Linacre WeBS - August 2024

 I carried out this month's WeBS count at Linacre yesterday. As always at this time of the year, it was pretty quiet. Unfortunately, the top reservoir is still closed off, for repairs to the boardwalk, and the water levels are much lower than normal there. Despite searching, I couldn't locate any passage waders!

Counts for this month's survey were: Mallard (100; 99 adults and 1 duckling), Mandarin (22 birds), Coot (2 adults), Moorhen (14; 11 adults and 3 juveniles), Tufted Duck (18 adults, no sign of breeding this year), Grey Wagtail (2 juveniles), Grey Heron (1), Great-crested Grebe (2 adults) and Kingfisher (a minimum of 2 birds - 1 on the middle reservoir and 1 on the bottom reservoir, but there appeared to be a few flying around - possibly juvenile birds?).

There were still c50 Linnets in the field by the car park, along with 5 Stock Doves, a feral Pigeon, 10 Chaffinch and Goldfinch. A small flock of c15 House Martins were over the middle reservoir, and a single Common Buzzard was seen.

Just 1 butterfly was seen, a single Speckled Wood, in the farmer's field, by the car park.

Speckled Wood

Linacre Buzzards 2024

 Last Thursday, I received details of two active Buzzard nests from Antony, a long-term volunteer at Linacre. Many thanks. Both nests had well grown youngsters in them, including 1 with 3 chicks. The below picture is reproduced with permission.

Buzzard chicks 

Linacre 10th and 17th December 2023

 I've just realised that I didn't post details of last week's visit to Linacre , so today's post is going to cover that and today's WeBS count.

Last week's details are: 122 Mallards, 39 Mandarins, 32 Black-headed Gulls, 9 Tufted Ducks, 1 Cormorant, 8 Coots, 15 Moorhens, 2 Great-crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe, c.20 Teal and 4 Goosanders (3 males and 1 female). Other birds seen/heard included Tawny Owl, Buzzard, Siskin, 4 Raven (my highest ever count) and, best of all, a flock of c.4-500 Jackdaws coming out of the roost on the middle reservoir - an amazing sight and sound!

Today's count also started with the Jackdaw roost (about 300ish birds). Water birds seen were: 117 Mallards, 62 Mandarins, 8 Black-headed Gulls, 15 Tufted Ducks, 7 Coots, 16 Moorhens, 2 Little Grebes and 6 Teal (4 males and 2 females).

Dutch-ringed Redwing at Linacre

 Every year, we try to catch some of the Redwings, that spend the winter months in Britain. This morning, we (Sorby Breck Ringing Group), were at Linacre before light to set up the nets and see if we could get lucky. By the end of the morning, we had ringed 8 birds (of about 30 in the area), including our first ever foreign-ringed bird, a juvenile ringed in Holland. Further details of exactly where and when, to follow when I hear back. UPDATE: the Redwing had been ringed 510km away, in The Netherlands, 8 days before it was caught at Linacre. Fantastic!! 

Dutch-ringed Redwing

Birds ringed were (new/retraps) : Redwing 7/1, Blackbird 1/0, Great Tit 8/0, Blue Tit 7/1, Coal Tit 2/1, Long-tailed Tit 2/0, Treecreeper 1/0, Wren 1/0, Chaffinch 1/0, Bullfinch 1/0 and Goldcrest 5/0.

Whilst there we also spotted a few other birds: Cormorant (1 over), Raven (1 heard), Tawny Owl (heard first thing), Jay ( 2 seen), Skylark (1 heard), Buzzard (1 over) and Sparrowhawk (2; a male and female hunting the Redwing!!).

Buzzard Breeding Success!

 Over the years, I've heard of several reports of  Common Buzzards breeding at Linacre. Although I have seen small groups of birds in late summer, which are presumably family parties, I have never managed to see a nest.... until today!

News of a nest with 2 well grown juveniles was shared with me from the volunteers who look after Linacre, so I popped up this morning to have a look. I could hear one bird as we approached the area, and then Jayne spotted 1 perched about 60ft (20m) up in a tree - success!! I managed to get a photo and then left it in peace.

Common Buzzard

Last Monday (17th), I had a quick walk around Linacre and spotted a few butterflies and moths: Ringlet (1), Small Skipper (4), Large White (1), Comma (3), Speckled Wood (1), Gatekeeper (1), Silver Y (1) and Large Skipper (1). 

Ringlet

Small Skipper

Other insects seen were: Volucella pellucens (4), Eristalis sp, Black and Yellow Longhorn Beetle, White-tailed/Red-tailed and Tree Bumblebee.

One Swallow, 2 House Martins and 2 adult Canada Geese were also seen.

Linacre Insects - 4th September 2022

 It was 21 degrees on Sunday, so I had a couple of hours around Linacre to see which insects were still flying.

It started well, with a Red Admiral, followed by 3 Speckled Woods, 1 Large White and 1 Small Copper, of the form caeruleo-punctata (blue spots of the wings).

Small Copper

Dragonflies were far and few between, but 3 Brown Hawkers were seen, including 1 that posed nicely by the bottom reservoir.

Brown Hawker

There were a few hoverflies, mainly Eristalis species, but I did manage to spot one Helophilus pendulus and  this one, which I believe is a Sericomyia silentis (my first record since 2017).

Sericomyia silentis

Birds seen on site included: Tawny Owl (1 in the ringing site), Buzzard (1), Grey Wagtail (4, including at least one juvenile), Great-crested Grebe (2 adults and one juvenile), 1 Chiffchaff (still singing in the sun) and this juvenile Tufted Duck.

Tufted Duck

Linacre Nestboxes - 7th April 2021

 Yesterday I went down to Linacre to meet up with some of the regular Severn Trent volunteers (thanks everyone, it was great to meet you all). One of the volunteers shared photos of  2 caterpillars that had been found on site. One was a Pale Tussock and the other was an Elephant Hawk-moth. Both species were new records for the site.

Pale Tussock

Elephant Hawkmoth

Whilst there, we had a first check in the "owl boxes", and found that 3 of the 5 were in use, albeit not by owls!! As usual, the 3 boxes all contained Mandarin Duck eggs, including 1 with at least 38(!) eggs in it - a classic example of "egg dumping" by several different females. The other 2 contained just 3 and 4 eggs. None of the broods were being incubated yet. Several pairs of Blue Tits were seen entering nestboxes, so it seems that the the breeding season is beginning in earnest. 

Mandarin nest with 38 eggs

After the nestboxes, I had a quick walk around the middle and top reservoirs, and spotted my first Swallows (6), House Martins (2) and Sand Martins (2) of 2021.

Other species seen were: Kestrel (1 male hunting below the top reservoir - my first Linacre record of 2021), Raven (2 over the bottom reservoir), Grey Heron (1, my first Linacre record of 2021) and Sparrowhawk (1 female). 

Derbyshire Chough!!!!

News broke yesterday that a Chough had been discovered at Windgather Rocks on the Cheshire/Derbyshire border. This is the first ever record of this species for Derbyshire, so I had to pop across to see it.

The bird was present and "showing well" down to approximately 20m, as it fed on a sheep-grazed piece of land in Cheshire. Within a few minutes, the bird flew up and over me and the small group of admirers(!), and landed on the rocks behind us.... in Derbyshire!

Chough

It then flew back into Cheshire, and promptly disappeared over the hill! 15 minutes later it reappeared and landed back in the original field and fed for the next hour or so, before I left at 1pm. Here are a few photos.

Linacre Nestboxes - Update 28th April 2019

It's now been 2 weeks since my last check of the nestboxes at Linacre, so I went down this morning with 2 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group (thanks Sarah and Robin), to see how things had progressed. We found a total of 25 active nests (24 with eggs, and 1 with the first chicks of 2019; 8 Great Tits). Unfortunately, they weren't quite big enough to ring. The other nests were a mixture of Blue and Great Tits and contained between 5 and an impressive 14 eggs. A minimum of 2, possibly 3 Pied Flycatchers were also present and singing. The Mallard nest I found on a wall at the start of the month had, unfortunately, but not surprisingly, been predated. A Nuthatch was seen taking food into a natural cavity, possibly feeding a sitting bird? The results of today's visit will be entered into the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.

Nest with 14 eggs

Whilst on site, we also recorded a couple of Canada Geese (still quite uncommon for Linacre), a pair of Raven flying over, Siskin (heard in the conifer woodlands by the top reservoir), 2 Buzzards and a new micro moth species Adela reaumurella.

Adela reaumurella

Linacre Ringing - 30th March 2019

This morning I was down at Linacre for the first ringing session since January with 3 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group. We got on site at 05:30, and the first bird we caught was a retrap Chiffchaff. On checking, we found that it had been ringed, as a 3 (born that year), at Linacre, in August 2018. Great record!

The rest of the morning was steady, with the following birds caught and ringed (new/retrap): Dunnock 0/1, Robin 0/1, Blackbird 0/1, Chiffchaff 2/1, Goldcrest 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 2/1, Coal Tit 1/0, Blue Tit 4/3 and Jay 0/1.

The retrap  Dunnock was first caught and aged by us, at Linacre, as a 5, in January 2015, meaning it was born in 2014. This was the first time it had been retrapped.

One of the Blue Tit retraps had also been ringed by the group (me in this case), as a pullus, in one of our boxes (c.12) last year on 29th May. This was also, the first retrap of this bird.

Other birds seen during the ringing session were: Tawny Owl (2 seen), Buzzard (1 over), Sparrowhawk (1 over), Kestrel (1 over), Canada Goose (2 flew over), Blackcap (1 heard singing in the ringing site, the first Linacre sighting of 2019) and Raven (2 seen flying over).

Linacre Ringing - 26th January 2018

Saturday saw 6 members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group back down at Linacre for the second ringing session of the year. We had a relatively quiet session with just 18 birds ringed, as follows (new/retrap): Coal Tit 0/1, Blue Tit 7/7 and Great Tit 3/0.

Whilst on site we also had the first records of 2019 for Song Thrush (1 bird singing) and Common Buzzard (1 over). Also seen were, Sparrowhawk (2 birds together over the ringing site),  Bullfinch, Siskin and Mistle Thrush (2 seen, and heard singing).

Linacre Ringing - 5th January 2019

I was down at Linacre on Saturday morning for the first ringing session of 2019 with 5 members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group. As we set up the usual nets, we had a very nice surprise with a hunting Barn Owl, my first ever record on site! What a great way to start the new year. We also had several Tawny Owls calling in the surrounding woods, and a fly over Sparrowhawk.

The ringing session was also a good start to the year with 43 birds ringed, including Woodpigeon, the first since 2016 and Jay, only 1 ringed in 2018 (new/retrap): Woodpigeon 1/0, Robin 3/1, Goldcrest 3/0, Long-tailed Tit 19/1, Coal Tit 0/2, Blue Tit 6/4, Great Tit 0/1, Nuthatch 0/1 and Jay 1/0.

Jay (5, born last year)

In the afternoon I was out at Clumber Park for a family walk, and picked up 2 more "year ticks"; Common Buzzard and Goosander (7; 4 females and 3 males), along with a darvic ringed Mute Swan (104Y), a female with an un-ringed male bird and 3 juveniles (born in 2018).

104Y (back bird) and family

Year List update:

94 – Tawny Owl

95 – Barn Owl
96 – Sparrowhawk
97 - Common Buzzard

98 - Goosander

Linacre - 4th March 2018

Last Sunday, when the worst of the snowy weather from the "Beast from The East" was over I popped down to Linacre for a couple of hours. It was still only 1 degree and there was snow on the ground and ice covering about a quarter of the bottom reservoir.

Snow on the top reservoir

Robin

It was quite quiet on the water, but the following birds were seen: Mallard (36), Tufted Duck (23), Moorhen (9), Coot (10), Cormorant (1), Great-crested Grebe (1), Black-headed Gull (1), Grey Wagtail (1) and Mandarin Duck (25). 1 Fieldfare (my first Linacre record of 2018), 1 Buzzard and several Siskin were also heard.

Moorhen

Linacre WeBs - January 2018

Luke and I were down at Linacre this morning to carry out the first BTO WeBS walk of 2018. We walked around all 3 reservoirs and recorded the following waterbirds: Mallard 55, Tufted Duck 24, Mandarin Duck 25, Moorhen 11, Coot 3, Great-crested Grebe 1, in full breeding plumage, Black-headed Gull 28, Cormorant 4 and Grey Wagtail 2.

Other birds seen and heard this morning were: Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tit, Treecreeper (2), Great-spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush (2), Common Buzzard ( 1 being mobbed by a Crow) and Robin. Here's a photo Luke took of one of the very confiding birds.

Robin

Grey Wagtail was an addition to the "year list", as was Lesser Redpoll, which was 1 of 4 seen on the feeders at home.

Lesser Redpoll

Year List update:
70 - Grey Wagtail
71 - Lesser Redpoll

Linacre WeBS - 16th December 2017

This month's WeBS walk should have been last weekend, but I couldn't get down, so instead, I went down yesterday morning. It was just 1 degree when I arrived and I spent one and a half hours on site recording the following waterbirds: Mallard (81, the 2nd highest count of the year), Mandarin Duck (25), Tufted Duck (20), Teal (1 flew up the top reservoir), Black-headed Gull (24), Moorhen (17), Coot (2), Great-crested Grebe (1), Grey Wagtail (1) and Pied Wagtail (1 - my first Linacre record since April 2015!!)

Pied Wagtail

The woods were quite quiet, but the resident tits (Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed) were all seen, along with Jay, Crow, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Dunnock, Buzzard, Goldcrest, Blackbird, Redwing, Siskin, Wren and Robin.

Enjoying some free seed

Frozen Leaves

Linacre Ringing - 4 breeding records

This morning's ringing session at Linacre was a quiet one, with just 10 birds caught, but within that small number, we were very lucky to record juvenile birds, born this year, of 4 species (Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Blue Tit and Mistle Thrush). Of these 4 species, 3; Blackcap, Garden Warbler and Mistle Thrush, were the first records of young birds for 2017, and prove breeding on site. The Blue Tits included new  juvenile birds, unfortunately, not ones ringed in the boxes. The 4th species in the title was Common Buzzard. We didn't ring any chicks (unfortunately), but we did spot an adult bird carrying food into the woods, which, again, is positive proof of breeding. This last record, is particularly pleasing, as it's the first time I've recorded breeding of this species at Linacre.

Other birds caught this morning were: Bullfinch (a new male and a retrap female) and a retrap male Nuthatch.

In between the net rounds we recorded a couple of Swifts, a Grey Wagtail (thanks David), a House Martin, a Kestrel, a Brown Hare, a Sparrowhawk and a Chimney Sweeper (moth - see here for details).

We also took the ladders with us today, so we could check the owl boxes. The Mandarin Duck eggs we found in April (see here) had gone (hopefully hatched and fledged, and not predated), and the other boxes (including the Little Owl box), were all empty.

Linacre Sightings and Chesterfield Waxwings

It was a cold (2 degrees), grey and miserable morning when I arrived at Linacre this morning with Luke. We had an hour and a half walking around the middle and top reservoirs before heading off to Chesterfield to look at a flock of Waxwings that had been reported earlier in the week.

Waterbirds seen at Linacre today were: Mallard (63), Tufted Duck (13), Mandarin Duck (18), Coot (6), Moorhen (11), Black-headed Gull (40), Cormorant (1), Little Grebe (2; 1 on the top and 1 on the middle reservoir) and Great-crested Grebe (1, showing partial breeding plumage).

Great-crested Grebe (courtesy of Luke)

The woods were quite quiet, but we did hear 1 Song Thrush singing, and recorded a drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Mistle Thrush (by the top reservoir), 2 Treecreepers (1st Linacre record of 2017), 1 Magpie, 2 Common Buzzard, a couple of Goldcrests and several Robins coming to seed again.

Robin (courtesy of Luke again)

After looking around Linacre, we drove down to St Helen's Street in Newbold to look for some Waxwings. We saw them as soon as we arrived, and got a couple of shots before the entire group (c.100 birds), were spooked by a Sparrowhawk and disappeared.

Waxwings

Sheffield Waxwings

I was out early this morning down on Queen's Road in Sheffield to "tick" some Waxwings for the "Year List". 300 had been reported on Birdguides yesterday, so I thought my chances were quite good. When I arrived at 7.45am there were about 20 Redwings and 3 Blackbirds feeding on the Rowan trees,  but no Waxwings. However, at about 8am, a small group of 4 birds arrived, and then, over the next 15 minutes, numbers built up very quickly to number at least 400!! They were very flighty, and barely settled for more than a few seconds, but I managed some photos.

Waxwings

After looking at the Waxwings, I drove down to Worcester, and added another 10 species to the "Year List" (numbers 37 - 41)

32 – Pied Wagtail
33 – Feral Pigeon
34 – Redwing
35 – Waxwing
36 – House Sparrow
37 – Mute Swan
38 – Common Buzzard
39 - Cormorant
40 - Herring Gull
41 – Lesser Black-backed Gull
42 - Lapwing

Linacre - 26th October 206

I had a couple of hours to spare this morning, so decided to pop down to Linacre to see what was about.

It was quite quiet, but the highlight was, as always, the immature Shag, that was very busy swimming all around the middle reservoir, diving constantly. At times, it was coming in closely to the dam wall, so I took some more photos!

Shag

Other birds seen on the reservoirs today were: Mallard (15), Tufted Duck (26), Mandarin Duck (43), Moorhen (2), Coot (2), Grey Wagtail (3), Little Grebe (1) and Black-headed Gull (22).

Redwing, Jackdaw, Carrion Crows and Starlings (15), were also seen and heard flying over the site.

Linacre - 26th December 2015

I had a couple of hours down at Linacre yesterday morning. It was quite mild at 12 degrees, with a few drizzly showers and quite breezy. In the time I was there I walked around all 3 reservoirs.

Birds seen were: Shag (3 still present on the middle reservoir), Mallard (92),  Tufted Duck (18), Mandarin Duck (1 heard, but not seen), Coot (3), Moorhen (9), Grey Wagtail (1) and Black-headed Gull (69).

The usual woodland birds were present, including a Buzzard that flew low over the middle reservoir, Wrens and Robins that were both singing and 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker.