Ah, I do love autumn, don't you? Recent sightings, tides and weather for the coming weekend.

This week has been full of crisp, bright autumn days and, although the numbers of migratory birds are decreasing as we march on towards winter, there are still plenty of waders to been on the scrapes.

We are also seeing more and more of our winter visitors arriving and the cooler, shorter days are bringing ever better chances to see birds of prey hunting on the reserve.

Here are the highlights for the week so far:

Little stint – last seen on the reedbed on Monday
Curlew sandpiper – a few seen every day this week on the scrapes
Yellow  wagtail – two seen on Monday on the scrapes
Grey plover – 20+ seen on the scrapes earlier in the week
Teal – more and more seen on the scrapes and reedbed, 50+
Lapwing – these beautiful and sadly endangered waders are increasing in number for the winter too
Brent geese – arriving in dribs and drabs from Siberia, look out for the white collar
Chiff chaff – seen on the scrapes today
Green woodpecker – seen flying over the wet grassland today
This afternoon we had an unconfirmed sighting of the pectoral sandpiper. We did have an individual on the reserve a couple of weeks ago but it hasn’t been seen since so I’m unsure about this one. Please don’t be disappointed if you come to see it and it isn’t here.

And now for the birds of prey:
All seen today – hobby, kestrel, merlin, buzzard, peregrine, sparrowhawk
Seen earlier in the week – marsh harrier

No hen harriers so far but it won’t be long now!

Weekend tides

Weekend weather:

Friday: Cloudy and cool for most of the day with outbreaks of rain likely around dawn and dusk. Highs of 12 degrees and moderate westerly winds.

Saturday: Mainly dry and sunny with a cold start but highs of 14 degrees in the afternoon. Light westerly winds.

Sunday: Cloudy and a little cooler than Saturday, with the risk of heavy showers in the evening. Highs of 13 degrees and a moderate easterly breeze..