Welcome to my blog all about my birdwatching, wild bird ringing activities and moth recording at Linacre Reservoirs, Derbyshire; in Great Britain and abroad.
This morning, whilst driving to work, I was lucky enough to see a Barn Owl (115), that flew across the main road in Apperknowle.
This afternoon, I had a drive across to Wingerworth, in Chesterfield, to add Red-crested Pochard (116) to this year's list.
Whilst there, I also had a couple of Helmeted Guineafowl!! Obviously, they're somebody's pets and aren't on the British List, so can't be counted.
Yesterday morning, I had a couple of hours at Rufford, before grandparenting duties took over. Whilst there, I managed to add 3 new Year Ticks, as well as spending some time checking the gulls.
I arrived on site at 8am, and parked up in the main car park. Within about 10 minutes, 4 Hawfinch (112) flew into the trees and posed beautifully. Unfortunately, the light was terrible, but I still managed a decent enough record shot.
I then set off around the lake, where I added Stock Dove (113) and Marsh Tit (114) to this year's list. The Marsh Tit (s) were seen around the feeding station, and I managed to get a shot, showing the distinctive white spot, on the lower mandible.
Carrying on to my usual spot, by the main lake, I was surprised to see c.100 Black-headed Gulls hanging around, waiting for breakfast, along with 6 Lesser Black-backs and a couple of Common Gulls. The Group ran out of green darvic rings a few weeks ago, so yellow ones have been used. Two of these birds were spotted: 2V00 and 2V05.
Other ringed birds were: 293A, 280B, 207C, 258C, 264C, 273C, 207F, 219F, 221F, 234F and 276F.
3 Mute Swans (Broken Beak, his partner and 1 juvenile), Kingfisher (heard), Siskins and 10 Goosander (7 males and 3 females), were also recorded.
Jayne had an appointment in Stockport on Sunday, so, after dropping her off, I drove across to Pennington Flash. The main lake was 95% frozen over, with 100s of birds close to the car park. With so much ice, I was able to find darvic-ringed Mute Swans, Coot, Black-headed and a Lesser Black-backed Gull, as well as 4 " Year Ticks".
The first ringed birds I saw, were all Black-headed Gulls. In total, I saw 9 different birds; 7 British-ringed birds (2T90, 2S94, 213A, 234B, 268C, 269C and 284C), and 2 Norwegian-ringed birds (J2714, ringed near Oslo, as an adult, in May 2024 and J3260, ringed, as a pullus, near Oslo, in June 2023).
The British birds had all been ringed at Pennington, between 2019 and 2022. None had been sighted abroad, except 213A, which was seen in The Netherlands in April 2024 (a possible breeding site?).
The Lesser Black-backed Gull, A70:W, was also seen on the ice. A record have been sent off, and I'll update, when I get the ringing details back.
The 9 Mute Swans were all out on the side of the lake, enjoying the food being given out. The ringed birds were: CPT2 (green/W48751, 40ST (blue)/XY46_ _ _, 4FAU (blue), BY6 (blue)/ZY6998, 4BYN (blue)/XY2448, XY5830 (no darvic), XY4465 (no darvic), 4HFI (blue, age 5)/W43982 and 4HDN (blue, age 5).
The final bird, a Coot, with darvic ring J7F, was also out, feeding on the side of the lake. This bird was ringed, as an adult, at Pennington, in December 2020. My sighting was just the 4th since ringing.
All the Black-headed Gulls and the Coot had been ringed by the Waterbird Colour Marking Group.
After recording all the ringed birds, I had a walk around the reserve. It was very cold, and all the water was frozen. Despite this, I managed to find the following year ticks: Great White Egret (108), Bullfinch (109), Willow Tit (110) and Coal Tit (111).
Whilst in Northumberland, enjoying the White-billed Diver, we also took the opportunity to see some other beautiful birds.
Our first stop was the Northumberland Wildlife Trust's Big Waters Reserve on the outskirts of Newcastle. We visited last year too, but didn't manage to catch up with the species we were after. Luckily, this year, we had much more luck, and had fantastic views of both a male American Wigeon (102) and an adult Iceland Gull (106).
Other species seen were: Tree Sparrow (103), Yellowhammer (104), Great Tit (105), Pintail (1 male), Wigeon (100+), Teal (10s), Common Gull, Black-headed Gull and Herring Gull.
Our last species of the day was a Long-tailed Duck (107), that was seen on the River Tyne, whilst looking (unsuccessfully!) for a Ross's Gull.
A juvenile White-billed Diver (98),was found, at Cresswell Pond in Northumberland, earlier this week. It only stayed briefly, but then in turned up again, on Ladyburn Lake, at Druridge Bay CP, later that day. Today, Jayne and I had a drive up there, and managed amazing views, as it swam close in to the shore. Lifer number 1 of the year.
Yesterday, I added a few more birds to the Year List. The first four were all at Rufford CP, yesterday, and included my first site record of Raven. The final addition, Greenfinch, was seen in the garden today.
The additions are: Canada Goose (92), Lesser Black-backed Gull (93), Raven (94), Goosander (95) and Greenfinch (96).
I had my first 2025 visit to Rufford yesterday afternoon, and managed to see 18 of "our" Black-headed Gulls, along with two old favourites: Lithuanian- ringed P519 and the Norwegian-ringed Common Gull, JN075.
P519 was, in fact, the first ringed gull I saw, and this sighting was only the second of this winter, and my first since 2nd November 2024.
Common Gull JN075 didn't appear until later in the afternoon, but it did come and pose very nicely for photos. This bird, first ringed, as a juvenile, in August 2020, on the outskirts of Oslo, and first recorded at Rufford in January 2022, was last seen by me at Rufford in February 2023, so it was great to see it again!
Green-ringed gulls seen were: 259A, 273A, 295A, 272B, 280B, 202C, 207C, 245C, 258C, 264C, 269C (new one for me, ringed in December 2023, and the first re-sighting since!), 270C, 298C, 217F, 234F, 239F, 255F and 276F.
Other birds seen were: Lesser Black-backed Gull (c.47), Herring Gull (5), Common Gull (c.80!!), Goosander (12; 9 males and 3 females), Mute Swan (5; Broken Beak, female and 3 juveniles), 4 Canada Geese, 4 Greylag Geese, and, best of all, an overflying Raven, a site first for me.
