Little Egret in Bakewell

 I very rarely post about a single species, especially one that is now relatively common in Derbyshire, but last week's encounter with a Little Egret on the River Wye, in Bakewell, was a little bit special.

Little Egret (fishing)

The first reason why it was special, was that it was the first time I've ever seen this species in this location The second reason was because of the bird's behaviour, again, a first for me. The bird was first seen perched on the edge of the island , and appeared to be fishing. After a few minutes, however, it moved away, and walked towards the sandbank, and a small group of Mallard ducklings! The female bird started quacking, and was obviously annoyed with the egret. The egret then began actively hunting the ducklings! The female Mallard did a great job of guiding the youngsters away, and, after a couple of minutes, the egret went back to the island to fish again. Disaster averted!!!

After the ducklings!

Chillin' again!

Hassop Waxwings

 After my walk around Linacre yesterday, Jayne and I drove cross to Hassop Station near Bakewell to see the 250+ Waxwings (42) that had been present for the last couple of weeks. They were "showing very well" in the trees around the café area, and we got fantastic views.

One of the photos was of a bird with a colour ring on. Details have been sent off, and I'll update the blog as soon as I hear back.

Waxwing

Other birds seen were: Redwing, Bullfinch (43), Rook (44), Magpie (45), Canada Goose (46), Pied Wagtail (47) and Sparrowhawk (48).

BH Gull EY19562

During a quick walk around Bakewell this afternoon, I spotted Black-headed Gull EY19562 back on the River Wye for its 4th winter. My first sighting was at this spot, on 4th November 2018, but it had been ringed (as a first-year bird) at Westport Lake, Staffordshire on 10th December 2014, so it is possible that it's been present since then. 

EY19562

Click on the label below to see the other sightings of this bird.

Bakewell Gulls

 I had my first trip to Bakewell today to see if there were any returning Black-headed Gulls. There were!

In total, there were about 30/40 birds, including a good number of juveniles. There were also lots of people (!), so it took me over two hours before I found my first ringed bird, a metal-ringed adult bird from Finland. Unfortunately, I only managed to get 4 digits of its ring, T321, so I won't be able to find out where or when it was ringed.

_ T321 _ _?

The second bird I saw was a British-ringed bird, EW97345, a familiar face! It had been ringed in Boston, Lincolnshire, on 9th January 2010, and was first seen in Bakewell, by me, on 1st September 2018. It was then seen here in July and September 2019 and August 2020.

EW97345

Derbyshire Gulls - 26th October 2020

 I had a little "Gull Tour" yesterday, visiting two of my favourite places in search of over-wintering Black-headed Gulls. Both sites delivered!

The first site, Alvaston Park in Derby, had about 150 Black-headed Gulls (and 1 Common Gull), including 2 well known birds. The first one I saw was a Polish-ringed bird, TLPN, first seen last year (see here for details of ringing), back for its second winter.

TLPN

The second bird at Alvaston was also a returning bird, Danish-ringed VA4073, first seen in November 2018 (see here for ringing details).

VA4073

In the afternoon I drove across to Bakewell, and spotted 2 more ringed Black-headed Gulls. The first one seen here was a new bird, 2T51. This bird, an adult, had been ringed in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, on 19th September 2020, and my sighting was the first recorded.

2T51

The last bird see was metal-ringed EY19562, another returning bird, first seen here in November 2018 (see here). It was ringed, as a chick, at Westport Lake, Staffordshire, on 10th December 2014, so is now 6 years old.

EY19562

2N78 again

Last April I saw an adult Black-headed Gull in Bakewell with the darvic ring 2N78 (see here). I didn't see it again last year, but yesterday, whilst in Bakewell, it reappeared in almost exactly the same spot!.

2N78

As you can see, it's just beginning to develop its black hood, ready for the breeding season. As far as I know, it hasn't been reported anywhere else since ringing in December 2018, but it does seem that Bakewell is a regular wintering spot.

Look who's back!

I was in Bakewell this afternoon, checking the gulls, when I spotted a familiar bird  - EY19562 (see here).

EY19562

This adult Black-headed Gull was first spotted here in November 2018, and then recorded another 3 times last winter. It had originally been ringed 40km away at Westport Lakes, Staffordshire, as a first year bird, on 10th December  2014, making it 5 years old. Hopefully, it'll hang around the area for another winter.

Black-headed Gull EA32375 in Bakewell

Yesterday, Luke and I went across to Bakewell to see if we could find any ringed Black-headed Gulls. There were only about 20 gulls there, but we soon spotted one wearing a metal ring. We began to feed it with some bread, and within 20 minutes or so we'd managed to photograph and read the ring number, EA32375. We also spotted London on the ring, showing it was a British-ringed bird. Details were sent off to the BTO, and I'll update the blog when I hear back.

EA32375

Whilst there, we also spotted the colour-ringed Canada Goose AAAH, a female bird, first seen here on 10th February 2018, and again on 15th July 2019, after being ringed in Bowness on Windermere in 2nd July 2013.

AAH

UPDATE: Details from the BTO show that EA32375 was ringed, as a chick, by Merseyside Ringing Group at Shotton, Flintshire on 26th June 2019, a distance of 91km away. Our sighting was the first since ringing.

Black-headed Gulls - Winter begins!!

I went to Bakewell on Saturday to see if there were any Black-headed Gulls back from their breeding grounds. There were about 20 birds present including 3 juvenile birds (born this year) in amongst the returning adults.

Black-headed Gull (juvenile)

One of the adult birds present was wearing a metal BTO ring, and I managed to get a few photos. Unfortunately, I only got 5 of the 7 letters and digits, EW97 _ _ 5 but, on checking my records, I noticed that on 1st September 2018, an adult gull with ring number EW97345 was seen by my nephew, Luke. This bird had been ringed in Boston, Lincolnshire on 9th January 2010. When I checked the photos of this bird I noticed that the ring was on "upside down", as was the bird I saw on Saturday, so I'd say, in all probability, it's the same bird. Of course, the only way to prove this is to get across and see it again. This time with the full number!

EW79 _ _ 5

Whilst there, I also spotted a Canada Goose wearing the darvic ring AAAH. This is also a known bird, having been first seen here on 10th February 2018 (see here). She had been ringed in Bowness on Windermere 2nd July 2013 and has been in Derbyshire since at least  September 2014. When I saw her on Saturday, she was with a partner and several goslings.

Canada Goose AAAH

Black-headed Gull 2N78

I wasn't expecting to find anymore ringed Black-headed Gulls this winter, so I was very surprised (and excited!) to find this beautiful adult breeding-plumaged bird on the river side at Bakewell on 6th April 2019.

2N78

The darvic ring looked familiar, and sure enough, it was ringed in Bowness at Windermere, on 2nd December 2018 It was last seen there on 4th February 2019, and my sighting was the next record. 

Who knows, perhaps it's a wintering bird heading back East? Hopefully, it'll get spotted somewhere in Europe during the breeding season.

Lithuanian Black-headed Gull in Bakewell

Back in November 2017 I saw a Lithuanian-ringed  Black-headed Gull with a metal ring in Bakewell. At the time I only managed to get the first 4 digits, HA12.

HA12 _ _ _

I then saw a metal-ringed Lithuanian Black-headed Gull in Bakewell in October 2018, but only managed to get the last two digits, 93!!

_ _ _ _ _ 93

Yesterday I was in Bakewell, and managed to spot the same bird again, and, get the entire ring number... HA12793.

I sent the details off to the Lithuanian Bird Ringing Scheme, and got the details back today (so quick!!). The bird had been ringed on a small island near the city of Klaipeda, 1492km away, on 22/06/11. My records were the first since ringing.

Black-headed Gull EY19562

Back in November 2018 I saw a metal ringed Black-headed Gull on the River Wye, Bakewell. I managed to get its ring number (EY19562), and found out that it had been ringed, as a first year bird, at Westport Lake, Staffordshire, on 10th December 2014, 40km away.

EY19562 - 4th November 2018

Since then, it has been re sighted in the same spot another 3 times; on 10th January 2019, 17th January 2019 (both by my nephew, Luke), and today, by me again. As far as I am aware, it hasn't been seen anywhere else since ringing.

EY19562 - today

Darvic'ed Black-headed Gull in Bakewell

Following the Swedish ringed Black-headed Gull in Bakewell (see here) I decided to go back again on Thursday (30th) to see if I could see it again. I managed to find it, in exactly the same spot, and took a picture of the whole bird this time, not just its feet!!

Swedish BHG 6198688

Whilst there I was also very lucky to find another ringed bird. This time it was a juvenile/1st winter Black-headed Gull that had been ringed at Rutland Water Nature Reserve on 1st June 2018, as a nestling. As well as its metal ring, it had also been fitted with a blue Darvic ring 2AHN.

Blue 2AHN

Luke popped across on Saturday (1st), and found it in the same area on the river. 

Blue 2AHN (courtesy of Luke)

He also had another ringed Black-headed Gull! This one just had a metal ring, and the words British Museum could be seen on it, meaning it was ringed somewhere in the UK. He managed to get the full number and sent it off to the BTO. I'll update when we hear back.

UPDATE: Luke heard back today (3rd Sept) that his Black-headed Gull had been ringed in Boston, Lincolnshire on 09/01/10 (114kn away). It was aged as at least 2 years old when ringed.

Swedish Black-headed Gull in Bakewell

Back on 13th August I was in Bakewell when I spotted a Black-headed Gull with a metal ring. After a good half an hour I managed to get some photos of the number (6198688) and also noticed that the ring had the word Stockholm on it, indicating that the bird had been ringed in Sweden.

I sent the number off, and heard back today, that the bird had indeed been ringed in Sweden, as a nestling, on a large lake called Hornborgasjon on 20th June 2001, 1106km away from Bakewell. This means the bird is now 17 years old, and, my report is the first record since it was ringed!!

At the time I only took photos of its legs, so here are a couple showing the ring number.

New Year Ringing, Waxwings and Year Ticks

I know its not quite the new year now, but today was the first opportunity I had to get out ringing in 2017, hence the title of today's post.

This morning I was out with 4 other members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group visiting the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Avenue Washlands Reserve in Chesterfield. We had a 3 and a half hour session, catching a super 104 birds of 15 species. Birds caught were (new/retrap): Wren 1/0, Dunnock 1/0, Robin 3/0, Blackbird 1/0, Goldcrest 1/1, Long-tailed Tit 1/7, Willow Tit 1/0, Blue Tit 8/6, Great Tit 4/9, Chaffinch 4/4, Greenfinch 3/0, Goldfinch 36/1, Bullfinch 9/2, Yellowhammer 1/1 and Reed Bunting 3/0.

As you can see, we had  a very good selection of bird species today. The most notable were the excellent number of Goldfinch, followed closely by the new Willow Tit ( a species which seems to be declining quite quickly), the Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and Bullfinch (all "year ticks" as well).

After ringing Jayne and I had a drive to Chesterfield to see a group of 18 Waxwings on Whittington Moor. We then had a drive out to Bakewell, where we had a spot of lunch and a walk by the river, adding Canada Goose to the "year list". Whilst here, we also spotted the Tufted Duck x Pochard hybrid duck, that is back on the river for the winter. Details of this bird can be found here.

Hybrid Duck

Year List update:
47 – Canada Goose
48 – Willow Tit
49 – Bullfinch
50 – Yellowhammer
51 – Reed Bunting

Hybrid Duck in Bakewell

At the end of 2015 Darley Dale Wildlife Blogger wrote a post about a hybrid duck that he'd seen on the River Wye at Bakewell (see post here). The bird in question was identified as a hybrid between a male Tufted Duck and a female Pochard. I had some time on Sunday, so I drove across with Jayne to have a look for it. We found it almost immediately dozing with  a small group of Tufted Ducks on the river by the island.  The sun was out and I managed to get a  decent photo showing off its amazing colours.

Tufted Duck x Pochard hybrid

When I saw this bird, it reminded me about a hybrid duck I'd reported at Linacre back in November 2013. At the time I didn't manage to get a photo, but I did get a bit of poor quality video  (see post here). The 2013 bird was also in the company of Tufted Ducks, and also had a large black area on the end of its beak, so could well be the same bird. I also reported a very similar bird at Linacre in April 2010. Again, no photos unfortunately! Interestingly, this same bird (presumably) was reported on the Darley Dale Blog visiting Chatsworth in February 2014 (see here).

Hopefully, if it returns to Linacre I'll get a photo and be able to compare it with this bird.