Location
Telford sunrise: 06:26
10.0°C > 11.0°C. Broken cloud to start but soon overcast with a light shower around. Light N. Very good visibility
The presence of two illegal fishermen and two ‘minders’ in the lay-by rather thwarted the start of the morning as I declined to get involved in any discussion.
(107th visit of the year)
Notes
- the 15 groups of outbound Canada Geese were spread over almost 40 minutes. The lone bird on the lake arrived much later: even this lone bird was ignored by the cob Mute Swan
- 3 Grey Herons flew off together at 05:50. Later a bird around the lake may have been one of these birds
- all 4 Little Grebes seen eventually – much of the time only 1 juvenile was present
- my early count of Great Crested Grebes revealed 8 adults and 7 juveniles but later I could find no more than 5 adults and 6 juveniles: frustrating! Exactly how many area there?
- one of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls logged as on the water was a dead adult floating in the middle
- >25 hirundines eventually gathered in a mixed group over the water, rather hard to determine the exact composition
- in addition to the 10 Pied Wagtails overhead this morning another 5 flew up from the Ricoh grass when they started mowing the grass
- 11 Chiffchaffs (2 in song) and 2 Blackcaps and 1 Reed Warbler located today
and
- a bat sp. seen pre-dawn was low down either over the vegetation at the very edge of the dam or perhaps just over the water. So possibly a Daubenton’s Bat, though I did not see its feet trawling for insects over the water as this species is supposed to do
- no dragonfly, butterfly or moth species recorded
Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)
- 2 Greylag Geese (1 group) again
- 174 Canada Geese (15 groups)
- 1 Mallard
- 20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 1 Stock Dove
- 9 Feral Pigeons (1 group)
- 131 Jackdaws
- 128 Rooks
- 10 Pied Wagtails again
Count of hirundines etc
- 1+ Sand Martin
- 5 Barn Swallows
- c.20 House Martins
The counts from the lake area
- 2 Mute Swans
- 1 Canada Goose
- 16 Mallard
- 5 (0♂) Tufted Ducks
- 3 or 4 Grey Herons
- 4 Little Grebes
- 8 + 7 (3? broods) Great Crested Grebes (see notes)
- 8 + 15 Moorhens
- 160 Coots
- c.100 Black-headed Gulls again
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
(Ed Wilson)
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