Birds seen at Moor Green Lakes during SEPTEMBER 2010

A total of 32 Great Crested Grebe on the 24th. Resident pair of Little Grebe with two young were joined by another mid-month. Up to 19 Mute Swans. Estimated 300 Canada Geese leaving the roost on 10th, with one feral Snow Goose and a feral Barnacle Goose. Up to 48 Greylag Geese present in the roost on the diggings. On the 30th there were 162 Egyptian Geese, I think this is a new site record.

Up to 10 Cormorants gathering in the trees on Grove Island, along with an occasional Grey Heron. No reports of Little Egrets? Up to 23 Teal, 33 Pochard, 17 Shoveler, 65 resident Mallard and 116 Tufted Ducks on 24th. Then 195 Coot and 20 Moorhen on 25th, 38 Wigeon and 10 Gadwall on the 30th.

Buzzards, Kestrels, Sparrowhawk and up to 4 Hobbys seen this month. 

A Redshank on 2nd, Snipe present all month with six seen on 4th. A juvenile Ringed Plover from 8th to the 10th. Common Sandpipers up until 20th. Green Sandpipers all month with seven on 13th. Good numbers of Lapwings with 139 on the 3rd and 156 on the 20th. A relatively poor autumn for passage waders so far.

Two late Common Terns passed through on the 13th. Up to 48 Black-headed Gulls on the 24th, and 640 Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the 25th, Occasional Herring and Yellow-legged Gulls have been seen. A Common Gull on the 30th.

A additional Barn Owl nest box has been installed to improve the chance of breeding after failed three years. Little Owls present in the usual locations.

Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins present until the end of the month, with good numbers passing through as they head off to Africa. Notable reports were 200 Sand Martins on 16th, 25 Swallows and 40 House Martins on the 30th.

Seven Meadow Pipits on the 20th, two Yellow Wagtails (one juv.) on the 15th, 30+ Pied Wagtails, at least two Grey Wagtails and a male Stonechat present all month. A Whinchat on 4th and 7th and two Wheatears on 10th.

The Ringing Group caught good numbers of Warblers on the 5th: a Reed Warbler,  Sedge Warbler, eight Blackcaps, 14 Willow Warblers and 56 Chiffchaffs. This indicates the significant numbers of birds passing through at this time of the year.

The first Siskins of the autumn were recorded on 28th. Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Chaffinches have been present all month, but are gathering in flocks now. More than 15 Reed Buntings were recorded on the 26th.

My unofficial count of species recorded for 2010 is about 124, including the escaped Snow and Barnacle Geese.

This Summary is also available on  www.mglg.org.uk            

Report compiled by Bruce Archer

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