3rd September 2009

After seeing that Shags had been reported at Upper Bittell Reservoir today, not that far from my beloved patch, I popped down to Earlswood Lakes during the late afternoon. At the causeway, saw that three other birders were there, which in my experience usually means that something good is there; upon asking one who was on his own he said that he wasn't aware that anything had been reported, but I missed asking the other two - anyone know if something was reported at the lakes today? Anyway, there were a lot of birds visible from the causeway, including 5 Common Terns, a Swift, 200+ Swallows, 6+ House Martins, 2 Sand Martins, a Kestrel (along Valley Road), 2 Tufted Ducks and a Mute Swan; also thought I heard a wader's call at one point, which reminded me that I thought I'd heard a similar call during another recent visit. Visiting Terry's Pool quite late, there was no sign of any Teal but a Kingfisher was heard.
M.P. Griffiths