After a long day at work an then watching Liverpool throw it away against Sunderland I decided to try an cheer myself up with a quick stroll around Westport, I don't normally go down much in a afternoon and especially on a weekend when large numbers of people descend on the park with kids, kites, bikes, barbeque's and whatever else takes there fancy, so as you can imagine it's not an ideal time to visit, and today was no exception I'm afraid.
The weather was pleasantly warm with a temp of 22c, very sunny with plenty of cloud coverage around but never came around the park, wind was a steady NW, visit from 17.35 til 18.45.
I really didn't see very much at all showing how the mornings really are the best time too visit, the exception to this can be winter and when it rains, anyway, a good count of 77 Tufted Duck on the main lake along with 3 Great Crested Grebe, 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 3 of which were juveniles and the usual 4 Mute Swans, 2 Pied Wagtails were on the grass bank, only 3 Chiffchaffs were heard/seen, 2 by the top pool and 1 on the gas works, a single Swift was over the gas works and another 3 over the main lake, also on the gas works a couple of Peacock Butterflies, a Buzzard could be heard calling high up but I couldn't locate it, also on the sewage works what I presume was a Brown Hawker Dragonfly but I don't know very much about Dragonflies and the likes, lastly 4 Mistle Thrushes were again by the visitor centre.
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Thursday, 11 August 2011
11 August 2011
I didn't make it down this morning but luckily missed very little according to Nick, instead I decided to pay a visit this afternoon complete with my camera too see if I could find any Butterflies, sadly the weather wasn't good, although it was warm at 21c, there were frequent showers of light drizzle, wind was a steady westerly, visit from 14.25 til 16.20.
7 Pied Wagtails were on the playing field with a single on the gas works, on the main lake 3 juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 2 adults, 11 Swifts were over the main lake with a handful of Swallows but no House or Sand Martins, a single female Pochard was with 68 Tufted Duck, also the 4 Mute Swans and 2 Great Crested Grebes, 4 Mistle Thrushes were around the visitor centre and a Sparrowhawk flew over the boating lake, 9 Chiffchaffs were around the park today which has remained pretty much the same all week, a Peacock Butterfly was in the nature reserve which is the first I've seen at Westport this year, that said we don't see many butterflies at 6am!
There were good numbers of juvenile Black-headed Gulls on the lake today with around 15 present, one of which was looking rather poorly along the reserve side of the main lake.
2 Bullfinches were near the top pool and the young Moorhen chick was on the pool along with another on Jeff's Pool which is on the gas works, also on the gas works a Stock Dove again, on the sewage works a Coal Tit was in a small Tit flock, plus along the path several Gatekeeper & Speckled Wood Butterflies, these are hard to get a picture of when you have a dog around your feet wondering what your doing!
7 Pied Wagtails were on the playing field with a single on the gas works, on the main lake 3 juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 2 adults, 11 Swifts were over the main lake with a handful of Swallows but no House or Sand Martins, a single female Pochard was with 68 Tufted Duck, also the 4 Mute Swans and 2 Great Crested Grebes, 4 Mistle Thrushes were around the visitor centre and a Sparrowhawk flew over the boating lake, 9 Chiffchaffs were around the park today which has remained pretty much the same all week, a Peacock Butterfly was in the nature reserve which is the first I've seen at Westport this year, that said we don't see many butterflies at 6am!
There were good numbers of juvenile Black-headed Gulls on the lake today with around 15 present, one of which was looking rather poorly along the reserve side of the main lake.
2 Bullfinches were near the top pool and the young Moorhen chick was on the pool along with another on Jeff's Pool which is on the gas works, also on the gas works a Stock Dove again, on the sewage works a Coal Tit was in a small Tit flock, plus along the path several Gatekeeper & Speckled Wood Butterflies, these are hard to get a picture of when you have a dog around your feet wondering what your doing!
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
10 August 2011
A cloudy morning with light drizzle at times, a steady SW wind with temp of 14c, visit from 06.25 - 08.20.
Another slight drop in Canada Geese numbers with all but one of the 174 on the playing field, on the main lake, 4 Mute Swans, 63 Tufted Duck, 2 Great Crested Grebes, a nice surprise was another 4 Gadwall this time including a male, Nick had also had a Little Grebe earlier on, over the lake, 5 Swift plus 1 over the gas works, 5 Sand Martins and 50+ House Martins, 3 Pied Wagtails were on the grass bank, 3 Mistle Thrushes still by the visitor centre, a single Bullfinch was by the boardwalk bridge, near the top pool, 1 Blackcap plus 1 Coal Tit, 1 of 3 Willow Tits seen around the park, the first of 7 Chiffchaffs, and the first of 3 Willow Warblers, the Moorhen chick is still on the top pool, lastly on the gas works a single Stock Dove which is the first one I've seen on there since all the Birch trees were cut down.
Another slight drop in Canada Geese numbers with all but one of the 174 on the playing field, on the main lake, 4 Mute Swans, 63 Tufted Duck, 2 Great Crested Grebes, a nice surprise was another 4 Gadwall this time including a male, Nick had also had a Little Grebe earlier on, over the lake, 5 Swift plus 1 over the gas works, 5 Sand Martins and 50+ House Martins, 3 Pied Wagtails were on the grass bank, 3 Mistle Thrushes still by the visitor centre, a single Bullfinch was by the boardwalk bridge, near the top pool, 1 Blackcap plus 1 Coal Tit, 1 of 3 Willow Tits seen around the park, the first of 7 Chiffchaffs, and the first of 3 Willow Warblers, the Moorhen chick is still on the top pool, lastly on the gas works a single Stock Dove which is the first one I've seen on there since all the Birch trees were cut down.
Monday, 8 August 2011
08 August 2011
Very autumn feel to the morning, steady NW wind caused a drop in temp too 12c, heavy cloud cover with the odd light rain shower, visit from 06.00 - 07.50.
Nearly all the Canada Geese were on the playing field making it easy to count them, total was 189 which is well down on last month, 4 Pied Wagtails were along the front edge of the main lake, on the main lake, 2 young Little Grebe were new in, also present the usual family of 4 Mute Swans, 68 Tufted Duck, 4 Great Crested Grebe & 4 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, along the edge of the boating lake the first of 5 Blackcaps, a Bullfinch was along the sidings, along the edge of the reserve side of the main lake 2 Treecreepers and the first of 7 Chiffchaffs, 40+ House Martins were over the main lake with 4 Swifts, on the top pool the single Moorhen chick is still present plus Reed Warbler with a poss family party calling in the reeds, on the sewage works a single Collared Dove, Willow Tit, 2 Garden Warblers a Willow Warbler plus another along the canal side of the main lake, the gas works held a Buzzard which was constantly calling and lastly 3 Mistle Thrushes are still present by the visitor centre.
Nearly all the Canada Geese were on the playing field making it easy to count them, total was 189 which is well down on last month, 4 Pied Wagtails were along the front edge of the main lake, on the main lake, 2 young Little Grebe were new in, also present the usual family of 4 Mute Swans, 68 Tufted Duck, 4 Great Crested Grebe & 4 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, along the edge of the boating lake the first of 5 Blackcaps, a Bullfinch was along the sidings, along the edge of the reserve side of the main lake 2 Treecreepers and the first of 7 Chiffchaffs, 40+ House Martins were over the main lake with 4 Swifts, on the top pool the single Moorhen chick is still present plus Reed Warbler with a poss family party calling in the reeds, on the sewage works a single Collared Dove, Willow Tit, 2 Garden Warblers a Willow Warbler plus another along the canal side of the main lake, the gas works held a Buzzard which was constantly calling and lastly 3 Mistle Thrushes are still present by the visitor centre.
Sunday, 7 August 2011
06 August 2011
A pretty quiet couple of days around the Lake, yesterday was cloudy and dry with a steady southerly wind, temp 15c, visit from 06.05 til 08.25.
A good count of 8 Pied Wagtails were on the playing field, on the main lake the family of 4 Mute Swans, 63 Tufted Duck and 4 Great Crested Grebes a single Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over, 3 Mistle Thrushes were by the visitor centre and a single on the gas works, a Willow Warbler was singing by the boating lake with another on the sewage works, also around the boating lake the first of 5 Blackcaps and a single Treecreeper was calling, a Willow Tit was along the sidings with another by the top entrance to the lake, at least 9 Chiffchaffs were heard calling around the Lake with the majority being on the sewage works as usual, Bullfinches were in good numbers this morning with 5 seen, a single Whitethroat was on the sewage works and 15 Swifts were flying high over here.
This morning I was beaten down to the lake by Nick due to oversleeping, in my rush I forgot my notebook (yes some of us still us them) so I might miss or forget a few things esp numbers, Nick had already picked up 5 Gadwall on the main lake which turned out to be the highlight of the visit, with heavy cloud and light drizzle I'd hoped we might have a wader or two, besides the Gadwall, 68 Tufted Ducks, 4 Mute Swans and 4 Great Crested Grebes on the main lake, a single Willow Warbler was singing near the top entrance, also a Willow Tit nearby, Chiffchaff numbers remain steady, 1 Whitethroat on the sewage works, just 3 Swifts around today but around 70+ House Martins over the main lake with a Sand Martin.
A good count of 8 Pied Wagtails were on the playing field, on the main lake the family of 4 Mute Swans, 63 Tufted Duck and 4 Great Crested Grebes a single Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over, 3 Mistle Thrushes were by the visitor centre and a single on the gas works, a Willow Warbler was singing by the boating lake with another on the sewage works, also around the boating lake the first of 5 Blackcaps and a single Treecreeper was calling, a Willow Tit was along the sidings with another by the top entrance to the lake, at least 9 Chiffchaffs were heard calling around the Lake with the majority being on the sewage works as usual, Bullfinches were in good numbers this morning with 5 seen, a single Whitethroat was on the sewage works and 15 Swifts were flying high over here.
This morning I was beaten down to the lake by Nick due to oversleeping, in my rush I forgot my notebook (yes some of us still us them) so I might miss or forget a few things esp numbers, Nick had already picked up 5 Gadwall on the main lake which turned out to be the highlight of the visit, with heavy cloud and light drizzle I'd hoped we might have a wader or two, besides the Gadwall, 68 Tufted Ducks, 4 Mute Swans and 4 Great Crested Grebes on the main lake, a single Willow Warbler was singing near the top entrance, also a Willow Tit nearby, Chiffchaff numbers remain steady, 1 Whitethroat on the sewage works, just 3 Swifts around today but around 70+ House Martins over the main lake with a Sand Martin.
Friday, 5 August 2011
05 August 2011
A cloudy start to the morning with the occasional break in the clouds, temp 16c, a steady breeze from the West, visit from 06.05 til 08.45.
Managed a count of 236 Canada Geese helped by the fact that most were on the playing field, the 'Canlag' is still present along with 3 Greylag Geese which were joined by another 2 that flew in from the North over the gas works and were later on the main lake, 60 Tufted Duck were present on the main lake with 4 Great Crested Grebes, the family of 4 Mute Swans, 2 Dunlin flew through heading North at 06.40, if my memory serves me correct these are the 3rd records of the year for this species, a juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull flew through as did a single Sand Martin, around 70+ House Martins were flying around with 7 Swifts still present, by the boating lake a Willow Warbler was singing along with another along the reserve side of the main lake, at least 9 Chiffchaffs were present most being on the sewage works which also had 4 Blackcaps one of which had a bald head!, 2 Whitethroats a single Garden Warbler plus a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over as did 2 Mistle Thrushes, a further 3 Mistle Thrushes were by the visitor centre later on, by the top pool 2 Treecreepers and singles of Reed Warbler and Bullfinch, lastly a single Collared Dove was by the gas works.
Managed a count of 236 Canada Geese helped by the fact that most were on the playing field, the 'Canlag' is still present along with 3 Greylag Geese which were joined by another 2 that flew in from the North over the gas works and were later on the main lake, 60 Tufted Duck were present on the main lake with 4 Great Crested Grebes, the family of 4 Mute Swans, 2 Dunlin flew through heading North at 06.40, if my memory serves me correct these are the 3rd records of the year for this species, a juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull flew through as did a single Sand Martin, around 70+ House Martins were flying around with 7 Swifts still present, by the boating lake a Willow Warbler was singing along with another along the reserve side of the main lake, at least 9 Chiffchaffs were present most being on the sewage works which also had 4 Blackcaps one of which had a bald head!, 2 Whitethroats a single Garden Warbler plus a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over as did 2 Mistle Thrushes, a further 3 Mistle Thrushes were by the visitor centre later on, by the top pool 2 Treecreepers and singles of Reed Warbler and Bullfinch, lastly a single Collared Dove was by the gas works.
05 August 2011
30th July Nick Smith had a Dunlin fly around at 06.35 before heading north.
31st July, Nick Smith had 2 Egyptian Geese briefly before they flew off at 06.20, this is only the 3rd ever record for Westport and the second one this year following on from the single we had briefly in April, also the 1st juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull of the year, 69 Tufted Duck were present which is a record count for July.
4th August, Jeff Jones and Pete Lunt had 6 Common Terns fly through at 10.00.
31st July, Nick Smith had 2 Egyptian Geese briefly before they flew off at 06.20, this is only the 3rd ever record for Westport and the second one this year following on from the single we had briefly in April, also the 1st juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull of the year, 69 Tufted Duck were present which is a record count for July.
4th August, Jeff Jones and Pete Lunt had 6 Common Terns fly through at 10.00.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)