April 2022

April 29th
Lea Farm Lake – 7 Teal, 2 Wigeon, Cuckoo calling behind Lavell’s, 13 Common Tern on the shingle island pre sun up (FJC); Oystercatcher on the eastern shore, Common Sandpiper on the northern spit, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gull in the south west corner (Bob Bennett)
Lavell’s Lake – 4 Little-ringed Plover on the Bund, Oystercatcher (Alan Rymer); 3 Swift over low heading north slowly (FJC)
Sandford Lake – 20+ House Martin high above lake, Hobby trying to grab one and flying south, 4 Swift have just put in an appearance (Michael Hubbard)
Black Swan Lake – Swift off northern of goat island, 80+ Swallow, 3 Sand Martin, 5+ House Martin on the west side of the lake, Common Sandpiper on the wooden structure on Goat Island lake edge (FJC); 100+ Swallow low over water, 4+ House Martin , 2 Sand Martin observed (Michael Hubbard)

April 28th
Lea Farm Lake – Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper, Little-ringed Plover, Snipe, Mediterranean Gull (Nick Kightley)
Lavell’s Lake – Water Rail flew between the reed beds (Nick Kightley); Little-ringed Plover, Wigeon, 7 Teal (Alan Rymer)

April 27th
Lea Farm Lake – Common Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Little-ringed Plover, Snipe, 2 Wigeon male and female, 6 Teal in 3 pairs, 2 Common Tern, Sedge Warbler in the reeds to the left of the hide, Cuckoo showing well opposite Ron’s hide on the other side of the Loddon (FJC); Mediterranean Gull back again, Green Sandpiper, 3 Oystercatcher, 2 Little-ringed Plover, 2+ Swallow low over the water (Roger Stansfield); 2 Cattle Egrets in the south west corner, 12 Teal (Peter Scudamore); Whinchat male on fence opposite Ron’s hide (Trevor Guyatt)
Lavell’s Lake – Cuckoo calling at back of the lake (FJC); Little-ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper on bund (Peter Scudamore)
Black Swan Lake – 3 Common Tern, 60+ Swallow, 2+ House Martin (Roger Stansfield)

Male Whinchat at Lea Farm Lake – Roger Stansfield

Cuckoo near Ron’s hide at Lea Farm Lake – FJC

April 26th
Lea Farm Lake – Common Gull 2nd summer briefly on old shingle Island then off east (FJC); 2 Little-ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper being chased all over the lake almost to the point of exhaustion by Jackdaws, Oystercatcher, 2 Common Terns, 2 Wigeon (Michael Hubbard)
Lavell’s Lake – 3 Garden Warbler two near Betty’s Bench, 3 Bullfinch, 6 Buzzard, Whitethroat calling somewhere near back of scrape (FJC); 5 Teal 1 Shoveler, Garden Warbler, 3 Blackcap, 19 Chiffchaff, 8 Cetti’s Warbler, 5 Reed Warbler, 3 Whitethroat (Michael Hubbard)
Sandford Lake – 9 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 4 Cetti’s Warbler, Garden Warbler, Song Thrush heard, 2 Grey Wagtail on fallen tree (Michael Hubbard)
Black Swan Lake – 3 Common Tern over heading towards the Activity Centre (FJC)
White Swan Lake – 2 Reed Warbler singing in the northern reed bed (Michael Hubbard)
Mortimer’s Meadow – 2 Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, 7 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff singing for territories, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull, Swallow, 2 Kingfisher one flying at treetop level between pylon and Tufties Corner and a 2nd simultaneously giving a sharp whistle along Loddon behind me at Nellie Baggley’s bench (Michael Hubbard)
Middle Marsh – Whitethroat singing loudly from Willows within reed bed (Michael Hubbard)

April 25th
Lea Farm Lake – Common Tern, Oystercatcher (Alan Jackman)
Lavell’s Lake – Cuckoo near Teal hide (Alan Jackman)

April 24th
Lea Farm Lake – Whitethroat further down the hedgerow, Reed Warbler in reeds to left of hide, 2 Green Sandpiper, Common Tern on the buoys, Arctic Tern which just flew off north, 2 Common Sandpiper one in the edge of reeds 100ft from hide the second just landed under the Sand Martin wall, Oystercatcher, 2 Wigeon male and female, 4 Teal 2 males and 2 females, 3 Little-ringed Plover, Mediterranean Gull, 2 Snipe, Cuckoo calling to north (FJC); Whinchat at a distant on a vent on the landfill, 7 Teal 4 males and 3 females (Marek Walford)
Lavell’s Lake – Little-ringed Plover, Snipe, Blackcap (Grant Evans); 10 Teal, 2 Shoveler both male, 2 Gadwall male and female on the scrape (Peter Scudamore)
Sandford Lake – Reed Warbler by the hide (FJC)
Black Swan Lake – Whitethroat singing near the Activity Centre close to the sluice (FJC)

Little-ringed Plover at Lavell’s Lake – Grant Evans

April 23rd
Lea Farm Lake – 2 Little-ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper (Steve Clarke); 2 Green Sandpipers, Cuckoo, Common Tern, 2+ House Martin, Snipe, Common Sandpiper (Dave Rimes)
Lavell’s Lake – Water Rail squealing by path to hide (Alan Rymer)

April 22nd
Lea Farm Lake – 9 Teal still remaining, 2 Wigeon male and female, Mediterranean Gull just arrived, Linnet flew low past the hide (FJC); Little-ringed Plover (Jack Jones); Cuckoo called from the copse opposite the Green Bridge and flew up the Loddon (Rick Dawson); Swallow single pass over lake heading north, 2 Ringed-necked Parakeet one in the tree above Ron’s hide the second flew over squeaking then both flew off towards the Mill, Cetti’s Warbler brief burst of song from Loddon bank towards the Mill (Mike Smith)
Lavell’s Lake – 7 Teal, Shoveler male seen from Bittern hide, Garden Warbler a brief burst of song by Betty’s bench (FJC)
Sandford Lake – 2 Garden Warbler one in trees above where Hazel fencing ends another or same bird 100m west of the first mobile but under tallest trees on north edge of the lake (FJC)
Middle Marsh – Whitethroat (Steve Clarke)
White Swan Lake – Reed Warbler north west end of the lake (Andy Bishop)

April 21st
Sandford Lake – Little-ringed Plover on a gravel island seen from the hide (Dave Rimes)

April 20th
Lea Farm Lake – Common Tern in front of Ron’s hide (FJC); Mediterranean Gull adult on a post in front of the hide (Brian Bennett); 4 House Martin (Andy Tomczynski)
Lavell’s Lake – 6 Buzzard, 3 House Martin, Swallow all seen during a 45 minute sky watch (FJC)
Sandford Lake – Willow Warbler singing behind hide, Sedge Warbler singing and showing well in reeds on the west side of the lake, Kingfisher in the stream on the west side (Dave Rimes)

Common Tern in front of the hide at Lea Farm Lake – FJC

April 19th
Lea Farm Lake – 4 Little-ringed Plover two pairs, 2 Wigeon, 4 Teal two pairs, Dunlin appears happy on east shore of the north east corner (FJC)
Sandford Lake – Grey Wagtail by the Yellow Gate (Brian Bennett)
White Swan Lake – Kingfisher along the Loddon adjacent to the lake (Steve Robertson)

April 18th
Lea Farm Lake – Cuckoo called twice and then seen flying along river then turning to fly north (Tim James); Yellow Legged Gull, Little-ringed Plover, 2 Greenshank on the north east corner all seen from Ron’s hide, 2 Chiffchaff, Blackcap on way to the hide, 2 Green Sandpiper (Ralph Watts); Mediterranean Gull heading up the Loddon towards Ron’s hide (Anne Cronin); Snipe seen in the south west corner to the right of the Sand Martin wall (Peter Scudamore)
Lavell’s Lake – Water Rail showed well from Bittern hide (Dave Rimes); 2 Oystercatcher (Anne Cronin)

2 Greenshank at Lea Farm Lake – FJC

April 17th
Lea Farm Lake – 2 House Martin (Rick Dawson); Mediterranean Gull between the north spit and the long shingle island (Gray Burfoot)
Lavell’s Lake – Reed Warbler flitting about halfway along reed bed at back of the Bund (Gray Burfoot)
Middle Marsh – Whitethroat singing and showing well, Reed Warbler in the reed bed singing but not showing well (Brian Bennett)
Black Swan Lake – 2 Mandarin Duck male and female east side of viewpoint (Brian Bennett)

April 16th
Lea Farm Lake – 2 Common Tern on buoys just now but circled and off towards Dinton, Mediterranean Gull showing really well, 3 Little-ringed Plover on east shore on grassy edge (FJC)
Lavell’s Lake – Sedge Warbler singing in reeds at back of scrape (Brian Bennett); Snipe on the Bund, 2 Oystercatcher mating on the Bund (Andy Dearing)

April 15th
Lea Farm Lake – 2 Mediterranean Gull one flying around calling the other asleep on islet off north spit, Green Sandpiper in the north east corner, 9+ Sand Martin (FJC); Kingfisher male seen on the Loddon downstream from Ron’s hide (Anne Cronin); Little Ringed Plover very still on gravel on the north Spit hour, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull on long shingle island (Bruce Irvine); Wigeon drake, 6 Shoveler 3 males and 3 females, 2 Oystercatcher (Marek Walford)
Lavell’s Lake – Reed Warbler singing along path to Bittern hide (Dave Rimes); Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler both Warbler’s within 10m of each other the Reed showed reasonably while the Sedge did not show at all, Peregrine high up, Sparrowhawk displaying, 2 House Martin high east (FJC); Little Grebe on the Balancing Pool (Anne Cronin)
Sandford Lake – Mediterranean Gull heading back towards Lea Farm (Dave Rimes)

April 14th
Lea Farm Lake – 2 Oystercatcher over heading north in thick fog, Mediterranean Gull heard flying around in the fog, 4 Oystercatcher seen later in the day, 2 Raven drifting over West-End and heading south east (FJC); Wheatear on fence (Mark Shaw); 3 Mediterranean Gull a pair still present and a single bird (Roger Stansfield)
Lavell’s Lake – Willow Warbler singing by path just south of the Green Bridge (Brian Bennett); 2 Oystercatcher on the Bund (Andrew Curd)

April 13th
Lea Farm Lake – Kingfisher heard near Ron’s hide first in weeks, Common Tern on the east shore islet (FJC); 3 Mediterranean Gull (Roger Stansfield); Wheatear on the east bank (Tim James); Nuthatch on the feeders, Reed Bunting on the feeders, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull 2 adults and a juvenile (Denise Harper)
Lavell’s Lake – Sedge Warbler in Blackthorn opposite Jerry’s bench heard only, Peregrine over and landed in tall Poplar (FJC)
Black Swan Lake – 7 Sand Martin, Treecreeper (Anne Cronin)

3rd Mediterranean Gull at Lea Farm Lake – Roger Stansfield

2 Mediterranean Gull at Lea Farm Lake – Roger Stansfield

Common Tern at Lea Farm Lake – FJC

April 12th
Lea Farm Lake – Mandarin Duck male briefly in south west corner, Green Sandpiper in the north east corner, Oystercatcher, 4 Wigeon, 9 Sand Martin (FJC); 2 Little-ringed Plovers flew in and landed on the north east corner shore (Andrew Curd); Swallow, House Martin, Sparrowhawk (Nick Kightley)
Lavell’s Lake – 3 Oystercatcher two on the Bund one over, Cetti’s Warbler very vocal, Willow Warbler very visible, Sedge warbler in thicket between Jerry’s Bench and Sandford Lane (Nick Kightley)

April 11th
Lea Farm Lake – 8 Sand Martin flying around the wall, 2 Swallow over lake looking across the Landfill, Wheatear dropped but not seen again (FJC)
Landfill – Wheatear visible from the bottom of the Car Park field (FJC)

April 10th
Lea Farm Lake – Stock Dove under the feeders, Great Spotted Woodpecker near feeders, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, Nuthatch, 4 Oystercatcher, 2 Great Crested Grebe a pair courting (Denise Harper); 4 Wigeon on the east shore (Peter Scudamore)
Lavell’s Lake – Great Spotted Woodpecker near feeders behind the hide, Reed Bunting male beneath the feeders, 7 Gadwall, 2 Great Crested Grebe (Denise Harper); Snipe in the far corner of the Bund (FJC)

April 9th
Lea Farm Lake – Swallow, Sand Martin, Snipe, Oystercatcher (FJC)
Lavell’s Lake – Common Snipe on the Bund at Tern scrape (FJC); Oystercatcher on the Bund, Green Sandpiper in the cut reed at far end of the Bund (Alan Rymer); Jack Snipe, 3 Common Snipe both in the cut reeds on far side of scrape (Paul Bright-Thomas)

April 8th
Lea Farm Lake – Green Sandpiper on the east shore (Richard Marsh); 3 Swallow over landfill near Balancing pool (FJC)
Lavell’s Lake – Green Sandpiper in cut reeds in far corner of the scrape, Sedge Warbler singing briefly by Jerry’s bench (Dave Rimes); 2 Common Snipe seen from Bittern hide (Richard Marsh)

April 7th
Lea Farm Lake – 2 Swallow over (FJC); 2 Swallow, 2+ House Martin flying over lake (Roger Stansfield)
Lavell’s Lake – Jack Snipe showing well just in front left of cut reed piles and staying in short reed stubble (FJC); Willow Warbler male singing next to the path at the rear of Bittern Hide (Eddie Napper)

April 6th
Lea Farm Lake – Green Sandpiper (Nick Kightley); 2 Sand Martin over the Landfill flying fast north well beyond lake (FJC); 4 Chiffchaff singing on the path to Ron’s Hide, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch (Ralph Watts)
Lavell’s Lake – Willow Warbler singing at start of path to Bittern hide (Brian Bennett); 3 Willow Warbler the first heard at Teal Wood the second on the path between the Car Park and Bittern path whilst the third was at the top right side of the Car Park field but all brief and weak songs, Little Grebe on the Balancing Pond (Nick Kightley); 3 Swallow, Green Sandpiper, Sand Martin, Jack Snipe seen from Bittern Hide seen with Tim James (Richard Sajdak)

April 5th
Lea Farm Lake – Green Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, 29 Shoveler, 8 Teal, 10 Gadwall (FJC); 2 Little-ringed Plover (Tim James)
Lavell’s Lake – Willow Warbler heard from the east side of the Car Park field near the Style, Peregrine over the Landfill sparring with a displaying Buzzard (FJC)

April 4th
Lea Farm Lake – Green Sandpiper, 3 Oystercatcher north spit island, Peregrine circling east and beyond Lodge Wood then drifted north west (FJC); Curlew over the lake heading towards Teal hide, 2 Sand Martin, Swallow (Rick Dawson)
Lavell’s Lake – Green Sandpiper in the cut reeds (Anne Cronin); Curlew heard in flight heading up Loddon from Sandford Mill but not seen it called repeatedly (Peter Scudamore); 2 Curlew over Loddon heading towards Lea Farm calling (Jack Jones); 2 Willow Warbler in Car Park field, both singing one seen well in the central copse (Roger Stansfield)

3 Oystercatcher at Lea Farm Lake – FJC

April 3rd
Lea Farm Lake – Green Sandpiper, 2 Little-ringed Plover all on the northern shore (Richard Marsh)
Lavell’s Lake – Mandarin Duck male over towards the Loddon end (FJC)
Black Swan Lake – Swallow by the Activity Centre and east side of lake (FJC); 2 Mandarin Duck male and female near the bird info board by the playground (Paul Mattingly)

April 2nd
Lea Farm Lake – Green Sandpiper, Little-ringed Plover, 30+ Shoveler (FJC); Wheatear in the north east corner, 3 Little-ringed Plover (Brian Bennett)
Lavell’s Lake – Chiffchaff (Simon Huggins); 77 Shoveler (FJC)
Black Swan Lake – 2 Brambling in with about 6 Chaffinch on the peninsula closest to path between Black Swan and White Swan (Tim James)

Chiffchaff at Lea Farm Lake – Simon Huggins

April 1st
Lea Farm Lake – Green Sandpiper in far north east corner behind posts, 20 Wigeon still present (Michael Hubbard)
Lavell’s Lake – Water Rail squealing from furthest reed bed, Cetti’s Warbler calling from nearest reed bed (Michael Hubbard)
Black Swan Lake – Dipper in the south west corner nearest to Fisherman’s car park then flying over towards White Swan (Tim James)