Roosting Starlings at dusk make a wonderful sight

WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2008

A colder day, with a fresh westerly wind blowing bringing down the overall temperature. Dry throughout with the odd bright period.

Skirting around the Hunt's Green area, a raptor survey revealed the presence of 3 RED KITES, a Common Buzzard and a single male Common Kestrel.

AYLESBURY

Two RED KITES were over Long Meadow in Aylesbury with a third bird over the Tring Road; all at 1310.

BROUGHTON POOLS, AYLESBURY

Following a call from Mike Collard, I followed up a report of a drake American Wigeon or hybrid - as I expected, it related to an adult drake CHILOE WIGEON present at Wilstone Reservoir earlier in the month. Interestingly, this escaped bird was feeding alone on the closest bank of the first trout pool. At the back of the pool were 22 Eurasian Wigeons (14 drakes).

There were also 3 Grey Herons at the pools, a single fishing Cormorant and 3 Redwings in adjacent hedgerows.

WILSTONE RESERVOIR (birding with Peter Leigh)
(1400 hours)

Great Crested Grebe (16)
Little Grebe (3)
Mute Swans (15 adults)
WHOOPER SWANS (2 adults still)
Greylag Geese (94)
Eurasian Wigeon (332)
Common Teal (256)
Gadwall (5)
Northern Shoveler (85)
Northern Pochard (59)
Tufted Duck (97)
RED-CRESTED POCHARD - adult female, straight out from car park
COMMON GOLDENEYE (3 females together in NW corner)
RUDDY DUCK (1 winter male)

Lapwings (432)
EUROPEAN GOLDEN PLOVERS (243, most now roosting on the bund with the rise in water level)

Lesser Black-backed Gull (2 adults roosting)

LITTLE OWL (roosting out in the open in bush behind car park)
Pied Wagtails (2) Grey Wagtail (1)
Meadow Pipit - 1 in NW corner
REDWINGS - 25 in 'Overflow Hedgerow'

TRINGFORD RESERVOIR

3 Great Crested Grebes, 13 roosting Sinensis Cormorants, 5 adult Mute Swans, 4 Gadwall and 4 Pochards.

Walking through Tringford Wood and then back along the canal towards Little Tring Farm yielded -:

COMMON TREECREEPER, Great Tit, Blue Tit (4), Long-tailed Tit (two parties totalling 12 birds), Wren, 5 Goldcrests, 15 Common Blackbirds (including 9 in isolated berry-bearing shrubs adjacent to the canal and 6 around Little Tring Farm and Manor House), 3 Redwings, 2 COMMON STONECHATS (a pair by the canal and horse paddocks), 7 Goldfinch, 3 European Robins and 25 Feral Pigeons (on the flour mill).

PITSTONE QUARRY

Tufted Duck (23), Pochard (7), Lesser Black-backed Gull (7), Common Gull (4) and Linnet (4)

DOWN FARM STUBBLE FIELDS

Black-headed Gulls (180)
Jackdaws - 373 click-counted; all feeding in the Kale field
Rooks - 122
Carrion Crows (20)
Stock Dove (7)
Common Starling (27)
Skylark (8)
Linnets (83 in flock - large reduction)
Yellowhammer (5)
Meadow Pipit (1)
*COMMON STONECHAT - single male by Kale field opposite entrance to farm

STARTOP'S END RESERVOIR

Great Crested Grebe (26), Mute Swan (2 adults with 1 first-winter), Tufted Duck (63)

MARSWORTH RESERVOIR (1515 until dusk) (with Peter Leigh)

**SHOVELERS - 166 in feeding frenzy including a large gathering of 50+ birds that were all 'shovelling' together in one tight mass. Extremely entertaining to watch.
Great Crested Grebe (9)
Tufted Duck (4)

WATER RAIL (2 squealing)
Little Grebe (1 fishing in the new cut)
Fieldfare (6 over)
Redwing (4)
Common Gull (4 over)
Eurasian Sparrowhawk (hunting near dusk)

GREY WAGTAILS - communal roost at the edge of the reedbed involving 7 birds, a single male of which was extremely vocal as dusk approached.

Reed Bunting (3 roosted)

*CORN BUNTINGS - a total of 120 roosted. The first 45 arrived before 1530 hours, perched up high on the trees above the main causeway. These were followed by a single at 1540, 6 (1542), 9 (1544), 21 (1555), 10 (1557), 5 (1559), 10 (1601), 9 (1604) and the last 4 at 1609.

**COMMON STARLINGS (1,600+ roosted) A remarkable spectacle: the first flock of about 500 birds first started wheeling around at 1550 with smaller groups of up to 120 birds joining frequently from thenon. The flock gradually got larger and larger, with the usual acrobatics following. At around 1605 hours, one group of 650 birds broke away and flew towards us and went in with a loud 'whoosh' into the reeds just left of the new cut through. The sound was amazing. These birds then gradually moved from the left side of the cut to the right hand side, where there is more protection. The remaining 1,000 or so birds then roosted at the opposite end of the reservoir, in the smaller reedbed not far from the canal.