Friday 29th May 09 - Afternoon - Lapwings

4:00 to 6:00pm
Warm, sunny, easterly breeze.

Common Tern 2
Little Ringed Plover 4
Up to 39 adult Canada Geese, seven goslings.
18 Greylag Geese
Lapwing 6, highest number in a while.
Little Egret 1
Pair Mute Swan
Single Oystercatcher over.
And as with everywhere else it seems a smattering of Painted Lady butterflies, no great numbers but passing through in ones and twos all afternoon.
And as you can see Greater Spotted Woodpecker have bred.

Wednesday 27th May 09 - Early Morning - Yellow Wagtail

7:00 to 7:20am
Westerly breeze, moderate rain.

Quiet again.
Three Little Ringed Plovers in Godwit Corner.
One Ringed Plover on 'Wader South Central' along with a single Yellow Wagtail.
Only bird on water single Mute Swan.
Landscaping on eastern side of main body of water has moved right to the edge of Godwit Corner, changes may be about to happen once more.

Tuesday 26th May - Lunchtime - Shelduck

1:10 to 1:50pm
Cloudy, sunny spells, brisk cooling NW wind.

Again not too much about.
Single LRP on mud.
Shelduck pair.
Handful of Martins over water.

Tuesday 26th May - Morning - LRP's

6:30 to 7:00am
Rain, breezy.

Not much about.
One Common Tern
Three Little Ringed Plovers
Ringed Plover
Little Egret on back brook.
Only bird on water single Canada Goose, main flock still in top field.

Monday 25th May 09 - Morning - Greenland Wheatear

6:30 to 11:30am
All over site.
Overcast, muggy, odd sunny spell, later odd spot of rain.

In no particular order.
One very smart almost pinkish looking Greenland Wheatear.
Little Egret, around site all morning.
'Invasion' of 45 Canada Geese.
Six Mute Swans on water.
Pair Shelduck.
Two Oystercatcher on newly emerging mud areas.
Up to four Common Terns around site.
Four sum plum Black Headed Gulls.
Three Tufted Ducks briefly before Shelduck flushed.
Single Lapwing.
One Little Ringed Plover.
Cormorant over.
Cuckoo heard.
On river Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler singing.
Reed Bunting.
Hobby through.
Common Buzzard over.
And last but not least first thing this morning on pool south of farm buildings a Common Sandpiper.

Wednesday 20th April 09 - Evening - No Plovers!

4:15 to 5:15pm
Sunny spells, warming up, slight breeze.

Suprisingly not a single LRP or RP seen on site, worrying.
Single Oystercatcher on WSC only wader to be seen.
Common Tern pair still present, as were the Shelduck.
Hobby over.

Wednesday 20th May 09 - Early Morning - Mute Swan

7:00 to 7:15am
Breezy, sunny, cloud building.

Still quiet times at Manor Farm.
A pair of Mute Swan the only arrivals.
2 x LRP's and 2 x RP's on Wader South Central, others elsewhere.
Lapwing.

Tuesday 19th May 09 - Lunchtime - Red Kite

1:15 to 1:30pm
Breezy, sunshine then heavy rain.

A bird of prey themed visit.
Hobby over Farm Buildings
Pair Common Terns over water.
Usual LRP/RP suspects around site.
Kestrel over west end field.
And as the rain moved in a Red Kite racing the storm heading north.

Tuesday 19th May 09 - Morning - Treecreeper

6:45 to 7:30am
Breezy, cloudy, dry.

Up to six RP/LRP's on mud.
Pair Common Terns, Shelduck and a Treecreeper flitting around the trees at Godwit Corner viewpoint area.

Monday 18th May 09 - Evening - More of the same...

5:15 to 5:45pm
Heavy rain, sunny spell (in the singular).

Not much change from lunchtime, see below.
However number of Little Ringed Plover's has increased to three, two Ringed Plover remain.
Grey Wagtail on Wader South Central.
Little Egret over once more.
Low flying Common Buzzard being mobbed by handful of crows.

Monday 18th May 09 - Lunchtime - Life returns...

1:15 to 1:45pm
Dry, cloudy, blustery.

Same life has returned to Manor Farm. Pair of Commom Terns, 2 x RP and a single LRP and Lapwing on 'Wader South Central'.
Little Egret on Back Brook just in front of same area.
Shelduck pair still present.
Handful of Housemartins, couple of Swallow's and Swift over water.

Monday 18th May 09 - Morning - Quiet, too quiet.

7:00 to 7:20am
Sunny, breezy, dry.
Brief visit south side.

Spookily quiet at Manor Farm, not a single bird common or otherwise on water or mud.
Only thing of note the very healthy looking fox was along the grass track by Godwit Corner.

Friday 15th May 09 - Afternoon - Nothing much...

After the Lord Mayors Show and all the activity this morning.
14:00 to 16:30
Sunny intervals, two bursts heavyish rain.

A couple of hours wandering around the site gave the following in no particular order.
Yellow Wagtail x 2
Lapwing x 3
Ringed Plover x 1
Little Ringed Plover x 1
Black Headed Gull x 2
Greylag Goose x 2
Canada Goose x 2
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Treecreeper
Shelduck x 2
Common Terns x 4
Cormorant over x 2
Grey Heron x 3
Little Egret x 1
Grey Wagtail x1
Heavy rain brought down dozens of swifts, martins and a handful of swallows over water but just the LRP wader wise.

Rob Hill per NBBR earler had:
1 Common Sandpiper
2 Hobby
3 Buzzard

Friday 15th May 09 - Late Morning - And quiet...

Per NBBR at 11:19

"Rob Norris has text in that Manor Farm gone quiet. No sign of Black Tern or Plover flock. Just 1 Shelduck and 1 Ringed Plover."

Friday 15th May 09 - Mid-Morning- Black Tern!

Update from Si Nich via NBBR at 9:45am

27 Tundra Ringed Plovers (largest flock in the county for years!)
(In phone conversation Simon says he even probably undercounted these!)
4 summer plumage Dunlin
1 Black Tern

And from Simon himself later...
"Manor Farm held an amazing 27 (minimum) RINGED PLOVERS , all of the smaller Tundra race , also 4 Sum Plum DUNLINS , whilst scanning through the 60 or so mixed Hirundine flock , I was pleased to pick up a Summer Plumaged BLACK TERN hawking over the lake (!) what a great 10 Minutes at a great looking place!"

Friday 15th May 09 - Early Morning - Waderfest!

6am to 7am
Moderate rain easing, still, water almost mirror like.
View from south side only.

Up to 18 waders on the new south central mud areas, overnight rain adding further small pools to the dried out area.
These consisted of a flock of at least 14 (counted in flight around lake) LRP's and RP's the majority arrived overnight.
Also still two sumplum Dunlin, one Common Sandpiper and a Lapwing.
Also seen single Yellow Wagtail, usual Shelduck pair and heard a distant Cuckoo, that may have been just over the border in N'hants.

Thursday May 14th 2009 - Lunchtime - More Dunlin

13:00 to 14:00
Still, overcast, mild.

Much the same as this morning but Dunlin numbers up to three.

Thursday May 14th 2009 - Early Morning - Dunlin

7:00 to 7:20am
Wind dropped, slight mist.

Brief visit to south side only.
Still quiet compared with the hotspots elsewhere around the county.
Highlight two summer plummed Dunlin.
Also the usual collection of RP's & LRP's
Pair Common Tern, pair Shelduck.

Wednesday Evening 13th May 09 - Redshank (no not spotted)

17:00 to 17:30
Wind eased, dull, very dull.
Plovers of various denomination still on site, as were a pair of copulating Common Terns. First Yellow Wagtail i've seen at the site in a week. Numerous swifts, swallows and martins over.
And so to the Redshank. First viewed through bins from the top of the hill the bird looked universally dark all over, very grey underneath with no trace of lighter parts and i'd convinced myself it wasn't a common and as it stayed permantly in the shallows got no real idea of leg length, but there still wasn't something quite right about it. Thinking maybe it might have been a spotted I alerted the local network to the possibility but didn't want to call it as with the light and distance I just wasn't sure. Lo and behold Rob Hill turned up and confirmed, yep it was a common all along.
Yep I know, should have gone to Specsavers.

Wednesday Lunchtime 13th May 09 - Lapwing

12:30 to 13:30
Plover time, 3 x LRP, 2 x RP and 2 x Lapwing.
Little else.

Earler Rob Hill per NBBR had:
"At Manor farm this morning, 2 Ringed Plover, 1 of which was of the 'tundrae' race. Also Cuckoo calling from near Haversham Bridge."

Wednesday 13th May 09 - Early Morning - Pheasant

6:30am
Easterly wind but not as blustery as yesterday, rain moving in.

Nothing much of note.
Pairs of Lapwing & LRP, Common Tern over.
And a somewhat bewildered looking Pheasant wandering about on the mud flats.

Tuesday 12th May - Evening - Housemartins

Another very blustery evening.

In a word, quiet.
Only waders seen were two LRP's and three Lapwing.
The Shelduck pair still mooching about.
Pair of Common Terns
Around 50 or Housemartins over the water, river and surrounds.
Lets see what tomorrows turn in the weather brings?

Monday 11th May 09

From Rob Hill via NBBR

1su Dunlin, 4 LRP, 2 Shelduck & c60 Swift.

Friday afternoon update - May 8th 09

Little to add to Robs visit below.

On a very windy afternoon.
Five 'Ringed Plovers' Two Common Tern and Lapwing on the mud.
A rather odd coloured 'greylag' caught the eye, almost white all over apart from head and wings which appear normally plumaged.
The Shelduck continues its playground bully antics.

Friday 8th May 09 - Morning - Ringed Plover

Per NBBR from Rob Hill

"At Manor Farm 4 Ringed Plover, but little else of note."

Update: Thursday May 7th 09 - Lunchtime - Hobby

Sanderling still showing well at 1:00 alongside the Dunlin, with 3 x LRP and 1 x RP and a lone Grey Wagtail on new mud area. Best viewable from south side half way up the hill of south west field.

Lots of Swift and Martins over water as was a Hobby briefly battling the wind.

Links:
Hobby - Birdguides
Hobby - BTO
Hobby - RSPB
Hobby - Avibirds

Update: Thursday May 7th 2009 - Morning - Sanderling

Per NBBR

Rob Hill has a Sanderling at the site.

Links:
Sanderling - RSPB
Sanderling - Birdguides
Sanderling - BTO
Sanderling - Avibirds

Update from SiNich via Comments

Rob found a mostly winter plumaged SANDERLING @ 11:10 , on the large area of Mud on the South side , Also present were the Sum Plum DUNLIN and one each of Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers

Thursday May 7th 2009 - Early Morning

With rain moving in a very brief visit noted just the Dunlin present on the new area.

Links:
Dunlin - Birdguides
Dunlin - BTO
Dunlin - RSPB
Dunlin - Avibirds

Wednesday 6th May 09 - Evening - Plover Influx

4:00 to 5:30
Dunlin still present, same location (see below)
Influx of plovers to site, just two viewable at lunchtime but at least five, probably seven LRP/RP's present by the evening.
Also on site three Terns, two commons exchanging fish and a third resting on new mud area that appeared to be uniformly darker grey all round which suggested Arctic. (unless anybody has other ideas).
Also on site.
Yellow Wagtail
Little Egret
Shelduck pair.
Movement of swifts through.
Martins and Swallows over water.
Lapwing x 2.

Links:
Little Egret - Birdguides
Little Egret - BTO
Little Egret - RSPB
Little Egret - Avibirds

Re: The Tern - on study of books photo's etc now fairly certain it was another Arctic on site.

Links:
Arctic Tern - Avibirds
Arctic Tern - RSPB
Arctic Tern - Birdguides
Arctic Tern - BTO

Wednesday 6th May 09 - Lunchtime - Dunlin

At a windswept Manor Farm this lunchtime a summer plumaged Dunlin was on the newly expanding mudflats central south on main body of water. (see location in post below)

Only other birds of note three Common Terns.

Links:
Common Tern - RSPB
Common Tern - Birdguides
Common Tern - BTO
Common Tern - Avibirds

Tuesday 5th May 09 - Evening - White Wagtail

First visit in five days and yet more changes to the layout.
The lowering water levels reveal an expanse of mud on the south of the main body of water, centrally located viewable through the gap in banking on south side and up the hill. Potentially looks like developing into the best area yet.
Two Little Ringed Plover, two Common Tern and Yellow Wagtail were in this area.
Pair Shelduck still present as are Gadwall.
At the east end of main lake (Godwit Corner side) where the ground has been turned over the Pied Wagtails favouring the deep tyre tracks in the evening, when all traffic has gone) include the 'textbook' White Wagtail, seen on and of at the site.

Links:
Shelduck - RSPB
Shelduck - Birdguides
Shelduck - BTO
Shelduck - Avibirds

Saturday May 2nd 09

Per Rob Hill via NBBR

1 Common Sand, 2 LRP, 1 Yellow Wag, 2 Shelduck and 6 Common Tern.