RSPB St Aidan's - 29th March 2025

 Jayne and I went up to RSPB St Aidan's today. We walked around the reedbeds and added 4 new ticks to the "Year List", as well as enjoying great views of not one, but two Little Owls.

Little Owl

The new birds for the year were; Cetti's Warbler (128), Sand Martins (129 - c.15 seen), a drake Green-winged Teal (130), Bittern (131 - at least two heard booming) and Black-necked Grebe (132).

Green-winged Teal (asleep!!)

Other species seen were: Black-headed Gull, Coot, Moorhen, Pochard, Teal, Mallard, Greylag and Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Reed Bunting (several singing), Chiffchaff and Blackbird.

RSPB St Aidan's - 8th April 2024

 Jayne and I had a couple of hours at RSPB St Aidan's. near Leeds, on Monday. We had a walked around the reedbed trail, and added three new species to the "Year List": Cetti's Warbler (139), Black-necked Grebe (140) and booming Bitterns (141). 

Black-necked Grebe

We also had fantastic views of this very smart, accommodating adult, breeding plumaged Mediterranean Gull.

Mediterranean Gull

Linacre - 6th April 2023

 After a short drive to a site in Nottinghamshire to see breeding plumaged Black-necked Grebes (124) (7 birds seen) and a single Little Ringed Plover (125), I popped into Linacre for my first visit in a few weeks.

I arrived at Linacre at 10.30am, and spent until 1.00pm on site, walking around all three reservoirs. The highlight of the visit was the 12 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap and 1 Willow Warbler, that were singing. I also found my first Great-crested Grebe nest of the year (1 bird sitting, along with 2 other birds), a pair of Little Grebes, 1 Greylag Goose (my first Linacre record of 2023), 41 Mallards, 44 Tufted Ducks, 12 Coots, 8 Moorhens, 5 Mandarin Ducks, 1 Grey Wagtail, a female Goosander (late record) and 12 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (all feeding in the field by the main entrance - my highest ever count!).

Whilst on site, the sun came out and I managed to spot a few insects - 7 Dark-edged Bee-flies, Tree Bumblebees, Common Carder Bees, Buff-tailed Bumblebees and a Mining Bee sp.

Dark-edged Bee-fly

The sun also brought out the flowers, with Wood Anenome, Lesser Celandine, Coltsfoot, Dandelion and daisies all in bloom.

Caspian Tern!

I spent a few hours at RSPB Frampton Marsh yesterday, primarily to see a Caspian Tern that has been present for a few days. I've seen this species once before, in Spain, but this was my first encounter in Britain!

My first sighting was on the main reedbed, viewed from the path to Reedbed Hide, and was quite distant. I did, however, manage to get a record shot.

Caspian Tern

Later during the visit, I got another view, as the bird flew straight over my head! Along with the tern, there were also lots of other species about, and, by the end of my visit, I'd notched up a stunning 14 "year ticks", including a juvenile Black-necked Grebe. In addition to the tern and the year ticks, there were also 14 Spoonbills present.

Spoonbills

It was quite windy whilst I was there, but I did manage to see a new dragonfly species, a Ruddy Darter.

Ruddy Dater

Year List update:
 139 – Caspian Tern

140 – Shelduck

141 – Dunlin

142 – Common Sandpiper

143 – Black-tailed Godwit

144 – Bar-tailed Godwit

145 – Avocet

146 – Spotted Redshank

147 – Ruff

148 – Yellow Wagtail

149 – Black-necked Grebe

150 – Little Egret

151 – Ringed Plover

152 – Knot

Rutland Water - 5th April 2018

Luke and I went to Rutland Water Nature Reserve on Thursday to catch up with the Ospreys that had returned to breed on the reserve. We spent the day there, and got great views of the Manton Bay pair, along with another 4 "year ticks", including a Wheatear, that was quite unexpected. We also a breeding plumaged Mediterranean Gull that had originally been ringed in Poland.

The weather was great, 12 degrees, bright blue skies and sunshine, so we also managed to get our first butterflies of the year; 1 Comma, 1 Small Tortoiseshell and 3 male Brimstones.

The other "year ticks" (numbers 103 - 107) on the list below, were seen at Scarborough on Tuesday (3rd), where I also had a stunning breeding plumaged Mediterranean Gull. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a photo as I'd left my camera at home!!!!!

The Chiffchaff, 4 in total, were seen at Linacre on Wednesday 4th.

Year List update:
103 – Red Kite
104 – Kittiwake
105 – Turnstone
106 - Fulmar
107 – Rock Pipit
108 – Chiffchaff
109 – Willow Warbler
110 – Black-necked Grebe
111 – Sand Martin
112 – Wheatear
113 - Osprey

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

Scarborough, Bempton and Bridlington

I spent yesterday out and about in Yorkshire with Luke. We started the day off in Scarborough, before driving down to the RSPB Bempton Cliffs reserve, and finishing off in Bridlington.

We started off in Scarborough so that Luke could see his first Black-necked Grebe. Luckily the bird was still present in the harbour, and we managed to see it straight away, swimming around the boats. The Turnstones were around (no colour rings today though), as were Herring Gulls, Kittiwakes, and, best of all, a single male Wheatear, hopping about on the sea defences, presumably having just arrived in the country. Luke managed to grab this distant record shot, before it continued on its journey to who knows where...

Wheatear

From Scarborough, we headed off down the coast to RSPB Bempton Cliffs. The weather turned when we arrived, and we ended up being blown about and rained on, as we stood looking over the famous cliffs. Luckily, we managed to spot all the key birds through the rain, with excellent views of Gannets, Kittiwakes, Fulmar, Guillemots, Razorbills and, best of all for Luke, Puffin ( a new species)! 

Puffin

After Bempton, we drove down to Bridlington so we could go for a boat trip out along the coast. We had an hour long ride up towards Flamborough Head. Unfortunately, the weather didn't improve and we only managed to see  a few birds, including Kittiwakes, a couple of Gannets, several Herring Gulls and a winter plumaged Guillemot. The only highlight, though, was a "year tick" for me and a new species for Luke; Common Scoter. We saw about 6 birds flying past in small groups.

After the boat trip we walked around the harbour where we spotted another dozen or so Turnstones, another Black-necked Grebe (!), Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls and a Barnacle Goose.

Black-necked Grebe

Barnacle Goose

Further investigation via Twitter, lead me to find out that the Barnacle Goose is a feral bird that has been around the harbour for about 5 to 6 years. A very strange and unexpected addition to the day's birding.

Year List update:
131- Wheatear
132 - Gannet
133 - Razorbill
134 - Puffin
135 - Common Scoter

Black-necked Grebe and Colour-ringed Turnstones

I'm off for the Easter holidays at the moment, so I decided to head off to Scarborough for the day with Jayne and Lydia. The sun was shining for most of the day, and I managed to add 3 new birds to the "year list", with 2 Black-necked Grebes in the harbour, along with several pairs of Kittiwakes that were starting to nest build on the harbour walls, and a couple of Rock Pipits on the sea defences..

Black-necked Grebe

Kittiwake

Other birds seen around the harbour were Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Peregrine Falcon on the cliffs and Turnstones. In amongst the 20 or so Turnstone were 8 colour-ringed birds.

Turnstones

I've recorded colour-ringed Turnstones in the harbour at Scarborough before, back in 2014, and found out that they were ringed in the harbour itself. It'll be interesting to see if they've been reported elsewhere since then. I'll update with details as soon as I get them from the scheme.

Year List Update:
125 - Black-necked Grebe
126 - Kittiwake
127 - Rock Pipit

Scarborough Birding

The weather wasn't good enough for any ringing again this weekend, so instead Jayne and I decided to drive across to Scarborough to look at some Black-necked Grebes that have been reported in the harbour on the Bird Guides website. We parked up and walked along the pier, finding 2 birds swimming just outside the harbour. As we watched, they swam into the harbour fishing all the way, until they were about 10 m away! Another 3 birds were also seen later on in South Bay.

Black-necked Grebe

As well as the grebes, we also saw Turnstones, Redshanks, a couple of Cormorants, Herring and Great Black-backed Gull in the harbour.

Cormorant

After a spot of lunch in the C.A.L.F. cafe, we drove up to the Holbeck Car Park to see if we could catch up with the Mediterranean Gulls that over-winter there. I threw some fat balls out, and within a few seconds there were 3 adult and 2 1st winter Med Gulls, feeding along with about half a dozen Black-headed Gulls!

Mediterranean Gull (1st winter)

Mediterranean Gull (adult winter)

Year List update:
174 - Black-necked Grebe

BTO Bird Identification Videos

For me one of the most interesting and enjoyable things about watching birds is the chance to learn something new. Getting to grips with similar species can sometimes be really difficult, so finding out that the BTO have created a range of online videos to help with certain birds has been great.

The most recent video helps sort out winter plumaged grebes, but other species covered in previous videos include "grey geese", "white-winged" gulls and warblers. Well worth having a look at. Click here to go straight to the website.

Here are a few pictures of winter plumaged grebes I've been lucky enough to see and photograph. I won't put names on today, so if you can't identify them, you'll have to go to the BTO website to see if you can work them out.

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Sorry, not a good photo!!

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Black-necked Grebes - beautiful birds!!!

Spent a few hours over at RSPB Old Moor in Barnsley as my Father's Day treat on Sunday. Unfortunately the weather wasn't playing, with grey clouds and a strongish wind. Despite this however, I managed to get some good birds (as always) and a new tick for me in the shape of a Tree Bumblebee!!

First up, birdwise, were the hundreds of Black-headed Gull chicks. They were everywhere!! Most were pretty well developed and spent most of the time sat around preening.

Juvenile Black-headed Gull

The next birds I saw were two stunning adult summer plumaged Black-necked Grebes swimming on The Mere from the Family Hide.These birds have been present for over a week now and can, at times, show really well. No photos of these birds, but here's one I took a few years ago in West Yorkshire.

Black-necked Grebe

As well as the young Black-headed Gulls, lots of other species were also in full breeding mode with juveniles of the following species seen: Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Little Grebe, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Gadwall and Pochard (my first ever!!). Other species still on eggs or feeding young included Lapwing and Sedge Warbler. Three species of wader were seen: Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover and Redshank, but no young were spotted. Avocets have bred successfully for the first time this year, but we didn't see them today! Don't know where they were! Swifts, Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins were all feeding over the water. The latter species was using the high tech Sand Martin nesting bank, bought with donations from many groups including our very own Chesterfield RSPB Group.

Sand Martin bank

On the way back to the car the sun had come out so I stopped off to look at some bees. I spotted one that I thought might be a Tree Bumblebee, so took a few shots, before it flew off. I uploaded the pictures to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust's website and they very kindly emailed me back to confirm the identification.

Tree Bumblebee

This bee is a relative newcomer to the UK having only arrived here for the first time in 2001, but has been spreading north ever since. It's quite easy to identify, so if you want to find one for yourself this summer have a look on the above link.