Sightings

Main sighting: Spotted Flycatcher

Family of c.5 Spotted Flycatcher by north wall of castle

Main sighting: Great Egret eel eating extravaganza

En-route to hides: Wren, lesser black-backed gulls, pheasant, blue tits, chiffchaff, woodpigeons, robin, crows, blackbirds, swallows, cormorant (perched on a telegraph pole for a change), kingfisher, family groups of 30+ linnets, greylag geese, goldfinches and moorhen. Hide 1: Pair light-morph and 1 normal colour buzzards, Canada geese, marsh harrier, jackdaws, kestrel and 6 ringed plovers. Snipe platform: With the most volume of water, this is where all the activity is, with 1 green sandpiper, 17 little egrets waiting for the 3 great egrets to drop the eels they were catching, 4 oystercatchers, 6 herons, 2 redshank, 191 dunlin, single knot in breeding plumage, mallards, 6 shoveler, coot, 4 teal, 2 lapwing, stock dove (fly-past), 1 great black-backed gull, 1 little ringed plover, pied wagtail, 4 sand martins, reed bunting and sedge warbler. Hide 2: stonechat pair (adult female and juvenile female), 4th great egret flying across to join the others, dunnock and collard dove. Other: meadow browns, gatekeepers, 1 red admiral and 1 green-veined white.

Main sighting: Marsh Tit

1400hrs Walking along raised boardwalk above the marsh there were constant calls from several Nuthatch, only one sighted along with a single Treecreeper and Spotted Flycatcher. Good numbers Gold crest calling but not seen. Plenty of Great and Blue Tits, Chiffchaff and a Marsh Tit that set me a bit of a dilemma to ID but Merlin App suggested Marsh Tit rather than Willow and as it was in a marsh I am going for that!

Main sighting: Swallows

A minimum of 54 Swallows, mostly juveniles were gathered on the telegraph wires.20h00.Good to see they are having a successful breeding season.

Main sighting: Green Sandpiper

2-Green Sandpipers from the Snipe platform.Priors lagoon was the only one with water,so all the bird species were congregated there.Other birds there were 5-Great White Egrets,14-Little Egrets,3-Black Tailed Godwits,30+Lapwings,1-Buzzard,several juvenile Black Headed Gulls.On the foreshore was 1-Spoonbill (distant),good numbers ofShelducks and Oystercatchers.11h00-12h20.

Main sighting: Swifts

Jackdaws, collard doves, house sparrows, crows, blue tits, woodpigeons, magpies, herring gulls, swallows, chiffchaffs, 5 stock doves, starlings, linnets, 6 swifts, reed warbler, skylark, meadow pipits, stonechat, whitethroat, Canada geese, black headed gulls, pheasants, 253 shelduck (6 chicks also seen), curlew, 3 black tailed godwits, mallard, 2 little egrets, grey heron, 2 siskins over, wren, lesser black-backed gulls, redshank, pied wagtail, 3 cormorants, house martins, juvenile female kestrel, reed bunting and lesser whitethroat.

Main sighting: Com sand

5 Com sands

Main sighting: Shelduck & Porpoise

High tide 1230 hrs, while watching three flotillas of shelduck heading downriver a fin breached the surface several times also heading downriver. Twice breaching clear confirming a harbour porpoise !

Main sighting: Goshawk and confirmed via sound ID

Sat in tree after missing a small bird

Main sighting: Nightjar

Nightjar churring in distance from Beacon Hill direction.

Main sighting: Site maintenance

Work has commenced on the 14^th July 2025 at the lagoons and will continue over the next two / three weeks as work is being undertaken to reduce the amount of vegetation around the lagoons and to de-silt the internal ditches at the site.

Main sighting: Whimbrel

Ebbing tide, very windy. Whimbrel 3 Grey Plover 1 Little Egret 10 Redshank 60 Curlew 1 Common Sandpiper 2