St Ives - 26th - 27th October 2024

 Jayne and I arrived in St Ives on Saturday afternoon, and, after settling in to our accommodation, we had a walk around the town, enjoying the lovely sunshine and sunshine.

View from or apartment

As always, I had my eyes peeled for darvic-ringed Herring Gulls, and soon found two new birds; W916 and W918. I'll send off the details, but I'm sure they'll have been ringed in and around the harbour.

W916

W918

We spent the whole of Sunday in and around the town. We started off walking around the town, where we saw W916 and W918 again. A small group of c.40 Turnstones were also around the harbour, along with a single Black-headed Gull and a single Great Black-backed Gull. We then walked up onto The Island and spent a couple of hours in and around that area, adding Gannet (c.10), Red Admiral (1) and, best of all, a female-type Black Redstart (Year Tick 194).We found the bird feeding on rocks below the Coastguards' Lookout. Amazingly, another bird was found a couple of hours later, feeding around the rook of The Guildhall!!

Black Redstart

Walking back along the harbour, we spotted another ringed Herring Gull,W917. This was a new bird, seen on the railings around the harbour.

W917

Scarborough Birds

I was in Scarborough yesterday, with Jayne and Lydia. It was sunny, for an hour or so at least, but cold. Whilst there I managed some nice birds, including a good number of "year ticks".

First up, as always, was a stop at the Holbeck Car Park, just above The Spa, for my first Mediterranean Gulls of the year. There were 2 adult birds feeding on the grass as soon as I arrived, but the number of this species and the Black-headed Gulls increased quickly to about 30 birds, as soon as I got the bread out! In total I saw at least 4 adults, 1 2 year old bird and 2 2nd calendar year Mediterranean Gulls. The birds here come within a metre or so, allowing excellent views and photographic opportunities.

Mediterranean Gull (adult)

2 year old bird (born 2015)

2nd calendar year (born 2016)

Next stop was the North Bay, where two female/immature Black Redstarts had been reported on rocks by the Albert Café. I managed to see one, and it posed briefly for a photo.

Black Redstart

A quick drive back down to the harbour followed, where a Black-necked Grebe, a Great Northern Diver, 1 Shag, Guillemot (1 winter plumaged bird on the sea), Great Black-backed and Herring Gull, Redshank, Turnstone (c.20, including 1 colour ringed bird) and Purple Sandpiper were all on show!!

Great Northern Diver

The last birds of the day were seen on the cliff sides along Marine Drive, where Fulmar and Peregrine Falcon were noted.

Year List update:
59 - Sparrowhawk (1 seen on 21st)
60 – Rook
61 – Mediterranean Gull
62 – Black Redstart
63 – Redshank
64 – Turnstone
65 – Purple Sandpiper
66 – Great Black-backed Gull
67 – Black-necked Grebe
68 – Great Northern Diver
69 – Guillemot
70 – Shag
71 – Peregrine Falcon
72 - Fulmar

6 Year Ticks

I was out and about again this morning, trying hard to "tick" a Black Redstart that has been present on an industrial site in Sheffield since 13th January. I was there for two hours, but unfortunately drew a blank. As you can guess, it was recorded later on, about 2 hours after I'd left! See the BirdGuides Website here for details and some great pictures. The good news, however, is that whilst there, I did manage to get a couple of "year ticks", with about half a dozen Skylarks present and singing over the site, and  a flock of about 15 Linnets also seen.

In the afternoon, Jayne and I decided to drive over to the National Trust's Clumber Park to enjoy the 15 degree temperatures! We walked all around the lake, and added another 4 species to the "year list". The first species, Marsh Tit, was very good to see, as I didn't manage to get it at all last year at all. I'm not sure why, as there were everywhere today, especially at feeding stations. It's not the easiest species to identify, so here's a link to the BTO's i.d. guide. Well worth a look. Here's a terrible, out of focus picture I took today. They really are fast!

Marsh Tit

The next species seen was Stock Dove, which was seen in the trees by the car park. The last two species, Shoveler and Pochard, were seen on the main lake. There was a pair of Shoveler, and 7 Pochard (4 males and 3 females).

Shoveler (male)

Other species seen on the lakes included Mallard, Gadwall, Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Great-crested Grebe, Mute Swan, Black-headed and this single Lesser Black-backed Gull. 

Mute Swan

Year List update:

93 – Skylark

94 – Linnet

95 – Marsh Tit

96 – Stock Dove

97 – Shoveler

98 - Pochard

Black Redstart

Black Redstarts are very uncommon birds in Derbyshire, so when news of a summering bird at a site just 30 minutes from home, came out in July (see Darley Dale Wildlife blog here), I decided to have a drive over for a look. Unfortunately I didn't catch up with it then, but another record this week on Birdguides, made me decide to have another drive across today. This time I dropped lucky, with the bird showing within 10 minutes of me arriving.

The weather wasn't great (bit drizzly and misty), so, although I managed to get a quick photo, it isn't the best. You can just about make out the red tail.

Black Redstart

 

I also managed a short piece of video (see here).

 

Year List update:

174 - Black Redstart