CWP 44:   Large group of red crested pochard still present,  Also 3 male goosander  Bob Philpott

CWP 32: 300+ Lesser Black-Backed gull, 1 Weasel.  Ben Welbourn & Rachel Budworth

CWP 31: 100+ Coot, 30+ Tufted duck, 15 Goldfinch.   Ben Welbourn & Rachel Budworth

Shorncote quarry: 2 Grey heron, 1 Green sandpiper.  Ben Welbourn & Rachel Budworth

Shorncote reedbeds: 12 Coot, 2 Great Crested Grebe, fem shoveler, 3 grey heron, 2 Roe deer. late afternoon at Shorncote – Barn Owl hunting, 2+ Water Rails heard, 10+ Teal in flight, Cetti’s warbler heard, 50+ Fieldfares and 10+ Redwings over, 5+ Reed Buntings, 5+ Linnets, several Starling flocks totalling 600-800 birds over the reedbed area.   Ben Welbourn & Rachel Budworth; Bob Philpott; Jon Mercer

Waterhay. Female stonechat (towards Ashton Keynes). Beautiful red fox sitting near hide. Richard Vernon.

Views onto the recently-created Cleveland Scrapes (CWP 74) are becoming increasingly encroached by the growth of vegetation upon the scrapes as well as at Twitcher’s Gate. Several local birders have asked if this situation can be remedied.

On Sunday 11^th December, the CWPT’s Volunteer Rangers will be on Cleveland Scrapes to clear vegetation growth along the shoreline visible from Twitcher’s Gate. This work will improve views onto the scrape and will improve the current situation. We also plan to do some work at Twitcher’s Gate too, if we can involve sufficient people to create 2 teams.

We’d like to invite local birders to support this work and come and help. The more people who help, the more we can improve views onto the scrapes. You’ll also get to see the scrapes and lagoons in situ and see why they are able to attract the numbers of species that they do!

Clearly this is a temporary situation and a temporary “fix” until we can develop more permanent solutions. But the success of this will depend upon how many people may support this work.

If you’d like to support this work, please let me know so that we can plan teams and provide sufficient tools etc.

We will be meeting at the Ranger Compound, adjacent to Twitcher’s Gate (north shore of Lake 74, off Cerney Wick Lane) at 10am. Please bring wellington boots, lunch and refreshments. We’ll provide the mince pies, tools, and gloves.

Gareth Harris, Biodiversity Manager, Cotswold Water Park Trust gareth.harris@waterpark.org

Cleveland Lakes scrapes:    Temminck’s Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, 5 Dunlin, 350 Golden Plover, 3 Ruff (2m, 1 f), 200 lapwing, 2 green sandpiper, 6 snipe, 3 little egrets, 6 Siskin and 3 Lesser Redpoll over. Nigel Pleass, Malcolm Royal, Steve Davies

Lapwings by Steve Davies

CWP 68A; 2 Little Grebe, 11 Goldeneye, Chiffchaff singing. Nigel Pleass/ Malcolm Royal/ Steve Davies

Blakehill: Female Barn Owl , singing Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Bullfinch, Red Admiral  Robin Griffiths / WOS.

Lower Moor : drake Goosander over, 2 Bullfinch, Kingfisher, large dragonfly probably Brown Hawker, 3 Common Darters  Robin Griffiths / WOS

Neigh Bridge car park: Peacock butterfly   Robin Griffiths/WOS

CWP 44: 134 Red-crested Pochards, 2 Goldeneye   Robin Griffiths / WOS

CWP 57: pair Gadwall, Little Egret, also Lesser Redpoll, Goldcrest, Treecreeper nearby   Robin Grifiths / WOS

CWP 41: c 75 Red-crested Pochard, "large numbers" of Wigeon, Shoveler, Gadwall, 2 Teal, Little Grebe  Robin Griffiths / WOS

Fieldfare and Redwing at all sites.

Whelford pools:   Trip to the poools unearthed a young grass snake no bigger than a shoe lace.   Rosie Ray.

CWP 44; 154 Red crested pochard, 76 Tufted Duck & drake Goosander,Cormorant, 3 Mute Swans, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Pochard & 13 Coot. Nigel Pleass.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

Red Crested Pochard by Sue Clayson

CWP 41; 326 Wigeon, 179 Gadwall, 53 Shoveler, 32 Teal, Garganey, Little grebe, 6 Great Crested Grebes, 44 Mallard, 31 Tufted duck, 4 Pochard and 26 Red Crested Pochard.  5 Mute Swans, 200+ Coot & 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Nigel Pleass.   Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 57; 58 Wigeon, 43 Teal, 26 Shoveler, 8 Gadwall 189 Tufted duck, 12 Pochard, drake Red Crested Pochard, 8 Goldeneye,136 Lesser black backed Gulls, 6 Herring Gull, Green Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and 3 Bullfinch.  Little Egret, a Cormorant, 100+ Coot. Nigel Pleass.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 32; Little Egret, 928 Lesser Black Black Gull, adult Yellow Legged Gull, 12 Herring Gull. Nigel Pleass

CWP 74 scrape (Private); Curlew Sandpiper, 6 Dunlin, Temmincks stint, 2 Ruff, 1 Reeve, 1000+ Golden plover, 500 Lapwing, 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Snipe, 3 Little Egrets,  48 Teal, 6 Shoveler, 22 Greylag Geese over, Sparrowhawk over , 22 Skylark over, 4 Siskin & Redpoll Nigel Pleass/ Robin Griffiths

CWP 68A; 3 Little Grebe, 54 Pochard, 8 Goldeneye, Cettis Warbler singing. Nigel Pleass/ Robin Griffiths

Waterhay Car Park; Little Owl calling 3pm, 130 Fieldfare over. Nigel Pleass

CWP 6 – 4 Great Crested Grebe, a Grey Heron, 6 Mallard, a Tufted Duck & 72 Coot.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 12 – a Common Gull amongst 34 Black Headed Gulls on the jetty, 28 Lesser Black Back Gulls, 13 Mute Swans, 3 Cormorants, 6 Tufted Duck, 3 Pochard, 5 Mallard & 20 Coot.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

Common Gull by Sue Clayson

A Grey Heron in the field by CWP 15.    Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 22 – 24 Canada Geese, 7 Mute Swans, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 11 Mallard & 13 Coot.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 28 – 10 Red Crested Pochard, 2 Tufted Duck & 4 Coot.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 34 – 2 Mute Swans, a Grey Heron, 4 Great Crested Grebes, 4 Mallard, 7 Tufted Duck, 13 Coot & 3 Black Headed Gulls.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 42 - 2 Great Crested Grebes, 13 Tufted Duck, 4 Coot, 3 pairs of Bullfinch, 2 Redwing & 50+ Fieldfare.   Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 43 – 2 Mute Swans, 7 Great Crested Grebes, 4 Wigeon, 13 Tufted Duck, 11 Pochard & 12 Black Headed Gulls.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 29 - 7 Mute Swans, a Grey Heron, 8 Great Crested Grebes, 12 Mallard, 39 Tufted Duck & 79 Coot.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 30 – 6 Great Crested Grebes & 4 Pochard.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 28A – 62 Mallard, a Green Woodpecker, a Goldcrest & 49 Fieldfare.   Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 82 – a great Crested Grebe, 7 Wigeon, 7 Tufted Duck, 3 Pochard & 6 Coot.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 83 – 4 Mute Swans, 9 Coot & 15 Tufted Ducks.  Trevor and Sue Clayson

CWP 59 (west end) – 2 Great Crested Grebes, 7 Mallard, 9 Tufted Duck, 38 Pochard, a Green Sandpiper, a Snipe, 9 Moorhen & 5 Coot.   Trevor and Sue Clayson

Lower Mill area:  CWP 44; 64 Red crested pochard.   Kim Milsom

CWP 41; 265 Wigeon, 184 Gadwall, 53 Shoveler, 380 Coot, 5 Moorhens, 3 Mute swans, 2 Little grebes, 4 Great crested grebes, 24 Mallard, 17 Tufted duck, 4 Pochard and a Cormorant.  Kim Milsom

CWP 57; 140 Tufted duck, 32 Wigeon, 6 Goldeneye, 15 Teal, 2 Shoveler and 86 Lesser black backed gulls.   Kim Milsom

CWP 58; 20 Red crested pochard.   Kim Milsom

A shrike species (possibly a red backed) has been reported at Lower Moor.  At this stage we have no further information.  Any more information would be appreciated. (Richard Handley per WOS Website)   

A search was made for this bird on 7/11 without success.  Not a lot at Lower Moor.  There were several flocks of fieldfare in this area.