Red Kites, although now common in parts of the country have only recently, the last nine months or so, been an almost daily visitor to where I live in Farnborough, Hampshire.

They fly low over my garden and the surrounding area on the look out for food, sometimes being mobbed by the local Herring Gulls of which there is a large flock.
To see them close up and the wonderful colours of their plumage is a real treat.
Of course I see them regularly at Moor Green and other parts of Berkshire, but seeing them over the house and garden is something special.

Their reintroduction into the UK has been an outstanding success story and long may it continue.

The Mediterranean Gulls at Tern Island, Moor Green,  so far haven't produced any chicks. This isn't to say that they aren't there, because the vegetation on the island has grown up and hides small chicks from view. If they are there and they survive, then we should see them when they begin to venture away from the nest.

The Shelduck pair have been successful with eight ducklings seen towards the end of June, as have the Common Tern pair with two chicks. Black headed Gulls have again bred well with Tern and Plover Island  supporting a great many offspring.

On the 27th, I at long last saw a good sized flock of approximately thirty Swifts feeding intently low down around East Fen at Moor Green, it was a superb sight to see of my favourite bird.

Mediterranean Gulls have returned to Tern Island, Moor Green Lakes, Berkshire and the good news is that a pair have held territory and are nesting.
In total six  have been seen, adults and first summer birds alike together amongst the large colony of Black Headed Gulls. Only one pair have paired, the others come and go.
Fingers crossed that they are successful in rearing a brood.

During the month other notables were, Greenshank, Cuckoo, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Common Tern, Redshank and Mandarin.

 A Swift tower was erected at Moor Green Lakes a couple of weeks ago which is great news for the reserve, all we need now are the Swifts, which should be arriving in the next few weeks.

Quite a number of birds seen during March are now looking very handsome in their full breeding plumage. of note were a pair of Grey Wagtail which looked immaculate. All but a few of the many Black headed Gulls at Colebrook Lake North are sporting their brown hoods and the noise level of the gull colony at Tern Island has slowly got louder as the month progressed.

At the New Workings end of the reserve Shelduck numbers increased to five, whilst a Lapwing was seen to be nesting.  Little Ringed Plover have arrived, hopefully they will have another successful breeding season. 

Chiffchaff are now singing throughout the reserve as are Great Tit. Oystercatcher are back at Colebrook Lake North, where they have bred successfully in the past few years.

 There were early signs of approaching Spring during February. Black Headed Gulls were starting to get their dark brown hoods and towards the end of the month started to colonise Tern Island at Moor Green Lakes, where they usually nest.

Herring, Lesser Black Backed and Common Gulls that had changed into their summer plumage looked stunning as usual, whilst Grey Wagtails summer plumage was vibrant. Goosander were seen to mate at Grove Lake and it wont be long before they depart for their breeding grounds.

On the 7th February, I saw my first Firecrest of the winter. As usual it was foraging in a large expanse of Holly bushes and was very mobile, just giving a brief glimpse of itself being moving on. On the same day at the western end of the New Workings at Moor Green, were a total of 237 Lapwing, a very good count considering their numbers have been down during the winter.

Next month should see some summer migrants arriving in the UK and hopefully at Moor Green, which will be good to see.

 Some bird species numbers increased at Moor Green lakes, rising steadily as the month of January progressed. A Redwing flock of thirty four birds were seen foraging for food at the pony paddock during the first week. Ten Little Grebe  were seen, along with seventy six Tufted Duck, twenty three Teal, forty four Cormorant, four Shelduck and eleven Goosander. 

Other notable sightings were Oystercatcher, Green Sandpiper, Tawny Owl, Bullfinch, Snipe, Raven, Buzzard, Barn Owl and Fieldfare, which was my first of the winter.

Hopefully if we have a few more cold days during February, we may see some other species of winter visitors.

 In last months blog I talked about the trees not shedding their leaves for the time of year, but during December where we had some very cold weather, nature caught up and the leaves came off the trees very quickly.

With the colder weather, Redwing numbers at Moor green started to increase, but still not up to the large flocks of previous years, probably due to there being plentiful food much further north. As yet I have still not seen a single Fieldfare, possibly for the same reason as the Redwing. Other reasons could be Global Warming or Avian Flu.
Goosander numbers also started to increase, but duck numbers were still down on previous years.

My first sighting of a mixed flock of Siskin and Lesser Redpoll were seen on the 13th along with the Tawny Owl. On the same day a pair of Raven flew across Colebrook lake North making their familiar kronking sound.

By the end of the month Redwing numbers had increased to a flock of forty or so birds, which was good to see.

​Finally for those that celebrate it, I wish you all a very Happy New Year. For those that don't celebrate it, I wish you peace and happiness. 

Tree leaves are still very green for this time of year. By the latter part of October leaves have in the past started to turn. This year they haven't, even though nights have been quite cold. It will be interesting to see if they catch up next month when we could expect a few frosts.

House Martin were still feeding up before their long migration flight at East Fen, Moor Green Lakes, Berkshire, during the first week, with Snipe starting to appear at the reserve after flying in from their breeding grounds.
Little Egret numbers have increased at Fleethill Farm, Berkshire, whilst a flock of Linnets were feeding at Moor Green Lakes.
On the 17th, whilst out walking, I was surprised to see a Red Legged Partridge walking along a tarmac road at the east gate entrance to Farnborough Airfield. It walked out of the gate and crossed a public road and into some bushes on the other side. There is an area of scrub land near to the airfield entrance, so I guess it could have come from there.

On the 19th, I had very good sightings of a Great White Egret whilst in the Moor Green Lakes hide. It suddenly appeared from a close by reed bed and started fishing. After a few minutes it gave up and flew off to try somewhere else.
During the last week of the month, a Peregrine was at the western end of the infill site at Moor Green, panicking into flight the Lapwing and Gulls as it approached them. After having a good look around it flew off, empty handed.

The start of Autumn has begun. Before the end of September, there were a few chilly nights and the leaves on trees were showing distinct signs of changing colour.

Throughout the month, Hobby were seen on a number of days hawking dragonflies at Moor Green lakes. Pochard, Wigeon and Shoveler numbers increased slightly and a Greenshank was seen in front of the Colebrook Lake hide. Green Sandpiper could be seen on most days.

​At Fleethill Farm, Berkshire, a Great White Egret was seen along with a few Little Egret who seem to favour the reserve.
A juvenile Osprey visited for a few days fattening up on a local angling lake before departing south on migration.
The downside of this was that unfortunately I didn't get to see it!

​Stay Safe, Stay Well.

 After about eighteen months of garden birding due to Covid I finally resumed going back out again on the 18th of August. I went to my old haunt of Moor Green Lakes and somewhat found the initial experience strange.
However, after an hour or so I was fully acclimatised and enjoying myself.

Birds seen on the day wereCommon Tern, Common Gull, Red kite, Little Grebe, Raven, Stonechat, Sparrowhawk, Swallow, Green Sandpiper and Oystercatcher. I even managed a few photos, so all in all it was a very good day.

On the 23rd, again at Moor Green Lakes, I watched  with my birding friend Tony Reid, a juvenile Peregrine attempting to catch a Common Tern. It made several swoops on the Tern but its inexperience allowed the Tern to make its escape.

Winter visitors have slowly started to return to the reserve as the summer visitors depart for warmer climes. Passage migrants passing through the reserve normally have a bird of special interest among them and I hope that I will be there to see it, you never know what may turn up.

Stay safe, Stay well.

​