Glorious Mud!

I have been wallowing on 114 for the patch year list for a while now, just 1 below my eventual total for the whole of 2009, with the water levels low on most of the reservoirs my expectations of a new Wader being the equalizer for the year were quite high. The Lockwood had a nice muddy edge and numbers of Common Sandpipers were impressive, perhaps 15 on this one reservoir alone, so it was a little bit of a surprise when a juvenile Skylark flew onto the grassy bank of the Lockwood, looked at me and flew off, I didn’t get one last year at all and this was my first for 2010, given that they were a common breeder not so very long ago it is a bit sad that it is such a headline bird now. I usually just get them as flyovers in the Autumn or perhaps the odd bird in the Winter. So 115 Mudlark.

Less of a surprise was year bird 116 a young Little Ringed Plover on the North bank of the Lockwood. My hoped for target of 120 for the year must be quite realistic, probably less so the target of 150 for the site as a whole but we will see.



Another 5 Common Sandpipers and a Green Sandpiper on the Southern part of the complex were the only other Waders. Surely a more exciting Wader will drop in soon.....A Sparrowhawk pursuing and then catching a hapless Starling was quite exciting, certainly for me and the Sparrowhawk, perhaps less so for the Starling.

PW