Rufford - 17th December 2023

 My latest visit to Rufford, was my best of the winter so far, with 12 of "our" green-ringed birds seen, along with Lithuanian-ringed P519 (ringed in April 2010, as an adult) and a well known EL87245 (ringed at Center Parcs in January 2013.

Most of the ringed birds had been seen before, but three; 245C ( aged 3, born this year), 262C (also born in 2023) and 264C (an adult bird), were my first sightings since being ringed, at Center Parcs, earlier this winter.

245C

262C

264C

In addition, 215C (ringed, as an adult in January 2023), was my first sighting since March 12th 2023. Welcome back for another winter.

215C

Other birds seen included: c.70(!!) Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 6 Common Gulls, c.300 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Herring Gull, 13 Goosander (7 females and 6 males), 1 Cormorant, 35 Canada Geese, 2 Greylag Geese and 2 Mute Swans (Broken Beak and a female). 

Rufford - 2nd December 2023

 After my walk around Linacre last week, I had a quick (1 hour) visit to Rufford to see which gulls I could pick up. I only lasted one hour as it was 2 degrees, and half the lake was frozen over.

As I arrived I could see there were approximately 200 Black-headed Gulls present, along with 5 Common Gulls, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 1 Herring Gull. Other birds seen were 2 Mute Swans (Broken Beak and a female), Tufted Duck, Mallards, and, most amazingly a fly-over Great White Egret - a new species for me at this site!

The ringed gulls seen were: 258A (3rd sighting this winter), 293A (8th sighting this winter), 295A (1st sighting since 12th March 2023), 297A (2nd sighting this winter), 280B (2nd sighting this winter) and 258C (my first sighting, since it was ringed, as a 1st winter bird - born this year - at Center Parcs on 1st December 2023).

295A

285C

Rufford Gulls 4th and 10th December 2022

Last Sunday, 4th December, I had a quick, 1 hour, visit to Rufford. In the short time I was there, I spotted EL87245, EUM3, 271A, V77K (my first sighting this winter of this Danish-ringed bird) and a new Finnish metal-ringed bird, ST315.116 (ringing details to follow). Two other Finnish metal-ringed birds were also seen, but I couldn't get the full sequences.

Welcome back V77K

After the last few days' icy weather, I arrived at Rufford for today's visit (12.40pm - 15.10pm) to find the main lake with 95% ice cover. This meant that the gulls' legs were on show, as they perched on the ice. In total, there were approximately 2-300 Black-headed Gulls, 70(!) Common Gulls and 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls present, all bathing in the small piece of open water. 

Ringed birds seen were: 246A, 284A, 293A, 294A, 297A, 255B, 272B (my first sighting since being ringed on 12th November 2022 at Center Parcs), 276B, 278B (also my first sighting since ringing on 12th November 2022 at Center Parcs), V77K, EUM3, P519, EL87245 and last week's Finnish bird ST315.116.

272B

278B

Rufford Gulls - 20th November 2022

 After a morning session of gull ringing at Center Parcs on Saturday (6 new Black-headed Gulls ringed, numbers 280B - 285B), I was back down at Rufford on Sunday for a couple of hours to see who I could see.

In the two hours, I saw a total of 13 ringed birds (from c.300 Black-headed and 4 Common Gulls), 9 darviced Black-headed Gulls (246A, 293A, 296A, 249B, 255B, 271B - new for me, 276B - new for me, EUM3and P519), 1 darviced Common Gull (JN075 - first seen in January 2022) and 3 metal-ringed Black-headed Gulls.( EL87245 (regular wintering bird, EY30536 - a bird first ringed in March 2013, just 21km away at Daneshill Landfill Site, and my second sighting, after one in Clumber in December 2020; and a new one with a ring above the "knee" on the right leg. Unfortunately, I could only get a few digits 3.876, so no chance of finding out where it was ringed - yet!).

271B

276B and JN07

In addition to the gulls, there were also four un-ringed Mute Swans.  

Rufford - 5th February 2022

 I spent yesterday morning at Rufford Country Park. I got there earlier than I usually do, so that I could walk across the the Abbey and have a look for some Hawfinches. It was a little windy, but I managed to get  brief views of 2 birds in the trees around the car park. Walking back through the park, I also spotted 15 Redwings, a large flock of Siskin, 1 Grey Heron, 14 Goosander (8 females and 6 males), 1 Little Egret (my first record for this site), 6 Mute Swans (3 adults and 3 young birds, including W17357) and a whopping 66 Common Gull.

Also on the water were approximately 150 Black-headed Gulls. I spotted 12 darvic-ringed birds: 223A (first ringed in February 2019, and my first sighting since October 2020), 258A, 264A (ringed in February 2020, and the first sighting since), 281A (3rd sighting, since ringing in December 2021), 293A (5th sighting), 294A (first sighting), 295A (2nd sighting), EUM3 (Dutch bird), P519 (Lithuanian bird), JO116 ( Norwegian bird) and 204B, a new bird, first ringed in January 2022. In addition, I also saw the Norwegian-ringed Common Gull JN075.

264A

294A

204B

The Hawfinches were a new bird for the year and bring Year List to 103, following Raven and Chough, that I saw last week in Wales.

Year List update:

101 - Raven

102 - Chough

103 - Hawfinch

Rufford Gulls - 6th January 2022

After a short visit to Rufford on Wednesday, I decided to go back again yesterday. It had been very cold overnight, and more than half of the lake was covered in ice - always a good sign when checking gulls' legs!!

As soon as I got there, I could see that there were 400+ gulls out on the ice! The vast majority were Black-headed Gulls, with a minimum of 10 Common Gulls, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 1 Herring Gull. Over the course of 3 hours, I managed to spot 12 darvic-ringed Black-headed Gulls (217A, 258A, 273A, 279A, 281A, 293A, 295A, 297A, J0116, EUM3, P519 and V77K), 1 metal ringed Black-headed Gull (EL87245- a well known bird) and a new darvic ringed Common Gull (JN075 - an adult bird, ringed on 12th August 2020, near Oslo, Norway).

JN075

Of the 12 darviced birds, just 3 were new ones, I'd not seen before (279A, 295A and 297A). All are birds ringed at Center Parcs this winter.

279A

295A

297A

In addition, there were 13 Mute Swans ( 9 adults and 4 juveniles, born last year), including a 1 metal ringed bird (W17357 - a bird that had been ringed on 10th February 2016, as a 5 i.e. born in 2015) and a darvic-ringed bird (CPF3/W48296 - another new bird, originally ringed as a 3 male, i.e. born that year, in Cheshire, on 16th November 2019).

CPF3

Rufford and Clumber - 27th November 2021

 I had a couple of hours at Rufford and Clumber this afternoon. It was cold (3 degrees and very windy) with a few snow flurries. Despite this, there were only about 100 Black-headed Gulls at Rufford and a similar number at Clumber.

Ringed birds seen at Rufford were 217A and 258A, both familiar birds. There were also a couple of Common Gulls present.

217A

258A

Clumber was also very cold and windy, and I only managed to find 1 metal-ringed Black-headed Gull, a Danish ringed individual, VAO171. I first saw this bird here in November 2018 and again in December 2020. It had originally been ringed, 872km away, on the Danish island of Hirsholm on 12th June 2015.

VAO171

Also present today, was Mute Swan Y358. Again, a familiar bird, ringed on  6th September 2019, and first seen by me at Clumber on 31st August 2021.

Y358

Also present were 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and an immature/1st winter Common Gull.

Common Gull

Linacre Reservoirs - 6th March 2021

 Yesterday was my first visit to Linacre of March. I arrived on site at 6.45am and spent two hours walking around all three reservoirs. 

As always at this time of the year there were a lot of species singing, including  1 Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrushes, Chaffinch, Nuthatch, Woodpigeon, Great and Coal Tit, Robin, Wren and Dunnock. In addition, 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers were heard drumming and a pair of Stock Doves and Jackdaws were exploring potential nest sites.

Out on the water there were 3 Canada Geese (1 pair on the bottom reservoir, and 1 single bird on the middle), 104 Mallards, 90 Tufted Duck, 44 Mandarins, 11 Coots, 9 Moorhens, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Cormorant, 1 Little Grebe (heard), 3 Great-crested Grebes (2 on the middle reservoir, and 1 on the top), 42 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Common Gull (2nd record of the year!) and 1 male Goosander.

The best sighting of the day, however, was a Woodcock that appeared out of the woods, and flew straight past me along the entire length of the top reservoir!! It was my best ever sighting of this species, as I usually only see them in silhouette in the summer "roding" over woodland, and also a great Linacre record for this rarely-seen, nocturnal species. My last record was a dead bird, seen in January 2020 (see here).

Linacre Gull Fest and WeBS - 15th February 2021

 This month's WeBS walk at Linacre Reservoirs took place yesterday. Following a week of very cold temperatures (+2 maximum) and snow there was a lot of ice covering all three reservoirs (c.40%), which made counting easier, and also lead to some excellent records.

First up, the waterfowl counts: 148 Mallard, 105 Tufted Duck (my highest ever count, possibly cold weather movement?), 102 Mandarin Duck, 12 Moorhen, 9 Coot, 1 Cormorant (in full breeding plumage), 4 Little Grebe, 10 Goosander (4 males and 6 females), 168 (minimum, most likely 200+) Black-headed Gull (including 2 metal-ringed birds and a darvic-ringed bird),  2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (both adult-type, returning breeders from Chesterfield?), 1 Herring Gull (flew over the top reservoir for 5 minutes - only my sixth record since 2006!), 1 adult Common Gull, only my third ever Linacre record, previous records being in 2014 and 2016 and 2 Grey Wagtail. 

Common Gull (and Black-headed Gull)

As you can see, the number of Black-headed Gulls was fantastic, probably due to me being on site until 2.00pm, and because of the icy conditions elsewhere, as were the Herring and Common Gull records. Lesser Black-backed Gull sightings have increased in  the last few years, as they have established themselves as a breeding species in Chesterfield (first confirmed breeding in 2018 I think) and will continue to grow as the breeding population increases. The same may happen for Herring Gull, as they too, have become a breeding species in Chesterfield too.

Whilst scanning through the Black-headed Gulls, I spotted 2 metal-ringed birds and 1 darvic-ringed bird. Unfortunately, I couldn't read the metal rings (too far away), but I did manage to get a distant photo of the darvic-ringed bird, and saw that it was 2T46. This was a bird that my nephew, Luke, saw at nearby Holmebrook Valley CP, on 6th November 2020, and had been ringed in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, on 19th September 2020. The first photo is this bird in November, whilst the second is from yesterday. Luke's photo was taken much nearer (!), whilst my photo shows how the bird's breeding plumage brown hood is developing.

2T46, Holmebrook Valley CP, November 2020

2T46, Linacre Reservoir, February 2021

Other birds seen/heard around the reservoirs were: Tawny Owl (heard), Raven (2 displaying), Green Woodpecker (heard), Skylark (1 seen and heard over the top reservoir), Common Buzzard (3 together), Sparrowhawk (1 displaying), Stock Dove (4, and singing heard).

NOTE: a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker was noted (not by me!) on 14th February, feeding with a mixed tit flock - the first 2021 record.

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

Black-headed Gulls 214A and P519

 The draw of gulls saw me back at Rufford CP again yesterday afternoon. There had been a big increase in gull numbers, with c200 Black-headed Gulls present.

Whilst there, I managed to find a new (for me) green-ringed bird, 214A. This bird had been ringed at Center Parcs, as an adult, 2km away, on 17th January 2019. My sighting was only the second sighting since then. The first, on 26th November 2019, was at Center Parcs. I managed to get a few photos, of a very dirty ring!!

214A (honestly!!)

214's legs and rings

The only other darviced bird seen was the Lithuanian-ringed bird, P519.

P519

Yesterday's visit saw my first Common Gulls of the winter, with 2 1st winter birds in amongst the Black-headed Gulls. Unfortunately, neither gull was ringed, so I don't know how far they've travelled, unlike the darvic-ringed bird that I found at Clumber Park last winter (see here).

Common Gull

Common Gull

Norwegian Common Gull

On Sunday (15th) I went across to Rufford and Clumber Park again to see which, if any, gulls were still present.

Rufford drew a complete blank for ringed gulls. In fact, there were only 11 Black-headed Gulls there, so it looks as if the winter "gulling" sessions are over until July/August when the first wintering birds should return.

Clumber still held Black-headed and Common Gulls. There were approximately 100 Black-headed Gulls present, including 237A, a regular bird that I've seen at both Rufford and Clumber since November 2019. It's a 1st winter/2nd calendar year bird, born in 2019, and ringed at Sherwood Center Parcs on 20th November 2019.

237A

There were a minimum of 10 Common Gulls on the lake, including at darvic ringed bird (JH229), a 1st winter/2nd calendar year bird that was ringed, as a pullus, on 13th July 2019, in Nesna harbour, Nordland, Norway, 1614km away!

Common Gull JH229

Rufford and Clumber Gulls - 7th March 2020

I had a pop over to Rufford and Clumber Park yesterday to check for wintering Black-headed Gulls before they set off back to their breeding grounds.

My first stop, Rufford CP, was pretty quiet, with  approximately 50 gulls still present, including 208A, an adult bird ringed at Sherwood Center Parcs on 2nd January 2020 and first seen by me, at Rufford on 2nd February 2020. As the photo shows, the bird's hood is developing nicely.

208A

At Clumber there were a lot more Black-headed Gulls still present (200+), along with c.20 Common Gulls.

2 ringed gulls were seen; namely 237A ( a regular bird, born in 2019, first ringed at Center Parcs in November 2019 and seen at Rufford in December 2019, January 2020 and February 2020, before its first sighting at Clumber on 22nd February 2020, and again on 7th March 2020), and 256A - new bird for me. 256A was born in 2019, and was ringed on 29th January 2020 in Warsop. This sighting was the first since ringing.

237A 

256A

Gulls Again!

I had a short visit to Rufford CP this afternoon and saw 3 darviced Black-headed Gulls and 1 metal ringed bird.

The 3 darvic ringed birds were 237A (ringed as a 1st winter bird, at Center Parcs on 20th November 2019), V77K ( the 5 year old, Danish ringed bird) and 252A ( a 1st winter/2nd calendar year bird, ringed at Center Parcs on 18th January 2020.

237A

V77K

252A

The metal ringed bird, 6456073,was the Swedish ringed bird I first saw at Rufford on 2nd January 2020. It was ringed, as a pullus, on 1st June 2019, 950km away in southern Sweden.

6456073

Alvaston Park - 16th November 2019

A couple of weeks ago I was in Alvaston Park, and spotted the Danish ringed Black-headed Gull VA4073, (see here). I was back there again today, and saw it again.

VA4073

Whilst there I also spotted a new-for-me Polish ringed bird, TLPN. This bird, originally ringed in Poland on 8th June 2019, as a pullus, was first seen here on 12th October 2019. It was very confiding, and I managed to get some lovely pictures.

TLPN

One metal ringed bird was also seen. Unfotunately, this bird, also a first winter bird (born this year), was only seen briefly, and I was only able to read the first digit of its ring, 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ before it flew off.  Another time perhaps!

2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Other birds seen were: 8 Ring-necked Parakeets, 1 Stock Dove, 20+ Canada Geese, Tufted Ducks, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan (8) and Common Gull (at least 3).

Common Gulls