Westport Lake: September 2012

Sunday, 30 September 2012

30th September 2012

Some big news for Westport Birders today as only the third ever Barn Owl was recorded, being picked up at around 10:45 am. This being the 3rd record, one in October 1979 and in 2005.

Also Grey Wagtail over, 6x Meadow Pipit, 2x Cormorant, a Rather low count of 25x Tufted Duck, 4x Chiffchaff, 2x House Martin, Blackcap and 3x Shovelor. Also 2x Buzzard.

Monday, 24 September 2012

24th September 2012

Ok guys, i apologise that it was longer than 9 days, computer died and only just got it back, hope i didn't disappoint you.

So as for today 3x Common Scoter (This includes one Drake and two Females) a Marsh Harrier makes a healthy addition to the year list and 41x Tufted Duck.

Friday, 7 September 2012

Back later!

Just wanted to let the people who view this blog know that it won't be updated for about 9 days now, as I'm going on a birdwatching trip to East yorkshire (Filey and Whitby). For Westport News please refer to the Twitter site @westportlake1.

Cheers guys.

Sunday, 2 September 2012

2nd September 2012

A quick round up for the day, seemed like a good morning down at Westport:

Kingfisher on the boating lake, 8x Mute Swan, 40x Tufted Duck, 6x Great Crested Grebe this including the 2 immature birds, for the time of year a good count of 9x Swift, 15x Chiffchaff, 3x Treecreeper, 3x Great Spotted Woodpecker, Swallow, Sparrowhawk, Coal Tit, 2x Willow Tit, c20x House Martin , 3x Jay, Blackcap, 2x Bullfinch, Grey Wagtail and Collard Dove.

August 2012 Review

August has been a fairly quiet month at Westport which is to expected given that it is still technically summer, 64 Species recorded in total for August (4 more than July) including one Westport year tick in the form of a Tawny Owl bringing the year list total to 111 Species.

6 Species were recorded in August that were not recorded in July these being:

Little Egret
Shovelor
Buzzard
Peregrine Falcon
Common Tern
Tawny Owl

2 Species were NOT recorded in August but were in July these being:

Teal
Little Ringed Plover

Hopefully September will see the year list added to as Autumn Migration gets into full swing. The Blast from the past section will update you with what you can hope to see in September (I will update this on Sunday 2nd September when i have time to go through the records).

Finally a thankyou to CW for providing me the relevant information and to @westportlake1 on Twitter which has also proved a valuable service this month.

Thanks for reading guys, happy birding!

1st September

No visit from me just a relay from twitter being:

11x Wigeon 4x Mute Swan flying in 43x Tufted Duck and 2x Swift

About Westport Lake

Westport Lake consists of a large lake formed by the subsidence of an old Port Vale FC Training pitch. The main lake is the largest body of water in the city and is home to a large number of wild animals and birds. It also has a smaller man made pool created for model boat enthusiasts, with an island at the centre.

At one side of the lake there is a nature reserve, consisting of several small pools and a woodland walk. Running through this is Fowlea Brook.

The main lake is open to everyone including Anglers, however the smaller pools in the reserve are not available for fishing.

In 2009 a visitor centre run by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust was opened, with a small cafe and shop, information boards and a viewpoint over the main lake.

The site also has a play area and medium sized grass field, which is normally hijacked by feeding Geese!

Birds Of Westport Lake

Westport Lake is regarded as one of the best birdwatching spots in Stoke on Trent, it regularly attracts scarce and rare birds, below I have listed what you can expect to see depending on the time of year you visit and at the end I have listed just some of the more unusual visitors Westport has attracted over the years.

Resident - Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pied Wagtail, Willow Tit & Bullfinch.

April - September - Little Ringed Plover, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff.

Passage Waders Inc - Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Snipe, Sanderling, Common Sandpiper, Curlew, Whimbrel, Redshank & Greenshank.

Passage Terns Inc - Common, Arctic & Black Tern on a regular basis

October - March - Little Grebe, Wigeon, Shoveler, Pochard, Goldeneye, Siskin, Goldfinch & Redpoll.

Rarities - Black-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Red-necked Grebe, Slavonian Grebe, Ring-necked Duck, Leach's Petrel, Purple Heron, Velvet Scoter, Honey Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Avocet, Kentish Plover, Purple Sandpiper, Grey Phalarope, Arctic Skua, Bonaparte's Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Sabine's Gull, Caspian Tern, Little Auk, Woodlark, Richard's Pipit, Hulme's Leaf Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Siberian Chiffchaff, Great Grey Shrike & Arctic Redpoll.

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