Recent Sightings 11th July 2022
The sunny weather recently has bought lots of visitors to Castle Espie, with the sky filled with the shapes of Swallows, House martins, Skylarks and Terns. Most of the Greylag goslings are fully grown now and are hard to distinguish from their parents, and the woodland is filled with recently fledged passerines from our bird boxes or from hidden nests within the ivy covered tree trunks.
A Common sandpiper (pictured) was spotted on the Saline Lagoon on Monday, sporting its white belly and sandy coloured back. These little wading birds tend to bob up and down when standing, which is a behavior called ‘teetering’. In summer, the Common sandpiper breeds alongside reservoirs, rivers, loughs and lakes – there are numbers of wintering birds which stay in the UK all year and some populations are passage migrants.
Estuary - visible from the Brent Hide and the Limekiln Observatory
Black-headed gull 3, Mallard 6, Oystercatcher 3, Swallow, Wood pigeon, Common tern 1, Little egret 4, Herring gull 2, Great crested grebe 1
Main lake - visible from Sensory garden and Visitor Centre
Mute swan 2, Mallard 37, Moorhen 2, Little grebe 1, Grey heron 1, Gadwall 1, Black-headed gull 2
Shingle Bank - visible from Sensory garden and Visitor Centre
Oystercatcher 350, Black-headed gull 83, Jackdaw 6, Common gull 1, Shelduck 1, Little egret 1, Mallard 8
Wadermarsh - visible from Wadermarsh lookout and Brent Hide
Oystercatcher 25, Black-tailed godwit 2, Shelduck 1, Jackdaw 8, Black-headed gull 123, Greylag goose 5, Sandwich tern 1, Moorhen 1
Freshwater Lagoon - visible from Brent Hide and Crannóg
Sandwich tern 1, Black-tailed godwit 1, Mallard 11, Shelduck 1, Mute swan 2, Lesser black-backed gull 1, Moorhen 1
Saline Lagoon - visible from Limekiln observatory
Cormorant 1, Common sandpiper 1, Black-headed gull 1, Little grebe 1
Brickworks
Greylag goose 10, Skylark 3
Limestone Lake
Mallard 1, Wood pigeon 1, House martin 1
Peninsula Saltmarsh
Black-headed gull 2, Meadow pipit 2, House martin 1, Starling 2, Swallow 6
Peninsula Field
Woodland
Blackbird, Wood pigeon, Robin, Great tit
