Curlew Sandpiper

The juv Curlew Sandpiper north of Dunstable today pic.twitter.com/wOjdNBUT9P

— John Lynch (@Johnlynch621) September 17, 2019

Cetti's Warbler DSTW

I have been down to the works a couple of times recently and heard a Cetti's Warbler but never managed to catch up with it with the bins. Anyway this afternoon I was sitting quietly in the hide and managed a brief glimpse and also managed some very grainy pictures, but great to see such a lovely bird on site, lets hope it stays and finds a mate.

Out and About in Bedfordshire 30-09-2017

I popped into Stockgrove CP this morning to find quite a gang of Mandarins on the Lake easily 12+ all posturing and arguing over the ladies, Sept/Oct seems to be the time they pair up, I then popped into the Sewage Works (Open Morning Tomorrow 08.00-12.00) for a couple of hours and got quite a good list of birds just sitting in the Hide for a couple of hours;

Buzzard, Red Kite, Kestrel, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Canada Goose, Gadwall, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Great-Crested & Little Grebe, Cormorant, Green Sandpiper, Snipe, Moorhen, Water Rail, Grey and Pied Wagtail, Kingfisher, BH Gull, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Blue, Long-Tailed and Great Tit, Wren, Jay, Crow, Magpie, Jackdaw.

The male Kinfisher put in a few visits which was a real treat.

Great White Egret Dunstable Sewage Works

A Great White Egret turned up at the Sewage Treatment Works today found by John (the lucky) Lynch with about 15-16 Little Egrets and luckily stayed on site long enough for me to get some record shots in the fading light after work at about 17.15 ish. Hopefully it will stay a while and we will be able to get some better views and photo's tomorrow in some decent daylight.

Please note unfortunately the sewage works is only accessible to Permit Holders or their guests.

GWE Still on site today 30-10-2016, so I have added a few more pictures. Hopefully it will stay on site for a while, if so we have an open morning next Sunday 6th 09.00 - 12.00 for anyone who would like to pop along to see this lovely bird.

Water Rail Dunstable STW

Kingfisher Dunstable STW

Kingfisher Dunstable Sewage Treatment Works

I had a couple of hours to spare today having done all my jobs etc so sneaked off to Dunstable STW with the camera to see what was about. It was all very quiet on site with no sign of the 6-7 Green Sandpipers reported on site over the last week or so, encouragingly though I did hear a Water Rail which has recently been notable by its absence which is always a treat. It kept its head down though so no photo's unfortunately.

I did however have 3 quite lengthy fishing visits by the Kingfishers in the 2 hours on site, it certainly wasn't bothered by me in the hide and managed to feast on quite a considerable amount of Sticklebacks during its visits, with well over a 95+ % success rate for each attempt at a fish.