Cliffe Pools - September 2008

Reporting Your Sightings

To help keep this page as up-to-date and informative as possible, please send your sightings and any pictures taken onsite (please see 'Guidelines for submissions' on the KOS Photo Gallery for details of how to resize your pics etc.) to Gordon Allison by clicking here.

Alongside August, September is one of the very best months in the year at Cliffe as the late summer-early autumn wader passage continues. Impressive numbers of hundreds of black-tailed godwits and avocets are augmented with waders on passage such as wood, green, common and curlew sandpiper, little stint, greenshank, whimbrel and ruff.  Cliffe has an enviable record for turning up rarities at this time of year, so it is always worth giving the wader flocks a thorough scan just in case something unusual is about.

Early September is also a good month for enjoying the summer plumages of a number of wader species that we're more familiar with in their winter plumage, knot, bar-tailed godwit and grey plover are all typical examples.

By the latter half of the month a change of emphasis takes place, the wader passage starts to dry up with a reduction in the number of species present and greater numbers of the wintering waders (dunlin, grey plover etc) turning up.

September is also a prime month for other migrants on the move. Look out for parties of swallows and martins and a variety of warblers on the move and by the end of the month the first fieldfares and redwings should be arriving from their Arctic breeding grounds.

Finally September is the last month that summering insects can be properly seen, look out for dragonflies like migrant hawker and ruddy & common darters in the more woody, sheltered areas of the reserve. Here too you may see butterflies like red admiral, small tortoiseshell. peacock and comma feeding up before their winter hibernation. In the grasslands common blues, wall browns and late clouded yellows can still be seen with the last of the years bees.

30th: 15j curlew sandpiper, 369 dunlin, 585 avocet, 216 grey plover, 72 ringed plover, 143 black-tailed godwit, 19 bar-tailed godwit, 12 knot, 251 redshank, 7 curlew, 2 green sandpiper, 2 spotted redshank, 6 greenshank, 30 wigeon, 5 pintail, 3 stonechat, 1 dp arctic skua, 1 swallow

28th: 1 stonechat, little egret, 70+ black-tailed godwit, redshank, 5 greenshank, 2 golden plover, lapwing

27th: 139 grey plover, 13 bar-tailed godwit, 12 knot, 2+ curlew sandpiper, 1 little stint, 65 dunlin, 189 black-tailed godwit, 249 redshank, 75 ringed plover, 450+ avocet, 10 greenshank, 5 golden plover, 28 little egret, 1 black-necked grebe, 1 sparrowhawk, 1 kingfisher, 1 grey wagtail

20th: 5 bearded tit, 1 black-necked grebe (per P. Larkin)

10th: 1 wood sandpiper, 1 spotted redshank, 1 ruff, 4 pintail (Flamingo pre high tide per: C Gibbard)

7th: 3 black tern, 1 Sandwich tern, 10+ common tern, 2 Arctic skua (river); 1 wood sandpiper, 19 green sandpiper, 1 common sandpiper, 2 greenshank, 2M stonechat (boundary ditch); 147 ringed plover, 237 dunlin, 2j curlew sandpiper, 1j little stint, 160 black-tailed godwit, 4 bar-tailed godwit, 2 whimbrel, 37 grey plover, 8 greenshank, 1 spotted redshank, 2 ruff, 352 avocet, 1 turnstone, 1 common sandpiper, 166 redshank, 90+ little grebe, 1F sparrowhawk (pools - inc. records from M. Orchard)

6th: 5 green sandpiper, 1 dunlin, 1 greenshank (Radar)

5th: 1 wood sandpiper, 12 green sandpiper, 3 greenshank (boundary ditch); black-necked grebe, 1 curlew sandpiper, 150+ ringed plover (Flamingo); peregrine, marsh harrier, whinchat, wheatear (per. F Cackett)

4th: 95 ringed plover, 162 dunlin, 1 whimbrel, 5 greenshank, 2 spotted redshank, 112 black-tailed godwit, 6 bar-tailed godwit, 515 avocet, 173 redshank, 104 grey plover, 1 turnstone, 1 ruff, 4 knot, 2 curlew sandpiper, 10 green sandpiper, 1 common sandpiper, 1 sparrowhawk (Flamingo/Ski)

3rd: 1 black-necked grebe, 1 spotted redshank, 1 grey plover, 2j ruff (Flamingo)

2nd: 1 ruddy shelduck, 1 black-necked grebe, 79 little grebe, 308 ringed plover, 221 dunlin, 2 curlew sandpiper (ad + juv), 13 knot, 4 bar-tailed godwit, 2 whimbrel, 112 black-tailed godwit, 5 turnstone, 76 grey plover, 563 avocet, 237 redshank, 13 greenshank, 2 spotted redshank, 2 ruff, 1 common sandpiper, 2 green sandpiper, 4 Sandwich tern, 1 kingfisher