January 26th 2026

Twenty one Tufted Duck is a very good count for the site.  Very little else around at north end as the where cutting up fallen trees nearby .

January 25th 2026

95 x Pink-footed Geese over at 11-05 heading south/ east . Also 21 x Wigeon at north end and 6 x Little Egret south end along with Dipper on the Dam overflow.

January 24th 2026

Water Rail x 1 , Little Egret x 7 and a single Goosander today.

Wigeon x 24 north end.

January 21st

Miserable rain all day , cloudy 10dg.

Little Egret x 7 in the field approaching Rudyard village just before railway bridge.

January 20th 2026

Cloudy breezy start 7dg

North end

Common Snipe x 17

Water Rail

January 19th 2026

Misty / Foggy light drizzle 8dg.

At least 20 Common Snipe at the north end on the edge of reedbed.

Great Crested Grebe 20yrs

Our Great Crested Grebe population seems to be pretty stable with records pretty consistent over the past 20 years.

24 x Feb 2005

20 x Feb 2008

19 x Jan 2010

18 x Apr 2012

28 x Jan 2016

24 x Jan 2018

21 x Nov 2019

25 x Jan 2020

18 x Dec 2023

17 x Jan 2024

16 x Jan 2025

17 x Jan 2026

January 18th 2026

Cloudy light drizzle 9dg.

Three drake Pochard amongst the Tufted Ducks at the north end. These birds are very scarce here at Rudyard with only one or two sightings per year. Also of note a large flock of around at least 60 Siskin feeding along railway line north end , and a single Sparrowhawk. 

January 17th 2026

Cloudy start sun breaking through midday 7dg.

Eight Little Egret in field off Rudyard Rd opposite BT exchange building. 

Highfield Farm 

Ring-Necked Parakeet 

January 16th 2026

Overcast misty conditions first thing brightening up after midday 6dg.

Not much change really Tufted Duck upto 19 now which is a good count for us. Wigeon still stable at 14 birds , and still around 100+ Teal this morning.  Single Raven over north end car park , still a few Common Snipe can be found amongst the reeds at the north end. Very little else different to be honest.

I did come across some Trumpet Lichen (Cladonia fimbriata) which caught my eye on a fence post.

January 14th 2026

Overcast conditions overnight frost 3dg.

North end

Teal x 128

Mallard x 192

Common Snipe x 17

G C Grebe x 7

South end

G W Egret over

Little Egret

Dipper 

Redwing good numbers

Fieldfare good numbers 

Mistle Thrush

Common Snipe x 2

Water Rail x 2

Grey Wagtail x 2

Views of Heron Marsh looking frosty this morning .

January 13th 2026

Overcast light drizzle 5dg

Dipper along overflow stream south of the dam. Also 6 x Little Egret around Heron Marsh area early morning. 

Went back to the Dam after the rain eased this afternoon and the Dipper was singing its little heart out. 

January 12th 2026

Overcast conditions light rain.

Lake is now 80% open water with just the very far north end still frozen. Birds noted at the north end between 10-00 /12-00.

Water Rail on the ice by the reeds.

Mallard x 247

Canada Geese x 253

Wigeon  x 14

Teal x 36

Tufted Duck x 3

Greylag Goose x 1

Cormorant  x 7

Other birds around the north end.

Buzzard x 4

Chaffinch  x 9

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

Great Tit 

L T Tit x 7

Treecreeper  x 3

Nuthatch  x 4

Song Thrush 

Blackbird

Carrion Crow 

Jay

Wood Pigeon 

B H Gull

L B B Gull x 4

Wren

Starling 

Robin

Grey Heron

Dunnock

Goldcrest

Siskin 

Moorhen

Mistle Thrush 

Birds noted south end below the Dam to Heron Marsh.

Dipper on channel below Dam.

Little Egret x 5

Redwing x 30

Fieldfare x 20

Teal x 20

Lesser Redpoll x 2

Siskin x 10

Raven x 2

All together 46 species were recorded on site this morning. 

January 9th

Today the lake is around 50% still frozen with overcast conditions and light rain at times. Only Birds of note really,  pair of Siskin on the north feeders and pair Goosander south end towards the Dam.

Scarce Species

Here at Rudyard we have 90 species which can usually be found quiet easily throughout the year . Along with another 10 species which are scarce but are usually recorded at least once or twice if we are lucky  during a twelve month period .  This forms the start of our yearly list which takes us to the magic 100 mark . The list below is of the 10 scarce species , which if anybody sees them it would nice if you could report the sighting to either myself or a Ranger who will pass the reported sighting on.

Scarce  (one or two records per year)

Goldeneye

Pochard

Gadwall

Shoveler

Gt W Egret

Barn Owl

Green Woodpecker

Skylark

Yellow Wagtail

Brambling 

Below is a short list of species not recorded during the last 10 years.

Black Tern

Knot

Wheatear

Whinchat

Stonechat

Wood Warbler

Agian if you see or here of anybody seeing any of the above species please get in touch with me or one of the Rangers who will pass the information on.

Like I have always say to people birds that are common at other local lakes and reservoirs may not be the case here. Its always best to record all sightings either on Birdtrack or eBirds where our local Staffordshire county recorder can pick them up. 

Thank You Steve.

January 7th

Water Rail heard calling from area near Heron Marsh again early this morning also Kingfisher present. 

First Time Looking

 If you are looking at this blog for the first time on your phone scroll to the bottom of the page and open it up in web version this allows you to view as if on a computer and will allow you access to more information  . All sightings are recorded and logged which adds a picture to what's happening to our wildlife especially here at Rudyard. Birds that you might think are common elsewhere may not be the case at this site , high counts of species are just as welcome . Not only Birds we are also interested in Butterfly and Dragonfly sightings to add to our records . 

Steve

January 6th

Still the lake is frozen over with temperatures down below minus again last night . All the common species around the lake as you would expect at this time of the year. Water Rail calling on Heron Marsh and 4 x Little Egret present along with a single Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail. 

January 5th

Lake completely frozen over after overnight temperatures down to around -10.

January 4th

Rudyard is frozen over today with last night's temperatures dropping to -8 . Plenty of Redwing and Fieldfare movement at north end but very little else. 

Late News December

December 27th

Dipper seen again on the overflow stream just south of the dam.

November 

Around 150 to 200 Snipe with apparently 20 Jack Snipe amongst them. Birds where flushed from the vegetation as the water was slowly rising at the far north end of the lake. They were seen and counted by a local birder with excellent knowledge of both species , so with the Jack Snipe that now takes the final year total to 125.

Happy New Year

We finished 2025 with a record 125 species well above the average total. I would like to say thank you to all who contributed to the year list by finding the unusual species. We also added two new species to the site with Marsh Harrier and White Stork both making an appearance. Once again thank you to all who visited and contributed to many to mention but you know who you all are.

Best wishes and have a bird filled 2026.

Steve.