I've been keeping an eye on Besor reservoir between twitches. The continual presence of surface water has been good for waders with lots of Common Snipe, Black and White Storks, Spoonbills, Great White, Little and Cattle Egrets, Grey Herons (not so many Purple), Pelicans, Glossy Ibis, Black-crowned Night Herons, Black-winged Stilts, Ruff, Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Dunlin, both common Stints, Ringed Plovers Marsh, Common, Wood and Green Sandpiper. Bascially all the common species. As migration picked up Yellow Wagtail numbers increased and decreased giving way to White Wagtails and this morning I saw two of my favourite wagtail - Citrine.
No crakes visible this year but Water Rail are around - two this morning. Lots of Common Kingfishers and a few White-breasted. Raptors included Greater and Lesser Spotted Eagles, Booted Eagles, Peregrine and, of course, hundreds of Black Kites. Red-throated Pipits have arrived and a few Short-toed Larks have been passing through. So, good and steady birding with a wide range of interesting species - looking forward to seeing what the winter brings!
