Linacre Update - 11th May 2024

 Yesterday morning I went down to Linacre to carry out this month's WeBS count, and to catch up with the nestboxes.

The WeBS count was, as usual for May, quite quiet, with the following birds recorded: Mallard (46 birds; 32 adults and 14 ducklings - 4 broods of 5, 5, 3 and 1), Tufted Duck (4!), Grey Wagtail (2; 1 male and 1 female), Grey Heron (1), Coot (5 adults), Moorhen (4 adults) and Mandarin Duck (10).

The nestboxes, on the other hand, were much more exciting! I found our first full clutches Pied Flycatcher eggs of the year (2 nests, each containing 5 eggs). Another 2 singing males were also heard away from these boxes, so I'm keeping everything crossed for further nests. The Coal Tit and Wren nests were still going strong, and the first Blue Tit chicks of the year had hatched. In total, we now have 43 active nests on site - a very good year! Other birds recorded around the site were 3 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaffs and 1 singing Garden Warbler.

On Thursday, I was also on site, with Chloe, to ring the adult Mandarin Duck that is nesting on site. This year, we also added a colour ring, so hopefully, we'll get some more sightings of her.

Mandarin Duck "HA"

Last, but by no means least, I also managed to spot a few insects: 2 female Orange Tips, 1 Green-veined White, 1 Helophilus pendulus, 1 Common Carder Bumblebee, 1 Red-tailed Bumblebee and 1 Hairy Shieldbug.

First Dragons and Butterflies

 Last week, Jayne and I went to RSPB Old Moor (see last post). Whilst there we had our first damselflies of 2024. The two species seen were: Large Red and Blue-tailed Damselfly.

Today I went to Pleasley Pit to look at the colony of introduced Small Blue butterflies. There were 6 flying around, and landing on my feet!

Small Blue

My foot (and a Small Blue)

Small Blue

Whilst there, I also saw Large Red (c.5) and Blue-tailed Damselfly (1 male), but, by far the biggest surprise, was a female Hairy Dragonfly ovipositing!! I put the record on IRecord, and it appears that it's only the second record of the year for Derbyshire! In addition, it's my first record for this site.

Hairy Dragonfly

Year List Update

 As well as the ringing, Jayne and I had a few walks to try and catch up with a few "year ticks".

The first new bird, Garden Warbler, (164) was seen at Linacre on 4th. The next three: Cuckoo (165), Whitethroat (166) and Redstart (167) were all seen at Burbage Moor and Padley Gorge. The final bird, Pied Flycatcher (168) was found at Linacre on 6th. 

Although not a year tick, another bird I wanted to highlight was this stunning male Garganey that had been reported at Manvers Lake, near  Barnsley, for a few weeks. Unfortunately, it has spent all the time coming to bread (!) along with the resident Mallards, so it may well have escaped from somewhere. Nevertheless, it's still a stunning bird, and great to get close to.

Garganey

Linacre Nestboxes - 4th and 6th May 2024

 Over the weekend, I was down at Linacre with other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, to carry out another check of the nestboxes. We had a couple of visits, and recorded some new species, and a very nice surprise....!

The first visit, on Saturday, saw the first check of the boxes around the Ranger's Base, and we found 13 new occupied nests. After that we checked on the owl boxes. The first contained Grey Squirrels (!), the second had a female Mandarin Duck on 11 eggs, and the third box contained..... a single Tawny Owl chick! This was a great find, as it was the first chick in the boxes since 2018.  

Tawny Owl

On the second visit, on Monday, we checked the remaining boxes, and found a grand total of 30 nests, including our first Pied Flycatcher (1 egg) and Wren (1 clutch of 6) of the year. There was 1 singing Pied Flycatcher (year tick 168) in another area of the woods and 1 other nest without eggs in it, so I'm hoping we may yet get more than 1 nest this year. The last piece of good news was that the eggs on the Coal Tit nest we found last week had hatched - the first time this has happened in a box.

Walking around the reservoirs, I managed to spot a couple of Mallard broods (2 and 1), my first of the year, 21 Tufted Ducks, 1 Canada Goose, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Great-crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe, 6 Mandarin Ducks (5 males and 1 female), 6 Blackcaps, 4 Chiffchaffs and 1 singing Garden Warbler ( year tick 164).

A few insects were seen on Sunday: 1 male Orange Tip, 1 Peacock, my first Red and Black Froghopper and 2 Dark-edged Bee-flies.

Starling Nest 2024

 Starlings have returned to the nestbox on the side of the house again this year. As in previous years, I have begun monitoring the success of this nest for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme, and will ring the chicks (under licence) when they're big enough.

The first evidence of a nest this year was on 29th March. The adults began incubating, and, on 23rd April, four chicks were were hatched. This is a photo from today, and, as you can see, they're thriving...despite the cold and wet conditions! The weather is set to improve this week, so fingers crossed they all survive. I'm sure the mealworms that I'm providing, will help a little.

Starling chicks

Linacre Nestboxes - 27th April 2024

 Yesterday, I had my first visit of the year to check on the nestboxes at Linacre. The initial few boxes didn't bode well, but, by the end of the session, I had 20 boxes with eggs in them. As always, the boxes were checked under licence, and the results will be added to the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. There are still a few boxes to check, so hopefully, there will be a few more to add to the list.

All of yesterday's boxes contained tit nests, including only my second Coal Tit nest. The highest count of eggs was 13 in one clutch! Unfortunately, there weren't any Pied Flycatchers around at all. I'll keep checking, and hopefully, there will be some nests this year.

After checking the boxes, I walked around the rest of the site, recording my first Common Sandpiper (162) of the year. 

Common Sandpiper

There were also approximately 15 Swallows, 1 House Martin and 1 Sand Martin, flying around the top reservoir. The ringed Grey Wagtail was still present, singing on the top reservoir, and was joined by a female bird. Other birds seen were: 1 Grey Heron, 21 Mallard, 7 Mandarin Ducks, 1 Canada Goose, 7 Coots (1 nest on the top reservoir), 4 Moorhens, 3 Great-crested Grebes,  24 Tufted Ducks, 3 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap, 2 Song Thrushes and a calling Great-spotted Woodpecker. Unfortunately, the female Mute Swan, 6Y24, appears to have left the site.

Swallow

In the afternoon, I was down at The Avenue Washlands, and spotted my first Swift (163) of the year.

Weekend Birding

 This weekend, Jayne and I went up to RSPB Bempton Cliffs, Teesdale and RSPB Fairburn Ings. Over the two days, we managed to spot 10 new species for the "year list".

The first new species was Gannet (152), followed closely by Kittiwake (153), Puffin (154) and Razorbill (155). Back at the Visitors' Centre, we added Tree Sparrow (156).

Tree Sparrow

Afterwards, we drove up to Teesdale, to visit Langdon Beck and the Black Grouse (157). We had two visits, one on Saturday, and one again on Sunday morning. Black Grouse were seen on both occasions, with 27 displaying (lekking) males on the Sunday visit- a very impressive sight and sound. One bird, presumably a young male, by the look of the plumage, wandered up from the lek, right to the car, from where this photo was taken!

Black Grouse

A short while later, this female bird was spotted, posing beautifully. Again, this photo was taken from the car, at a distance of about 15m.

Black Grouse (female)

Other birds seen in the area were: drumming Snipe (158), a male Wheatear (159), Curlew, Lapwing and lots of Meadow Pipits. Driving back to our accommodation, we dropped very lucky, and saw two hunting Barn Owls, and a Red Squirrel!

Barn Owl

Our last stop was RSPB Fairburn Ings, where we added Spoonbill (160) and Common Tern (161).