Shustoke Reservoir.

Great trip to Shustoke Reservoir in North Warwickshire this morning, the trip was planned for Wednesday but I went today because rain was forecast for tomorrow, ironically rain is now not forecast but going today was a massive bonus which included a thirty minute spell of birding which I'll probably never beat.

Before I even got out of the car there was a female Blackbird feeding at least four noisy fledglings in a tree adjacent to the car, then when I get to the reservoir there were juvenile Mallard ducklings and Coots aplenty with a female Mallard with eight juveniles, further down from the entrance there was a Little Egret present which is not a common spot at this site also all around the waters edge there were plenty of Pied Wagtails with many juveniles among them, I haven't seen Grey Heron here for a long time but today I saw two including one of this years juveniles.

Then I get to the space in between the reservoir and the fly-fishers pool and there was a lot of bird activity from one tree to another in the wooded area which includes many pine trees and from there on in it was seeing one great spot after another, in no particular order the birds seen which included both adults and juveniles were, Goldcrest, Siskin, Blackcap, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Robin (there were at least four juveniles), Song Thrush and Blackbird, too see that many juveniles in the same area and in a twenty minute time span was truly amazing especially as in same area there was a pair of Treecreeper and a Great Spotted Woodpecker pecking away at one of the trees. 

Little then did I know when I turned around and looked on the pool what I would see, first of all I noticed two separate pairs of Coot juveniles, that's not all that amazing I hear you say but upon closer inspection they were indeed juvenile Little Grebe, as I was observing them three Tufted Duck ducklings came into view which was yet another highlight and something you don't see very often, so then what do I notice, only a female Tufted Duck with ten ducklings ! they looked amazing even more so as they were mimicking everything their mother did, like I said what an amazing half an hours worth of birding.

Birds seen today were, Buzzard, Goldcrest, Siskin, Blackcap, Treecreeper, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Wren, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Jay, Stock Dove (I've neevr seen them here before), Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Pied Wagtail, House Martin, Cormorant, Lapwing, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Canada Goose.

A full list of juveniles seen today are, Goldcrest, Siskin, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Robin, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Moorhen and Coot.

Not a great deal of wildflowers at this site but it was nice to see Ragwort very abundant and many were full of Cinnabar Moth caterpillars.

Butterflies seen were, Green Veined White, Small White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Tortoiseshell.