13th July 2025

Sunday, 13th July: More of the same as the heatwave continues; very warm, sunny and dry, with a blue sky, little or no cloud and a light to moderate SE breeze 3-4.

Bilsham farm: An early visit this morning to a couple of the local reservoirs seemed the best bet, in the continuing hot and very dry conditions, so first up was a visit here. There was nothing special, but just a single Common Sandpiper and a bit of a wildfowl influx with 20 Tufted Ducks, a single Pochard, two Gadwall and three broods of Mallard with their respective mothers, plus five Little Grebes and 24 Coots. A few hirundines also visited briefly before passing through and I noted five Swallows, four Sand Martins and two House Martins. Other species logged included the regular Yellowhammer and Whitethroats, a Blackcap, a Jay and a Buzzard.

Common Sandpiper (above) and Tufted Ducks with Little Grebes on Bilsham reservoir.

Lidsey WTW area: The bird of the morning appeared just after I arrived, when a juvenile Cuckoo unexpectedly flushed from a hedge near the WTW entrance and flew over towards the oil well compound, before being lost to view. A small reservoir nearby held four Little Grebes, five Tufted Ducks and two female Mallards each with a brood of small ducklings, plus a post-breeding flock of 65 Black-headed Gulls, which contained three juvenile birds. Other species recorded included two Blackcaps, two Jays, two Pied Wagtails, six Swallows and two Buzzards.

Adult Black-headed Gulls with juvenile (above) and Mallard with brood of small ducklings at Lidsey