Sightings

Main sighting: Little Stints and wader flock

Early AM visit up until high tide.
The wader flock came in from the foreshore eventually and landed on Becs Lagoons ( on the far side for most of it.
2 x Little Stint ( photographed) 40 + Dunlins 10c Ringed Lover 15+ grey Plovers, 1 x Whimbrel, 2 x Black Tailed Godwits, 20+ Curlew. 2 x Wigeon, and Shelduck, Mallard and Teal ( not counted). 1 x Kestrel, 1 x Buzzard(Bosprey), 1 x Sparrowawk. Lots of Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Chiffchaffs are moving through the reserve. 1 x Stonechat. Cetti Warbler heard. Carrion Crows and Magpies. Herring, Lesser Blackbacked and Black Headed Gulls seen. Hordes of Canada Geese at first light. 2 x Mute Swans. 1 x Grey Heron and 1 x Little Egret.
Fox seen on the salt marsh.
Swallows seen on Monks.

Main sighting: White Wagtail

Car park to hides: crows, blackbirds, buzzard (normal-phase), magpies, wren, robins, moorhens (2 in the upper branches of the willow by the bridge), mallards, herring gulls and raven. Hide 1: heron and 3 shelduck. Cettis calling on way to next hide. Hide 2: Canada geese, 90 greylag geese, male wigeon (1st returning autumn duck), 2nd buzzard (light-morph), pair of kestrels on the posts, little egret and jackdaws. En-route to snipe platform: green woodpecker calling, stock dove, great white egret passing, flock of 40+ linnets, woodpigeons and pheasant. Blackthorn bushes from hide 2 to the platform were alive with warblers, 21 chiffchaff counted with 1 very smart and quite late willow warbler mixed in, 1 female reed bunting, chaffinches and blue tits. Snipe Platform: stonechat pair, 15 golden plover low overhead and calling, 2 white wagtails in with 9 pied wagtails. Seawall: 25 curlew, 2 cormorants, lesser black-backed and 1 great black-backed gull, 6 more wigeon and a fox crossing the saltings. By what would be hide 3: good mix of waders on the lagoon including 95 lapwing, 16 more curlew, 2 black-tailed godwits, 4 ringed plovers, 1 little stint, 2 juv curlew sandpipers, 8 grey plovers and 1 oystercatcher. 12 teal and 2 siskins calling overhead, female sparrowhawk crossing overhead. Back at hide 2 were 6 swallows feeding and a pair of mute swans. No sign of wryneck.

Main sighting: Black redstart

Feeding on pile of stonework inside north transept

Main sighting: Crossbill

Crossbill 5 – Coal tit – 2 Sisken 5

Main sighting: Mix of interesting birds inc wryneck

Species variety not the highest but good mix of birds seen despite the high winds. Car park to hides: herring gulls, robin, woodpigeons, long tailed tits, mistle thrush, mallards, moorhen, great white egret flying past and blue tits. Hide 1: good numbers of greylags (99) amongst 175 Canada geese, 24 teal, 2 dunlin, 42 lapwing and 2 herons. En-route to next hide: chiffchaff. Hide 2: crows, 3 shelduck, meadow pipits, male kestrel perched up, starlings and 1 swallow. En-route to platform: cettis calling, goldfinches, 3 siskins overhead calling, magpies and 2 pied wagtails. Just past snipe platform but before the bend in the fence line, the wryneck showed twice but very briefly, preferring to stay low in the thick hawthorns and blackthorns. Seawall: 6 grey plovers and 6 curlew. Snipe platform: 28 more lapwing. Single yellow wagtail flying / calling just prior to hide 2. Hide 2: male peregrine perched on the bank which flew across to the far side and perched on the ground, jackdaws, kingfisher flying low and across the reserve left to right and 1 great black-backed gull. Hide1: male wheatear on the island showing well and 1 little stint with 3 ringed plovers. Great tits and a 2nd swallow back at the car park.

Main sighting: Yellow-barred warbler

Visited garden at least twice on the consecutive mornings of 30/09/25 and 01/10/25.
[I noticed there where also sightings in Gloucestershire on the 1st].

Main sighting: Wryneck and Waders

Wryneck was showing in the field and treeline near reen at rear of the Snipe Platform. The bird was vanishing and then reappearing and did not appear to venture further into the reserve like previous days.
Other birds-
Priors Lagoon , Monks and Becs all had waders on them today ( Priors and Monks being the best for good views)
Lapwings 40+, Dunlins 120+ Curlew Sandpiper x 7 Little Stint x 4. Black-Tailed Godwit and in total for all the lagoons I counted Grey Plovers x 7.
Great White Egret, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and 2 x Buzzards ( one being Bosprey)
Lots of Chiffchaffs , reed Buntings and Stonechats. Swallows flying through.

Main sighting: Water Rail

Water Rail (excellent views of one catching small fish in the gout)
Ruff (1 flew into the roost at high tide)
Avocet (2)
Greenshank (1)
Bar-tailed Godwit (7)
Black-tailed Godwit (30)
Grey Plover (2)
Common Sandpiper (1)
Curlew (20)
Oystercatcher (150)
Knot (7)
Dunlin (8)
Redshank (200)
Shelduck (500)
Shoveler (100)
Wigeon (50)
Pintail (50)
Teal (100)
Mallard (100)
Little Egret (4)
Grey Heron (3)
Canada Goode (14)
Cormorant (5)
Raven (2)

Main sighting: Crossbill

fem Crossbill

Main sighting: Wader mix

Update: No sign of wryneck before I left at 11am – water levels slightly higher, ducks and waders starting to re-visit now. Car park to hides: robin, Canada geese, crows, woodpigeons, great tits, magpies, pheasant, 2 cettis, mallards, herring gulls and 2 cormorants. Hide 1: little egret and wren calling. Hide 2: ravens, kestrel, hobby came through hunting on 3 occasions, meadow pipits, buzzard, 3 herons, pied wagtail, goldfinches, 21 teal, female marsh harrier (first time since water returned), black headed gulls and swallows. Most of the action from Snipe Platform: good mix of waders including 2 sanderling, 92 dunlin, 6 ringed plovers, 1 little stint, 4 curlew sandpipers (juveniles), 3 grey plovers, 49 black-tailed godwits, 38 lapwing, 39 redshanks and 3 snipe. Also of note 2nd little egret, 44 greylags, 4 swans and a curlew. En-route back to car park: fly-by great white egret, 6 chiffchaffs, blue tits, moorhen, dunnocks, pair of stonechats and grey wagtail in reen by concrete bridge.

Main sighting: Wryneck and Waders- Little Stint/Curlew Sand

Highlight was watching a Wryneck – initially showed near where the old Seawall ( Avocet) Hide used to be up to the perimeter fence and then along the path and electric fence line. Eventually it made its way all the way to the Hawthorn Berry Bushes near Hide 2.
Other sightings –
Overjoyed to see water now on all three lagoons.
All three had waders on them at some stage .
Overview –
Monks and Priors ( some birds flew between both -most on Priors)
2 x Sanderling, 30 + Dunlins. 1 x Curlew Sandpiper, 30 C Lapwings, Several Black-Tailed Godwits. 2 x Little Stint. 5 + Ringed Plovers
Becs Lagoon- Mixed flock of Curlews , Black-Tailed Gowdits , 2 x Gey Plover, Ringed Plovers and Dunlins. Little Egret. Buzzard and Carrion Crows
Fly over –
Great White Egret and 5 x Snipe.
Lots of Greylag Geese and Canadas at Dawn on Monks.
Seawall area had 30 + Meadow Pippits, Skylarks and Reed Buntings. 1 x Wheatear.
Foreshore – Mallards, Shelduck, Curlew 20+ and Black-Headed Gull. Herring Gulls further our.

Main sighting: House Martins

Large numbers of house martins, sand martins and swallows heading south. 3/400.