Birds:

• Sand Martin numbers are falling now they've started to head home back to warmer climates.
• A couple of Egyptian Geese have been spotted around Lakeside. An introduced and now resident species, not native but quite eye-catching. 
• The Spotted Flycatcher has been seen and heard a few times around the scrubby area at the bottom of Coney Meadow, and also on the Rural Estate.
• A couple of Swallow chicks were spotted and photographed by a volunteer, again on the Rural Estate.
• Arctic Tern - a juvenile was spotted on Overton Lake, it is most likely beginning it's migration back to winter grounds.
• Yellow-Legged Gull - spotted on Gunwade Lake. these have only been recognised as a species of their own fairly recently and are close relation of the Herring Gull (Seagull to most people).
• Little Grebe
• Little Egret
• Great white Egret
• Hobby - seen hunting over Coney Meadow
• Yellow Wagtail - spotted on the Rural Estate

Other Sightings and News:

• Purple Hairstreak butterfly surveys have been going well, they're coming to the end of their flight season.
• Alex has put out some reptile mats so we can start some formal reptile surveys around Ferry Meadows.
• Possibly the most exciting one this month - yet to be verified, but there have been 2 potential Water Vole sightings, which if we can get a photo of, will be a very exciting new species for the park. It'll also show the catchment wide Mink eradication programme is having the desired effect and that the habitat suitability surveys the volunteers undertook last season were correct in their findings as the sightings have been in one of the locations that scored highest in the surveys. Watch this space...
• Chinese Mitten Crab - an invasive non-native species that are unfortunately found in a lot of waterways now. Their name comes from their fluffy claws, which makes it look like they're wearing mittens.
• E-DNA results confirmed the presence of Great Crested Newts in one of the ponds at Sutton - another success story for a conservation project undertaken recently.