Arrived at the lake just as the sun was about to appear over the trees at the northern end.

There were a few birds moving after the change in weather, with Chaffinches going over bringing my first Brambling of the Autumn with them. I soon added singles of Siskin  and Reed Bunting. Then Fieldfare and Redwing went over. A lot of Wood Pigeons were going East.
On the lake there were 25 Canada Geese, 3 Great Crested Grebes, 9 Mandarins, 8 Moorhens, a Coot (a bit of a rarity here, plus best of all a Litttle Grebe (115).

Little Grebe in the mist.

So a nice little walk plus a species for the year list, Excellent!!

October started with a walk on the 3rd which produced the first Water Rail for a little while. The lake  also held a Kingfisher,14 Mandarin and 14 House Martins and 11 Swallows. All three woodpeckers were seen and I managed a rather distant shot of a female Lesser Spotted

                                                   Female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
A quick look at the lake on my way home on the 4th produced 230 Black headed Gulls plus 30 Herring Gulls going over East as well as 85 Stock Doves going south. The first Siskins of the Autumn arrived over the house on the 5th , with 7 over the next day and a flock of 30 at the lake on the 6th.
A stroll around the lake after work on the 10th gave a female Teal and a high count of 23 Mandarin,

                                                 Teal taken in the gathering gloom
2 Grey Wagtails, 4 Chiffchaffs, 2 Kingfishers, 5 Meadow Pipits, 43 Mallards and 10 Moorhens.
At last the sun shone and I managed a two and a half hour walk on Saturday 12th. I was hoping for a decent bit of movement and soon had my first Redwings of the autumn. I soon added Lesser Black-backed Gull, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw and Rook.
Down through Kirkins and passerines overhead were very few with a few Blackbirds and Song Thrushes but I did get Reed Bunting and Meadow Pipit. The only summer migrant so far was a lone Chiffchaff.
Down by the pumpng station I found a Grey Wagtail and a couple of Mistle Thrushes with some Stock Doves over. As I walked along the farm track between the rows of apple trees I was greeted by the call of Brent Geese(113) and was amazed to see two massive skeins, really high up, going south east. In total there were at least 450. Truly jaw droppng! Things got even better when a Stonechat(114)appeared on top of one of the wind break hedges, before flying off.A lone Swallow flew south east.
On the Shirrenden side I found my first Lesser Redpoll of the autumn with a couple of Siskins. I saw a total of 8 Great Black-backed Gulls, which is a fantastic count on my patch. 55 Species were seen in all, a really great total for the patch and I also saw 4 Roe Deer. Brilliant!!
I had a walk in the rain this morning and saw another Swallow, poor thing, I reckon this could be my last of the year.

Late September Update

Well the month has just about gone now and so have nearly all the summer migrants. Unfortunately I've been working one day at the weekend, so with the nights drawing in, visits have been short.
Meadow Pipits have arrived on the patch, with 55 on 22nd Sept. The morning of 26th yielded two juvenile Hobbies and a quick visit on the evening of 27th had me dashing off to get my camera as three Wigeon(112) were on the lake.

Drake Wigeon ( Juvenile or Eclipse?)

There are still good numbers of Mandarins with 14 being seen yesterday. I did manage a two hour walk yesterday ( 28th) and managed 43 species, which included the first Siskin of the autumn plus  a Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, a few Chiffchaffs and 31 Swallows.
On a quick walk after work today I saw 2 Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk and a Kestrel in the air together over Shirrenden.
There were still a few Small Coppers in the ditch opposite the pumping station and three species of dragonfly were seen around the lake( Common Darter, Brown Hawker and 3 Migrant Hawkers.

Migrant Hawker

On a sombre note yet more valuable habitat has been lost from the patch with an area of scrub being cleared to make a field a little bit bigger. I'm particularly upset as this held two pairs of Willow Warblers and a pair of Turtle doves this year. What is wrong with these GREEDY, IGNORANT B******S!.

More habitat gone forever!!

August ended with warbler numbers dropping dramatically. There were still numbers of Spotted Flycatchers around with 10 in the paddocks at Shirrenden, 2 in Sprivers and 2 at Share Farm on the 31st of the month.
On the second of September the lake contained 9 Mandarins as well as a few Chiffchaff in lakeside trees plus 2 Reed Warblers and on the Shirrenden side a couple of Blackcaps and 8 Spotted Flycatchers during a brief visit after work.
On 3rd a very short visit produced a Grasshopper Warbler(111) which I nearly trod on in the ditch opposite the pumping station in Furnace Lane. A fantastic addition to the year list and only the second I have found on the patch.
A visit to the lake at 06.00am on the 4th produced the first Peregrine since June and on my way home from work I had a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker which flew over my head.
On the butterfly front there have been a few Clouded Yellows around with four present on the 4th along with a G-R Dragonfly, a Common Darter, a few Migrant and a Brown Hawker.

Common Darter

Late August Update

The month has moved along at a great pace and the patch is still busy with migrants passing through or sticking around whilst they moult.
Warblers are still around in good numbers although they have dropped off a bit.
The 20th produced the first Coot for quite a while and the following day I had a Hobby. On the 22nd there was a flock of Mistle Thrushes in the orchard which totalled 31! In the paddock in Shirrenden there was also an impressive 20 Spotted Flycatchers.
Early morning on the 25th  sixty House Martins flew east over the lake which also had 35 Swallows and 10 House Martins flitting up and down it.
The 26th produced another species in the shape of 4 Yellow Wagtails(109) going over and a Tufted Duck visited the lake on the 27th.
The most extraordinary sighting occurred at 17.30pm this afternoon when I was at the kitchen sink. As I looked out towards the village hall roof a bird appeared on the apex of it but before I could get my binoculars had disappeared again. A couple of minutes later it reappeared and as I got my binoculars on it, I could see that it was a Wheatear(110).Unfortunately it disappeared again as I went for my camera, a fantastic addition to the garden list and one I don't expect to repeat any time soon.
With the sunny weather there have been god numbers of Butterflies with plenty of Common Blues, Small and Large Whites,Tortoiseshells plus 2 Clouded Yellows.

Saturday 17th August

As I left the house this morning I was greeted by the sound of House Martins over head, There seems to be a few more around at the moment.
Into the top of Kirkins and I soon found a group of warblers in the mass of brambles which included 4Whitethroat, 2 Garden Warbler,a Willow Warbler, 3 Chiffchaff, a Blackcap, a Reed Warbler and 2 Lesser Whitethroats( the first since 9th May) a truly wonderful collection of birds.
As I watched them a lone Herring Gull went over, quickly followed by a Lesser Black-backed Gull. As I walked down the field I added Goldfinch, Linnet, Swallow Jackdaw and Rook.
On the rape stubble in Furnace Lane I found 5 Stockdoves, 7 Wood Pigeon and a Collared Dove.
I decided on a look in the small horse paddock opposite the lake where I found 6 Spotted Flycatchers with some more warblers.
At the lake the overgrown ditch produced absolutely nothing! You can't win them all! The lake itself held the usual Mandarins, Moorhens and Mallards and as I approached it a Cormorant flew off and a Kingfisher shot past.
Around the other side of the lake, on the Shirrenden side I came across the mixed flock which also contained some tits in the shape of 8 Blue, 2 Coal, 3 Great and 6 Long-tailed Tits plus 10 or more Willow Warblers and 9 Spotted Flycatchers. As I was trying to sift through them 2 Turtle Doves went overhead.
I checked the stock pond where the water level is dropping, hoping I might find a wader,but alas.
Whilst here I found a Clouded Yellow :-

Male Clouded Yellow Butterfly

On the other side of the field I found a Painted Lady and Small Copper as well as lots of whites, Meadow Browns and Common Blues.

Painted Lady

Small Copper

The only dragonflies were a Black tailed Skimmer, 2 Migrant Hawkers and a Brown Hawker.

 The only raptor seen was a female Sparrowhawk but in all 48 bird species were seen during two and a half hours.

This weeks patch visits have been restricted to early in the morning, before work and on the way home.
The large flock of warblers was still in evidence on Wednesday morning with good numbers of Willow Warblers still around.Wednesday evening produced a flock of 22 Long-tailed Tits in the trees on the dam end.
On Thursday evening 15 House Martins plus 6 Swallows were feeding over the lake.
This morning the overgrown ditch at the southern end turned up another Sedge Warbler along with 2 Whitethroats and a Reed Warbler at 06.00am. During a walk in the drizzle this evening 5 Sand Matrins dropped in before flying off to the South East.The lake held 14 Mandarins and a kingfisher of note.
On the butterfly front I had my first ever Clouded Yellow on the patch on Wednesday and there were 2 G-R dragonflies in the ditch opposite the Pumping station.
I'm looking forward to a good walk tomorrow morning.