This site publishes sightings from the Cotswold Water Park, irrespective of county boundaries or rarity. Each entry shows maximum numbers reported during the day. Records are forwarded to the CWPT Database and then on to Local Record Centres. All sightings welcomed, as they add to our collective knowledge of the area’s wildlife.
You can send in records by email to cwpbirds[at]gmail.com, or via Twitter: @CWPBirds.
Pit 74 – Twitcher’s Gate – Great White Egret, five brief sightings in flight as it moved around the scrape, finally leaving about 1530. Wigeon 116, Teal 100+, Gadwall 40, Pochard 2, Cormorant 5, Goldeneye 3, Shoveler 9, Tufted Duck 25, Great Crested Grebe 4. Adult Black-headed Gull with a white colour ring on the right leg, too distant to read the logo on the ring. Redwing 3, Cetti’s Warbler song – John Grearson.
Eysey – Peregrine, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Ruff, 620 Lapwings, 20 Golden Plovers, Chiffchaff, 2 Ravens.
Calcutt – 1 Stonechat – Mark Gurney.
Whooper Swan at Lechlade by Bob Webb.
Lechlade – A Whooper Swan with 20 Mute Swans on the Wiltshire side of the River Thames, opposite Riverside Park – Bob Webb.
Marsh Harrier at Shorncote by Steve Birt.
Shorncote – 2 Little Egrets, several Water Rails heard, 3 Snipe, fem Marsh Harrier, pair Grey Wagtails, 2 Chiffchaffs – Steve Birt.
Eysey – 39 Golden Plover, 500 Lapwing, Green Sandpiper, Ruff, Woodcock, Merlin, Marsh Harrier, 2 Red Kite, Peregrine.
Pit 74 – Twitcher’s Gate – Great White Egret, Marsh Harrier – Graham Lawlor.
Otter at Lower Moor by Ian Lloyd-Graham.
Lower Moor – Otter – Ian Lloyd-Graham.
Blakehill – Short-eared Owl from 4.15pm, initially perched up on a post – Bob Webb, Chris Snook.
male Stonechat at Pit 132 by Steve Davies.
Pit 132 – 2 Stonechats, 3 Chiffchaffs, 4 Reed Buntings, Meadow Pipit, 2 Goldcrests, Song Thrush, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 10 Teal, 8 Wigeon, 30 Pochard, 2 Gadwall, 3 Pied Wagtails, Grey Wagtail, 2 Grey Herons, Egyptian Goose, Redshank, Little Owl, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls – Steve Davies, Graham Lawlor.
Shorncote – fem Marsh Harrier – Dave Collins.
fem Marsh Harrier at Shorncote by Dave Collins.
Pit 74 / Twitcher’s Gate -A Starling roost was building up towards the end of the afternoon with an estimate of 2500 birds entering the reed beds behind the heronry. I did not see a murmuration, the birds entered the roost in groups of up to 600 at a time.
Ashton Keynes – Peregrine flew through North End works this morning towards Shorncote – Dave Soons.
Pit 74 – Twitcher’s Gate – Great White Egret feeding on the edge of the scrape, 11 Cormorants, 23 Wigeon, 19 Tufted Duck, Goldeneye 3(2m), 1 Pochard, 26 Gadwall, 58 Teal, 4 Shoveler, Water Rail heard, 1 Fieldfare, 6 Redwings, singing Cetti’s Warbler – John Grearson.
Blakehill – the first Short-eared Owl of the winter hunting from 4.38pm onwards, also c50 Fieldfares/Redwings dropped in to roost – JM.
drake Goosander at Pit 104 by Duncan Dine.
Pit 104 – 5 Goosander.
Pit 125 – several hundred Tufted Duck – Duncan Dine.
Please email your sightings to cwpbirds[at]gmail.com, or send via Twitter @CWPbirds. All records and photos, from both local observers and visitors, are welcomed.
Please also use pit numbers as per the CWP maps, and actual or estimated counts , including of commoner species, are always useful.
Thankyou!
