#### Great White Egret Sighting

At 2 pm a Great White Egret flew into the Number 3 Bed, in front of the reed area opposite the Frank Linley Hide. It was shortly joined by a Grey Heron, which proceeded to “move” the Egret along the reed bed towards the John Morgan hide. By 2- 10 pm it had taken up a position directly opposite the hide. The egret was photographed by another bird watcher before we all left after 2 - 15 pm.

A horrendous morning of rain produced some good sightings on No.3 bed.A total of 56 Shoveler was pleasing and the highest number for some time.Also present were 96 Gadwall,84 Tufted Duck, a minimum of 150 Teal,62 Coot,a drake Wigeon,3 Little Grebes and 31 Greylag Geese that arrived from the east with 48 Canada Geese. Waders were represented by 120 Lapwing and 27 Black tailed Godwits (48 reported earlier by Ash Radford), 6 Snipe and 1 Green Sandpiper. As the sun came out a late Hobby flew across the Ox Bow at speed and on to No.2 bed.

Photo of female flower cones of Common Hop,Humulus lupulus from No.2 Bed yesterday, 20th September. This particular plant has now spread over quite a large area of bramble and elder shrub.

Photo of Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria, from No.1 Bed yesterday 20th September. This is an image of a young specimen, one of many scattered through the birch scub which is a common species the fungus form mycorrhizal associations with.

A female Migrant Hawker was spotted inserting her eggs into a reed stem at the New Pool on No.1 bed today. Also present were three male Migrant Hawkers,six Common Darters,one Ruddy Darter and a Common Blue Damselfly.

What a day thanks to Brian for letting us into the eyes.It has been a while since we last called there (new hip) birds the we saw shoveler snipe greensandpiper BL T Godwit hreon teal little grebe greylag willow tit greenfinch kingfisher to name a few.The sun finally came out and gave us a good few hours Gill and Roger Riley

A very pleasant morning’s ringing on No1 bed with John Blundell, amongst the highlights were 2 skeins of Pink-footed Geese (one of 28, one of 107) both flying south-east, a massive southerly passage of Hirundines with over 900 Swallows and 250+ House Martins (both very conservative counts), 10 Grey Wagtails, 6 Buzzards, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Skylarks, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Peregrine and a singing Cetti’s Warbler

I spent a couple of hours on No.3 bed yesterday lunchtime where sightings included: 1 Green Sandpiper, 46 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Hobby, 2 Kingfishers, 15 Snipe, 19 Sand Martins, 60 House Martins, 45 Swallows and 58 Teal.

Photo of a Black-tailed Godwit from in front of the Morgan Hide yesterday.

Cheers David

One more!

Black-tailed Godwit

During the WeBS count on Sunday, Derek Britch observed 27 Black-tailed Godwits in the flooded horse paddocks north of no.2 bed. Today numbers had increased to 34 and they had been joined by one Ruff

WeBS Count

Little Grebe 7, Cormorant 6, Mute Swan 57, Grey Heron 4, Canada Goose 20, Gadwall 223, Teal 101, Mallard 115, Shoveler 17, Tufted Duck 50, Water Rail 1, Moorhen 49, Coot 33, Lapwing 271, Snipe 12, Black-tailed Godwit 27,Kingfisher 5 Black-headed Gull 44, Lesser Black backed Gull 3, Peregrine 2, Hobby 2

Grey Wagtail from the John Morgan Hide

A very enjoyable morning, with some excellent sightings from the Morgan Hide and a Wildfowl Count, covering the eastern end of the Reserve, sandwiched in between. It was a morning of repeated heavy squalls, which brought down 65 House Martins and a few Swallows and soaked some of us to the skin when we went wandering. It was also good to welcome young Connor Davies to the regular crew - definitely a birder in the making. Highlights included: 24 Black-tailed Godwits; 12 Snipe; 250 Lapwings; a juvenile Water Rail; 2 Peregrines which skimmed across the lagoon and snatched a Black-headed Gull before chasing off to the east; 3 Kingfishers, one of which perched obligingly in front of the hide and finally, two Hobbies drifting overhead before one of them used a regular perch in a dead tree to sally forth and catch dragonflies.

Yet another Kingfisher photo!

Cheers David Bowman (with Helen Wynn, Kelly Ainsworth and Diane Shepherd, plus Connor Davies, Alan Warford, David Spencer, Brian Baird and Les Jones)

You know autumn has arrived at Woolston Eyes when you find yourself struggling up the side of Butchersfield Tip in the early morning, weighed down with chair, binoculars, ‘scope, tripod, camera and rucksack, ready for the first of the monthly migration-watching sessions. Always keenly anticipated, you never know what might pass over. This morning started with grey skies and a hint of drizzle, slowly clearing to become warm and sunny. Migrants recorded included: 9 Swifts, 1 Hobby, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Willow Warbler, 3 Blackcaps, 26 Chiffchaffs (these warblers were all feeding actively around the tip), 148 Swallows, 49 House Martins, 2 Grey Wagtails and 8 Meadow Pipits. Highlights among the local birds were: 4 Ravens, 2 Peregrines, 15 Buzzards, 5 Sparrowhawks, 2 Kestrels, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Kingfisher and 393 Lapwings.

Cheers David Bowman (with Dave Steel, David Spencer, George Dunbar and Diane Shepherd)

It’s always good when you see something new, whether that’s a new species for the Reserve, or a new piece of behaviour. Yesterday it was the latter. There have been a number of previous reports in Cheshire of Common Buzzards “migrating” in sizeable groups. While this isn’t true migration- more likely a collective dispersal of juveniles from their breeding grounds - I’ve never managed to observe it at Woolston. Today, in an hour and a half, we watched 31 pass over No.3 bed at high altitude, spiralling in small groups and generally heading in a south-easterly direction. We contacted Simon Warford, who was watching migration from Winter Hill and he, too, had experienced a similar passage. Other raptors noted included 6 of the local Buzzards, plus Hobby, Sparrowhawks and Kestrel. In front of the Morgan Hide, highlights were: 2 Green Sandpipers, 21 Black-tailed Godwits, 5 Snipe, 3 very active Water Rails and the usual KIngfisher. A few scores of Swallows and House Martins were the only aerial feeders passing through and late ringing records included Garden Warbler and Whitethroat.

Photo of a Kingfisher in front of the Morgan HIde

Cheers David Bowman (David Spencer, Alan Warford, Diane Shepherd and Les Jones)