14/11/2026 12:55 to 16:40 Andy Butler with Jon Lowes

Another cold and clear day but a stiff breeze prevented the lagoon from freezing. 

Two Dunlin landed briefly at 14:00 but took off again almost immediately and more unusual a Green Sandpiper did they same at 15:20 flying off west.

Green Sandpiper 

Not many gulls today, just 250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls came in to the roost, although birds were still arriving as we left a dusk. With them were two adult Herring Gulls and the regular adult Yellow-legged Gull. Another immature gulls may have been the darker backed continental form of Herring Gull argentatus but the light was too poor to be certain.

Herring Gull - adult

The Pochard has departed but the last Pintail was still present.

The Starlings started to arrive at about 15:45 and continued until dusk. Again the birds came in low and, although the flew around quite a bit just above the reeds there was no real murmuration. It was difficult to estimate the numbers but we think 40,000 to 60.000, so a lot of birds.

13/11/2026 - 7.40am to 12 noon, Jon Lowes & Andy Butler

A cold, bright and frosty morning saw about 2/3rd of the lagoon frozen over first thing. Despite this, 4 adult Whooper Swans arrived from the east at 8am, landing on the west side of the lagoon. They stayed for about an hour, before departing low to the west.

Whooper Swans

A noticeable increase in Greylag Geese this morning. Probably around 200 present, but difficult to get an accurate count as they were quite flighty, splitting into several flocks moving between the lagoon and neighbouring fields.

Greylag Geese

Other waterfowl included 1 Pochard, 1 Pintail and 36 Shoveler.

Pintail

An adult Yellow-legged Gull appeared in with the Lesser Black-backed Gulls mid-morning.

A Red Kite drifted north over Rosa Lane and a steady passage of 750+ Fieldfares moved up Combs Dale towards Longstone Edge during the morning.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S410161891 

https://ebird.org/checklist/S410148886

12/11/2026 - from Roy Frost via DOS WhatsApp

 c31 Whooper Swans over south-east at 4.17pm

11/11/2026 08:20 to 16:40 Andy Buler with George Hudson (late afternoon)

Golden Plover was the star bird today I started with a count of 240 birds but by mid-afternoon it was up to 450 which is the highest count since the 1990's! It was a lovely day so they looked particularly good in the sunshine. 

Golden Plover and Lapwing

Otherwise the lagoon was much the same as earlier in the week with a single drake Pochard and 3 Pintail the only wildfowl of note.

There were still plenty of Fieldfare about, initially I estimated about 700 feeding on hawthorns around the dam but more birds started to arrive from the east and my final total was around 1100.

Fieldfare

Early afternoon the Lesser Black-backed Gulls started to arrive, and continued to do so until dark, I estimated 1200 at dusk with 11 Herring Gulls and 2 Yellow-legged Gulls.

The Starlings were disappointing as they flew in low and went straight in to the reed beds so it was difficult to keep track of the numbers but I think 10,000 to 12,000, so a bit lower than recent days.

A Chiffchaff called for a while by the dam and I don't suppose there will be many more now.

09/11/2026 - evening

Report from Richard Hill this evening;

2,100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

3 Yellow-legged Gulls

Caspian Gull - adult

28,000 Starlings

09/11/2026 08:50 to 12:30 Andy Butler with Steve Coughlan

Another misty start to the day which didn't start to clear until about 10:00. In the mist I heard Water Rail and several parties of Fieldfare overhead.

When it finally cleared there was nothing new on the lagoon but the 3 Pintail and lone male Pochard were still present. A smaller group of around 80 Lapwing were joined by 148 Golden Plover during the morning.

A reasonable group of about 200 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were joined by an adult Yellow-legged Gull.

There was was quite a bit of activity around the feeder which included a Great Spotted Woodpecker and I heard Brambling again below the dam. Fewer Fieldfare today but I still noted 350 passing west.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

08/11/2026 - morning Jon Lowes, afternoon Andy Butler

A lack-lustre morning suddenly got a lot more interesting at about 9.20am when I noticed a flock of 23 Snipe had been flushed from the reedbed on no.4 lagoon. The culprit turned out to be a juvenile Hen Harrier which quartered the reedbed for about 15 minutes before disappearing. To both our surprise, it then suddenly appeared from behind bushes about 20 feet away from me before flying off north towards no.3 lagoon.

Several flocks of Golden Plover dropped into the lagoon during the morning totalling 166 birds that merged with 202 Lapwings.

Ducks included 30 Shoveler, 5 Gadwall, 3 Pintail, 1 Pochard and 1 Wigeon.

Very few winter thrushes present at first, but birds then began to start moving mid-morning with 800+ Fieldfare and 300 Redwing all coming up from Combs Dale and moving west over the north end of no.4 lagoon.

Other birds of note were a Brambling by the north gate and a squealing Water Rail that showed briefly at the north end of no.4 lagoon.

In the afternoon, Andy was only able to stay for part of the Starling roost and estimated around 40,000 birds came in. He also counted 1900 Fieldfares also coming up from Combs Dale.

The evening gull roost consisted of c800 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, with 5 Herring Gulls and a Yellow-legged Gull.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S408970307

https://ebird.org/checklist/S409068229

Starling numbers increasing

 07/11/2026 06:50 to 11:00

I arrived in time to see the Starlings leaving the roost in the reed bed and numbers have increased significantly. It very difficult to gauge the numbers but the birds left in two large groups. The first group was the largest and most of it is in the photo below. 

I asked AI to estimate the number from the photo and it came back with 7,500 as its best guess. The second group was smaller but was probably 3 to 4,000 birds so I'm estimating 10K but it was probably a bit higher.

There was no murmuration when i went in the evening last week but it probably more likely as the numbers increase.

Starling leaving the roost

Two male Pochard flew in mid-morning, they are a scarce bird here so always nice to see..

Common Pochard - drakes

Just over 200 Lapwing this morning and they were joined by several groups of Golden Plover which totalled 146 birds.

There were still plent of Fieldfare around, I estimated 750, many were feeding in the hawthorns below the dam and I could hear several Brambling in the same area. 

Jon counted the Starlings coming to roost this evening and estimated the numbers at 70k which is a huge increase with birds gathering in the bushes below the dam wall before heading to the reeds to roost. Still no signs on any prolonged murmuration prior to roosting.

06/11/2026 - 7.30am - 11.30am

 A dull, overcast morning was made better by an, at times spectacular, passage of Fieldfares. Mostly flyovers, with some birds dropping in, so difficult to get an accurate count but I stopped counting mid-morning at 2,600 when it appeared flocks were by then mainly grounded birds, rather those going straight through. Mixed in with them were around 350 Redwings and a single Ring Ouzel that flew towards No. 3 lagoon.

58 Golden Plover circled the lagoon a couple of times at about 8.15am before deciding to drop in and join the 176 Lapwings.

Ducks included 36 Shoveler, 5 Gadwall, 3 Pintail and 14 Goosander (1 drake) first thing.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S408330249?continue

From Ron Blagden via DOS WhatsApp

101 Golden Plover, 126 Lapwing, 39 Shoveler, 4 Gadwall, 2 Pintail, 46 Teal, 17 Tufted Duck,400+ Fieldfare, 2000+ LBB Gull, 280 BH Gull, 6 Common Gull, 4 YL Gull, 4 Herring Gull, 5000+ starlings (difficult to count !)

03/11/26 - 7.15am - 8.45am - Ray Scally

A short visit this morning with a slight increase in some duck numbers, 8 Gadwall and 31 Teal were up on previous days totals, 10 Goosander left as I was arriving, a small movement of 350 Woodpigeon, 78 Lapwing were resident on the lagoon, Fieldfare were up to 175 in the trees surrounding the lagoon with no visible thrush movement, disappointingly there was no Brambling in with the 14 Chaffinch in the horse paddock. Full list on eBIRD link below:

eBird Checklist - 3 Nov 2026 - Middleton Moor - 34 species

02/11/2026 08:30 to 11:30

A nice clear start to the day and I was greeted by a small skein of 35 Pink-footed Geese heading east as I arrived. Another larger skein of 60 birds followed a little later, 6 birds broke away from the skein and it looked like they were going to land on the lagoon but changed their minds and continued east.

Pink-footed Geese

Still plenty of thrushes moving around with just short of 300 Fieldfare and 40 Redwing counted.

The wildfowl were quite flighty for some reason and I could only see 17 Teal which is a big reduction but the 6 Pintail were still there and 2 Gadwall with 46 Shoveler.

Hen Harrier - first record of the year

01/11/2026 07:25 to !1:10 Jon Lowes & 13:05 to 15:20 Andy Butler

Definitely a day of two halves; Jon covered the morning session with bright sunlight and good visibilty and I did the afternoon slot with low cloud, poor visibility and drizzle.

In the morning two skeins of Pink-footed Goose flew west and 9 Golden Plover landed briefly with an additional two flying over.

In the afternoon the Lapwing were flying around when I arrived and with them a small wader which fortunately landed with them confirming it was a Dunlin.

Dunlin with Lapwing

I walked around the lagoon in the hope of getting a better view and a male Hen Harrier flew over my head, crossing the lagoon and carrying on over the settlement beds. By the time I'd extracted my camera it was gone. 

I had noted that there were at least 24 Snipe on the waters edge and in the grass which were flushed by the harrier. It's unusual to see so many out in the open and it made me wonder if the harrier had passed over earlier. A male Hen Harrier was seen early afternoon on Beeley Moor so it's possible it was the same bird.

The low cloud brought groups of Fieldfare and Redwing in to the trees and bushes, several hundred of each.

There were only about 80 Lesser Black-backed Gulls mid-afternoon but one of the adult Yellow-legged Gulls was with them and I've added the photo I took of it yesterday in bright sunlight.

Yellow-legged Gull - adult

Jon mentioned on Friday's blog that I had seen a large number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls coming in to roost on Friday evening, I took a series of photos of the roost which I stitched together to create a panoramic view of them and from which I was able to count 2,278 individuals and, with an additional 300 flying in as I was leaving, it makes at least 2500 birds that evening which is quite a count.