London and Norfolk - Birds and Insects

 Jayne and I have just had a few days away in London and Norfolk. Whilst there we enjoyed a mixture of sightseeing, theatre and wildlife watching.

Two new bird species were seen: Ring-necked Parakeet and Red-crested Pochard. The parakeets were seen (and heard!) all around, whilst the pochard was seen in Kew Gardens. 

Red-crested Pochard

Whilst at Hampton Court Palace we also spotted a new hoverfly species: Merodon equestris and our first Banded Demoiselle damselflies of 2021.

Merodon equestris

Whilst in Norfolk, we went to RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, hoping to see Swallowtail butterflies and Norfolk Hawker dragonflies. Unfortunately, due to the cold May, both species were yet to emerge. Thankfully, the Marsh Harriers were a lot more cooperative, as were 2 Cuckoos (heard and seen), pinging Bearded Tits , a reeling Grasshopper Warbler and a Grass Snake.

Other insects seen here were: Variable Damselfly, Banded Demoiselle, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly (1), Scarce Chaser (4) and Hairy Dragonfly (5+ seen, including a resting male).

Hairy Dragonfly

The Year List has now moved on to 150 species.

Year List update:

140 - Redstart

141 - Lesser Whitethroat

142 - Peregrine Falcon

143 - Bittern 

144 - Cetti's Warbler

145 - Ring-necked Parakeet

146 - Red-crested Pochard

147 - Marsh Harrier

148 - Bearded Tit

149 - Cuckoo

150 - Grasshopper Warbler

RSPB Frampton Marsh

One year ago Jayne, Luke and I spent the day at RSPB Frampton Marsh in 23 degree heat, and gorgeous sunshine (see here). We were back again today, and the weather wasn't quite as kind (12 degrees, grey and overcast), but the birds more than made up for it. In the 5 hours that we were there, we got some fantastic views of the birds, including 2 "lifers" for Luke (Turtle Dove and Grasshopper Warbler, both heard, but not seen), and 13 "year ticks" for me.

We started off walking from the car park, where we had c.10 Swift overhead. We then heard Reed, Sedge and Cetti's Warbler, and a very close Cuckoo (glimpsed briefly by Jayne), before watching 2 breeding plumaged Spotted Redshank, 2 Wood Sandpiper, several Ruff, 1 Greenshank, Redshank, Avocet, Ringed and Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin (1 breeding plumaged bird), Lapwing, Whimbrel (1), Common Sandpiper (1), Little Egret, Grey Heron, Buzzard, Shelduck, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Garganey (one pair), Canada, Greylag and Barnacle Geese, Mute Swan, Brent Geese, Swallow, Sand and House Martin, Pied and Yellow Wagtail, Skylark, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat and Whitethroat!

Male Ruff

Phonescoped Garganey

Year List update:

160 – Swift
161 – Sedge Warbler
162 – Reed Warbler
163 – Spotted Redshank
164 – Wood Sandpiper
165 – Ruff
166 – Garganey
167 – Common Tern
168 – Turtle Dove
169 – Whimbrel
170 – Grasshopper Warbler
171 – Little Ringed Plover
172 – Yellow Wagtail

Year List Update - 4 new species

Over the last couple of weeks the "year listing" has slowed down some what, but despite this, I've managed to add 4 new species, taking the 2017 list to a very respectable 173.

The first new species was Grasshopper Warbler, with 1 male "reeling" at The Avenue Washlands in Chesterfield on 11th. I also added Long-eared Owl last weekend, at a site in Derbyshire, and the last 2 species; Woodcock and Nightjar were added during a visit to Clumber Park with Chesterfield RSPB Group.

Year List update:
170 – Grasshopper Warbler
171 – Long-eared Owl
172 – Woodcock
173 - Nightjar

Year List update- 6 new species

I haven't blogged about this year's "year list" for a few weeks, and, as you can see from the title of this post, I've managed to add 6 new species to this year's list.

The first two species, Grasshopper Warbler and Sabine's Gull, were added at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Carr Vale reserve a few weeks back.

The next two species, Sedge and Garden Warbler, were added last weekend, whilst ringing at Poolsbrook Marsh last weekend.

The final two species, Yellow-legged Gull and Little Egret were added this week. The Yellow-legged Gull, a nice adult bird, was reported on the Sheffield Bird Study Group website, as being on playing fields in Low Edges, a five minute drive from home, so I popped along and "ticked" it. The Little Egret was seen today fishing in the Boating Lake on the Esplanade in Ryde, Isle of Wight.

Whilst in Ryde, Jayne and I also spotted 5 moulting adult Mediterranean Gulls. Although not a year tick, there are always nice to see and photograph. Here are a couple of photos.

Mediterranean Gull (back bird) and Black-headed Gull

Year List update:
157 – Grasshopper Warbler
158 – Sabine's Gull
159 – Sedge Warbler
160 – Garden Warbler
161 – Yellow-legged Gull
162 – Little Egret

Warblers, Warblers, Warblers!!!

Last weekend's ringing session at Linacre was quite quiet, with just 7 birds ringed, so yesterday, with the weather conditions perfect, we (Sorby Breck Ringing Group), were out at Poolsbrook Marsh, a large area of reed bed and scrub near Staveley, to see if we could improve on that total.... and we did!

Poolsbrook Marsh

We arrived on site at 4.30 am, and, after a little net lane management, we had the nets up ready to start catching birds. The first net round was accompanied by the sound of a reeling Grasshopper Warbler. The first bird out of the first net was also this species and turned out to be the first of 3 caught and ringed- a new species for both Stewart and me! One of the birds caught was a juvenile. which is also a great breeding record for the site. Here's a shot of that first bird.

Grasshopper Warbler

We stayed on site until 9.30 am, and during that time, we managed to catch adults and juveniles of another 6 species of warbler (Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Reed and Sedge Warbler), along with a couple of Blackbirds, juvenile Robins, Reed Buntings and  Blue Tit), bringing the morning's total to 44 birds- nice! Two of the Reed Warblers were re traps, with very similar ring numbers, so were most likely ringed here, by our group in previous years. I'll update when I get the information back from our data manager.

One of the young Willow Warblers I ringed sat quietly on my hand for about 10 seconds before it flew off, so I was able to get this super photo. What a privilege!

Willow Warbler

Derbyshire Year Listing

This morning I got up early and had a couple of hours on the moorland in the Peak District National Park, adding 6 new species to the "Year List".

I started off at Padley Gorge where I heard a couple of Cuckoos calling from the moorlands. I then walked down into the oak woodlands where there were a couple of male Pied Flycatchers and several male Redstarts singing.

Padley Gorge

Back up on the moorlands I added a singing Whinchat to the list, before driving across to Ramsley Reservoir. On arrival I had a singing Tree Pipit, several Meadow Pipits, a pair of Stonechats, a singing Redstart, and, best of all, a "reeling" Grasshopper Warbler on neighbouring Leash Fen.

Year List update:

124 - Cuckoo

125 – Pied Flycatcher

126 – Whinchat

127 – Stonechat

128 – Tree Pipit

129 – Grasshopper Warbler

Year List update

I've had a chance to "tick" a few birds over the last couple of days, so I thought I'd update the old "Year List" with the new additions.

The first two species; Stonechat and Pied Flycatcher, were both seen last night at the National Trust's Padley Gorge. The Stonechats, a pair, were seen on the moor side at the top of the gorge, whilst the Pied Flycatcher, a male, was heard singing in the woods and seen visiting one of the nest boxes.

When I got home, I looked at the sightings page of the Sheffield Bird Study Group, and saw that a Grasshopper Warbler had been heard "reeling" at the pond on the nearby Longshaw Estate, so I popped across this morning to pick it up. I arrived at 6.30am, and heard it straight away. Afterwards I went down to Linacre to check the nest boxes, and saw my first House Martin of the year.

Year List update:
136 – Stonechat
137 – Pied Flycatcher
138 – Grasshopper Warbler
139 – House Martin

RSPB Lakenheath- 28th May 2013

During our recent trip to Suffolk Jayne and I popped across to the RSPB's Lakenheath Reserve in the search of a male Red-footed Falcon, that had been present for over 3 weeks. Unfortunately, the day before our visit it had had a run in with a local Sparrowhawk and wasn't playing ball. Added to that, the weather had turned cool, wet and windy, so we left slightly disappointed!

Despite the "no-show" from the falcon, we did manage to see and hear 25 species of bird including 3 Hobbys hunting together, hunting Marsh Harriers, Reed, Sedge,Cettis and Grasshopper Warbler, "pinging"Bearded Tit, a Kingfisher and several Cuckoos, including this one that perched briefly.

Cuckoo

This Reed Warbler sat singing in the reeds near the path and I managed to grab a few shots before it disappeared again.

Reed Warbler

A quiet session at the Avenue

This morning's session at The Avenue was the first mist netting that we've been able to carry out for a few weeks due to the poor weather. In all we spent 4 hours on site and managed to ring just 11 birds.

My first birds of July were a juvenile Great Tit and an adult male Blackcap. Other birds ringed were 2 Wrens, a Dunnock, 2 juvenile Blackbirds, a male Bullfinch and another juvenile Great Tit. The Blackcap was interesting as he had a large brood patch, which is normally only found in female birds. Apparently though other male "Sylvia" warblers also have brood patches.

Blackcap

Also seen and heard on site were: Grasshopper Warbler, Chiffchaff, Kestrel, Black-headed Gulls, but very little else!

A moth called a Latticed Heath was spotted in the grass around the net lanes.

Latticed Heath

Ringing at the Avenue

This morning's ringing session at The Avenue produced a toatl of 11 birds, which included 3 "ringing ticks"; Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, along with several "year ticks"; Swift, Little Ringed Plover, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge and Grasshopper Warbler!

Whitethroat

Other birds ringed were: Blackbird, Dunnock, Yellowhammer, Blackcap (a male and a female) and a male Bullfinch.

Male and female Blackcaps

After the ringing I popped down to the reedbed to see the LRP, a male Wheatear, several Sedge Warblers and the Grasshopper Warbler that was "reeling away". Listen here to hear what one sounds like.

This afternoon I went for a walk around Padley Gorge were Jayne found me another 2 year ticks; a Dipper and a Stonechat.

The Year list moved on:

127 – Swift

128 – Whitethroat

129 – Lesser Whitethroat

130 - Little Ringed Plover

131 – Grasshopper Warbler

132 – Sedge Warbler

133 - Stonechat

134 - Dipper