Moor Green Lakes, Berkshire

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A brief evening trip to Moor Green Lakes was quiet, with the usual lapwings (Vanellus vanellus; click for larger), ducks and geese, as well as a feral snow goose, one of what used to be a largish flock here at Moor Green. The warm evening light was harsh, not flattering its subject.



The warmth brought many insects out, including this predatory fly gripping its prey tightly in a macabre hug of death (click for larger).



The highlight of the day came on the way back to the car park - a little owl (Athene noctua; click for larger) sitting on a fence post at the far side of the paddock. Not that close, but through the scope a perfect view of this yellow-eyed owl.

London Wetland Centre and Staines Reservoirs

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I dropped into the Wetland Centre for a brief visit after a meeting, and followed this with a 10 minute stop at Staines Reservoirs. A black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa; click for larger - this shot reminds me of learning about interference patterns during physics class), a common sandpiper, large numbers of lapwing and some early snipe were feeding at the wader scrape.



I managed to take a few handheld shots of a passing common tern (Sterna hirundo; click for larger), fishing in the shallow water.







Apart from that, things were quiet, with a mixture of summer (family group of great crested grebes, aggressive moorhens; Gallinula chloropus - click for larger), and autumn (starling flocks, mixed flocks of tits).



Staines was similar, plenty of ducks and gulls, but little else of interest around, apart from good numbers of hirundines. So a quiet session, but autumn's on its way...

Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex

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Pulborough Brooks is a slightly odd reserve, in that it can be very hit-and-miss in terms of decent wildlife. Today was more of a miss, with little about - a few finches and warblers in the hedgerows, a buzzard flying overhead, a mixed flock of geese and ducks mooching around the pools, and the highlight - 10 green sandpipers and a solitary juvenile greenshank in the distance.

The reserve was a blaze of colour from the late summer flowers, and butterflies were abundant, including this painted lady (Vanessa cardui; click for larger) feeding on fleabane.

Pagham Harbour and Arundel, West Sussex

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I managed to spend a morning at Pagham Harbour, followed by a quick wander around Arundel WWT reserve. The weather was very dull and overcast for much of the day, forcing high ISOs. The tide at Pagham was fully out, and while there were good numbers of waders around, most were at scope distance. many were still in summer plumage, including a small flock of stunning grey plover - one of my favourite waders at this time of year. Small flocks of summer plumaged dunlin and ringed plover dashed around, while more scattered redshank and curlew probed for food; down on the pebble shore turnstones dashed past, and later a calling whimbrel flew in. Little egrets (Egretta garzetta; click for larger) were everywhere - there was at least 30 dotted around the water's edge.



A few passerines were moving through, with several willow warblers and blackcaps in the hedgerows, and this wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe; click for larger) on more open ground.



A few Mediterranean gulls (Larus melanocephalus; click for larger), flew past, as well as the usual mix of greater black-backed, lesser black-backed, black-headed, common and herring (Larus argentatus; click for larger) gulls, and small numbers of common and sandwich terns.





The most exciting moments came when a female peregrine was being harassed by a carrion crow - she spent some time mock diving the crow, more for entertainment than effect.



Arundel was busy with families enjoying the summer sun, and I expected to see relatively little and wasn't disappointed! Some bedraggled pheasants (Phasianus colchicus; click for larger) searched for insects in the vegetation, while a few black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus; click for larger) were close to the hides. Apart from that I did get some good views of Cetti's and garden warbler - usually they're just a blur as they hide in the vegetation







I ended the day with a little sea-watching from Kingston Gorse - officially the UK's most unproductive place to search for sea birds. Small numbers of gannets passed by, as well as the odd sandwich tern. Very quiet apart from that - but there is something meditative about staring at a small patch of sea swell for an hour...

Staines Reservoir, Surrey

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A quick very early morning dash to Staines failed to produce the hoped for black terns (a flock had been seen the previous day), but the common terns (Sterna hirundo; click for larger) provided entertainment instead. Also failed to find the reported common scoter; ring-necked parakeets and a black-necked grebe were the highlights of a quiet session.

Peregrine at the Tate Modern

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Brought #1 daughter to London for the day as a birthday treat - London Eye, South Bank and then the Walking with Dinosaurs show (which was surprisingly impressive!) at the O2 arena. Highlight for her - Tyrannosaurus rex, highlight for me - this female peregrine showing incredibly well on the chimney of the Tate Modern. The RSPB had a stand with 'scopes to a perfect view of the preening female. The video through the scope is poor, but gives an idea of how good the view was.



This day also provided two milestones met - first, that I have now seen 180 bird species in the UK this year. 180 was my realistic target, so I'm pleased to have got there early - 200 perhaps now as a new year target? Second, this is my 100th post - will I make 1000?!

Lavell's Lake, Berkshire

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A quick evening visit to Lavell's Lake, which was very quiet. Highlights were passing common terns (Sterna hirundo; click for larger), barn owls in the nest box, and five species of raptor - distant hobby and buzzard (holding what looked like a grass snake in its talons), a pair of sparrowhawks, red kite and this kestrel in a dead tree (Falco tinnunculus; click for larger).

Moor Green Lakes, Berkshire

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I took a couple of hours to do my first proper birding in a couple of months, and headed off to Moor Green Lakes. There was little activity on the main lake, with the highlight being some nearby lapwing (Vanellus vanellus; click for larger). Family parties of warblers and tits worked their way through surrounding foliage.



I then moved on to the 'new workings' - the area of active gravel extraction adjacent to the reserve. This was much more active, with black-tailed godwit roosting alongside lapwings and black-headed gulls (click for larger) and a pair of feral barnacle geese, while common terns passed overhead and a common sandpiper was feeding on the far shore. On the same shoreline, a little stint was a the highlight of the day. Although very distant, its tiny size was illustrated when a pied wagtail hunted for insects nearby - it wasn't much larger.