December 17th 2024

The Barn Owl has been seen a few times over the past week hunting on Heron Marsh and Harpers Marsh early evening. Today on the lake five Goosander (2 x drakes) and, 77 x Mallard at the Dam . Ten Lesser Redpoll and a male Reed Bunting on Heron Marsh and three Little Egret in the Cattle field opposite side of the road to Heron Marsh. At the north end feeders still no sign of any Willow Tits.

December 11th

Barn Owl hunting Harpers Marsh this evening in fading light.

December 5th

Very quiet this morning no sign of yesterday's Redshank at the north end. Five Raven flew over calling , a eclipse Mandarin on flooded flash by the feeders and three Goosander on the lake. A Tawny Owl called twice from somewhere over by the Old Hall.

Dec 4th 2024

Redshank at the north end on the mud .

December 2nd

Thirteen Goosander on fishing pool south end and 3 x Little Egret in Cattle field by main road. Late report of two Pochard  on Friday 29th November. 

November 25th 2024

Dipper again this year on the feeder bottom of the Dam wall. 

November 22nd 2024

Sixty Lapwing on the ice at the north end also 30 x Cormorant on the spit . No sign of yesterday's Dunlin.

November 21st

Ten Goosander have arrived during the cold snap along with 12 x Wigeon a single Little Egret and a report of a Dunlin at the north end.

November 19th

Cold wintery conditions with heavy overnight snow temperatures around 1degrees. Seven Snipe noted north end along with 29 x Teal , 43 x Lapwing , single Kingfisher and 3 x Common Gull.  

Report

Of a overwintering Blackcap on garden feeders in the village.

November 12th 2014

Female Goosander,  28 x Teal a single Little Egret and good numbers of Redwing passing over.

November 11th 2024

Fourty six Pink-footed Geese over at 9-45 heading east.

November 6th

Nothing new to report the Teal are stable with 38 counted again today. One thing of note was a really good count of 71 L B B Gulls just off the spit this afternoon.  And 73 Redwing feeding on what's left of the berries by the Old Hall.

November 5th 2024

No sign of yesterday's Black-tailed Godwit,  still 37 Teal.

November 4th

Black-tailed Godwit single bird at the north end along with 38 Teal.

November 2nd 2024

Up by the old disused Hall several Redwing feeding on berries , also Kestrel hunting the field in front of the Hall . All usual stuff nothing exciting to add.

November 1st 2024

Very quiet today just 18 Teal feeding north end along with single Grey Heron. All the usual stuff elsewhere Nuthatch,  Treecreeper  , Goldcrest etc. A single Raven over and four Buzzard dotted around. Heart stopping moment at the south end when I noted a Egret feeding in amongst the Cattle. But alas it was a Little Egret 😕 

October 31st

Just a pair of Kingfishers noted half way along the lake.

October 24th 2024

Now 41 Teal at the north end.

October 23rd

Very quiet around the lake today just the usual subjects Gt Spotted Woodpecker,  Nuthatch , Grey Wagtail at the Dam. Three Teal , 2 x Grey Heron , Snipe and several Lesser B B Gulls at the north end. Could only find six Tufted Duck today looks like we are down to our usual number. A Tawny Owl was heard calling just as I was leaving the north end at mid-day.

October 21st

Few bits and bobs today.

First an old record has come to light of a Redshank on the spit dated April 21st.

From the weekend 5 x Snipe at the north end along with a pair of Teal.

Today 21st

Water Rail at the south end squealing from Marsh reedbed along side the fishing pool. Also Kingfisher and Raven over. And two Chiffchaff reported along south feeder stream today. Small numbers of Redwing about.

🍄 several more Fungi species today of which I have not put names to yet.

October 19th 2024

Very little to report just 5 x Teal , 17 x Tufted Duck and several G C Grebe on the water . Five Raven overhead along with a single Buzzard , only other birds of note where Kingfisher and Grey Heron. We are stuck on 99 species for the year a very poor showing compared with previous years.

🦋 single Peacock Butterfly noted.

October 14th 2024

A pair of Gadwall at north end were nice to see , don't get many records here . Very little else of note a single Teal ,Raven and Kingfisher best of the bunch.

🍄 Mushrooms/ Fungi starting to appear with six species noted on my walk these include .

Amanita muscaria ( Fly Agaric )

Helvella crispa ( White sadle )

Xylaria hypoxylan  ( Candlestick fungus )

Hypholoma fasciculare  ( Sulphur tuft )

Clitocybe geotropa  ( Trooping funnel )

Armillaria ostoyae  ( Dark Honey fungus )

Fly Agaric. 

Armillaria ostoyae 

October 4th

276 x Pink-feet flew N/W at 8-40 this morning. Around the north end were 3 x Goosander  , 2 x Wigeon , 5 x Teal and 2 x Little Egret.  5 x Raven flew over along with a single Buzzard.

October 3rd

First Teal of the Autumn with four birds noted this morning at the north end. Also 2 x female Goosander,  18 x Tufted Duck,  100 + B H Gulls and 35 x L B B Gulls. The only other birds of note were a Little Egret and a Kingfisher both at the north end.

September 28th

Our first Redwing of the Autumn/Winter period with two birds flying south mid morning. A good walk around this morning with 47 species logged.

September 27th

Nothing new today worth mentioning just 51 Black headed Gulls at north end and still 16 Tufted Duck . No sign at mid day of the Egret . Water levels are down slightly which has now exposed a muddy shoreline at the north end .

September 26th

Great White Egret still at north end also our first Wigeon of the Autumn back with a single female present. Raven over calling and 51 x Lapwing flying around.  Tufted Duck numbers have now gone up to sixteen , unusual for the site we usually have single figures of between 5 to 8.

G W Egret feeding in shallows at the north end.

Evening 25th Sept

Two Tawny Owl,s calling  .

Sept 25th

Great White Egret x 1 north end

Little Egret x 3 North end

Kingfisher x 1 dam

Goosander x 3 females Dam end .

Sept 8th 2024

G W Egret at the north end and two Kingfisher at the Dam.

August 19th 2024

My first sighting of Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly today with two females and a male along the feeder stream  . Also Southern Hawker and Brown Hawker. Bird wise very quiet jus a single Common Sandpiper and Kingfisher noted.

June 12th

Blue-tailed Damselfly first this year obviously due to the cold and damp conditions. 

May 28th 2024

Red Kite drifted over the north end around 14-30 this afternoon. 

May 27th 2024

As many as seven Spotted Flycatcher's have been located around the lake , which constitutes as a site record as far as iam aware. Also today another Hobby and another Ring-necked Parakeet over the north end. That's three occasions this year so beginning to wonder if there is a nearby pair around. Also noted were 4 x Swift and a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers feeding young.

May 25th

There as actually been a fall of Spotted Flycatcher 's overnight as apparently we have five all at different locations , that's our 91st species so far this year .

Spotted Flycatcher photo's by Tracey Stubbs. 

May 24th

Very quiet around this morning only real bird of note was a single Common Tern fishing the lake. 

May 20th

Cuckoo and Red Kite today both new birds for the year.

May 17th 2024

Two Hobbies performed really well mid morning for over half a hour catching insects and displaying to each other . Unfortunately I only had my Butterfly and insect lens with me so had to work hard to get my images. Also present of note was a Tawny Owl being mobbed by finches and corvids , and four Common Whitethroat. 

Butterflies 🦋 

Brimstone 

Small Tortoiseshell 

Peacock

Orange-tip 

Green-veined White 

15th May 2024

Two Swift over the  dam end of the lake . Four  Whitethroat singing south end , also 8 x Garden Warbler  , 1 x Common Sandpiper,  1 x Oystercatcher and single drake Mandarin. Still no Spotted Flycatcher yet.

Butterflies 🦋 

Orange-tip 

Green-veined White 

Small Tortoiseshell 

Peacock

Comma

May 3rd 2024

It seems to be our best year ever for Garden Warbler , with at least 12 singing males . Obviously many more unaccounted for being such a large area. These 12 birds recorded at both north and south ends. So whatever birds are along both sides are unrecorded. 

May 2nd 2024

Hobby over north end today at 11-30 .

Butterflies 🦋 

Orange-tip  x 8

Peacock x 6

Green Veined White x 1 (first this year).

Still to Arrive

If anyone visits Rudyard in the next few days we are missing two of our spring migrants at present Spotted Flycatcher and Swift. Both are imminent so please drop me a text if you come across them . Or anything else you see for that matter.

Cheers Steve.

May 1st 2024

We must have had a fall of Garden Warber overnight as we have gone from just two yesterday , to six singing males at the north end and four at the south end. Also at the south end we have gone from a single Whitethroat yesterday , to three singing males this morning .  All other stuff is as past few days nothing changed. 

Very poor shot of one of the Garden Warblers. 

Good numbers of Treecreeper's around .

Butterflies 🦋 

5 x Orange-tip 

Orange-tip. 

April 30th

Good day today which started very early morning with the surprise of a Barn Owl still out hunting in daylight.  All the Pieds showing really well today , the female above came to check me out as I was photographing a female Redstart. Two Whitethroat at south end along with a single Garden Warbler their aswell. Another Garden Warbler was showing pretty well at the north end. A single Common Tern over the water but did dissappear later in the day. Usual waders around the point , and a few Swallow,  House Martin and Sand Martin over the water.  Also noted were Kingfisher  , Mandarin , Raven , G S Woodpecker,  several Nuthatch and 3 x Mistle Thrush. 

Butterflies 🦋 

Peacock x 3

Comma x 1

Orange-tip x 6

Orange-tip. 

Comma .

Arrival Dates Compared

                                      2022         2023       2024

Chiffchaff                   12/03        19/03      16/03

Sand Martin               15/03        20/03      24/03

Swallow                      10/04       06/04       07/04

House Martin            12/04        06/04      01/04

Blackcap                     10/04       06/04       10/04

Redstart                      21/04       08/04       10/04

Willow Warbler        10/04       23/04       11/04

Common Tern           02/05       20/04       29/04

Pied Flycatcher           ------        22/04      08/04

Garden Warbler        06/05     01/05        29/04

L R Plover                   24/03      19/03        11/04

Common Sand           20/04      11/04       10/04

Spotted Flycatcher    21/05      03/05

Swift                            11/05      09/05

April 29th

We now have a remarkable 6 pairs of Pied Flycatcher's back on site along with our usual 3 pairs of Redstart.  Also noted this morning our first returning Garden Warbler and first Common Tern of the year too. A drake Mandarin photographed in the sheep field and the usual waders around the point. Unusual sighting of 8 x Greylag Geese on the water , we only usual have one or two. 

I would like to stress that all images of birds taken at Rudyard are done so from a safe distance as not to disturb the birds .

Distant record shot over 200 mts away of our first Common Tern of the year.

Mandarin drake in sheep field.

Pied Flycatcher male.

Redstart male.

April 24th

Yellow Wagtail in cow field towards the point early morning , also Common Whitethroat singing both birds new for the year.

April 23rd

Another movement of Chiffchaff through this morning with 21 birds noted singing . Just makes you think how many more there are undetected. Three Oystercatcher's on the point along with 3 x Common Sandpiper.  Unfortunately yesterday's passage through Staffordshire didn't produce any more Arctic Terns , and yesterday's two must have departed overnight. Green Woodpecker calling in farm field but not seen , Raven and Buzzard overhead. And a Osprey seen at nearby Tittesworth didn't come our way .

Just two of the many Chiffchaff on site.

Treecreeper. 

Hirundines late evening

Good numbers of Hirundines this evening hawking insects over the water with around 250 Swallow,  45+ House Martin and around 20+ Sand Martin . The two Arctic Terns were still present late evening. 

Past Arctic Tern Records

Arctic Tern records are few and far between here at Rudyard , below is the last 20yrs that gives you some idea.

22/04/24  x 2

16/04/24 x 1

16/07/17 x 4

10/05/16 x 1

04/05/13 x 2

30/07/11 x 2

08/98/10 x 3

09/95/08 x 2

25/09/05 x 2

30/08/04 x 1

Apri 22nd

Two Arctic Tern's dropped in mid-afternoon after a large influx throughout the UK,  with good numbers at large Staffordshire waters. Weather conditions were terrible and the three shots below are heavily cropped. But we don't get many Arctic's here so made the best of what I could get in the conditions. 

April 18th

A walk to the point this morning produced Curlew , 3 x Oystercatcher,  2 x Common Sandpiper and a LRP. Plenty of Warblers around calling , also 3 x G S Woodpecker drumming and a distant Green Woodpecker.  Sand Martins and Swallows hawking insects over the water and three Buzzards displaying overhead. 

April 17th

First female Pied Flycatcher noted this morning. 

April 16th

Arctic Tern this morning very briefly between 9-00 and 9-30 when it flew off hight to the north . Still two Common Sandpiper and 5 x Oystercatcher's present . 

April 14th

Good early morning birding today with two Dunlin new in , also 5 x Oystercatcher's still. Two male Redstarts made a timely appearance,  so did two male Pied Flycatcher's.  Both different birds from last year as one was a first year male which could be one of our offspring from last year returning. 

Pied Flycatcher first year male.

April 11th

Little-Ringed Plover x 1 ( first back)

Common Sandpiper x 3

Oystercatcher  x 5

Willow Warbler  x 4 ( first back)

Blackcap  x 7 

Chiffchaff  x 18

Pied Flycatcher  x 1 male (until mid day)

Redstart x 2 male (long periods dissappearing)

Raven

Mandarin x 5 drakes (along inlet stream)

Little  Egret  x 2

Butterflies 🦋 

Peacock x 2

Chiffchaff .

2024 Returns

First Dates

Mar 16th  Chiffchaff 

Mar 24th Sand Martin 

Apr 1st House Martin 

Apr 7th Swallow

Apr 8th Pied Flycatcher 

Apr 10th Blackcap 

Apr 10th Redstart 

April 10th

Our first Redstart of the year this morning with two males seen at different locations. Also Common  Sandpiper  x 3 , Oystercatcher  x 2 , Blackcap x 1 and good numbers of Swallow and House Martin over the water.

April 9th

And some good news it looks like we have Willow Tits back in a completely different location at Rudyard. 

April 8th

First male Pied Flycatcher back today , earlier than last year which was 22nd April.

4th April

 Two Tawny Owl .

24th March

Sand Martin x 2

Chiffchaff x 6

Greylag Geese  x 5

Oystercatcher  x 8

Greenfinch

G S Woodpecker 

Mistle Thrush

February 15th

Oystercatcher  x 5 , Little Egret x 3 and Goosander  x 7.

February 2nd 2024

I couldn't find the Merganser  in a two hour search this morning , but did manage two female Goldeneye.  5 x Goosander,  30 x Tufted Duck , 78 x Canada Geese  , 89 x Lapwing ,and a single Little Egret.  Also good numbers of Siskin around , 3 x Buzzard , 2 x Jay and a Kingfisher. 

January 31st 2024

The female Red-breasted Merganser has reappeared at the north end of the lake , found this morning feeding 100mts down from caravans. Also a single Oystercatcher  , 5 x Goosander and 5 x Snipe . At the south end past miniature railway 3 x Little Egret,  Kingfisher,  Gt S Woodpecker and Kestrel.

January 20th 2024

The lake is still frozen but in one of the pockets of unfrozen water a single Goldeneye amongst the Mallards and Coots. Plenty of Redwing and Fieldfare around , 7 Snipe along the edge on west side and several small flocks of Siskin. Two separate Great Spotted Woodpecker heard drumming this morning. 

Female Goldeneye 

January 19tth 2024

Overnight temperatures again down to minus 7 has completely frozen over the 2.5 mile lake . Just three very small pockets of unfrozen water. Holding quite a few wildfowl.  

Wigeon x 78

Teal x 38

Goosander x 7

Mallard x 97

Coot x 17 

Canada Geese  x 217

Snipe x 8

Little Egret x 1

38 species recorded in two hours.

Siskins's showing well at the feeders.

Wigeon and Teal.

January 18th 2024

Single Little Egret .

Late News

Yesterday Jan 17th

Brambling x 6 at house feeder in village.

January 15th 2024

Red-breasted Merganser female still frequenting the area opposite the scout hut. Also female Goldeneye,  2 x Goosander and 3 x Snipe.

Late News

Tawny Owl x 1 on 14th.

January 14th 2024

Just a quick visit this morning , I try not to visit at weekends as there are too many people around for my liking . Red-breasted Merganser was at north end  by caravan park, also female Goldeneye . 

For anyone visiting the bird it is at the north end commuting between the reedbed by the caravans and the scout hut which is about 800 yds down the old Railway line. Its usually on the far side which is the west bank. Occasionally it can be seen feeding just in front of the scout hut. Merganser's are rare inland especially at Rudyard as you can see from the records below.

Red-breasted Merganser past Records.

09/01/24 ......1 x female

04/05/22 ......1 x pair

04/04/95 ......1 x pair

14/11/87 ......1 x female

13/11/83 ......1 x female

January 13th 2024

Red-breasted Merganser still at the north end also 17 x Wigeon , 2 x Goosander  , fem Goldeneye,  Common  Gull and another rare visitor to Rudyard a Great Black Backed Gull.

Red Breasted Merganser. 

January 11th 2024

Red-breasted Merganser still at the north end along with 4 Whooper Swans.

January 10th 2024

Female Red-breasted Merganser still present opposite scout hut , also female Goldeneye eighteen Wigeon , 26 Siskin and a Great Black Backed Gull.

R B Merganser photo by Steve Gibson.

Mega 9th Jan 2024

A female Red-breasted Merganser at the north end today. Also 17 x Wigeon , 10 Goosander and a couple of Lesser Redpoll.