore them. So as not to disturb it the views were quite distant, the light was too bright too, I managed some awful record photos through the heat haze, but you can see what it is.

The only other waders present were a Redshank and juvenile Ringed Plover.

Theddingworth; later while at my brothers I spotted this Devils Coach Beetle, that readily takes on a threatenng 'Scorpion' like pose.