LATE SPRING WADER FEAST AT COLLEGE LAKE - WOOD SANDPIPER

THURSDAY 11 JUNE

Some torrential rain fell during the night leaving localised flooding. Once cleared, the day was clear and bright, with clear blue skies and average temperatures.

COLLEGE LAKE BBOWT (BUCKS) (2027-2043)

Following a call from Dave Bilcock informing me of a WOOD SANDPIPER he had just found, I made my way straight there and joined him at 2027. The bird was still showing and feeding with a COMMON GREENSHANK (found earlier in the day by Gareth Luscombe) on the exposed mud in the NE corner of the main marsh. It flew a short way and landed on a miniscule island and proceeded to feed as the light faded. The bird was quite dark in plumage and not in full 'spotting' of breeding attire but had obvious and typically long pale greenish-yellow legs, a very noticeable white supercilium extending behind the eye and rather diffuse brown streaking on the breast. The upperparts were brown with variegated pale spotting, with the uppertail narrowly barred. Both birds were Bucks Year Ticks for me and fairly scarce birds on spring passage. Ian Williams and Roy Hargreaves also connected.

The marsh also held three further species of wader: Lapwings (including 4 chicks), 6 Common Redshanks and an adult OYSTERCATCHER (there was no sign of the other adult and the two small young seen earlier in the week by Rob Andrews). The main island on the lake held at least 8 nesting pairs of Common Tern, with 6 small fledged young waiting to be fed on the edge.

WILSTONE RESERVOIR, TRING

My first visit in a while. A quick inventory revealed the presence of the following -:

Great Crested Grebe (14 adults including a pair with two small stripy young up against the central bank)
Mute Swan (9)
Canada Geese (11 adults)
Greylag Goose (22 adults and 17 well-grown goslings)
Mallard (62 mainly eclipse drakes)
EURASIAN WIGEON (two drakes remain, one now in eclipse plumage)
Gadwall (2 pairs)
*SHOVELER (pair near hide; scarce in summer)
*NORTHERN POCHARD (successful breeding - female with two small young; additional 17 adults including 5 females)
Tufted Duck (36)
RED-CRESTED POCHARD (adult drake still present in NW corner, bleached by wear on crown - found by Steve Rodwell on Sunday 7 June)
Coots (311 including 163 huddled together in a very tight mass on the Drayton Bank)

Black-headed Gull (1 adult)
COMMON TERNS (large gathering towards dusk of 88 birds, with a further 11 sat on the rafts)

HOBBY (4 hunting over Drayton Bank)

PITSTONE QUARRY

Highlight here was a calling male COMMON CUCKOO from fenceposts on the south side.

Also present were adult Great Crested Grebe, first-summer Mute Swan, 10 Tufted Ducks and 5 Common Swifts