Tittesworth Reservoir Dawn Chorus event 18th May 2014

Reed Bunting by Andy Cope

Seventeen people got up very early (04:30!) on the morning of Sunday 18^th May to join Keith (from the Churnet Valley Living Landscape Partnership) and I (Wendy Birks), for a dawn chorus walk at Tittesworth reservoir. The weather was beautiful. And there were plenty of birds singing away for us to listen to for the three hour long event. After the first two hours we stopped for an outdoor

breakfast of baked beans, buns and orange juice, ably prepared by Keith. Most of the participants stayed on for an extra hour so that we could go to the north end of the reservoir to watch a pair of Common Terns who seem to be preparing to breed on a floating raft, and Little Ringed Plovers, Oystercatcher chicks and Common Sandpipers on the island in the conservation pool. Thanks are due to Severn Trent Water who manage Tittesworth Reservoir and arranged to open the gates and toilets at that early hour. So conscientious are the staff and volunteer warden they even rushed around picking litter from the previous day before we used the BBQ area for our breakfast! Here is a list of what we heard or saw – 33 species in total.

	Guide to what we expect to hear/see today	Seen/ heard	Seen /heard last week	Seen/ heard yesterday 17/05/14	Seen during event
	Warblers
1	Blackcap	yes	yes	yes	yes
2	Willow Warbler	yes	yes	yes	yes
3	Chiffchaff	yes	yes	yes	yes
4	(Common) Whitethroat	yes	yes	yes	yes
5	Garden Warbler	yes	yes	yes	yes
	Lesser Whitethroat				no
	Grasshopper Warbler			no	no
	Sedge Warbler			no	Not present this year
	Finches
6	Chaffinch	yes	yes	yes	yes
7	Goldfinch	yes	yes	Seen only	yes
	Greenfinch	yes		no	no
8	Bullfinch	yes	yes	no	By some
9	Reed Bunting	yes		Poss.	yes
10	Pheasant	yes	yes	yes	yes
11	Great Spotted Woodpecker	yes	yes	yes	Heard drumming
	Pigeons/Doves
12	Woodpigeon	yes	yes	yes	yes
	Collared Dove	yes	yes	no	no
	Pied Wagtail		yes	seen	no
14	Grey Wagtail	yes	yes	yes	yes
15	Wren	yes	yes	yes	yes
16	Dunnock			no	yes
	Thrushes
17	Blackbird	yes	yes	yes	yes
18	Song Thrush	yes	yes	yes	yes
	Mistle Thrush	yes	yes	Seen only	no
19	Robin	yes	yes	yes	yes
20	Spotted Flycatcher	yes	yes	yes	yes
21	Goldcrest	yes		Heard only	Heard by some
	Tits
	Long-tailed Tit	yes		yes	no
	Willow Tit	yes		no	no
22	Coal Tit	yes		Heard only	Heard briefly
	Blue tit	yes	yes	Heard only	no
	Great Tit	yes	yes	Seen only	no
	Marsh Tit			no	no
	Nuthatch	yes		no	no
23	Treecreeper	yes		no	yes
	Corvids
	Carrion Crow	yes	yes	yes	no
24	Jackdaw			yes	yes
	Rook	yes	yes	Rookery in nearby fields
	Jay	yes		yes	no
	Magpie	yes		no	no
	Raven			no	no
25	House Sparrow	yes	yes	yes	yes
	Other possibilities
	Kestrel	yes	yes	yes	no
	Buzzard	yes	yes	Heard only	no
26	Coot	yes	yes	yes	yes
27	Curlew	yes	yes	yes	yes
	Cuckoo	nearby		no	no
	Tawny Owl	nearby		no	no
	Swift			no	no
28	Swallow	yes	yes	yes	yes
	House Martin			no	probably
	Wetland birds
29	Little Ringed Plover			yes	yes
30	Common Terns			yes	yes
31	Oystercatcher			Yes - with 3 chicks	yes
32	Goosander			Yes – with ducklings	yes
33	Common Sandpiper				yes