Four New Ticks

 On Thursday, Jayne and I went out to Calke Abbey for a visit. Afterwards, we followed up on a tip, and visited Newton Solney to see two "year ticks", and 2 new species of odanata.

The new bird species were: Cattle Egret (165) and Egyptian Goose (166). 3 breeding plumaged Cattle Egrets were seen, along with 7 Egyptian Geese. Unfortunately, neither species wanted to have their photo taken! Other species of note were, 1 Little Egret and a female Goosander, with 3 well grown young.

As we got out of the car a teneral Emperor dragonfly was seen, perched in the hedgerow. Unfortunately, it too was camera shy i.e. I was too slow!!! Thankfully, the nearby Banded Demoiselles (40+) were a little more willing.

Banded Demoiselle (male)

Banded Demoiselle (female)

Rufford - End of the Season

 Last weekend (14th) I had my last trip of the winter to Rufford. Unfortunately, there were only 2 Black-headed Gulls present (both 1st winter birds, born last year), and no ringed birds.

On a brighter side, however, I did add a new species to the park list, when a Red Kite flew low over the lake!

Other species seen were: 1 Herring Gull, 8 Mute Swans (Broken Beak and family, plus 3 other, unringed adults), 2 Goosander (1m and 1fm), Stock Dove singing, 7 Canada Geese and 10 Greylag Geese.

Greylag Goose

Year List Update

 Yesterday, I added a few more birds to the Year List. The first four were all at Rufford CP, yesterday, and included my first site record of Raven. The final addition, Greenfinch, was seen in the garden today.

The additions are: Canada Goose (92), Lesser Black-backed Gull (93), Raven (94), Goosander (95) and Greenfinch (96). 

Rufford Gulls - 9th March 2024

 At this time of the year, I'm never sure when I'll see the last of the wintering Black-headed Gulls at Rufford. Last Saturday I popped across and found about 80 still present, including many looking very smart, with their breeding plumage brown (not black!) hoods.

The first bird I saw, was 215C, and this bird was certainly looking smart. Last year, my last sighting of this bird was on 12th March, so this may be my last sighting until after the breeding season. We've not had any sightings at a breeding site yet. This year perhaps?

215C

Other ringed gulls were: 258A (34th re-sighting), 289A (6th re-sighting, and my first since February 2022!), 202C (13th re-sighting), 207C (15th re-sighting), 258C (8th re-sighting), 270C (4th re-sighting), 273C (6th re-sighting) and 298C (ringed on 4th February 2024, as a 5, i.e. born in 2023, and the first re-sighting since).

298C

Other birds seen were: 21 Goosander (16 female and 5 male), 1 male Pochard, 2 Mute Swan (Broken Beak and a female), 13 Greylag Geese, 5 Canada Geese, 37 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 2 Common Gull.

Linacre Mega!!

 Yesterday (27th), I received a message from the volunteer rangers letting me know that there was a swan species on the middle reservoirs. Unfortunately, the bird was too distant to identify accurately, other than to say that it was a young bird, with grey feathers and a grey beak.

I managed to get down after work, and, luckily for me, the bird had moved much closer to the dam wall, allowing me to see that it was a juvenile (born last year) Mute Swan. This record is the first of this species since 2013!!!

Mute Swan 

The bird came closer still, with the help of some seed, and I noticed that it was ringed, with a yellow darvic ring, used by Sorby Breck Ringing Group! After many shots, I got a photo of the ring, 6Y24.

6Y24

After a little investigation, I found out that the bird, had been ringed at Frecheville, Sheffield, in August 2023. Hopefully, she'll continue to spend some time at Linacre.

Whilst on site, I also spotted 3 Goosander (1 male and 2 females), 6 Teal (4 males and 2 females), a pair of displaying Great-crested Grebe and 13 Mandarin Ducks.

Rufford Gulls - 25th February 2024

It's getting towards the end of the winter season now, and the Black-headed Gulls that over winter here will soon be setting off back to their breeding grounds. With this in mind, I had a visit to Rufford to see if I could record some rings, before they leave.

I was there for just over an hour, and, although there were only about 70 gulls left, I managed to record 9 green-ringed birds: 258A (31st sighting), 295A (15th sighting), 251B (ringed by me in October 2022, my 3rd sighting, and my first since November 2023), 254B (also ringed by me, in October 2022, and my 6th sighting), 215C (9th sighting), 258C (7th sighting), 267C (1st re-sighting since being ringed on 31st December 2023), 270C (3rd sighting) and 273C (5th re-sighting).  

267C

Whilst there, I also recorded 1 Common Gull, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 17 Canada Geese, 4 Greylag Geese and 33 Goosander (26 females and 7 males).

Another green-ringed Gull, 231C, that was ringed at Center Parcs in January 2023, was reported in Hull on 25th February 2024. It had previously been recorded in The Netherlands in March 2023 (presumably back on breeding grounds). It had also been seen in Otley and Leeds in winter 2023.

Linacre Visit and Ringing - February 2024

 On 4th February, I had a walk around all three reservoirs at Linacre. It was 9 degrees, grey and overcast.

Birds seen/heard were: Song Thrush (4 singing), Raven (1 over, and 4, the highest ever count, were reported on 13/2), Bullfinch (1 female), Grey Wagtail (2, including 1 singing), Great-crested Grebe (1), Little Grebe (2), Goosander (6; 4 females and 2 males), Mallard (102), Tufted Duck (24), Mandarin Duck (7), Moorhen (12), Coot (9) and Black-headed Gull (18).

Last weekend (10th), I was back at Linacre, with Sorby Breck Ringing Group, where we ringed 33 birds of  species. Birds ringed were (new/retrap): Blue Tit 7/4, Great Tit 1/3, Coal Tit 1/1, Long-tailed Tit 8/2, Goldcrest 2/0, Robin 2/1 and Treecreeper 1/0.

Most of the retraps were from last year, but we did retrap a Robin first ringed in April 2021 (born in 2020), and two Long-tailed Tits that had been ringed, on site, in October 2022. 

Whilst on site I recorded a few new birds for the Year List. The first was a Woodcock (116) that was flushed from the ringing site, followed by Great-spotted Woodpecker (117) and Goldcrest (118).

Rufford Gulls - 4th February 2024

 Last Sunday, I was across at Rufford for a couple of hours, in 12 degree heat! There were still good numbers of gulls around, including c.250 Black-headed Gulls, 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 20 Common Gulls.

As always, the gulls were hungry, which allowed me to read 15 green rings (206A, 258A, 259A, 295A, 254B, 202C, 207C, 245C, 258C, 264C, 270C, 273C, 288C, 290C and 200F), and the Lithuanian-ringed bird, P519.

Most of these gulls are regulars, but there were a few more noteworthy ones. 206A, for example, was ringed in December 2018, as an adult. Last week's sighting was my first since March 2023. 

206A

Likewise, 254B was one of the first gulls I ringed, as an adult, in October 2022, and this is just my fifth re-sighting since. Four other gulls were seen for their first time since ringing:270C, 288C, 290C and 200F. 

270C

288C

290C

200F

Other birds seen included 21 Goosander (13 females and 8 males), 19 Canada Geese, 6 Greylag Geese and 2 Mute Swans (Broken Beak and an unringed female).

Linacre WeBS - January 2024

 Last week (20th), I walked around Linacre to carry out this month's WeBS count. 

After a week of very cold temperatures, the bottom reservoir was about 25% frozen, and there were some good numbers of birds: Mallard (145), Mandarin Duck (45), Moorhen (12), Coot (12), Grey Heron (2), Goosander (13; 8 males and 5 females), Teal (c.32), Cormorant (2), Grey Wagtail (1) and Tufted Duck (28).

Rufford - 8th January 2024

 I had my first visit of 2024 to Rufford on Sunday. There weren't a lot of Black-headed Gulls around (c.150), but I did see 13 of "our" green-ringed birds along with the Lithuanian-ringed bird, P519 and the British metal-ringed bird, EL87245.

Birds seen were: 258A, 273A, 295A, 254B (ringed by me on 22nd October 2022 and my first sighting since October 2023), 272B, 280B (ringed by me on 19th November 2022, and my 4th sighting this winter), 202C, 207C, 215C, 258C, 264C, 268C (ringed by me, as a 3, born in 2023, on 31st December 2023, as an adult, age 4) and 273C (ringed on 6th January 2024).

268C and 273C were the first sightings since being ringed.

268C

273C

As well as the gulls, I also spotted a very impressive 43 Goosander (27 female and 16 males).

Linacre - 1st January 2024

 I was out at Linacre first thing yesterday to get my first count of 2024. The day started wet and windy, but it soon dried up, and the sun came out. By the end of the walk around all three reservoirs, I had counted  a total of 33 species to start this year's Year List.

Birds seen were: Robin (1), Mistle Thrush (2), Blackbird (3), Carrion Crow (4), Jackdaw 200+ coming out of the roost (5), Goosander (18; 12 males and 6 females on the middle reservoir, 6), Siskin (7), Great-crested Grebe (1 on the middle reservoir; 8), Mallard (124; 9), Moorhen (17; 10), Coot 10; 11), Mandarin Duck (44; 12), Tufted Duck (24; 13), Cormorant (3; 14), Kingfisher (1 on the bottom reservoir, 15), Black-headed Gull (2; 16), Buzzard (2 in the fields; 17),  Starling (10 in the fields; 18), Wren (19), Dunnock (20), Pheasant (21), Redwing (22), Goldfinch (23), Raven (1; 24), Woodpigeon (25), Long-tailed Tit (26), Blue Tit (27), Coal Tit (28), Great Tit (29), Treecreeper (30), Song Thrush (31), Chaffinch (32) and Nuthatch (33).

Driving home, I also added the following species: Feral Pigeon (34), Herring Gull (35), Lesser Black-backed Gull (36) and Fieldfare (37).

Back at home, I spotted: Greenfinch (38), Collared Dove (39), House Sparrow (40) and Magpie (41).

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). 

Welcome Back P519!

 It's been a couple of weeks since my last visit to Rufford, and I'm very pleased to say that this time there were Black-headed Gulls, and rings to be seen!! In total, I saw 7 of "our" green-ringed gulls, P519, a Lithuanian bird ringed in April 2010, as an adult, and first seen here in January 2018, and a new Finnish metal-ringed bird ST340.623.

The green-ringed birds were: 258A, 273A (the first sighting since October 2022), 293A, 272B (the first sighting this winter), 280B (ringed by me in November 2022, as a 4, and the first sighting this winter), 202C (last seen on 12th March 2023) and 207C (third sighting this winter).

280B

The two other ringed birds were P519 - the first sighting since 5th February 2023, and the new Finnish-ringed bird, an adult.

P519

ST340.623

Other birds present today were: 2 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 1 Cormorant, 1 Great-crested Grebe, 2 Goosander (1 male and 1 female), c.50 Canada Geese,(no rings) 6 Greylag Geese (no rigs) and 2 unringed Mute Swans (Broken Beak and a female bird).

"Broken Beak"

Gull-less Rufford!!

 Well not quite!! I popped across to Rufford yesterday, and found just 28 Black-headed Gulls there. Unfortunately, none were ringed. It seems like the warm, wet winter weather may mean that the gulls are staying out in the wider countryside to feed and not needing to come into the park for food. Obviously, this is great for them, but very frustrating for me!! 

The only other birds at Rufford were: 1 Canada Goose, c.20 Mallards, 15 Tufted Ducks and 5 Goosander (3 males and 2 females).

Goosander

After Rufford, I popped across to Clumber, but it was  similar picture there. Just 20ish Black-headed Gulls, no Common Gulls and no rings! Roll on the colder weather.

The only saving grace was a darvic-ringed Mute Swan, Y358 at Clumber.

Mute Swan Y358

Linacre - 5th November 2023

 I had my first visit of the new month to Linacre this morning. I spent a couple of hours walking around all three reservoirs, and recorded some good numbers of waterfowl.

Birds seen were: Mandarin Duck (170 - my highest count of the year so far, and my third highest ever), Mallard (119), Tufted Duck (67 - the highest count of the year), Moorhen (11), Coot (10), Black-headed Gull (22), Lesser Black-backed Gull (6 over), Goosander (3 females- the first of the winter), Grey Wagtail (1) and Pied Wagtail (1).

Pied Wagtail

Other species of note were: Redwing (2 over) Fieldfare (4 over), Siskin (heard), 1 juvenile Woodpigeon and Treecreeper (1 seen).

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.

Linacre - 31st December 2022

 I hadn't got anything else on today, so I had my last visit of 2022 to Linacre this afternoon. I was there from 1.15pm to 2.45pm in grey, overcast conditions with rain on and off, and a temperature of 11 degrees.

As expected, it was quite quiet, but the following birds were seen: 148 Mallard, 30 Tufted Duck, 29 Mandarin Duck, 15 Moorhen, 10 Coot, 7 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull (unusual December record), 1 Great-crested Grebe, 1 female Goosander, 3 Little Grebe ( a good count for December), 1 Cormorant and 1 Grey Wagtail.

Woodland birds were far and few between, the highlight being a single "wheeting" Chiffchaff! The total number of species recorded at Linacre this year has been 68.

This will be the last post of 2022, so Happy New Year to all my followers and here's to a bird-filled 2023.

Rufford Gulls - 23rd December 2022

 It was raining very hard this afternoon, so today's visit to Rufford lasted just 1 hour. There were only 45 Black-headed Gulls present, but I did manage to see 5 colour-ringed birds: P519, 271B, 276B, V77K and a new one, 207C.

207C

207C was ringed just yesterday (22nd December), at Center Parcs, and, unsurprisingly, is the first re-sighting.

Other birds seen were: Mute Swan (2), Gadwall (1m and 1fm), 1 Herring Gull and 4 Goosander (3m and 1fm).

Linacre Birds - 12th February 2022

 I managed to get down to Linacre for the first February visit. The weather was cool (5 degrees) and pretty windy, but there were decent numbers of most birds. 

Numbers were: Mallard (126 - highest count of the year), Coot (14), Moorhen (12- 11 adults and 1 of last year's juveniles), Tufted Duck (28-  the highest count of the year), Goosander (2 females), Mandarin (5 - 4 males and 1 female, still very low numbers), Little Grebe (2), Great-crested Grebe (1 breeding plumaged bird), Grey Wagtail (1), Grey Heron (1) and Cormorant (1). 

A Great-spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming, and I also recorded my first singing Song Thrush of the year.

Linacre - 15th January 2022

 This morning the weather was zero degrees when I arrived at Linacre at 7.45am, and it didn't rise throughout the  two hour visit! Thankfully, the cold (but bright) weather seemed to have brought a few winter visitors in, with my first record of Pochard (2 males on the top reservoir), since 2013!!

Pochard

Also seen were: a pair of Wigeon on the middle reservoir, 109 Mallard, 24 Tufted Ducks, 11 Coots, 17 Moorhens (14 adults and 3 juveniles), 11 Mandarins,  3 Little Grebes, 1 Great-crested Grebe (in breeding plumage and calling on the middle reservoir), 1 Grey Heron, 3 Goosander (1 male and 3 females), 1 Cormorant, 63 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Grey Wagtails and 1 Pied Wagtail. Woodland birds were quite vocal with Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tit seen and heard. A Treecreeper was also seen (year tick) as was a single Bullfinch, Blackbird, Robin, Jay and my first drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker of the year.

After my walk around Linacre, Jayne and I had a drive to Monsal Dale. On the way over, we spotted a Little Owl (year tick), on a tree in Holmesfield, and 3 Dippers (year tick) on the river in Monsal.

Little Owl

Year List update:

97 - Pochard

98 - Treecreeper

99 - Little Owl

100 - Dipper