It rained as soon as I stepped out of the house this morning so I didn't expect much from my walk. There were still a dozen or so Swallows around plus a couple of House Martins down at the lake.One Coot was feeding on the barley bales which have been put in the water to reduce the algae bloom.On the far side of the lake 13 Mandarins were diving to feed on acorns which have dropped into the lake.
A Grey Heron was sitting in an alder and as I watched it 4 Cormorants came in.
The Great crested Grebe chicks are really growing and are practically the same size as the adults. It's great that they eventually managed to raise two youngsters after two failed attempts.
There were a few Siskins being blown about by the blustery wind.About a dozen Chiffchaffs were around the lake.
On the Shirrenden side there were three Blackcaps in the elders and to my delight yesterdays Osprey flew form one of the pines towards the lake and disappeared into the trees at the southern end.
I hadn't taken my camera as it was raining heavily so I was going to try to get down later.
When I got back to the house I found a Swift flying over the village.
This afternoon I did manage to get back to the lake and stood on the orchard side to give me a good position to watch the lake.It wasn't long before I had some great views of a Hobby as it circled over the wood.
The Osprey reappeared and did a few circuits of the lake before gaining height and drifting off to the south west. I did manage some shots of it before it went,

Today's Osprey

The 9th saw yet another Yellow Wagtail over and probably the last Whitethroat in Kirkins.The Hobby continues  to  hunt over the village early in the morning giving some great views over the house.
A Stonechat(99) was a welcome addition to the list as it hopped on and off the fence in Kirkins on the 10th but sadly it didn't hang around. Another single Yellow Wagtail went over and Siskins went over singly or in pairs. It's been an extraordinary autumn for this species on the patch.
This mornings walk saw summer bird numbers greatly reduced with a dozen or so Chiffchaffs and 5 Blackcaps seen but I was very pleased to find a Spotted Flycatcher in the southwest corner of the lake.
Overhead Swallows were going southeast all the time with a few House Martins amongst them.
This afternoon I popped down to the lake to see if anything had turned up and was delighted to see an Osprey(100) which was trying to fish whilst being bothered by the local Black headed Gulls.It appeared to fly into Shirrenden wood and as I couldn't relocate it I decided to return at 5 o'clock.
The first thing I saw when I returned. was a  Sparrowhawk and as I watched it an Osprey appeared from the north and once again disappeared towards the wood.I stuck around for an hour but only managed a Hobby.
I'm hoping it will stick around till tomorrow so I may get a photo.

September began with the highlights of the 1st being a Swift, a Peregrine and three Buzzards( one adult and two juveniles from the Shirrenden nest.
On the second the only bird of note seen was a Yellow Wagtail going over as well as a good mix of warblers.
Friday the 4th produced my second Redsart of the year with a bird in one of the windbreak hedges at the southern end of the lake which annoyingly kept it's distance so I could only manage a record shot.

Heavily cropped Redstart.

In contrast to this summer migrant 7 Siskins were also seen.

I managed a good patch walk on the 5th seeing 46 species with plenty of Chiffchaffs about plus a Whitethroat,a few Blackcaps, 45 Swallows,4 House martins,3 Reed Warblers but the Willow Warblers seem to have cleared out.

On the 6th another single Swift was seen and in one Elder bush Whitethoat,Chiffchaff,Blackcap and a cracking little Lesser Whitethroat were feeding.

Even better was to come when a single Tree Pipit then two more went over.

On the 7th another Redstart was seen, this time on the sunny side of the hedge in Kirkins.

This morning at 06:50 a Hobby was hunting over the village giving great views over the house and down at the lake 130 House Martins, 20 Swallows and a Sand Martin were on the wires.

Late summer update

The summer has pretty much passed and Autumn is upon us bringing some much awaited birds to the patch.At the start of the month 20 Mistle thrushes had gathered in the lakeside orchard on the 3rd August.
On the 11th the first Teal (97) and on the 13th five Common Sandpipers(98) were seen(although Geoff had seen 6 or 7 earlier).Six Spotted Flycatchers were around the paddock in Shirrenden.
Throughout the month Siskins were seen on most visits to the lake and on 15th the second Yellow Wagtail of the year was seen plus my third Sedge Warbler of the year.
Adult Hobbies  were around regularly with two on the 23rd. On the same day a Tree Pipit went over and three Egyptian Geese were seen.
On the 27th Canada Geese numbers reached 154 and the second Whinchat was in Kirkins on the 30th.
The following day in horrid conditions 160 Swallows were on the lake plus 2 House Martins,a Sand Martin and a different looking Hirundine which at first had me foxed but when it landed on some wires I realised it was a Swallow/House Martin hybrid!
Having not had many opportunities for photography I've attached some pictures from our week in Lesvos,

Black Stork

Western Rock Nuthatch

Woodchat Shrike (juv)

Red Rump Swallow

July passed with an unusual sighting of a Siskin on the 19th. A Mediterranean Gull(93) went over on the 24th followed the next day by Sand Martin(94) when five were on the lake with 30 House Martins and ten Swallows.
On the 26th there were 80 Swallows and 2 more Sand Martins on the lake in dreary conditions and five more siskins were seen. At last the Great Crested Grebes have hatched 2 chicks.
August started with the first Sedge Warbler(95) of the year seen in the hedge by the pumping station.

                                            Sedge Warbler in the sunshine
It was an interesting morning with a flock of 8 Herons landing on the stock pond and 5 Cormorants over north. There were lots of warblers about with Whitethroat,Reed Warbler,Chiffchaff,Willow Warbler and Blackcap also seen.
The first Lesser Spotted Woodpecker for quite a while called from the wood at the southern end.
It was also good to see a Turtle Dove and a Spotted Flycatcher near the lake.
Today two more Siskins were seen but the undoubted highlite was seeing a large bird being mobbed by three Jackdaws which I initially thought was going to be a raptor but turned out to be a Raven(96).A rather bizarre but brilliant record!!!
On hte dragonfly front it was great to find not one but two Golden Ringed Dragonflies in the ditch opposite the pumping station.

Golden Ringed Dragonfly with wasp.

Not a lot has changed on the patch since my last post except for broods of plenty of species. It seems to have been a good time for the local breeders but the only new species added to the list since 13th May has been a Lapwing(92) which was seen on 17th.
Common Terns have put in an appearance on many occasions with a run of daily sightings from 25th - 29th May. On 28th May a Red Kite flew over the house(my fourth of the year and the second garden sighting).
The only other noteworthy species in May were a pair of Egyptian Geese and a few Hobby sightings.
The Nightingale was still singing down at Stonebridge on 5th June, so I presume it must have found a mate.
On the same evening it was great to see 35 Swifts over the house. House Martins still seem to be a very uncommon sighting worryingly.
The nest of Nuthatches that were in an oak on the dam end fledged on the first of June but I got a shot of an adult at the nest hole.

Nuthatch feeding young

A second brood of Grey Wagtails were seen on 13th June.

Young Grey Wagtail

Turtle Doves have also been hard to find but I was pleased to find two calling birds in Haymans Hill on the 20th.

The following day 2 Cuckoos were calling down by the lake.Could be last I hear this year!

I've added some insect photos which I have taken recently.

Broad Bodied Chaser

Beautiful Demoiselle

Large Red Damselfly with Alder Fly

This interesting micro moth (3mm) was on the lavender in the garden. Has anyone got any ideas what it is?

The first Spotted Flycatcher(89) arrived on 11th with two in the small wood on the dam end and later the same day the first Turtle Dove(90) was caught in flight and then purred from inside the tree it had landed in.
On the 13th I received news of two birds that had been seen in the garden of Hononton farmhouse. The first was a Black Redstart on the 21st March and the second a HOOPOE!! that was in the garden at 16.45pm on 29th April. To say I am gutted is an understatement.
I consoled myself with the sighting of a Whinchat(91) in Kirkins later that evening.

Distant shot of Whinchat

Interestingly this is only my second spring record.

Today I saw my first Painted Lady this spring.

I managed a shot of one of the three  Reed Warblers on the lake.

The two Lesser Whitethroats still seemed to holding territories and two fledgling Grey wagtails have put in an appearance on the stream.Two robin fledglings were also seen today and the brood of mallard ducklings still totals five.There was also another pair of Common Terns on the lake this afternoon.