CWP Birds (Posted: 26 November 2003)
Reported by Andy Jayne on 26 November from the Cotswold Water Park (W) were:
Bittern in flight at pits 43/65
Little Egret (pit 41)
2 Shelduck
60 Red-crested Pochard
25 Goldeneye
1m Goosander
46 Ruddy Duck
250+ Golden Plover
1 Dunlin
23 Snipe
1 Green Sandpiper
Stonechat pair
6 Chiffchaff
2 Raven.
November Moth Records (Posted: 25 November 2003)
At this time of the year there is still a wide range of moth species on the wing as shown by the following lists, submitted by Roger Gaunt and Robert Homan. On the 17 November, a particularly mild night, Roger recorded 16 species at St Briavels near the Wye Valley. His list consisted of: Merveille du Jour, December Moth, Brick, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Barred Sallow, Yellow-line Quaker, Snout, Feathered Thorn, Epirrita sp almost certainly at least two sp, Beaded Chestnut, Turnip, Spruce Carpet, Green-brindled Crescent, Red-green Carpet, Red-line Quaker, Sprawler. Two nights later he added Blair’s Shoulder-knot and Udea ferrugalis. In Cheltenham, in the same mild week, Robert recorded Epiphyas postvittana, Blastobasis decolorella, Rush Veneer, Feathered Thorn, Winter Moth, December Moth, Red-lined Quaker, Dark Chestnut and Silver Y. You can see what many of these species look like by going to the UK Moths website – the Merveille du Jour is especially worth a look.
Birds records – Sharpness/Berkeley Pill (Posted: 24 November 2003)
Reported by Gordon Avery on 23 November from between Sharpness and Berkley Pill were:
1 adult Peregrine in the nest box on the Docks Silo.
Along the foreshore:
100 Teal
140 Wigeon
20 Mallard
1 ad Yellow-legged Gull (seen later on docks entrance)
110 Dunlin
15 Redshank
3 Snipe
4 Curlew
80 Lapwing
2 Rock Pipits
2 Ravens
10 Reed Buntings
Sea Birds in the Estuary (Posted: 6 November 2003)
Strong south westerly winds on Sunday and Monday, 2 and 3 November, were no doubt responsible for three unusual birds reported from the Gloucestershire sections of the Severn Estuary at the start of the week. First to be seen was a juvenile Sabine’s Gull off Slimbridge on Sunday, followed by a Little Auk and a Leach’s Petrel on Monday. The Little Auk, a first winter, was picked up in Mabey & Johnson Ltd factory in Lydney on the morning of the 3 November and taken into care at Beckford. Despite the wind dropping on Monday morning, the petrel was seen late in the afternoon flying strongly between Awre and Hock Cliff.
The Lydney Little Auk
