Welcome

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.

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Free site, and adverts…..

I’ve received a couple of comments in recent weeks about the increasingly obtrusive adverts on the site, and I think we must all find them annoying at times. I’ve looked into this, and unfortunately the only feasible way to be completely ad-free, on WordPress at least, would be to become a pay site, so this would mean a small subscription charge, perhaps annually. What is the general feeling about this? As well as the cost, it would also make it more difficult for casual visitors to look at the site (which I feel is important)  and therefore reduce the ability to attract new followers and contributors, as well as the chance to raise the profile of nature within CWP.

Any comments or opinions would be welcome, either by email or on Twitter – thanks.

18 July 2019

Pit 200 – 5 Egyptian Geese.

Pit 74 – Twitcher’s Gate – 6 Egyptian Geese – Chris Snook.

Egyptian Geese by Chris Snook.

17 July 2019

Blakehill – Hobby, Red Kite, 2 Yellow Wagtails, singing Skylark, Redstart – Robin Griffiths.

14 July 2019

Hobby.

Shorncote – Sparrowhawk, Hobby, 3 Kingfishers, Sedge Warbler, Reed Buntings – Russell Discombe. 3 pics from Shorncote by Russell attached.

Sedge Warbler.

Kingfisher.

13 July 2019

Cleveland Lakes – Pit 68 – 35 Great Crested Grebes, 5 Egyptian Geese, Wigeon, 7 Gadwall, 81 Tufted Duck, 40 Red-Crested Pochard, 3 Oystercatcher, 4 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Green Sandpipers, 16 Common Terns, 2 Kingfishers, 5 Green Woodpeckers, 55 Reed Warblers, 6 Sedge Warblers, 3 Cetti’s Warblers, 21 Blackcaps, 9 Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroat, Nuthatch – Nigel Pleass.

Eysey – 6 Common Sandpipers – Graham Lawlor.

Gatekeeper by Steve Davies.

Pit 130 – Gatekeepers, Ringlets, Meadow Browns, Small Skippers, Painted Lady, Comma, Red Admiral, Small Whites, Shaded Broad-bar moth, Brown Hawker, Emperor Dragonflies, Black-tailed Skimmers, Four-spotted Chaser, Common Blue & Blue-tailed Damselflies. 2 Garden Warblers, Chiffchaff, Common Tern, House Martins, Red Kite, Green & Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Pit 132 – Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Owls, Hobby, Blackcaps, Whitethroats, Reed Buntings, 4 Lapwings, Green Woodpecker, Little Egret. Similar insects to pit 130 plus Large Skippers, Marbled White, Green-viened White, Large White, Small Tortoiseshell, Beautiful & Banded Demoiselles – Steve Davies.

Blakehill – Buzzard, flock of 18 Skylarks plus others singing, 2 Redstarts, several family parties of Whitethroats, Linnets, Goldfinches, male Reed Bunting – JM.

10 July 2019

Blakehill – Red Kite, Redstart, Linnets and Common Whitethroats with young – Robin Griffiths.

Pit 111 – Whelford Pools – pair Common Terns with 2 chicks on the Tern raft – John Durell.

Cricklade – 3 Swifts.

Latton – 6 Swifts & a Buzzard.

South Cerney – a Red Kite & 13 Swifts.

Shorncote – a pair of Mute Swans with 8 cygnets, a Green Woodpecker, a Cormorant, a Reed Bunting, 2 pairs of Bullfinch, 7 Swifts, a Kestrel, 2 Moorhen, 5 Black-headed Gulls & a Mallard. Also Brown Hawker & Emperor Dragonflies, Blue-tailed & Common Blue Damselflies, Red Admiral, Small White & Meadow Brown Butterflies.

CWP88 – 2 Lapwing, 12 Greylag Geese, a Cormorant, a Kestrel, a Little Grebe & 4 Coot (including 2 juveniles).

CWP87 – 3 Little Egrets, a Grey Heron, a Cormorant, 21 Greylag Geese, 8 Canada Geese, 36 Tufted Duck, 8 Lapwing, 5 Black-headed Gulls & 2 Greenfinch.

CWP79 – 2 Mute Swans, 3 Little Grebes, 3 Tufted Duck, 2 Mallard, 2 Coot & 3 Black-headed Gulls.

CWP31 – a Redshank, 5 Great Crested Grebes, a Common Tern, 28 Mallard, 4 Tufted Duck (including 3 ducklings), 8 Coot & 3 Black-headed Gulls.

CWP32 – a Common Tern carrying fish, 3 Mute Swans, a Great Crested Grebe, 14 Mallard, 2 Tufted Duck, 16 Black-headed Gulls, 8 Coot & a Moorhen.

CWP34 – 4 Great Crested Grebes (including 1 juvenile), 3 Cormorants, 37 Tufted Duck, a Red-crested Pochard, 12 Black-headed Gulls & 3 Moorhen.

CWP44 – 2 Common Terns carrying fish, a Great Crested Grebe, 2 Tufted Duck & 7 Coot (including 1 juvenile).

CWP57 – 4 Mute Swans, 8 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Oystercatchers, 5+ Common Terns, 4 Canada Geese, 7 Red-crested Pochard, 30+ Mallard, 50+ Coot, 20+ Black-headed Gulls & lots of singing Goldfinches – Trevor Clayson.

Emperor Dragonfly by Ian Lloyd-Graham.

Painted Lady by Ian Lloyd-Graham.

9 July 2019

Pit 200 – 4 Egyptian Geese.

Pit 74 – Twitcher’s Gate – 2 Oystercatchers in flight, singing Reed Warbler – Simon Gathercole.

Pit 44 – 2 Little Egrets.

Pit 57 – 10 Common Terns.

Pit 41 – Little Egret, 5 Common Terns.

Swillbrook Meadows – Little Egret – Felicity Cobb.

Mute Swans by John Fletcher.

Shorncote  – Pits 85a, 85b –

3. Common Tern.

1. Kingfisher.

1. Red Kite.

1. Oystercatcher.

3. Lapwing.

2. Buzzard.

1. Kestrel.

1. Little Grebe.

13. Mallard.

1. Gadwall.

3. Lapwing.

2. Grey Heron.

1. Cormorant.

2. Tufted Duck ( m f ).

10 Mute Swans, 8 cygnets.

6. Moorhen. ( 2 juv ).

4. Coot. ( 2 juv ).

4. Bullfinch.

2. Greenfinch.

3. Grey Wagtail.

1. Green Woodpecker. ( calling ).

2. Stock Dove.

5. Swift.

1. Swallow.

2. Cetti’s Warbler.

8. Sedge Warbler. ( Family of five seen ).

3. Reed Warbler. ( seen ).

7. Reed Bunting – John Fletcher, Jake King.

8 July 2019

Shorncote – Hobby hawking over the reedbed in the morning.

Cerney Wick – Red Kite circling over at 12.10pm.

Lower Moor – Hobby hawking in the afternoon – Brian and Joan Howson.