Welcome to my blog all about my birdwatching, wild bird ringing activities and moth recording at Linacre Reservoirs, Derbyshire; in Great Britain and abroad.
My latest visit to Rufford was on 2nd March, when I had an hour, and spotted 14 Black-headed Gulls, including new birds; 2V03 (ringed on 18th January, as a 5, born last year), 218F (ringed by me, as a 1st winter bird, on 12th October 2024) and J3018 ( a new Norwegian-ringed bird, that was ringed, as a free-flying juvenile, in Oslo, on 5th August 2024).
I've just had a look at the blog, and realised that I haven't posted this month yet!! During this time, I've had a couple of visits to Rufford (both cold and rainy!), adding a few new Black-headed Gulls to the list.
The first visit, on 8th February, saw the following birds reported: 273A, 295A, 202C, 207C, 258C, 264C, 273C, 298C, 221F, 234F and 2V16 (my first sighting, about 2 hours after ringing!)
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.
Storm Bert put pay to any ringing this weekend, so instead, I headed over to Rufford to check up on the gulls. I was there for just under two hours, and saw 16 ringed Black-headed Gulls.
Birds seen were: 273A , 293A, 280B (ringed by me, as an adult, in November 2022, and my first sighting since 20th January 2024), 207C, 264C, 270C, 273C, 298C (ringed in February 2024, as a 5, i.e. born in 2023, and my first siting this winter), 207F, 220F, 221F, 223F, 230F, 234F, 239F (a new bird) and 244F (a new bird).
On Saturday, I was out at Clumber Park, with the family. Whilst there, I had a quick check of the Black-headed Gulls and Mute Swans, finding a couple of ringed birds.
The first bird I saw was a Polish-ringed Black-headed Gull, TV02. I checked the number, and realised it was a bird I had first seen, at Clumber, back in February 2023. See the post here, for details, and a picture of this bird, as a 2nd year bird.
I had my first visit to Rufford for a few weeks yesterday, and, in a couple of hours, I'd spotted 22 ringed birds; 21 of "ours" and a familiar face, P519.
P519 is a Lithuanian-ringed bird (ringed, as an adult, on 1st April 2010, 1,456km away). I first spotted this bird in February 2019, although it had been seen here, by other observers, in January and November 2018. It has been seen every winter since then. Yesterday's sighting was the first of the winter.
At this time of the year, I'm never sure when I'll see the last of the wintering Black-headed Gulls at Rufford. Last Saturday I popped across and found about 80 still present, including many looking very smart, with their breeding plumage brown (not black!) hoods.
The first bird I saw, was 215C, and this bird was certainly looking smart. Last year, my last sighting of this bird was on 12th March, so this may be my last sighting until after the breeding season. We've not had any sightings at a breeding site yet. This year perhaps?
It's getting towards the end of the winter season now, and the Black-headed Gulls that over winter here will soon be setting off back to their breeding grounds. With this in mind, I had a visit to Rufford to see if I could record some rings, before they leave.
I was there for just over an hour, and, although there were only about 70 gulls left, I managed to record 9 green-ringed birds: 258A (31st sighting), 295A (15th sighting), 251B (ringed by me in October 2022, my 3rd sighting, and my first since November 2023), 254B (also ringed by me, in October 2022, and my 6th sighting), 215C (9th sighting), 258C (7th sighting), 267C (1st re-sighting since being ringed on 31st December 2023), 270C (3rd sighting) and 273C (5th re-sighting).
Yesterday, I had a little drive around a few sites in Nottinghamshire, adding 5 species to the Year List.
I started off, in the rain (!) at Rufford, searching for Hawfinch. Unfortunately, after two hours, I came away empty handed. I did, however, manage to add Jay (119) and Stock Dove (120).
Next up, was Budby South Forest, where I managed to spot Stonechats (121) and singing Woodlarks (122).
From here, I drove on to Clumber Park, spotting the long-staying, feral Red-breasted Goose (in the background of the photo) along with Mute Swan, Y358 (ringed 13km away, in 2019, as an adult. This was my 6th sighting at Clumber), and a green-ringed Black-headed Gull, 263C. This was the first sighting of this bird since it was ringed, at Center Parcs, on 16th December 2023.
The next stop, was a return visit to Rufford, where there were just 70 Black-headed Gulls, along with 10 Goosander (8 females and 2 males) and lots of geese!! Ringed gulls were: 258A (my 30th sighting since February 2020!), 207C (14th sighting since December 2022), 258C (6th sighting since December 2023), 270C (2nd sighting, since December 2023) and 273C (4th sighting since 6th January 2024).
The final stop of the day, was Carburton Lake, where I managed to spot a very distant adult Caspian Gull (123). A single Red-legged Partridge (124) was seen on the drive back home.
Last Sunday, I was across at Rufford for a couple of hours, in 12 degree heat! There were still good numbers of gulls around, including c.250 Black-headed Gulls, 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 20 Common Gulls.
As always, the gulls were hungry, which allowed me to read 15 green rings (206A, 258A, 259A, 295A, 254B, 202C, 207C, 245C, 258C, 264C, 270C, 273C, 288C, 290C and 200F), and the Lithuanian-ringed bird, P519.
Most of these gulls are regulars, but there were a few more noteworthy ones. 206A, for example, was ringed in December 2018, as an adult. Last week's sighting was my first since March 2023.
Likewise, 254B was one of the first gulls I ringed, as an adult, in October 2022, and this is just my fifth re-sighting since. Four other gulls were seen for their first time since ringing:270C, 288C, 290C and 200F.
Other birds seen included 21 Goosander (13 females and 8 males), 19 Canada Geese, 6 Greylag Geese and 2 Mute Swans (Broken Beak and an unringed female).
Last weekend (20th), I went across to Rufford for a couple of hours. In total, I recorded 16 green-ringed Black-headed Gulls, and metal-ringed EL87245.
Birds seen were: 246A, 258A, 273A, 293A, 295A, 297A, 254B, 272B, 280B, 202C, 207C, 245C, 258C, 264C, 273C and 275C.
I had my first visit of 2024 to Rufford on Sunday. There weren't a lot of Black-headed Gulls around (c.150), but I did see 13 of "our" green-ringed birds along with the Lithuanian-ringed bird, P519 and the British metal-ringed bird, EL87245.
Birds seen were: 258A, 273A, 295A, 254B (ringed by me on 22nd October 2022 and my first sighting since October 2023), 272B, 280B (ringed by me on 19th November 2022, and my 4th sighting this winter), 202C, 207C, 215C, 258C, 264C, 268C (ringed by me, as a 3, born in 2023, on 31st December 2023, as an adult, age 4) and 273C (ringed on 6th January 2024).
268C and 273C were the first sightings since being ringed.
As well as the gulls, I also spotted a very impressive 43 Goosander (27 female and 16 males).
