Shustoke Reservoir.

A rare Friday trip out birding, a warm 'un it was an all. Birds spotted were Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Song Thrush, Goldfinch, Wren, Great Tit, Swallow, Robin, House Sparrow, Starling, Mute Swan, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Cormorant and the following young, Cygnet (6) Pied Wagtail (at least 4) and Little Grebe (at least 12) Other animals that were seen were Rabbit, Horse, Cow and Sheep. Notable happenings at Shustoke today were ten Mute Swan, which is always nice to see, a flock of approximately twelve Pied Wagtail, which contained at least four juveniles, but they were constantly on the move so it was hard to do a proper 'head' count, and there was also a good twenty plus Little Grebe, with a good number of young in there, including two in a nest which must have been only a day or two old, you could still see the egg shells in the nest. As per usual there was a lot of Blackbird's near the car park, it was great to see some of them sunbathing, I also saw some Swallow's sunbathing on the roof of a farmers house. I think the fungus in the last picture is a Shaggy Ink Cap (Coprinus Comatus) hard to tell being as it was bent over. As you can see on the last picture, the water level is getting lower and lower on every visit, it's normally on the the far left of the concrete structure, you would never be able to stand where I was and I was still a good ten foot from the waters edge, I think it's time to start doing a rain dance. Also isn't it great to see the Starling's getting their winter plumage, what a stunning looking bird !