Female Smew on Queenford and 4 Goosander on the Allen Pit.

December WEBS count today revealed December record counts of Pochard (157) and Tufted Duck (150). It was also good to see 11 Pintail, 10 on Queenford and 1 on the Allen Pit. Good numbers of Wigeon (743), Teal (49) and Coot (680). Just 3 Goosander, 8 Shoveler and singles of Common Sandpiper on Queenford and a Water Rail on the private Orchid Pit.

Common Sandpiper still present on Queenford but little else of note.

At last the Goosanders have arrived at Dorchester - it seems to get later each year. 7 males and 3 females on the Allen Pit this afternoon.

Today was the monthly WEBS count day and these are the highlights. Little Grebe (3), Great Crested Grebe (21), Mute Swan (147), Wigeon (363), Gadwall (10), Teal (88), Mallard (105), Shoveler (5), Pochard (88), Tufted Duck (116), Coot (626) and the ever reliable female American Wigeon. I also had a run in with a most odd behaving wader. This bird, probably a Knot, was associating with Teal on the Allen Pit. It had taken the association so far that when the Teal took off and flew around it followed but not only this it also landed with them on the water! Not just once but more than half a dozen times and it seemed very comfortable on the water. It was not just paddling in deep water but tens of metres out from the bank, well out of its depth.

A bit of a build up in numbers of duck on Drayton Road Pit with 76 Pochard, 10 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 11 Teal, 39 Tufted Ducks and 286 Wigeon. No change in the number of Mute swan on Queenford since the 7^th November and the Common Sandpiper still present.

Not a lot of new birds at Dorchester this weekend though numbers of Golden Plover at Meadside were up to 340. Unfortunately the Lapwing flew off before I had a chance to count them (probably between 200 and 300). 40 each of Pochard and Tufted Duck on Drayton Road Pit together with 180 Wigeon, 2 Gadwall and a Kingfisher. Common Sandpiper, Heron, Kingfisher and 71 Mute Swan on Queenford.

202 Golden Plover and 267 Lapwing on Meadside. First Dorchester Goldeneye of the winter on Drayton Road Pit.

144 Wigeon and 31 Pochard on Drayton Road Pit. Common Sandpiper on Queenford (overwintering again?).

The Plovers have arrived back on Meadside with 261 Golden Plover and 155 Lapwing there today.

Highlights of the October WEBS count covering the 7 Dorchester lakes. 10 Little Grebe, 24 Great Crested Grebe, 125 Mute Swan, 400 Canada Geese, 230 Wigeon, 23 Gadwall, 11 Teal, 96 Mallard, 3 Shoveller, 37 Pochard, 115 Tufted Duck, 632 Coot and 29 Moorhen. American Wigeon still present on Allen Pit.

Red Kite over Drayton Road Pit.

Counted 73 Wigeon on the Allen Pit; also there American Wigeon, Common Sandpiper, Little Grebe and a Spotted Flycatcher (I don’t remember seeing one round this pit before). Still good numbers of Swallows feeding over the water and fields adjoining.

6 Little Grebe, a Hobby and a Sedge warbler on Drayton Road Pit. I watched the Hobby hunting damselflies low over the water for about 30 mins. I guess it was easy feeding as most of the damselflies were coupled together in pairs and probably had their minds on something else. The same or perhaps another was doing the same over Queenford by the time I had moved to that pit.

American Wigeon and a single Common Sandpiper on Allen Pit plus the usual Wigeon, Tufted, Gadwall, Great Crested Grebes etc.

On the Drayton Road Pit; 18 Pochard, 52 Tufted Duck, 3 Little Grebe, 71 Wigeon and 5 Gadwall. 3 Common Sandpipers on Queenford and the Number of Mute Swans is up to 39.

Most notable results of my September WEBS count were: 4 Little Grebe, 34 Great Crested Grebe, 51 Mute Swan, 30 Wigeon, 12 Gadwall, 6 Teal, 289 Mallard, 10 Pochard, 80 Tufted Duck, 567 Coot, 22 Moorhen, 1 Am Wig, 1 Pochard/Tufty cross and "star of the show" 2 Pintail. The Mallard total is the highest ever for September.

5 Shoveler, 5 Gadwall, Little Grebe, Am Wig and odd Aythya (ref 5 September) on Allen Pit.

Quick visit to Queenford this evening only produced 1 Common Sandpiper of passing interest.

Hobby, 2 Snipe and 2/3 Shoveler (one had it's head under its wing and the light was going) on Allen Pit.

Common Sandpiper on Queenford and 2 Hobby's on Drayton Road.

The build up of winter ducks continues with 4 Gadwall, 3 Shoveler and 7 Teal turning up on the Allen Pit. Also an Odd? Aythya type duck on the small pool at the southern end of the Allen Pit. Probably a Pochard x Tufted Duck hybrid.

The Drayton Road Pit is looking good with numbers of ducks building up. This afternoon there were Tufted Duck (63), Pochard (19), Wigeon (29) together with 2 Gadwall (first I've seen this Autumn), a Little Grebe and 2 Hobby's.

Alan Brampton reports a Little Owl and a Hobby at the Northern end of the Allen Pit.

First Shoveler of the winter? on the Allen Pit. Am Wig and 2 Little Grebe still around.

A Whinchat (my first for 1999 - I must get out more!) and 2 Common Whitethroat gorging on blackberries on the Rough Area to the north of the Allen Pit. On and around the Allen Pit the Am. Wig, a Common Sandpiper, 2 Little Grebe and a Yellow Wagtail. A large flock of Lapwing -probably in excess of 1000 was flying around. On Queenford 2 Common Sandpipers was the best I could find.

50 Tufted Ducks, 14 Pochard, 7 Wigeon and a Little Grebe on Drayton Road Pit. 3 Common Sandpipers, a Little Grebe and a Ringed Plover on Queenford.

2 Little Grebes, a Common Tern and the Yank Wigeon on Allen.

3 Common Sandpipers on Queenford.

Little Grebe on Drayton Road Pit and John Hillsdon reports 2 More Wigeon, 3 Teal and a common Tern on the Allen Pit with a flock of about 50 Lapwing flying over.

The first Eurasian Wigeon of the winter has joined the Yank on Allen Pit. Also 2 very recently hatched young Great Crested Grebes with their parents on the same water.

2 Common Sandpipers, a Little Grebe, Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail on Queenford.

A Little Owl and the good old reliable female American Wigeon present on the Allen Pit this evening.

An hours walk round the Allen Pit produced about 6 Swift, a Yellow Wagtail, a Wheatear, a Common Tern and a "bushful" of Willow Warblers and Long-tailed Tits. Lots of Swallows and House Martins around. 2 Common Sandpipers and 2 Common Terns on Queenford.

Little of note seems to have turned up at Dorchester during my absence in Cornwall for two weeks. Most of the Terns have moved on though 2 common were still present on Queenford this evening together with 3 Common Sandpipers. 2 more Common Terns were reported on the Allen Pit but may have been the same ones moving around. Nothing very exciting during my WEBS count this morning. Highlights were 6 Heron, 2 Little Grebe, 208 Mallard, 53 Tufted Duck, 9 Pochard and 370 Coot. The American Wigeon is apparently still present though I missed it during the count.

Little Grebe, 8 Pochard, 53 Tufted Ducks and 3 Grey Herons on Drayton Road Pit. Still t least 8 Common Tern and over 20 Mute Swan on Queenford.

Still at least 6 Common Tern on Queenford but little else of note.

Not much change since the weekend with at least 7 Common Tern and 2 Common Sandpipers on Queenford. On the same lake numbers of Black-headed Gulls are on the rise with 150 counted at about 8:00 p.m. but still more coming in after this time.

Many thanks to Alan Brampton for the following observations.

Banded Agrion (Calopteryx splendens)

White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes)

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigara)

Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythroma najas)

Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis)

Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator)

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum)

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum)

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)

Small Tortoiseshell

Comma

Peacock

Small White

Green-veined White

Meadow Brown

Gatekeeper

Marbled White

Small Skipper

Essex Skipper

Highlight of WEB count today included 8 Common Tern and 2 Common Sandpiper on Queenford; 1 Common Tern on Sailing Club Pit; 2 Common Tern and American Wigeon on Allen Pit. Total of 231 Coot on whole Dorchester complex and 61 Black-headed Gulls - winter approaches.

5 Common Tern and a Common Sandpiper on Queenford.

First sign of breeding by Tufted Duck - a female with 4 young in tow on Drayton Road Pit. Renewed my research into the behaviour of Common Tern. Only 4 tonight on Queenford including a single young bird. On 6 occasions an adult, carrying a fish, approached the young which was standing on a buoy. Each time it hovered in front of the youngster waving the fish just out of reach. Although the young bird tried to take the fish it was just out of reach and the adult seemed unprepared to give the fish up. Over about an hour the young bird never did get a fish. (Beats watching television!)

At least 7 Common Tern on Queenford including several young birds (anyone know where they breed). I observed some interesting behaviour. On several occasions an adult, with a fish, landed near a young bird. I expected it to feed the young but instead it edged away even though the young bird was begging. It continued to edge away and seemed to be trying to get the young to fly which it eventually did. Unfortunately I did not see what then happened as I lost sight of them behind a tree with the young chasing the adult. Later the same happened with the adult approaching 3 young in turn. This time the young did not seem interested and eventually the adult lost interest too and ate the fish. So - was the adult going to drop the fish in the water in an attempt to teach its young to fish for itself or was there some other purpose? Answers on a 5 pound note please!

About 160 Lapwing in field behind River Scrape (at least where it would be if it was wet. Two Green Woodpeckers and a Common Tern at Allen Pit. Also 6 Pochard there. 3 Marbled White butterfly (probably a lot more) in Rough Area to north of Allen Pit. Green Woodpecker, 5 Pochard and 2 Grey Heron at Drayton Road Pit.

Two Red Kite low over northern ends of Drayton Road Pit and Queenford. Six male Pochard on Drayton Road Pit.

On Drayton Road Pit - Reed Warbler still singing. Little Grebe (first I have seen for ages). Green Woodpecker and Grey Heron around. Bee Orchids are over but Pyramidal Orchids still looking good.

On Queenford - Single Common Tern and about 20 Mute swans avoiding water skiers.

On Allen Pit - Female American Wigeon still present (approaching 16 months since it was first seen). Marbled White butterfly at northern end of lake.