7th Jan - cloudy, light westerly, breezy pm, 10C

Cotesbach landfill; I went to view the Gulls this afternoon, as expected more visiting 'birders' getting their year ticks - namely the white-wingers' and Caspian Gull.

A juvenile Glaucous Gull and 2W Iceland Gull were in attendance, plus a Yellow-legged Gull.

I didn't see any Red Kites today, not very often that happens here.

6th Jan - cloudy am, a few sunny spells early pm then cloudy, 9C, light westerly

Stanford reservoir; a look this afternoon. At first it seemed very quiet, just the usual species and few passerines.  A Willow Tit called and a Goldcrest was singing, 2 Jays flew in to the adjacent wood, and another was near the dam.  A large Grey Lag Goose flock again, few Wigeon, c20 Shoveler and Goldeneye, plus Tufties,  Gadwall and Mallard.
On the south side over the adjacent field I noticed something flushed c40 Lapwing and the Gulls off the field, nothing was visible. A few minutes later I spotted what was the likely cause, along the fallow strip I noticed the ringtail Hen Harrier hunting, giving some good views. It was working along the strip and heading towards me and I was hoping it would keep coming for some close photos. However, unknown to him, another visitor walked from the blind corner which the Harrier spotted and decided to fly back whence it came.  Its been in the area a while now so hopefully a future chance will occur.

Just passed the feed station a Treecreeper was working up a Popular tree, several Tree Sparrows, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting were feeding on the ground in the leaf litter. A few Redwing were in the hedgerow, along with Song Thrush and Blackbird, only 1 Fieldfare.  A Snipe flew over, while c20 Meadow Pipit flew up off the field and settles in the Popular tree tops, a single Skylark circled.

A Great Egret was standing the in field at the inlet and a couple of Little Egrets were along the river.

5th Jan - cloudy dull, very light wersterly, 6C

Bradgate Park/Cropston reservoir; I visited here today particularly to search through the Lesser Redpoll flock which has had 1-2 Common (Mealy) Redpoll in.  I and some others did see one bird that looked very good for a Common Redpoll, distinctly showing the plumage and size expected.  The flock was 'f'lighty' as many people walked along the path with accompanying noise making it difficult to get a photograph.

I was also told of a Little Owl nearby and went to view, it was present, and showing well.  The haze in the photograph is actually a high stone wall that was between me and the Owl - so out of focus!

There was nothing much on the reservoir, only a small flock of Lapwing at the inlet.

4th Jan - frost last night -4C, cloudy, light Northerly

No Obs

3rd Jan - High cloud, very light northerly, 4C

Willey; a Green Woodpecker was in the wood to the east and a Mistle Thrush was attending to the berries on the Holly tree in the church garden.

Loughborough; in the afternoon I visited the Park road area hoping to see reported Waxwing. I didn’t see any but was surprised by other birds in the area which included a good number of Starling, Goldfinch and Collared Doves, and a few House Sparrows.  A Little Egret flew over SE.

2nd Jan - cloudy, 5C, very light NW

Willey; I checked out my feed station this morning, a good variety in small numbers though. Five Tree Sparrows were present, plus Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch to name a few.

Cotesbach Landfill; a look here during the afternoon hoping to catch up with more ‘white-wingers’. Thousands of Gulls but no ‘white-wingers’were found.  A couple of Red Kite were present.

1st Jan 2019 - cloudy/drizzle alittle am, broken cloud pm, light NW, 9C

Happy New Year

Cotesbach Landfill; a look here this morning, Carl was already there and had seen both the 2W and adult Glaucous Gulls, however nearby shooting had flushed most of the Gulls away.   After a little searching I re-found the 2W Glaucous and was able to view it well and get record photos.

Carl also spotted a Green Sandpiper, which is always a good winter record. Several Shoveler and Teal were also present.

Shawell Lagoons; I checked here as the Gulls sometimes re-group here when disturbed, although there was a good number of Gulls no further 'white-wingers'.  There was a large number of Lapwing present, I counted 560.

Pitsford reservoir; I decided to have a walk here as its quite a big reserve area and provides lots of habitat, plus a pleasant area for a walk.  Some scarce birds have been around so maybe I would see one if still present. At the feed station area there was Chaffinch, Yellowhammer, Tree Sparrows and Reed Bunting, plus Blue and great Tits.  A Few Redwing and Fieldfare were on the nearby pasture.
I had heard the Ring-necked Duck had been seen from a local birder so I decided to scan the area towards Walsgrave Bay.   There was a good number of Ducks present and being such a large area scanning the area takes a while. After about 20 mins I found the Ring-necked Duck with a group of Tufted Duck and had good views.,  Also, in the area 3 Great White Egrets.

I had also heard there was a Great northern Diver on the main water, so I headed off along the east side, the sun had broken through and all looked splendid.  I did find the Diver near Pintail Bay, it was heading towards the narrows.  It was busy fishing so was under the water more than above, I did managed some quick record photos.