Welcome

This website highlights recent sightings within the Cotswold Water Park (CWP) and takes no account of County boundaries.  Without you there wouldn’t be a sightings website so please send us all your sightings.  I have noticed a number of CWP sightings only being sent to other organisations even when birds are within Trust reserves.  Even if you mainly send sightings to Gloster Birder or WOS, please copy us in, the sightings are used in monitoring the CWP area.  If relevant please include breeding codes.   Bob Philpott

CWP Bird List 2013:-     151 (As at 20/05 /2013)

(Header Photo: Peregrine by Dave Soons)

22 May 2013

CWP 74. Twitcher’s Gate.  2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Shelduck, 1 Pochard, Pair Wigeon, 6 Common Tern and 1 Cuckoo.  3 sedge warblers, 1 redshank, Whitethroat with food.   Ken Cypher.  Adam White.   

During CWP Trust members’ walk:   Waterhay to 74 Scrapes and return.   4 Ringed Plover, 2+ Little Ringed Plover, 2 redshank, 1 Curlew, 2 Shelduck, Shoveler, 6+ Common terns, 3 Little Egrets, familes of Greylag and Canada Geese,  Sand Martins, Swallows, House Martins and 100s of Swift.  Song Thrush, Green Woodpecker and Garden Warbler heard.  1 Roe deer.      Bob Philpott

1 Redshank at Kent End    Ken Cypher

Blakehill: Hobby, 3 Cuckoos, 3 Lesser Whitethroats, 2 Common Whitethroats, c6 Linnets  Robin Griffiths

11 Hobby at Lower Mill – Chris Walker

CWP 57: 2 hobby hawking low over water for at least 30 mins non stop   Adam White

21 May 2013

Whelford Pools NR: Cuckoo calling   John Durell

CWP126: 4 hobbies; and on the island – 2 Egyptian geese, common sandpiper and oystercatcher.  John Durell

CWP 74:  Evening trip to Twitcher’s gate.  3 LIttle Ringed Plover, 2 Redshank, 3 Whimbrel, 1 Shoveler, 1 Red-crested Pochard and 2 Little Egret.   Ken Cypher

Kent End:   2 adult Greylag plus 3 gosling.    Ken Cypher

Little Ringed Plover (Dave Collins)

Shorncote Reedbeds and the quarry area: 6 Reed Buntings; Kestrel; Tufted Duck; Gadwall; 3 Great Crested Grebes; 3 Grey Herons; 2 Little Egrets; 4 Lapwing; 1 Little Ringed Plover (flew in and then on through); 2 Stock Doves; Buzzard; 31 Canada Geese inc 15 with orange neck collars; 7 Greylag Geese; 3 Common Terns; 2 Red Crested Pochard; Sedge Warblers heard; 2 Whitethroat; 20+ Sand Martins; 4 Linnets; Reed Warbler   Dave Collins

CWP 58: Red-crested Pochard – 7 males & 2 females swimming together.  Bryn Pitcher

CWP 41:   4 Hobby.    6 Common Tern.   Garden Warbler.  Bryn Pitcher

CWP 43:  Nightingale – 3 heard and 1 heard from direction of CWP 32/34.  Bryn Pitcher

CWP 38:  Cuckoo heard     Bryn Pitcher

Also numerous small flocks of Swifts; Reed Buntings; Sedge Warblers; Common Whitethroats; Blackcaps; Green Woodpecker.   Bryn Pitcher

If anyone finds a telescope cap in the area of Twitchers gate or Kent End, could they please contact this website.

20 May 2013

Cerney Wick:   2 Spotted Flycatcher   Chris Walker

Also Slightly late report of Spotted Flycatcher at CWP 57 on 16th May.   Adam White

CWP 74:  Twitcher’s gate.    8 Common Tern, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Redshank, 3 Gadwall, 1 Shelduck and c60 Swift overhead.  Ken Cypher

19 May 2013

CWP 43 – nightingale, garden warbler, kingfisher, reed bunting, 10 great crested grebes, 3 common terns, 8 hobbies (and then 2 feeding low over the water at CWP 41 with cuckoo and 6 common terns present).    Graham Powell

CWP 58 – sedge warbler and garden warbler,   Graham Powell

CWP 74:   Curlew, 3 Little Ringed plover, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Pochard, Reed Bunting, 2 Little Egret, 5+ Common tern, Buzzard.    Bob Philpott.  Chris Walker

Swindon Birds and Wildlife

Following Steve Davies’ decision to close his website, Martin Adlam, a local birder and a regular contributor to local bird blogs has decided to take on the task of replacing Steve.

Martin has set up a blog at http://swindonbirdsandwildlife.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Please give him all your support by sending in your Swindon sightings to the blog and help make it a success.    The blog will cover an area of about 10 miles around Swindon.

Please continue to report your CWP sightings to this site.  There has been a spate of sightings from CWP being only reported to WOS or Gloster Birder.  This means people reading this website will not see them and they will not be recorded on the CWP database.

18 May 2013

CWP 68d: Cuckoo, Willow warbler, 2 singing Reed Bunting, 200+ Swifts overhead (Gareth Harris)

CWP 74 (from Twitchers Gate): 6 Common Tern (with display), Shelduck, female Pochard, Little egret, Wigeon, Garden warbler, Green woodpecker etc (Gareth Harris)

Elsewhere in CWP, a Grizzled Skipper and exuvia of Four Spotted Chaser. (Gareth Harris)

Blakehill: 3 Cuckoos, Lesser Whitethroat, Curlew, Raven, c8 Linnets     Robin Griffiths

CWP 6:  Cetti’s Warbler, 5 Reed Warbler, 3 Sedge Warbler.  Nigel Sluman

17 May 2013

CWP 68:  A Bee-eater reported this morning .   I understand this was feeding with Swifts high above the Thames Path where it skirts around the edge of 68c/d, so it is probably safe to assume it has passed through.  The bee-eater brings the CWP Bird List to a total of 150 birds this year.   (WOS Grapevine)

Also Cuckoo, loads of Garden Warbler, app 4 Cetti’s Warbler singing, Whitethroat (2 males singing, female with nest material). Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler all singing. Pair of  Bullfinch together at start of bridle path  Adam White

CWP 74 – 8 Common Tern, countless Swifts, Garden Warbler singing   Adam White

CWP 43:  Cettis Warbler singing at scrubby end  Adam White