Pennington Flash - 12th January 2025

 Jayne had an appointment in Stockport on Sunday, so, after dropping her off, I drove across to Pennington Flash. The main lake was 95% frozen over, with 100s of birds close to the car park. With so much ice, I was able to find darvic-ringed Mute Swans, Coot, Black-headed and a Lesser Black-backed Gull, as well as 4 " Year Ticks".

The first ringed birds I saw, were all Black-headed Gulls. In total, I saw 9 different birds; 7 British-ringed birds (2T90, 2S94, 213A, 234B, 268C, 269C and 284C), and 2 Norwegian-ringed birds (J2714, ringed near Oslo, as an adult, in May 2024 and J3260, ringed, as a pullus, near Oslo, in June 2023). 

J2714

J3260

The British birds had all been ringed at Pennington, between 2019 and 2022. None had been sighted abroad, except 213A, which was seen in The Netherlands in April 2024 (a possible breeding site?).

The Lesser Black-backed Gull, A70:W, was also seen on the ice. A record have been sent off, and I'll update, when I get the ringing details back.

Lesser Black-backed Gull A70:W

The 9 Mute Swans were all out on the side of the lake, enjoying the food being given out. The ringed birds were: CPT2 (green/W48751, 40ST (blue)/XY46_ _ _, 4FAU (blue), BY6 (blue)/ZY6998, 4BYN (blue)/XY2448, XY5830 (no darvic), XY4465 (no darvic), 4HFI (blue, age 5)/W43982 and 4HDN (blue, age 5).

The final bird, a Coot, with darvic ring J7F, was also out, feeding on the side of the lake. This bird was ringed, as an adult, at Pennington, in December 2020. My sighting was just the 4th since ringing.

Coot

All the Black-headed Gulls and the Coot had been ringed by the Waterbird Colour Marking Group.

After recording all the ringed birds, I had a walk around the reserve. It was very cold, and all the water was frozen. Despite this, I managed to find the following year ticks: Great White Egret (108), Bullfinch (109), Willow Tit (110) and Coal Tit (111).

Great White (and Little) Egret

Rufford and Attenborough - 28th December 2024

 This morning, Luke and I went across to Rufford to try and catch up with Hawfinch (202). Whilst there, we also had a quick check on the Black-headed Gulls, before driving down to Attenborough to catch up with a 1st winter male Scaup (203).

The Hawfinch "showed well" within a few minutes of our arrival at 8am, and we counted a maximum of 8, in the trees, around the main car park.

Afterwards, we popped down to the lake, where we spotted 273A, 208B, 280B, 207C, 264C, 255F and a new bird, 276F. 

276F

Our final stop was Attenborough GP, where we were searching for a Caspian Gull. Unfortunately, we didn't have any luck on this occasion, but we did pick up a Scaup and a Great White Egret.

Clumber and Rufford - 16th November 2024

 On Saturday, I was out at Clumber Park, with the family. Whilst there, I had a quick check of the Black-headed Gulls and Mute Swans, finding a couple of ringed birds.

The first bird I saw was a Polish-ringed Black-headed Gull, TV02. I checked the number, and realised it was a bird I had first seen, at Clumber, back in February 2023. See the post here, for details, and a picture of this bird, as a 2nd year bird.

TV02

The second bird I saw was a ringed Mute Swan, Y404. This is a new bird for me. I'll update, when I find out where it was ringed. A single Great (White) Egret was also seen on the main lake.

Y404

After Clumber, Jayne and I had a very quick, half an hour, visit to Rufford, where I managed to spot 14 of "our" darvic-ringed Black-headed Gulls: 273A, 277A, 293A, 293B, 207C, 264C, 273C, 207F, 217F, 221F (new), 223F,  229F (new), 230F (new) and 234F (new).

221F

229F

230F

234F

Cornwall Birding - 200th species!

After Thursday's ringing session, Luke and I spent the rest of the day birding around the area. During the time, we added 4 new species to my Year List, going over the 200 mark for the first time in a few years.

Our first stop was Porthgwarra and Gwennap Head, where we had a lovely walk along the cliff tops, spotting Stonechat, a single Wheatear, Raven, Jackdaws, and 5 Chough (198).

Chough

Our next stop was Penzance. We walked down on the seashore, near the railway depot, picking up a single Swallow and this stunning, and, as always, very confiding, Snow Bunting (199).

Snow Bunting

Our final stop was the RSPB's Marazion Marshes, where we manged to find the elusive 1st winter Red-backed Shrike (200th species), a single Great Egret, and, to finish the day, a lovely flock of at least 11 Cattle Egret (201).

Red-backed Shrike

Norfolk - 5th and 6th October 2024

 This weekend, Jayne and I went down to Norfolk, where we had a lovely walk around Wells-next-the-Sea and around RSPB Snettisham.

We were at Wells yesterday, in a very warm and sunny 17 degrees. We walked down from the town to the beach and back. Species seen were: Redshank, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Dark-bellied Brent Goose (c300), Red-throated Diver (1 breeding plumaged bird fishing in the channel), a tern species, Little Egret, Great Egret (2 flying over), Black-headed and Herring Gull and a juvenile/1st winter Wheatear - great spot Jayne! We also saw a couple of Wall Brown butterflies at Old Hunstanton Golf Course later in the day - my first of the year.

Wheatear (juvenile/1st winter - almost in focus!)

This morning, we had a walk around RSPB Snettisham. Unfortunately, there wasn't a very high tide, so we didn't get the flyover from the birds, but we still saw thousands of waders. Species seen were: Oystercatcher, Curlew, Dunlin, Avocet, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, and Knot ( year tick 193). we also had 20+ Little Egrets and 12 Spoonbills, including a darvic ringed bird; NF1U. A report has been sent off, and it appears to be a Dutch-ringed bird (see here). I'll update with full details, when I receive them.

Spoonbill NF1U

UPDATE: The Spoonbill had been ringed, as a pullus, at Ventjagersplaten, Lebret, The Netherlands, 294km away, on 28th May 2024. Before my sighting, it had been reported at Besthorpe Nature Reserve, Nottinghamshire on 24th July 2024. It was next seen at Alkborough Flats, Lincolnshire, on 19th August, before spending the best part of September (1st to 29th) at Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire. My sighting was the latest, so far.

Suffolk - August 2024

 Last week, Jayne and I had a family holiday down in Suffolk. It was a family holiday, so most of the time was spent on the beach enjoying the 20+ degree heat! We did, however, manage a trip to RSPB Minsmere, where we had fantastic views of Water Vole and Grass Snake.

The Water Vole, a juvenile, was seen feeding from the dipping pond, about 2m away. We watched it for a good 10 minutes, before it suddenly swam off into the vegetation, only for a hunting Grass Snake to appear!

Water Vole

Grass Snake

Whilst at Minsmere, we also saw, amongst others,  the following species: Ringed Plover, Ruff, Redshank, Lapwing, Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Black-headed, Herring and Little Gull, Little and Great White Egret, Stock Dove and Cetti's Warbler. Muntjac Deer were also seen.

One evening we went across to Aldeburgh. Whilst there, I checked to see if last year's ringed Herring Gull, FOMT, was back again. The good news was that it was, sat on exactly the same rooftop as last year! Click on the label for details of where and when, it was ringed.

FOMT

The place we were staying in, in Bramfield, had several ponds, which had Ruddy Darter, Migrant Hawker and a pair of Willow Emerald Damselflies on them. 

Year List Update - 28th January 2024

 This last week, I've managed to add three new species to the Year List.

The first species, Dipper (102), was added last Sunday, when 1 bird was seen in Monsal Dale. The second species, Egyptian Goose (103) was seen yesterday, when 3 were seen at Center Parcs whilst gull ringing. The third new species, Great (White) Egret (104), was seen today on Carburton Lake, Nottinghamshire. In fact there were 2 Great Egrets and 6 Little Egrets together, all within about 100m!!

Great (White) Egret

Just before we saw the egrets, Jayne and I had had a short walk around Clumber Park. We'd gone to see a Red-breasted Goose, that had appeared on the South Lawn. Unfortunately, it was wearing 2 plastic rings, so was an escapee from a collection, and can't be added to the list. Still a lovely bird to see at such close quarters.

Red-breasted Goose

Last, but by no means least, was a new Norwegian-ringed Black-headed Gull, J2847. This bird, a 2nd calendar year, had been ringed 995km away, in June 2023, as a pullus. Our sighting was the first since ringing.

J2847

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

Yorkshire Black-winged Stilts

 This year has seen a large influx of Black-winged Stilts, with at least 3 pairs so far known to be breeding (2 at RSPB Frampton Marsh) and 1 at Edderthorpe Flash, which is part of the RSPB Old Moor/Dearne Valley reserves.

This morning, Jayne and I drove across to Edderthorpe to see the birds. We found them straight away, but only aw the adult birds, not the four chicks. Whilst there, we also saw a Great White Egret, Avocets ( a minimum of 5 adults and 8 chicks, but probably a lot more), a Grey Heron , Cettis Warbler (singing) and 1 Little Ringed Plover.

Black-winged Stilt

Afterwards, we drove across to Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where we had a walk around the grounds, spotting a Mullein Moth caterpillar, 13 Mute Swans (7 adults and 6 cygnets), c.200 Sand Martins, c.20 Swifts, c.20 House Martins, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, a juvenile Grey Heron, Mallard and Great-crested Grebes. There were very few insects around, as it was very windy, overcast with a few rain showers, but we did spot a couple of Ringlets and also managed to see our first Gatekeeper of the year.

Gatekeeper

Year List update - 171 Black-winged Stilt

RSPB Ham Wall - 4th April 2023

 Yesterday, Jayne and I spent a few hours at RSPB Ham Wall in Somerset. It's a reserve we've wanted to visit for a while, and we were not disappointed!!

Reedbeds and Glastonbury Tor

As soon as we arrived, we were surrounded by bird song, including Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Willow Warbler and, of course, Cetti's Warbler. We set off and walked to Viewing Point 1, where we heard Water Rail squealing, and the first "booming" Bittern. Other birds seen from this area were: Shoveler, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Pochard, Gadwall, Pintail (1 male and 1 female), Glossy Ibis, Great White and Little Egret, Snipe, Spotted Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit (c.20), Marsh Harrier, Coot and Moorhen!

Moving on to Avalon Hide, we added a stunning male Garganey and a flock of c.30 Sand Martins to the list. What a site!

Brimstone

Year List update - 111) Willow Warbler 112) Pintail 113) Black-tailed Godwit 114) Glossy Ibis 115) Great White Egret 116) Snipe 117) Spotted Redshank 118) Marsh Harrier 119) Water Rail (heard) 120) Bittern (heard), 121) Blackcap 122) Garganey and 123) Sand Martin.

White-tailed Lapwing

Last month (31st) I went across to RSPB Blacktoft Sands to see my fourth "lifer" of the year, a White-tailed Lapwing. It gave great views from Xerox Hide, and I managed some nice photos. A lovely bird!

White-tailed Plover

Whilst there, I also managed to add a couple more "year ticks", Water Rail and Great (White) Egret.

The last new addition, Whinchat, was seen on Big Moor, Derbyshire, on 1st September.

Year List update:
167 - White-tailed Lapwing
168 - Water Rail
169 - Great White Egret
170 - Whinchat

Year List Update - 26th October 2020

 I last updated the Year List at the beginning of September. Since then, I've had several trips out and about, and have added 11 new specie, including a "British tick".

The first trip, to RSPB Frampton Marsh on 19th September, added 3 species, numbers 164 - 166. The next bird, my "British tick" was on 4th October, when Jayne and I saw a very confiding Hoopoe, feeding on a cricket pitch on the edge of Leeds!

Hoopoe

Numbers 168 - 171, were recorded at WWT Slimbridge on Saturday, whilst the Great White Egret, was seen at Blenheim Palace lake yesterday.

Whilst eating dinner at Blenheim I saw that a Grey Phalarope had been found on the River Wye at Bakewell. Thankfully, it stayed all day, and I managed to catch up with it just before dark (which was good, because it had gone this morning!)

Grey Phalarope

The final addition was today, with 2 Cattle Egrets that I travelled to see at Cranfield Farm, Long Eaton.

Cattle Egret

Year List update:

164 – Curlew Sandpiper
165 – Little Stint
166 – Pintail
167 – Hoopoe
168 – Marsh Harrier
169 – Russian White-fronted Goose
170 – Bittern
171 – Cetti’s Warbler
172 – Great White Egret
173 – Grey Phalarope
174 – Cattle Egret

Norfolk Birds

Jayne and I were in Norfolk for a few days this week. We visited RSPB Titchwell on Tuesday, where we spotted all the usual suspects, including my first year tick, Red-throated Diver, since 1st September.

We stayed in Blakeney, and had a few walks around the marshes there. Bearded Tits were seen in the reeds by the main path, and gave some great views. Other birds seen here included; Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed and Herring Gull, Marsh Harrier and Brent and Pink-footed Geese

Bearded Tit

I also spotted a couple of Muntjac Deer in a nearby garden, including this female.

Muntjac Deer

On the 30th I had a couple of hours sea watching at Cley, where I managed to see Gannets, Guillemots, Ringed Plover, Red and Black-throated Divers, and, best of all, a very distant Great Skua (year list).

Our last trip was to the marshes at Burnham Overy, where we spotted Little and Great White Egret (2), Redshank, Grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin, Curlew and a Kingfisher.

Year List update:
192 - Red-throated Diver
193 - Great Skua

Rye Harbour Nature Reserve

Jayne and I have had a week in East Sussex, staying in Rye Harbour. Whilst there, we had a couple of walks around the Sussex Wildlife Trust's Rye Harbour Nature Reserve.

Our first walk, with the ranger, on 27th July, saw us visit the shingle ridges and scrapes. We were introduced to a wide range of interesting flora, and also spent time looking at birdlife, including dozens of Dunlin, 1Knot, 2 Curlew Sandpiper, Redshank, Curlew and Whimbrel. There were also several Black-headed Gulls and Common Terns (adults and juveniles) still present. Whilst there, Jayne also spotted a small bee that turned out to be a Sharp-tailed Bee (Coelioxys conoidea).

Sharp-tailed Bee

We had a second walk around this morning, and this time we visited the Castle Water side of the reserve. This area is very different, consisting of large areas of reedbed, and deeper lakes. Here we saw: Mallards, Coots, Mute Swans, Greylag Geese, and then.....a juvenile Green Woodpecker, a Kingfisher (1), a Great White Egret and at least 2 juvenile Bearded Tits!!

Although it was quite overcast we also managed to see a few insects including Gatekeeper, Red Admiral, Painted Lady (1), Common Carpet (moth), Brown Hawker, Common Blue Damselfly, Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Volucella inanis (hoverfly), Common and Ruddy Darter.

Common Carpet

We also managed to spot 3 Marsh Frogs (a new species for us both), a non-native amphibian from Europe, that was introduced into Kent in 1935, and has set up feral populations in the south east.

Marsh frog

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - 20th January 2019

Jayne and I had a few hours at Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Sunday. Whilst there we walked around the Lower Lake, where we were lucky enough to see a Great (White) Egret that was feeding in the Reedmace just below the bridge. It was first seen in the heronry, before flying down to feed, approximately 40m away. Brilliant views!

Great White Egret

Whilst there, we also spotted Goosander (c.6), a fishing Kingfisher, 100+ Black-headed Gulls, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Canada and Greylag Geese, 2 singing Mistle Thrushes, and an old friend, Mute Swan 691. See here for ringing details and our first record of this bird.

Mute Swan 691

Norfolk Trip - 4th January 2019

On Friday, Luke and I spent a full day birding and "year listing" in Norfolk. We started off in Wells-Next-the Sea where we managed to pick up a lot of waders, Red Kite, Marsh and Hen Harrier, Guillemot and Dark-bellied Brent Geese (58 to 75). We then drove down to Holkham NNR and St Anne's Drive where we managed to locate (with help from other birders), Snow Bunting, Shorelark and Great White Egret (numbers 76 to 82). Our final two locations were RSPB Titchwell Chiffchaff, Caspian Gull  and numbers 83 to 92, and Thornham Harbour for Twite (93).

Caspian Gull (left)

Year List update:
58 – Guillemot 
59-Brent Goose (DB)
60 – Red Kite 
61 – Marsh Harrier 
62 – Hen Harrier 
63 - Pintail
64 – Oystercatcher 
65 – Ringed Plover 
66 – Grey Plover 
67 –Lapwing
68 – Shelduck
69 – Turnstone
70 – Dunlin
71 – Redshank
72 – Greenshank
73 – Bar-tailed Godwit
74 – Curlew 
75 – Bullfinch
76 – Skylark
77 – Snow Bunting
78 – Shorelark 
79 - Linnet
80 - Meadow Pipit
81 – Great White Egret
82 – Egyptian Goose
83 – Avocet
84 –  Knot
85 – Shoveler
86 – Teal
87 – Common Gull
88 – Caspian Gull
89 – Black-tailed Godwit
90 – Eider Duck
91 – Chiffchaff
92 – Sanderling
93 – Twite

Year List update- 200 species reached!

It's been two months since I last blogged about my "year list". The obvious reason is that it hasn't increased too much, with just 2 new species added; Grey Phalarope and Purple Sandpiper.

The Grey Phalarope was a bird seen at Loscoe Dam on 23rd September. It showed well, but distantly, so no photos unfortunately. It was present for a couple of days, before being eaten by a Pike!!

The Purple Sandpiper was seen this week (thanks Jayne!) on the harbour wall in Brixham.

The other species, which wasn't a year tick, but was good to see, was Great White Egret. Two birds, my highest count in Derbyshire, were present today at Pebley Pond yesterday and again today. Again, they kept a distance away, but I managed to get a record shot!

Great White Egret

Year list update:
199: Grey Phalarope
200: Purple Sandpiper

East Midlands Roundup

This time last year, Luke and I had a day travelling around the North East birdwatching (see here for details). This year we decided to stay a little closer to home, visiting several sites in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

First stop for the day was the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Willington Gravel Pits near Derby. We stopped here hoping to see a Great White Egret, and were lucky to spot it several times flying around the site.

Great White Egret

Whilst here we also recorded several species for the "year list" namely numbers 77 to 86. Next stop was a short drive to Newton Solney to see if we could spot 2 Cattle Egrets that were feeding in sheep fields by the road. We spotted one straight away, and managed a decentish photo.

Cattle Egret

Next up was Albert Village Lake in Leicester. We visited this site to see a juvenile Black-throated Diver. The bird was distant for photos, but we managed to see it well through the 'scope.

The final site for the day was Holme Pierrepont Watersports Centre in Nottingham. The main species we were hoping to see were Spotted Sandpiper and Long-tailed Duck. The first species was quite tricky, and it took about 2 and half hours before we spotted it!! Luckily, when we found it, it came down to within 5m, and Luke managed to get this lovely photo.

Spotted Sandpiper

The Long-tailed Duck (a 1st winter male) was easier to see, once we'd worked out which end of the rowing course was which(!). 

Long-tailed Duck

Other birds seen here included several Goldeneye, 2 Grey Wagtails and numbers 89 to 94.

Year List update:
77 – Water Rail
78 – Great White Egret
79 - Shelduck
80 – Skylark
81 - Curlew
82 - Mediterranean Gull
83 - Great Black-backed Gull
84 - Redshank
85 - Oystercatcher
86 - Cetti’s Warbler
87 - Cattle Egret
88 - Black-throated Diver
89 - Meadow Pipit
90 - Egyptian Goose
91 - Stock Dove
92 - Long-tailed Duck
93 - Spotted Sandpiper
94 - Little Egret

RSPB Leighton Moss

I've just been away with Jayne to the Lake District for a few days (more about that in a later post), and, on the way, we decided to pop into the RSPB's Leighton Moss reserve in Lancashire.

Leighton Moss

The main reason for our visit was to hopefully see some Bearded Tits that feed on the "grit trays" at this time of the year. The grit trays are provided to help the birds digest the fibrous reed seeds that they eat during the winter months. See details of a color ringing scheme carried out by North Lancashire Ringing Group here. Here's a picture of the grit trays, minus the birds!

Grit Trays

After failing to see the Beardies, we walked on down to the Lower Hide, where we had a little more luck, seeing our first ever English Otter (no photos though, as it was too far out), and one of at least 2 Great White Egrets, that were present on the reserve. As you can see from the photo, the bird was also quite a way out, but least it flew up onto a dead tree for us.

Great White Egret

Other birds seen during our visit were: Gadwall, Shoveler, Mallard, Grey Heron and Pintail.