Three year ticks and a host of familiar faces should have made it a good day but with reports of falls of Wheatear elsewhere plus sightings of Hobby, Cuckoo, Whinchat and Arctic Tern in the region it felt a bit of a let down - perhaps the less frequently I go to Upton the greater my (unrealistic) expectations becomes on each visit? Neverthess it was good to catch up with Terry H, John Ridley, Phil Wood, Andy Pitt, Trev Jones, Graham LaB, Bob Williams, Jared T and Alan Giles amongst other - with that level of coverage if there was something decent present I am sure if would have been seen.
SAILING POOL
1 Common Sand, 1 Grey Wagtail, 9 GC Grebe, 4 Gadwall (2 pairs), 9 GC Grebe, 14 Tufted Duck, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Greylag Geese, 4 Canada Geese, 8 Coot, 1 Moorhen, Cetti's Warbler
FLASHES
1 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Ruff, 1 Snipe, 5 LRP, 36+ Avocet, 3 Redshank, 2 Common Sand, 7 Lapwing chicks still, 6 Shoveler (5 males + 1 female), 3 Gadwall (pair + male), 5 Shelduck, 1 Teal (male), 6 Tufted Duck, 22 Coot, 9 Moorhen, 5 LBB Gull, 3 Herring Gull, hybrid BH x Med Gull, Lesser Whitethroat singing between Hen Pool and feeding station, 8 Linnet, 4 Greylag Geese over, 2 Roe Deer, Little Grebe calling from the Hen Pool.
Common Gull (first summer) later as per Andy P
MOORS
2 Mute Swan, 4 Greylag Goose, 1 Cormorant, 2 GC Grebe, 1 Shoveler (male), 6 Gadwall (2 pairs + 2 males), 1 LRP, 1 Common Sand, 3 Lapwing, 6 Oystercatcher, Common Tern briefly, 5 Herring Gull, 2 Med Gulls (both second summer), ringed BH Gull - white EFV4 (Dutch scheme), Swift, Jay, Raven, Kestrel, Goldcrest, Lesser Whitethroats on North Moors and along west track as per JHWR + JT.
Really encouraging that the number of dabbling duck drakes vastly out-numbers the females - hopefully there are sitting females hidden away somewhere on the reserve. Less encouraging was the lack of singing Willow Warblers, I don't know if anyone else had any success?
