The resident Mute Swans eventually managed to get rid of last year's cygnets though I am not sure all had a happy ending. They have raised four cygnets that largely taught themselves to fly. They are still present and show no inclination to venture in to the big wide world outside their watery domain.
Most of the goose eggs were rendered infertile by the council contractors. The few goslings to emerge were, as usual, dispatched by the cob Mute Swan. How the 'angel winged' bird managed to escape and survive at least three years is a mystery. Oddly at the moment it seems that Greylag Geese are in greater number. They bring three different mainly white feral birds and several hybrid Greylag x Canadas with them from time to time. And then at the very end of the year a Pink-footed Goose joined the Greylag Geese.
Mallard had a dire breeding season. I lost count of how many broods I noted – at least 20. Just one brood of four, as usual late in the season, survived to become adults.
Notable among the other dabbling ducks are Common Teal that have been lurking in small numbers alongside the island in both Winter periods. Gadwall are becoming more common here – it is one species that seems to be increasing nationally. Otherwise Eurasian Wigeon and Shoveler have dropped in on occasions.
No other ducks breed. Tufted Ducks are always present with low numbers in mid-Summer. The Autumn build-up seemed late. Pochard are only ever in small numbers.
A few Goosanders were seen daily in the first-winter period. They were later leaving (31 March) and early returning (30 September). During October over 40 birds were present some days. By the end of the year numbers were in low single figures. Perhaps they had eaten all the fish?
The vast majority of gulls here are Black-heads. As at the lake the post-breeding build-up was much delayed. Of the larger gulls only Herrings and Lesser Black-backs have been noted.
Two Common Terns at the end of August were a welcome and unusual site. One of them was probably the bird I missed at the Balancing Lake.
Another bird species attacking the fish stocks was Cormorants. As many as eight birds were around early in the year. They were largely absent in Summer. At present numbers are variable but five and usually fewer is all I note.
Up to three Grey Herons are sometime present with at least one usually bold in sitting alongside or even on the footbridges.
Breeding warblers were only Chiffchaff and Blackcap. As at the lake an unusually big and late passage of Willow Warbler was attributed to poor weather in the Iberian peninsular. Both Sedge and Reed Warblers were heard as they passed through.
The highlight for me was the single-day record of a Marsh Tit calling and seen feeding alongside what I call squirrel alley. My first ever at this site for a much-declined species.
Not much else to note. The Nuthatch was seen inspecting and cleaning its usual hole but did not seem to nest there after all. Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen and heard at both ends of the water: it does not take this species long to fly the length and I was unsure whether these sighting were all of the same pair.
Birds Recorded
I recorded 77 bird species here this year. In 2022 I logged 72 species; in both 2020 and 2021 I also logged 77.
1 01/01/23 Moorhen
2 01/01/23 Mute Swan
3 01/01/23 Cormorant
4 01/01/23 Black-headed Gull
5 01/01/23 Goosander
6 01/01/23 Tufted Duck
7 01/01/23 Canada Goose
8 01/01/23 Coot
9 01/01/23 Mallard
10 01/01/23 Collared Dove
11 01/01/23 Magpie
12 01/01/23 Great Tit
13 01/01/23 Wood Pigeon
14 01/01/23 Robin
15 01/01/23 Carrion Crow
16 01/01/23 Greylag Goose
17 01/01/23 Pochard
18 01/01/23 House Sparrow
19 01/01/23 Blue Tit
20 01/01/23 Great Crested Grebe
21 01/01/23 Dunnock
22 01/01/23 Blackbird
23 01/01/23 Song Thrush
24 01/01/23 Grey Heron
25 01/01/23 Wren
26 01/01/23 Lesser Black-backed Gull
27 01/01/23 Sparrowhawk
28 01/01/23 Goldfinch
29 01/01/23 Feral Pigeon
30 02/01/23 Chaffinch
31 02/01/23 Greenfinch
32 02/01/23 Bullfinch
33 02/01/23 Nuthatch
34 04/01/23 Herring Gull
35 05/01/23 Long-tailed Tit
36 05/01/23 Starling
37 06/01/23 Coal Tit
38 08/01/23 Siskin
39 09/01/23 Treecreeper
40 11/01/23 Jackdaw
41 12/01/23 Redwing
42 14/01/23 Goldcrest
43 22/01/23 Fieldfare
44 25/01/23 Shoveler
45 27/01/23 Jay
46 29/01/23 Great Spotted Woodpecker
47 30/01/23 Kingfisher
48 31/01/23 Water Rail
49 03/02/23 Stock Dove
50 03/02/23 Teal
51 03/03/23 Pied Wagtail
52 05/03/23 Rook
53 07/03/23 Skylark
54 10/03/23 Little Grebe
55 12/03/23 Common Gull
56 14/03/23 Pheasant
57 16/03/23 Grey Wagtail
58 18/03/23 Chiffchaff
59 18/03/23 Little Egret
60 20/03/23 Raven
61 21/03/23 Common Buzzard
62 24/03/23 Willow Warbler
63 25/03/23 Blackcap
64 29/03/23 Sand Martin
65 10/04/23 Gadwall
66 06/05/23 House Martin
67 07/05/23 Reed Warbler
68 11/05/23 Swift
69 17/05/23 Barn Swallow
70 24/05/23 Sedge Warbler
71 13/06/23 Mistle Hush
72 23/06/23 Common Sandpiper
73 29/08/23 Common Tern
74 15/09/23 Meadow Pipit
75 28/09/23 Lesser Redpoll
76 09/10/23 Marsh Tit
77 31/12/23 Pink-footed Goose
-- 06/03/23 Reed Bunting: reported present in nearby garden
Birds recorded in 2023 and not 2022
Pheasant **my first record at this site
Pink-footed Goose
Water Rail
Common Gull
Marsh Tit **my first record at this site and the star of the year
Sand Martin
Meadow Pipit
Reed Bunting
Birds recorded in 2022 and not 2023
Eurasian Wigeon
Lesser Whitethroat
Brambling
Moth Species
I recorded exactly 50 species of moth here this year. I do not have comparable totals for earlier years as my log for these years combined sightings from here with those I recorded in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel and the footpath from there to the bottom of squirrel alley. Suffice to say that these combined totals for previous years were all lower than this years' species count.
These moths were certainly my first record of the species here:
Common Rose Bell Notocelia rosaecolana
Knapweed Bell Epiblema cirsiana
Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata
Sprawler Asteroscopus sphinx
Lunar Underwing Anchoscelis lunosa
Angle Shades Phlogophora meticulosa
Small Fan-foot Herminia grisealis
Hoverflies
I recorded many more hoverfly species on 2023 due to somewhat different visiting times. Species I recorded for the first time here this year were:
Stripe-faced Dronefly Eristalis nemorum
Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae
Common Spotted Field Syrph Eupeodes luniger
Blotch-winged Hoverfly Leucozona lucorum
Dead-head Hoverfly Myathropa florea
Grey-spotted Boxer Platycheirus albimanus
Yellow-barred Peat Hoverfly Sericomyia silentis *** this my first-ever record of this species
Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly Volucella bombylans
Highlight
A highlight of Autumn was the number and variety of fungi found with most identified with some degree of accuracy using various apps. with a follow-up check using the internet.
Common Rose Bell Notocelia rosaecolana
Knapweed Bell Epiblema cirsiana
Green Pug Pasiphila rectangulata
Sprawler Asteroscopus sphinx
Lunar Underwing Anchoscelis lunosa
Angle Shades Phlogophora meticulosa
Small Fan-foot Herminia grisealis
Hoverflies
I recorded many more hoverfly species on 2023 due to somewhat different visiting times. Species I recorded for the first time here this year were:
Stripe-faced Dronefly Eristalis nemorum
Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae
Common Spotted Field Syrph Eupeodes luniger
Blotch-winged Hoverfly Leucozona lucorum
Dead-head Hoverfly Myathropa florea
Grey-spotted Boxer Platycheirus albimanus
Yellow-barred Peat Hoverfly Sericomyia silentis *** this my first-ever record of this species
Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly Volucella bombylans
Highlight
A highlight of Autumn was the number and variety of fungi found with most identified with some degree of accuracy using various apps. with a follow-up check using the internet.