Whooper Swans made a brief stop on No 5 ivorh.bsky.social
A family party of three Whooper Swans - the first to land at the Wetlands for 14 years - was the stand-out record of November. In an excellent first few days, Pintail, Golden Plover and Brambling were also added to the year list as well as additional records of Great Egret, Knot and Rook in the 88 species seen.
It means the year list - with a month to go - now stands at a record 147, four more than this time last year and one more than the previous highest annual total in 2020. With Common Scoter, Mediterranean Gull and Black Redstart, all recorded most years, still not seen there is time to stretch the record further.
Barnacle Geese are now a regular sight at the Wetlands.with the flock of 15 plus the additional lone bird around all month. Last year's return of a Shelduck on the 12th was the earliest date in recent years but this was beaten with a male from the 4th.
The discovery of the month was the family of Whooper Swans - two adults and a young bird - by TR late morning on the 21st. They seemed settled on No 5 but, with anglers fishing the reservoir, got increasingly jumpy and departed a couple of hours later. They are the first Whoopers seen at the reservoirs since a single bird flew over Lockwood in 2017 and the first to land since a one on No 4 and Lockwood in 2009.
A mixed flock included the first Pintail of the year samodonell25.bsky.socialPintail were added to the year list when SD not only spotted but photographed a small flock of duck heading south on the 3rd. Examination of the photographs confirmed his suspicions that the flock contained three Pintail as well as Wigeon and Shoveler. Six more Wigeon were seen next day with a single on the 8th. A female Red-crested Pochard was found on the 9th and, unusually, hung around until the 13th.
This Goldeneye spent the month on West Warwick chris-farthing.bsky.social
A female Goldeneye returned to the Wetlands on the 3rd, exactly the same date as last year's first autumn bird. It remained on West Warwick all month with the only other records single drakes on 15th & 29th. This compares to last year when five Goldeneye were regularly being seen by the end of November. Goosander were no commoner with the first two over West Warwick on 23rd and two more over Lockwood five days later.
The Black-necked Grebes continued to show superbly samodonnell25.bsky.socialThe three Black-necked Grebes continued to show superbly with one bird moving from Lockwood to East Warwick. But despite being on different reservoirs, they somehow synchronised departure with none being found on the 22nd. The fourth Great White Egret of the year flew over on the 9th. A Red Kite was seen on the 14th with Buzzards on the 10th and 23rd before another apparently roosted at the reservoirs or in the Paddock as it was seen early morning on both the 29th & 30th.
The Great Egret got the traditional welcome pic samodonnell25.bsky.socialSeven species of wader were seen across the month including the first Golden Plover of the year watched by DW and ICE to go south from High Maynard on the 2nd. It is only the fourth year in the last ten that the species has been recorded. Lapwing are much more regular visitors with eight on the 3rd, two on the 9th and 29th and singles on the 12th and 23rd. The 3rd also saw a Curlew going south while two separate Knot, including a bird which landed on East Warwick, were seen on the 9th. Knot is also far from annual at the reservoirs so three in a year is greedy.
Knot is not even annual so three in a year is unusual samodonnell25.bsky.social
November saw two records of Dunlin with a single on Lockwood on the 2nd and another on East Warwick on the 4th. What looked to be last year's wintering Common Sandpiper remained faithful to High Maynard until mid-month before moving to the south side where it became much more elusive. Three Green Sandpipers appeared on Lockwood on the 24th, presumably driven off the flood relief channel by the heavy rain associated with Storm Bert.
Two Dunlin dropped in early in the month chris-farthing.bsky.socialThree separate Yellow-legged Gulls were seen this month with a 1W on the 9th, an adult on 16th and a near-adult on the 24th. A Black-headed Gull rung in Oslo fifteen years ago was seen at the reservoirs this month for the first time since it visited in 2021. The second Rook of the year - a species which is as rare as Osprey at the Wetlands - was seen by MD on the 10th.
This adult Yellow-legged Gull was one of three this month samodonnell25.bky.socialWith passage migration coming to a close, it was a slower month for small birds but, as usual for November, there were interesting records. Single Skylarks were seen on the 2nd and 5th. Blackcaps are not common winterers at the reservoirs but two were caught on the 30th by the ringing team. Winter thrushes were scarce but 60 Redwing passed over on the 2nd and twelve Fieldfare on the 11th.
The year's first Bramblings appeared on the 1st samodonnell25.bsky.socialDC picked up another Firecrest by the Ferry Boat Inn on the 9th while a Siberian Chiffchaff was found by SD on the 3rd. It was part of a movement which saw 27 Chiffchaffs caught on the 2nd. Two separate Brambling, the first of the year, were also seen and photographed by SD on the 1st with the first over Lockwood and the second around No 4. It may have been the same bird seen on the 2nd and, less likely, on the 16th in the same area.
DB @davidbradshaw52@bsky.social