Derby Black-headed Gulls

Back on 11th November, Jayne and I drove down to Alvaston Park in Derby to look for some Ring-necked Parakeets that had been reported there. We found 2 feeding high in the trees on the island in the middle of the lake.

Whilst there we were also very lucky to catch up with 4 ringed Black-headed Gulls. 3 of the gulls were metal ringed and had been ringed in Denmark, Sweden and Finland! The fourth bird had both a metal ring, and a darvic ring, and had originally been ringed in Poland.

Danish bird

The Danish bird was ringed, as a chick, on the island of Hirsholm in northern Denmark, on 26th May 2018, 917km away. 

Swedish bird 022

Unfortunately, I could only get 3 digits from the Swedish ring, so I won't be able to get any more details of this bird.

Finnish bird ST3164 _

I managed to get most of the digits from the Finnish bird's ring, just missing the last one! I've sent off the details that I could see, so hopefully, I'll be able to get some details later.

Polish bird T6TP

The Polish bird had a darvic ring, T6TP. It was ringed as "at least 2 years old" in a wetland area near the Vistula River, Plock on 21st May 2018, 1395km away.

Year List update:

201 - Ring-necked Parakeet

Linacre Ringing - 11th November 2018

Yesterday morning we (Sorby Breck Ringing Group) were down at Linacre to carry out a ringing session. Unfortunately, just one hour after we arrived, if started to rain, and we had to pack up. As a result we ringed just 11 birds, as follows (new/retrap): Robin 1/0, Goldcrest 2/0, Blue Tit 1/0, Great Tit 4/1 and Chaffinch 1/0.

Linacre WeBS - 10th November 2018

During last month's WeBS walk, Luke and I found 2 "female type" Teal. This morning we were down at Linacre again, to carry out this month's count, and one of the first birds we saw was a male Teal. We managed to get quite close and got a decent photo. Later in the morning we found this same bird, and a female, together on the other side of the middle reservoir. We can't be sure, but it would be nice to think that this morning's birds were the same two as last month, and that the male bird has come out of eclipse plumage. This species is less than annual at Linacre, so hopefully, they'll stay around for the rest of the winter, and perhaps into 2019.

Teal (male)

Mandarin Duck numbers were still pretty good, with 88 seen (113 last month). Other birds seen were: Tufted Duck (34), Mallard (70), Coot (4), Moorhen (21, the highest count of the year), Grey Wagtail (2), Pied Wagtail (1, the first record of 2018), Black-headed Gull (47) and Cormorant (2).

Away from the water, there were at least 6 Redwings, 1 Mistle Thrush and several Blackbirds feeding on a Hawthorn bush by the top reservoir, where we also had a Raven fly over, and a confiding Robin.

Robin

Year List update- 200 species reached!

It's been two months since I last blogged about my "year list". The obvious reason is that it hasn't increased too much, with just 2 new species added; Grey Phalarope and Purple Sandpiper.

The Grey Phalarope was a bird seen at Loscoe Dam on 23rd September. It showed well, but distantly, so no photos unfortunately. It was present for a couple of days, before being eaten by a Pike!!

The Purple Sandpiper was seen this week (thanks Jayne!) on the harbour wall in Brixham.

The other species, which wasn't a year tick, but was good to see, was Great White Egret. Two birds, my highest count in Derbyshire, were present today at Pebley Pond yesterday and again today. Again, they kept a distance away, but I managed to get a record shot!

Great White Egret

Year list update:
199: Grey Phalarope
200: Purple Sandpiper