Southfields Reservoirs Birdwatching Group is a small group of non-sailors who have access to the site to observe the wild birds who share the reservoirs with us.  Our  regular birdwatchers are Jim Snowden, Andy Marshall, Roy Dresser, Adrian Scutt and myself who you may see from time to time with our binoculars or photography equipment.  During the year 152 bird species were recorded between us, which is about average. What follows is a brief account of the main sightings for the year, at the end is a short list of other interesting wildlife which was recorded. Some of our full Bird Reports are available to look at in the clubhouse.

February: On the 7th a Barn Owl was sighted and again on the 15th. The first Brent Goose to be recorded in this month was present on the 8th-9th with the Greylag Geese. Also on the 8th was a new record Duck count of 60 Gadwall.  An Iceland Gull was recorded on the 8th and 15th.  On the 19th 1,050 Pink-footed Geese flew west; also present were 4 Curlews, an Oystercatcher, a pair of Peregrine Falcons and 2 Kingfishers. On the 26th c.500 starlings were in the west fields. A ringed Plover and a pair of Oystercatchers were logged on the 27th, with 2 Treecreepers on Went Ings.

March: The first Stonechat since early last year was along the east bank on the 2nd and remained to the 4th.  Also on the 4th c.500 starlings were still present in the west fields. On the 5th, 27 Whooper Swans arrived late evening and 22 were seen on the 11th. The 6th brought a female Mandarin Duck; this was seen again on the 10th. A Black-necked Grebe and a Barn Owl were good records on the 12th. The 17th brought three firsts of the year; Kittiwake, Chiffchaff and Little-ringed Plover, plus 18 Whooper Swans.   On the 20th, 46 Whooper Swans and a Brambling were logged. On the 21st 5 Sand Martin and 2 Willow Tits were firsts for the year. A Peregrine was seen on the 23rd, a Glaucous Gull on the 26th, and next day 11 snipe were seen.  On the 31st the first Swallow appeared with another sighting of 9 Sand Martins.   

April: The month began with some last winter visitors, 33 Whooper Swans arrived mid morning and 17 Fieldfare flew north. Summer visitors included Chiffchaff, Sand Martin, 2 Wheatears and a White Wagtail.  Also noted were 3 Buzzards, Peregrine, 5 Jays and 3 Siskins.  More Whooper Swans were recorded on the 2nd with 11 flying north and later 4 arrived along with a Bewick's Swan, also 200 Linnets were in the north fields.  On the 4th there was a new record count for April of 110 Wigeon.  The first Yellow Wagtail was seen on the 6th and next day a House Martin.  On the 19th there was our fifth record of Egyptian Goose. The first Cuckoo was heard on the 21st, and next day Grasshopper Warbler, Merlin, Peregrine and Buzzard were all logged. On the 23rd a Little-ringed Plover, Dunlin, 5 Whimbrel and Common Sandpiper were noted. The 28th brought 2 Avocets, Marsh Harrier and the first Swifts (4). A Cuckoo was heard again on the 29th, and the month ended with a Barn Owl on the evening of the 30th.  (A total of 173 Whooper Swans passed through on their northerly migration between March 5th and April 2nd).

May: A bit of a slow month in general with very little through passage. The highlights were a male Garganey on Went Ings the 10th and 28th. On the 14th 5 Black Terns and an Avocet were good records, but to top the day was a Great Skua, also known as a Bonxie.  This was a new bird in May and was the fourth site record, The Skua was seen next day in a poor condition and was unfortunately found dead on the 17th.  On the 15th, 19 Turnstone 10+9, 33 Dunlin, a Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Ringed Plovers all passed through. On the 16th 2 Common Cranes were seen by someone who only visits the reservoirs very occasionally, but luckily on the 21st they or another two were seen again by Adrian Marshall and myself; this was the fifth record of the species (the first record was in 1994).  Other noteworthy species were Greenshank and Grasshopper Warbler on the 17th, Wheatear on the 21st, and on the 26th 1,270 Swifts were counted around the reservoirs that evening.  The 29th brought the year’s first Little Gull. To finish off the month on the evening of the 31st, 4 Black Terns were present and an Iceland Gull flew south-east; this is the latest recorded by 11 days. 

June: Two Buzzards were noted on the 1st. Two Little Terns were present for a short time on the 3rd, followed on the 4th by a Sandwich Tern and our first June record of Whimbrel.  Two Peregrines were seen to chase a feral pigeon over the reservoirs on the 9th, also the first Grey Wagtail of the year was logged with three on the 12th. A Barn Owl was seen on the 11th and 23rd. Common Terns bred again on the raft and had two young by mid month.

July: There was not a lot of coverage this month but the highlights included a party of 12 Crossbills which flew over the fisherman's car park on the 16th. Marsh Harrier, Barn Owl, Peregrine and Hobby were all recorded on the 15th. Waders included Whimbrel, Turnstone on the 23rd and 24th, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Green Sandpiper and a maximum of 5 Common Sandpipers. Other species recorded were Green Woodpecker, Kingfisher, Garden Warbler, Wheatear, another three Marsh Harriers, 1-2 Barn Owls which were noted fairly regularly, Willow Tit, Little Egret, another Hobby and three Buzzards together.  A pair of Shoveler bred for the second time and six young were seen on the 16th.

August: Two Black Terns, a juvenile Ruddy Duck and two Redshanks started the month off. A Little Egret gave excellent views as it fed along the waters edge of the middle bank on the 4th.  A wet morning on the 5th produced a female Marsh Harrier moving south, 3 Whimbrel west, c.40 common Terns and what is a rarity these days a Turtle Dove. The 11th brought the second ever record in this month of Hen Harrier. Next day a Black-necked Grebe was present all day. Other highlights for the month were, Greenshank, up to 3 Green Sandpipers, Grey Plover, Whimbrel, 5 Curlews, 50+ House Martins, Wheatear, Grey Wagtail, Spotted Flycatcher, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Treecreeper.  Altogether seven Marsh Harriers were seen during the month, including one male.  Other Birds of Prey were up to 3 Buzzards, Hobby, 2 Peregrines and a Merlin.

September: The month got off to a good start with a count of 9 Greenshanks which flew west over the reservoirs, also 2 Green Sandpipers and a Marsh Harrier were logged. On the 4th our second Skua of the year was present, this time it was an Arctic Skua (11th record); also seen were Peregrine, Buzzard and Barn Owl. A Hobby was seen onthe 7th and next day the third Black-necked Grebe of the year was present.  A new maximum count of 83 Cormorants was logged on the 12th and on the 14th a new maximum count of 5 Curlew Sandpipers flew north.  Other highlights were a few sightings of Marsh Harriers, Ringed Plover, Greenshank, Coal Tit, Sandwich Tern and the first returning Pink-footed Geese (56) flew east on the 15th.

October: Marsh Harriers were logged on the 1st and 19th. Goldeneye ducks started to appear from the 4th, with 2 the most. On the 13th a new record day count of Redwing was achieved when a total of 2,580 flew west during the morning; also 80+ Fieldfare flew west and an immature male Scaup was present. A male Common Scoter was present on the 15th, the Scaup was also present plus one on the 27th; also on the 15th 2 Red knot passed through and in the evening a Grey Plover.  A Common Tern, which is our latest record, and c.5,000 Starlings roosted in the willows.  Other highlights were a Chiffchaff on the 12th.  A Rock Pipit, probably last month’s bird, was noted on a few dates.  81 Cormorants were seen on the 5th, Ruddy Duck on the 2nd, up to 6 Pintail and 30+ Wigeon. On the 17th 4 Buzzards were together.  Two Barn Owls were seen early one morning.  On the 28th a skein of 70 Pink-footed Geese along with 6 Barnacle Geese flew west.  On the 29th, 45 Redpoll in two flocks of 33+12 flew south.  Finally of note were Brambling, Willow Tit, 102 Jackdaws, Merlin, Peregrine, Treecreeper, Goldcrest, 28 Moorhens, (20 on Went Ings 8 on reservoirs), 33 Goldfinch, 12 Siskin, Ringed Plover, 52 Great Crested Grebes, Curlew and 3 Coal Tit plus 2 Willow Tits on Went Ings.

November: Birding coverage was poor this month but the highlights included; 2 immature male Scaup for most of the month, also good numbers of Shoveler were recorded with 15 on the 4th, 22 on the 6th and 28 on the 7th.  A few herds of Whooper swans were noted with 28 being the most.  Great Crested Grebes peaked at 60 which is the second highest count for the site.  An unusual record was a Barn Owl which was seen using one of our Tawny Owl boxes to roost in.  On the 8th a lone Shelduck was seen, this being the first since September.  Just 2 Goosanders were noted for the month; a fly-over and one on the reservoirs on the 30th.  Other sightings included Redpolls, Siskins, Brambling, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers and 650 Mallard. 

December: There were two sightings of a Buzzard on the 2nd, plus other dates to the month end; also a flock of c.50 Teal were seen on Went Ings.  There were two new species for December; first an over-wintering Chiffchaff was seen on Went Ings on the 12th and on the 19th two Egyptian Geese flew over, this being the second record of the year.  The first Water Rail of the year was heard calling from Went Ings on the 22nd.  Three species of Owl were noted during the month with Short-eared Owl and Barn Owl on two dates each and Little Owl on one date.  Other highlights included a new record count of 75 Gadwall, other peak Duck counts were 145 Tufted Duck (this was a good count for recent years), 780 Mallard, 35 Goosander and 11 Goldeneye.  A Treecreeper was seen on Went Ings; a Peregrine Falcon was around on a couple of dates and finally a Red knot was seen on the 30th.

Other wildlife Fox: uncommon.  Grass Snake: two records; May 21st on Went Ings and on June 1st seen swimming in the canal and came ashore at the Went Ings aqueduct.  Hare: uncommon  Mink: regular but fewer sightings this year.  Otter: one was found dead on the A-614 opposite Went Ings.   Rabbit: common  Roe Deer: there were a number of sightings during the year.  Stoat: uncommon.  Weasel: uncommon 

Butterflies  Comma, Common Blue, Gatekeeper, Green veined White, Large Skipper, Large White, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Peacock, Purple Hairstreak, (the first record, this was seen on Went Ings in July), Red Admiral, Ringlet, Small Skipper,  Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood.