Wigeon

Todays count of 71 x Wigeon is the highest count in 11 years , with 78 recorded in March 2012 .

January 20th

Nice sunny and dry for a change 4dg.

Good number of Wigeon this morning with 71 counted along with 3 x Teal , a single drake Tufted,  6 x Coot , 12 x G C Grebe, and 10 x Snipe. Approx 250 Canada Geese and a single Greylag feeding in the field . The feeders were productive with a fem Reed Bunting , 17 x Siskin , 3 x Nuthatch , 7 x Coal Tit , Bullfinch  , Treecreeper  and 2 x Willow Tit. Other birds of note are 2 x Mistle Thrush a single Song Thrush , 6 x Redwing and a single Jay. 

Reed Bunting female. 

January 19th

Another night of heavy snowfall temperatures down to -4dg. Bright sunny start 2dg.

January 18th

Overnight snow with temperatures of -4dg. Rudyard looked stunning this morning bathed in sunshine and covered in snow , see pictures below. North end produced 15 x Wigeon , 10 x Teal , 2 x Tufted , 3 x Coot and a single G C Grebe. On and around the feeders were 2 x Willow Tit , 12 x Robin , 3 x L T Tits , 2 x Nuthatch  , 3 x Chaffinch and good numbers of Blue , Great and Coal Tits. Others of note 71 x Rook , 9 x Meadow Pipit , 18 x Redwing , 2 x Jay , 7 x Snipe and a single Mistle Thrush. Bringing this years total so far to 53 species.

January 16th

Cloudy with rain first thing , clearing by 12-30 with clear skies all afternoon but cold just 4dg. Very quiet around today highlights being the two Willow tits on the feeders , good numbers of winter thrushes around . And 10 Greylag Goose that circled the north end twice then flew off west.

Fieldfare. 

Greylag Geese. 

January 13th

Seven adult Common Gull on the water opposite the scout hut this morning,  along with two G C Grebe ,  40 plus Mallard and around 300 Canada Geese . Four Raven calling overhead and two Willow Tits on the feeders. Also noted 10 x Fieldfare,  single Grey Wagtail and Water Rail calling.

Common Gull's x 7.

G C Grebe.

January 12th

Very quiet this afternoon , weather sunny intervals very windy 10dg. Around 300 Canada Geese at North end along with five Teal , four Goosander and around 40 Mallard. South end included a single Little Egret , Treecreeper,  Nuthatch and a single Common Gull flying around the boats. 

Kingfisher

Kingfisher their are two pairs present at Rudyard. 

Photo by M Buxton. 

2020 Pectoral Sandpiper

I have just received some more older images this time from 2020.

The 2020 Pectoral Sandpiper was found by Mark Buxton . This was the third record of Pec Sand at our site , the other two being 23/08/10 and the first on 23/09/03.

Photo by M Buxton

Photo by M Buxton 

Photo by M Buxton 

Photo by M Buxton 

Old Images

Many thanks to Steve Gibson who took these of the Pectoral Sandpiper , which was found 23/08/10.

Old photo's

Below is a small selection of old images taken by Phil Jones , except Red Throated Diver which was taken by Steve Gibson. The Little Egret was the first recorded at the site . The Smew is the only drake ever recorded at the site , and the Pectoral Sandpiper is one of the three records we have. If anyone has any old photos of the scarce birds in the list on the right hand side of this blog especially before 2011 please get in touch. The photo's below will be added to the side of the blog with the others already their.

Smew drake photo by P Jones.

Little Egret (first sight record) photo by P Jones.

Pectoral Sandpiper photo by P Jones.

Red-throated Diver photo by S Gibson.

Patch Mega

Patch Mega this morning as a Cetti's Warbler was very frustratingly heard calling but not located. Then it called again and was seen along the feeder stream at the south end of the lake along the edge of the field. I followed it feeding for over a hour along the feeder ditch , it called a couple more times then all went quiet and no further sign. I belive the last record was by Charles Linfoot on 02/01/78. Managed to grab loads of photos of twigs and branches as it moved along the ditch. But did get lucky as it paused briefly. 

Also present were Little Egret  x 3 , Water Rail x 2 , Snipe x 6 , Goosander  x 7 , Wigeon  x 5 and Willow Tit x 2 .

January 6th

Nothing really changed from past couple of days , 35 species noted on a leisurely walk around. Sunny first thing but cold 8deg. Little Egret x 3 all bottom fields past the Dam,  also a single Water Rail and two Snipe. Wigeon numbers dramatically down with only two left this morning along with 14 x Teal and 4 x Goosander.  Kingfisher along feeder stream and the two regular Willow Tits at the feeders north end. Oh and one large flock of 37 x Siskin counted.

January 5th

Pink-footed Geese x 52 flew over N/W @11-50 . Also a single Little Egret  , Water Rail , Siskin x 9 , Bullfinch  x 5 , Wigeon x 17 , Teal x 27 , Buzzard , Coal Tit , Nuthatch x 7 and Redwing. 

January 4th

Little Egret x 4 , Snipe x 7 , Water Rail , Kingfisher and Goosander  x 4.

December 31st 2022

Well it's end of another year and the sight finished on a very creditable 110 species , just one down on last years total. Highlight for me personally was finding a Dipper my first for the sight and only just a couple of weeks ago. All remains to be said is have a good and safe New Year and let's hope for a bird filled 2023.

December 24th

Wigeon x 18 , Teal x 21 , Goosander  x 4 , Raven , Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail .

December 22nd

Pintail drake at the north end this morning , along with two Pink-footed Geese amongst the Canada Geese flock. Also 20+ Wigeon , plenty of Teal and a drake Goosander. (DC , MS).

December 21st

Eight Little Egret along feeder stream south of the Dam this morning.  This is the second highest count with nine recorded in spring this year. Also Water Rail , Snipe and Dipper again. Good numbers of Bullfinch with nine noted.

December 20th

Willow Tit on the feeding station by David Collis. 

Ice Breaker

Guys trying to clear some ice for tomorrow's Christmas ferry outing , somehow think they are on a looser with the freezing weather.

December 16th

Overnight temperature was -8 last night.

Patch MEGA this morning with a Dipper behind the Dam wall , my first on site in 14 yrs of watching the place. The Lake is completely frozen over from end to end. All birds seen from Dam around the loop to the miniature railway station. Common Snipe x 12 , Kingfisher  x 2 , Little Egret  , Grey Wagtail  , Bullfinch x 7 and good numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare.  Exceptional count of 342 x Mallard on a small piece of open water opposite the sailing club .

December 12th

Pink-footed Geese approx 200 towards Biddulph at 10-50

December 6th

Pink-footed Geese  x 80 approx over east at 8-50.

November 3rd

Water levels continue to rise , give it another week and I would say it should be back to normal. A good count of Tufted Duck for the site today , we actually have 14 birds.

October 27th

Rain first thing sunny and 17dg by lunch time. 13-30 / 15-30

Water levels rising slowly.

Snipe numbers also rising with 51 counted mid-afternoon . Wigeon x 4 , Lapwing x 35 , Siskin x 4 , L T Tit flock x 14 and a single Stock Dove. 

Fungi noted

Fly Agaric

Sulpher Tuft

Common Earthball

Fairy's Bonnet 

Waxcap sp

Clustered Bonnet photo below.

Snipe

Some of today's count of 38 Common Snipe. During  the past few weeks Snipe numbers have been varying from between 28 upto 63.

Photo taken at great distance by David Collis.

Summer Pochard sighting

David Collis sent me this photo of a Pochard taken on the lake 21/06/22. Unusual on two occasions the first being a June sighting. And the second as its the first reported sighting since 08/03/12.

October 25th

Misty start , clear skies warm 16dg. 9-15 / 11-30

Water levels are starting to rise .

Two Dunlin new in this morning feeding alongside 38 x Common Snipe , 12 x Lapwing and 6 x Wigeon. Two Willow Tit seen back on the bridge feeders early morning. A new fungi species for me on site Dewdrop Bonnet (Hemimycena tortuosa) . 

October 22nd

Clear skies sunny , gentle breeze 14d 8-30 / 10-00

Water levels still the same very low.

Wigeon x 2 , Teal x 75 , Tufted Duck x 13 , Cormorant  x 10 , Redwing x 6 , Nuthatch , Grey Wagtail  , Siskin , Willow Tit , Gt S Woodpecker , Jay , Herring Gull x 10 and Raven.

Don't forget any sightings into Steve at

steveseal1957@gmail.com 

Clouded Funnel (Clitocybe nebularis).

Request for Pochard Records

A request for Pochard records please. If you have any sightings of Pochard over last 10 yrs could you please let me know. The database shows last record as being on 08-03-12. 

Contact me on.... steveseal1957@gmail.com 

October 19th

Easterly winds have brought good numbers of winter thrushes to our east coast shores . We had good numbers of Redwing moving south west over Rudyard with a few Fieldfare in amongst them early morning. No change on the water with around 100 x Teal , 13 x Gt Crested Grebes , 57 x Mallard and a couple of Tufted Duck. 

October 18th

Water levels seem to be still dropping , highlight were 10 Tufted Duck . We usually only have upto 4 on here at a time. Two Grey Wagtail  by the dam , single Raven over.

48 x Snipe

94 x Teal

40 x Lapwing 

October 16th

Common Snipe numbers are still rising with 63 noted this morning. 

October 13th

43 x Common Snipe today. 

Reed Warbler

After the last two successful years of a pair of Reed Warbler breeding   they did not appear back at all this year. 

October 9th

Snipe x 28 , Lapwing x 84 .

October 6th

Dry sunny start cloud around midday 12dg.

A good count of 48 Snipe this morning very hard to find on the exposed muscle beds and mud. Also Teal numbers up slightly with 101 counted. 

Little Ringed Plover x 2

Dunlin

Mandarin drake first for me this year.

Raven

L B B Gull x 4 adults

Herring Gull x 3

Black-headed Gull x 112

Chiffchaff calling

Willow Warbler 

Grey Wagtail 

Meadow Pipit x 24 counted possibly lots more.

Single Buzzard

Cormorant x 7.

Disturbance again while I was present a single boat had to go right upto the mud and flush all the Gulls and Teal off. When he had done that he turned around and paddled back. Photograph taken of the individual. 

Long Overdue Waders

Below is a list of long overdue waders at this site.

Golden Plover   last record 28/08/91

Grey Plover   last record 02/06/92

Bar-tailed Godwit   last record 01/07/84

Temminck's Stint   last record 06/08/82

Turnstone   last record 30/08/06

Curlew Sandpiper   last record 06/09/10

Wood Sandpiper   last record 22/09/95

Spotted Redshank   last record 16/08/10

Sanderling   last record 14/07/92

White-rumped Sandpiper   last record 03/11/89

We definitely need more coverage at this site.

On the positive side two Waders were found this year that haven't been present for many years.

Little Stint ..............First record since 1995

Whimbrel ..............First record since 1992

Personally I don't think it's birds not turning up , I think it's a lack of coverage by birders. A lot of people these days wait for news instead of going out and finding there own. Look at the Golden Plover record above , you can't tell me that there as been no record since 1991 . They breed less than four miles away . More coverage more birds simple.

October 3rd

Overcast dry 14dg

It looks like the two Ruff have finally departed after a 23 day stay. Water levels seem to still be dropping . Today 23 x Snipe , 2 x L R Plover,  Dunlin , 91 x Teal , 41 x Lapwing  , 9 , Wigeon , Grey Wagtail  , 18 x Meadow Pipit  , 7 x Linnet , 3 x Mistle Thrush and 3 x Nuthatch.

October 2nd

Still two Ruff , enitialy 11 Ruff arrived on Sept 10th , so it's now over three weeks for these two. Also Common Snipe x 4.

October 1st

7-30 / 9-00 Clear skies sunny 10dg

Good numbers of Common Snipe on the mud early morning with 28 noted. Also the two Ruff still present along with two Little Ringed Plover,  Wigeon x 12 , Lapwing  x 75 and around 79 x Teal.

Little Stint

Just received news and a photo of a Little Stint from Sept 14th found by David Collis. There have been 8 records between 1983 and 1995. But this is the first official sighting since August 22nd 1995.

Photo by David Collis. 

Sept 29th

Cloudy with sunny intervals  16 dg.

Still plenty of mud around water level at its lowest i have seen in years.

Ruff x 2 , Dunlin x 1  and Common Snipe x 9 , Swallow x 5 . Plenty of Pied Wagtails around and a couple of Siskin heard. Around 60 plus Teal noted but we'll spread out over the mud so hard to count. Also of note around 100 plus Black-headed Gulls on the spit.

Sept 25th

 Ruff x 2 , Dunlin x 2 .

Sept 18th

Pink-foot x 70 over @7-25

Still 3 x Ruff

LR Plover x 1

Kingfisher 

Black-tailed Godwit x 1

Snipe x 2

Sept 17th

Ruff x 2

Redstart 

Sept 16th

Pink-foot x 54 over

Ruff x 4 

LR Plover 

Snipe x 4 

Little Egret 

Sept 15th

Ruff x 5

Snipe x 6

Dunlin x 1

Sept 13th

Ruff x 11

LR Plover x 7

Ringed Plover x 1

Common Sandpiper x 2

Dunlin x 2

Snipe x 6