January 26th

Just a very brief visit by Mark Stubbs at dinner time , two Lesser Black Backed Gulls , two Cormorant , two Little Grebe's and around thirty Black headed Gulls.Along with all the usual suspects like Coots , Great Crested Grebe's , Mallards , Tufted Ducks and Pochard s etc. Jack Swan just phoned me at 14-10 to say he has got a single Hawfinch sat in a pine tree at the mere .

January 22nd

Pochard numbers have dropped now which is normal for this time of the year we only have six birds today one female and five drakes. Jack told me he had a couple of drake Shoveler on Saturday , but no sign today. I couldn't find the Aythya hybrid today but that dosnt mean it has gone either . Great Crested Grebe numbers are creeping up with thirteen present this morning with two pairs displaying already . Two Little Grebe were seen over by the fishermans fenced off area and the pair of Mute Swans have re-appeared again. No sign of the Reed Buntings so far this year they are usually quite vocal around this time . Tufted Duck and Coot numbers seem to be lower than normal that's possibly due to the sailing club starting to sail daily throughtout the winter months , using all of the mere again when they have been asked to leave the left hand corner alone so wintering wildfowl can have some refuge. It seems to be iam banging my head against a brick wall it just seems like fun to use the rescue boat and power all around the mere .

January 16th

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee was photographed this morning , it is January isn't it ?. Also present were 16 Pochard and the Aythya hybrid Tufted x Pochard looking quite nice now it's fully moulted out. A single Lapwing flew over these birds are scarce at this site with only a handful of records each year.

Aythya Hybrid.

January 13th

Jack just had a good count of 120+ Lesser black Backed Gulls but more impressive was the four adult Greater black Backed that was with them, we struggle to get one or two records a year.Also now three Little Grebe's present.

January 8th

Four Wigeon on the mere this morning and Pochard have increased to 26 . A pair of Shoveler put in a brief appearance before flying off south. The female Goldeneye is still present and a nice count of 10 Great Crested Grebe's , but no sign of the Little Grebe's today. Buzzard , Sparrowhawk and Raven all flew over along with 14 Redwing and a single Stock Dove.

January 7th

Five Shoveler new in overnight three drake's and two female . Also 19 Pochard present along with the female Goldeneye . A single Cormorant circled the mere then headed off west and four Siskin noted feeding by the sailing club . A Grey Wagtail was feeding along the shore and several Bullfinch were seen on the walk around.

January 6th

Eighty Pink-footed Geese flew over heading north/west at 13-10 . A report of 17 Pochard ,female Goldeneye and a single female Goosander over @10-10 plus all the usual regulars. J Hutchins.

One Year Ago

This time last year January 2017 saw some good birds at the mere species included a female Long-tailed Duck found on the eleventh . Followed by a female Common Scoter on eighteenth seven Whooper Swans on twentieth then two Waxwings on twenty seventh . The more eyes out there looking the more we will find , lets hope this January gives us more of the same. Good Birding......

January 3rd

I was hoping that the strong overnight winds and heavy rain might have brought something new in but alas not to be . Although two Little Grebe and the female Goldeneye were re-located , they were possible still there yesterday but heavy rain prevented me finding them that's my excuse anyway. Four adult Lesser Black Backed Gulls and a third winter bird were harrasing the 100 + Black headed Gulls and we now have ten Great Crested Grebe's . Best of the rest were 19 Pochard , three Siskin , party of eight Long-tailed Tits and a single Buzzard.

January 2nd

Happy New Year to you all hope you have a good 2018. Miserable conditions this morning ment I only spent a hour walking around but it produced a reasonable thirty six species to start the year list off with . One hundred and fourty five Coot counted along with nineteen Pochard and seven Great Crested Grebe's. Best of the rest were Goldcrest , Grey Wagtail , Bullfinch and Raven.