Walmore and Westbury (30 July, contributed by Andy Jayne)
At Walmore Common there were two adult Whinchats and at Westbury-on-Severn there were three Common Sandpipers at The Strand.
Severn Hams (27/28 July, contributed by Mike Smart and Les Brown)
Coombe Hill, on the evening of 27 July: 60 Lapwings, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Curlews (an adult and a fledged juvenile), 1 Snipe, 21 Green Sandpipers, practically a flock, 1 Barn Owl.
Upham Meadow, Twyning on 28 July: 1 Hobby, all Curlews had departed and there was no sign of Corn Buntings. No more hay has been cut since 20 June.
Severn Hams (25 July, contributed by Mike Smart)
Coombe Hill: 3 Little Egrets, 2 Grey Herons, 26 Greylag Geese, 3 Little Ringed Plovers (all migrant juveniles), at least 11 Green Sandpipers, 65 Lapwings, 2 Curlews (an adult and a fledged juvenile).
Tirley Court Lake: 12 Barnacle Geese, all in moult. They did not nest this year.
Ashleworth: hay cutting has actually started on higher ground.
Coombe Hill (20 July, contributed by Mike Smart)
There were good views from the Long Pool hide with light behind the observer. 1 Little Egret, 50 Mallard (family of nine tiny ducklings), 2 eclipse Teal, female Tufted Duck with five ducklings on canal, 2 LRPs (both juveniles), 2 Snipe, 5 Green Sandpipers (at least one adult in wing moult), 2 Sand Martins, plenty of juvenile Chiffchaffs calling with tit flocks along the canal.
Coombe Hill (18 July, contributed by Mike Smart and Les Brown)
The recent rain raised the spectre of summer flooding again, but fortunately the amounts were nothing like those of July 2007 or September 2008, so there was no flooding on the meadows and only a scarcely perceptible rise in ditch levels.
At Coombe Hill this morning: one Little Egret, a female Tufted Duck with five ducklings on the canal, a female Sparrowhawk, four Little Ringed Plovers (two adults and two juveniles, migrants not local nesters), 70 Lapwings, five Green Sandpipers, one Curlew.
At the Wainlodes end and also at Ashleworth, the electricity company has installed bird diverters on the power lines, as part of a once in thirty years renewal of the lines. The diverters look minuscule: will they really prevent bird strikes? It Will be interesting to see the results, especially for swans.
Standish (12 July, contributed by Juliet Bailey)
Today in my garden small tortoiseshells were particularly abundant round the nettle beds and flowering thistles in the new orchard, and there were several painted ladies here. The garden also produced small skipper, ringlet, gatekeeper, comma, green-veined white and small white. There was a solitary red admiral on the buddleia, which was rather butterfly-free, considering how loaded it can be some years. It was warm and sunny, though rather windy, so perhaps it was not ideal.
Coombe Hill (8 July, contributed by Mike Smart and Les Brown)
Rather quiet, although the water levels in the scrapes and the Long Pool look ideal for migrant waders; very little hay has been cut, whether on or off the reserve, because of the damp weather. The vegetation in front of Long Pool hide has been cleared improving viewing greatly.
15 Grey Herons (including a flock of 12 on Cobney Meadows), 2 Teal, 2 Tufted Ducks, still three Mallard with ducklings (one of which was carried off by a passing Sparrowhawk), 1 Snipe, 2 Green Sandpipers, 3 Lapwings; the Curlews seem to have departed. Still at least one Reed Warbler, two or three Sedge Warblers and three or more Reed Buntings singing.
At night, Common Sandpipers flying over high in the moonlight and calling, without stopping. Maybe that’s what all the passage waders are doing.
Sudmeadow (2 July, contributed by Gordon Avery)
There was an adult male Peregrine in the area this morning and I trapped a juvenile Nightingale (a species which does not breed here) and it still had a speckly head like a juvenile Robin. Nothing else really except for a exceptional catch of 16 new Blackcaps and the first juvenile Garden Warbler as well, again a species which does not breed here.
Barrington and Windrush area (2 July, contributed by Andy Jayne)
At Great Barrington today there were two Quails calling and at Windrush Airfield there were another two Quails, a Red-legged Partridge with 11 chicks, a ‘reeling’ Grasshopper Warbler showing well and also three Corn Buntings.
Lydney (1 July, contributed by Andy Jayne)
At Lydney Harbour two Common Terns on the sands then flew inland towards the pools.
Westbury-on-Severn (1 July, contributed by Andy Jayne)
Westbury-on-Severn today produced a Hobby, a Common Sandpiper, a 2nd-summer Yellow-legged Gull, four Grey Wagtails and four Lesser Whitethroats. At Lydney Harbour two Common Terns on the sands then flew inland towards the pools.