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Sightings archive

November 2017

November 30th
Lavell’s Lake – 2 Hawfinch flying around car park field (John McGowan)
Black Swan Lake – Goldeneye male near activity centre (John McGowan)
White Swan Lake – Bittern in front of reed bed, Kingfisher, Little Grebe (John McGowan)
Middle Marsh – Ferruginous Duck male (John McGowan)

November 29th
Lavell’s Lake – 5 Hawfinch flying around car park field, Water Rail near Bittern hide (John McGowan); Nuthatch on feeder, Water Rail under feeders, Great Spotted Woodpecker on feeder (Michael Hunt); Hawfinch male on tree in car park field (Brian Bennett)
Sandford Lake – Siskin near parking area (John McGowan)
Black Swan Lake – 2 Little Egret in trees near car park 3 (Neill Allan)
White Swan Lake – Bittern in front of reed bed (John McGowan)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck both males (John McGowan)

November 28th
Lavell’s Lake – 3 Hawfinch all males in copse centre of car park field, Mistle Thrush (John McGowan)
White Swan Lake – Bittern in front of reed bed (John McGowan)
Middle Marsh – Ferruginous Duck (John McGowan)

November 27th
Lea Farm GP – Water Rail under feeders see picture (Geoff Emmett)
Lavell’s Lake – Hawfinch male in copse centre of car park field, Treecreeper near the feeders at Bittern hide see picture (Keith Seymour)


Tree Creeper at Bittern hide – Keith Seymour


Water Rail at Lea Farm – Geoff Emmett

November 26th
Lavell’s Lake – 2 Hawfinch male and female in copse centre of car park field (John McGowan)
White Swan Lake – Bittern out front of reeds before flying back into reeds, Water Rail sunning itself at base of reed, Little Grebe (John McGowan)
Heron’s Water – Chiffchaff (John McGowan)


Hawfinch in the car park field – Geoff Emmett

November 25th
Lavell’s Lake – 3 Hawfinch in copse centre of car park field, Peregrine over car park field (John McGowan)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck (John McGowan)


Fieldfare in car park field – FJC

November 24th
Lea Farm GP – 3 Snipe on east shore, 2 Nuthatch on feeder, 2 Common Gull, 7 Herring Gull, Green Woodpecker over lake, 2 Reed Bunting in reeds to the left of the hide (Bob Bennett); Siskin on opposite bank of the Loddon, Goldcrest on path to hide (Geoff Emmett)
Black Swan Lake – Grey Wagtail on pier at the activity centre see picture below (Geoff Emmett)
White Swan Lake – Bittern showed extremely well at the front of the reed bed close to the right side fishing platform for about 20 minutes (Bob Bennett)


Grey Wagtail on Black Swan Lake – Geoff Emmett

November 23rd
Lavell’s Lake – Hawfinch in copse centre of car park field, Sparrowhawk perched on post in centre copse, Snipe, 2 Common Gull over (Richard Marsh)
Sandford Lake – 2 Snipe (Richard Marsh)
White Swan Lake – Bittern showed well front centre of reed bed, Little Grebe (Richard Marsh)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck (Richard Marsh)

November 22nd
Lavell’s Lake – Hawfinch in copse centre of car park field feeding on the Sloes (John McGowan); 160+ Golden Plover circling over (FJC)
White Swan Lake – Bittern flew to the back of the reeds (Rick Dawson)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck (Rick Dawson)

November 21st
Lea Farm GP – 6 Snipe on east shore, Nuthatch, Common Gull (Richard Marsh); Cetti’s Warbler singing in reeds in front of hide (Alan Rymer)
Lavell’s Lake – Hawfinch in copse centre of car park field, Nuthatch, Snipe on Bittern hide bund (Richard Marsh)
Sandford Lake – Sparrowhawk scattered a Goldfinch flock in a tree tin the west side (Richard Marsh)
White Swan Lake – Little Egret good views in ‘Coot corner’ (Anne Cronin)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck (Anne Cronin)

November 20th
Lavell’s Lake – 2 Fieldfare in bushes in car park field, 3 Hawfinch around car park field, Coal Tit in car park field (Paul Bright-Thomas); Barn Owl seen in box (Brian Bennett)

November 19th
Lea Farm GP – 252 Lapwing, 34 Teal, 1000+ Black-headed Gull (Renton Righelato)
Lavell’s Lake – Hawfinch in copse centre of car park field (John McGowan); Mistle Thrush eating Sloes in the car park field see picture (Geoff Emmett); 33 Teal, 34 Gadwall, 11 Wigeon, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Mute Swan, 88 Coot, 3 Shoveler, 1 Moorhen, 4 Canada Geese, 4 Mallard (FJC); Ring-necked Parakeet on Bittern hide feeders see picture below (Keith Milner)
Sandford Lake – Sparrowhawk (Gavin Turner); 130 Pochard, 11 Shoveler, 33 Tufted Duck, 4 Great Crested Grebe, 26 Cormorants, 2 Moorhen, 3 Greylag Geese (FJC)
Black Swan Lake – 350 Black-headed Gull, 13 Great Crested Grebe, 16 Mute Swan, 22 Tufted Duck, 75 Coot, 2 Grey Heron (FJC)
White Swan Lake – 2 Kingfisher male and female in reeds (Gavin Turner); Bittern in the reeds (John McGowan)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck (Renton Righelato)


Ring-necked Parakeet on feeder – Keith Milner


Mistle Thrush in the Lavell’s car park field – Geoff Emmett

November 18th
Lea Farm GP – Little Egret in tree along Loddon on way to hide, Water Rail (John McGowan)
Lavell’s Lake – Hawfinch in copse centre of car park field (John McGowan); 1000+ Redwing over heading west, 200+ Fieldfare over heading west (FJC)
White Swan Lake – Little Grebe (John McGowan)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck (John McGowan)

November 17th
Lavell’s Lake – Mandarin Duck over north (FJC)
White Swan Lake – Bittern showing well in the reeds, Ring-necked Parakeet over (Paul Bright-Thomas); Bittern seen in flight see picture below (Stuart Gay)


Bittern in flight at White Swan – Stuart Gay

November 16th
Lea Farm GP – 5 Snipe, 2 Common Gull, Reed Bunting female, Water Rail, Nuthatch, Green Woodpecker, Herring Gull immature, 2 Ring-necked Parakeet seen along the Loddon (Richard Marsh)
Lavell’s Lake – Hawfinch active in car park, Cetti’s Warbler seen at the north end of the car park field, Chiffchaff in the copse, 2 Bullfinch, 25 Fieldfare in a single flock (Paul Bright-Thomas); Coal Tit in copse (John McGowan); 8 Hawfinch maybe as many as 11+ highest number seen about 3pm (Jerry O’Brien); Peregrine sat in tall Poplar Tree seen from Bittern hide (Steven Day)
Sandford Lake – Kingfisher over lake and again over the path into the stream (Bob Bennett)
Black Swan Lake – 2 Ferruginous Duck change of scenery! (Jerry O’Brien)
White Swan Lake – 2 Bittern showing well in the reeds (John McGowan)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck (Richard Marsh); Grey Wagtail (Bob Bennett)

November 15th
Lea Farm GP – Water Rail heard in the reeds, Nuthatch on feeders (Peter Scudamore); 2 Common Gull, 9 Snipe together on east shore, 2 Reed Bunting male and female on feeders (Bob Bennett)
Lavell’s Lake – 8 Hawfinch in car park field very mobile flying between the Field Maples on the north side to Ash trees on the east side (Bob Bennett and Roger Stansfield); 2 Bullfinch, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Greenfinch, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, 50+ Redwing, 30+ Redwing and Fieldfare in a mixed flock, 4 Song Thrush on Hawthorne tree in corner, Nuthatch flew across car park field (Bob Bennett)
White Swan Lake – Bittern showing well in front of reeds
(John McGowan)
Black Swan Lake – Grey Wagtail on the beach at the Activity Centre (Richard Marsh)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck (Richard Marsh)


Bittern in front of reeds at White Swan – Jerry O’Brien


Kestrel, with lunch at Lavell’s Lake – Alan Rymer

November 14th
Lavell’s Lake – Hawfinch in car park field central copse feeding on sloes (Brian Bennett); 3 Hawfinch just flew in currently perched in Ash on east side of car park (FJC); 2 Hawfinch in north east corner of car park field flew into trees along Emmbrook (Renton Righelato)
White Swan Lake – 2 Bittern showing well in reeds, Little Grebe (John McGowan)


Bittern at White Swan – Steven Day

November 13th
Lea Farm GP – Shelduck, Sparrowhawk female posing nicely on depth marker post in front of hide, Little Egret over (Rick Dawson); 2 Water Rail one under feeder the other heard in the reeds, 2 Common Gull, Nuthatch (Richard Marsh); Dark Bellied Brent Goose (Geoff Emmett)
Lavell’s Lake – Hawfinch flew from the copse in car park field, 2 Bullfinch in the car park field, 2 Song Thrush in the car park field, 3 Ring-necked Parakeet west over landfill, 2 Fieldfare over car park field, Siskin flew toward the activity centre (Paul Bright-Thomas); 2 Hawfinch over car park field (Rick Dawson and Adam Bassett); Redwing seen in car park field, Nuthatch in car park field (Richard Marsh
Sandford Lake – Shelduck later seen at Lea Farm (Rick Dawson); Goldcrest (Richard Marsh)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck (Rick Dawson)


Female Sparrowhawk at Lea Farm – Adam Bassett


Dark Bellied Brent Goose at Lea Farm on the landfill – Adam Bassett


Hawfinch at Lavell’s Lake – Stuart Gay


Water Rail under feeders at Lea Farm – Richard Marsh


Shelduck at Lea Farm – Geoff Emmett


Dark Bellied Brent Goose at Lea Farm – Geoff Emmett

November 12th
Lea Farm GP – Goldeneye female (John McGowan)
Lavell’s Lake – Nuthatch (Geoff Emmett); 2 Raven low over car park field south east, 3 Linnet over, 42 Fieldfare over, Hawfinch reported in car park field (FJC)
Black Swan Lake – 2 Bullfinch near car park (Neill Allan); Goldeneye male south end of lake (John McGowan)
Sandford Lake – Siskin near parking area (John McGowan); 2 Ferruginous Duck in middle of lake (Neill Allan)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck (John McGowan)

November 11th
Lavell’s Lake – 3 Hawfinch in copse in centre of the car park field, Blackcap male car park field, Coal Tit car park field, Little Egret over car park field, Ring-necked Parakeet over car park field, Nuthatch in car park field (Marek Walford); Hawfinch, see picture (Ewan Jones)


Hawfinch in the car park field at Lavell’s Lake – Ewan Jones

November 10th
Lavell’s Lake – Kestrel see picture below (Geoff Emmett)
Sandford Lake – Kingfisher, Chiffchaff singing by the lake (Richard Stansfield)


Kestrel at Lavell’s Lake – Geoff Emmett

November 9th
Sandford Lake – 148 Pochard, Water Rail, 12 Shoveler, 84 Tufted Duck (Lee Evans)
Black Swan Lake – 84 Widgeon, 8 Shoveler, Kingfisher (Lee Evans)
White Swan Lake – Bittern showing well in reeds (Rick Dawson); Chiffchaff singing male, Goldcrest, Green Woodpecker, 26 Tufted duck, 26 Coot (Lee Evans)
Middle Marsh – 2 Ferruginous Duck mobile on the lake, disturbed late morning flying to Sandford Lake (Richard Marsh); Sparrowhawk male over, 2 Greater Spotted Woodpecker on tree north side, Little Egret over (Bob Bennett)

November 8th
Sandford Lake – 125 Pochard (Paul Bright-Thomas); 2 Siskin close to parking on lane side (John McGowan); Chiffchaff male in song to the west of the ‘ditch’ at the western end of the pit, 2 Water Rail one in the south-western corner, another in front of the hide, Cetti’s Warbler about the ditch west of the western side of the pit, Kingfisher very vocal, very flighty and generally keeping to the northern side (Peter Hutchins)
Black Swan Lake – Goldeneye female (John McGowan); 2 Snipe circling a number of times before dropping to the western side of the northernmost island, 9 Egyptian Geese, Common Gull, Goldeneye close to the southern end, Grey Wagtail near to southern end (Peter Hutchins)
White Swan Lake – 2 Ferruginous Duck in north east corner early morning (Paul Bright-Thomas); Bittern showing well in reeds (John McGowan); Water Rail on the western side towards the northern end (Peter Hutchins)
Middle Marsh – 3 Ferruginous Duck confirmed later in the day (John McGowan)
Heron’s Water – Chiffchaff on west side (Peter Hutchins)


Ferruginous Duck – Steven Day


Ferruginous Duck on Middle Marsh – John McGowan

November 7th
Lea Farm GP – Treecreeper on path to hide, Stonechat female on landfill, 2 Snipe on island, 3 Green Woodpecker maybe same bird flying around lake, 3+ Meadow Pipit over landfill, 20+ Redwing over landfill (Bob Bennett); Water Rail (David Hampton); 3 Common Gull on raft and south west corner, 3 Herring Gull also on raft and south west corner (Richard Marsh)
Lavell’s Lake – Barn Owl in Box, 65+ Fieldfare heading west, 60 Redwing, 2 Hawfinch over east (FJC); Nuthatch on feeders, Kestrel flew past Bittern hide (Richard Marsh)
Sandford Lake – 2 Ferruginous Duck (Steven Day)


Water Rail under feeders at Lea Farm – Richard Marsh


2 Ferruginous Duck on Sandford Lake – Steven Day


Water Rail under feeders at Lea Farm – David Hampton

November 6th
Lea Farm GP – Buzzard (Geoff Emmett)
Lavell’s Lake – Water Rail back of feeding area behind hide (Peter Scudamore); Snipe on bund, Garganey exhausted possible female! (Geoff Emmett)
Sandford Lake – 115 Pochard, 76 Tufted Duck (FJC)
Black Swan Lake – 2 Goldeneye females (Steven Day); Pintail male at edge of reedy area in Coot harbour (Rick Dawson); 2 Mandarin duck male and female (David Williams-Jones)


Male Pintail on Black Swan – Steven Day


Possible Garganey at Lavell’s – Geoff Emmett


Snipe at Lavell’s – Geoff Emmett


Buzzard at Lea Farm – Geoff Emmett

November 5th
Lea Farm GP – Water Rail, 2 Nuthatch, Snipe on island, 2 Common Gull, 3 Meadow Pipit on landfill (Richard Marsh)
Lavell’s Lake – 5 Fieldfare over, 2000+ Starling roosting, 3 Bullfinch, 10 Hawfinch 4 over landfill east just beyond green barn and 6 just flew along treeline on east side of car park field, 6 Golden Plover east very distantly, Raven drifted over heading south, Brambling over heading south west (FJC); 2 Brambling male and female under feeders (Steven Day)


Brambling at Lavell’s Lake – Geoff Emmett


Brambling under feeder at Lavell’s Lake – Geoff Emmett

November 4th
Lea Farm GP – Coal Tit on feeders (Geoff Emmett)

November 3rd
Lea Farm GP – Water Rail under feeders (Peter Scudamore)
Sandford Lake – Water Rail heard, Starlings roosting in reeds, 32+ Pochard (FJC)
White Swan Lake – Bittern showing well in reeds (Steven Day); 4 Water Rail heard, 2 Kingfisher heard (FJC)

November 1st
Lavell’s Lake – 35 Fieldfare over, Brambling over west car park heard it call, Lesser Redpoll (FJC)