Welcome to my blog all about my birdwatching, wild bird ringing activities and moth recording at Linacre Reservoirs, Derbyshire; in Great Britain and abroad.
This week, I've been up to Linacre a couple of times to have a first look at the nestboxes.
In total, 13 nests were found, with the first eggs, all tits, being found on 15th. They included two clutches of 12 eggs!! Several other clutches were still being laid. The owl boxes were also checked, but, unfortunately, this year, none were in use by owls. 2 of the boxes showed signs of use by Mandarin Ducks.
All nests will be recorded, and submitted to the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.
Last weekend, I was down at Linacre for a few hours. The boardwalk around the top reservoir was still out of bounds for repairs, and the water level there had also been dropped. Unfortunately, no waders....yet! As is expected in June, it was very quiet, with just a few ducklings around and about. The highlight (perhaps "lowlight") of the walk was my first sighting of Swift (at Linacre) for the year. This is very late, and only involved one bird that was seen for about 30 seconds! No hirundines were seen. I checked the last few boxes, and was very pleased to see that the second brood of Pied Flycatchers had fledged successfully, making that 10 chicks in total - the highest ever count.
Out on the water the following bids were counted: Mallard (77 adults and 6 ducklings), Tufted Duck (15 adults), Lesser Black-backed Gull (4 adults), Mandarin (15 adults and 6 ducklings), Moorhen (just 6 adults - no young yet!), Coot (2 adults and 3 chicks - the only ones seen so far this year), Grey Wagtail (1 adult) and Great-crested Grebe (7 adults and 6 juveniles).
I also had a quick check, and fill, of the feeders. Whilst walking down, I flushed a Tawny Owl and also saw my first Straw Dot (moth) and Volucella bombylans (hoverfly, bumblebee mimic) of the year. A Chimney Sweeper moth, reported by Antony, in the fields beyond the top reservoir on 26th, was the first record since 2019.
Last Thursday, Jayne and I popped down to Linacre to ring the last chicks (pulli) of the 2024 season. As it turns out, contrary to many areas, the nestboxes have been very good this year, with a total of 192 pulli, 1 adult Mandarin and 1 adult Pied Flycatcher ringed.
By far the most numerous bird ringed this year was, as always, Blue Tit. In total, I ringed 20 broods, ranging from 3 - 10 birds, making a total of 132 birds (the highest number since 2018). All these nests have now fledged, and only 6 birds didn't fledge - a fledging rate of 95%, which is pretty good. The second most numerous species was Great Tit, with 6 broods of between 5-8 birds, totalling 43 birds. This time all birds fledged, so 100% success rate! The third tit species, was Coal Tit, with just 1 brood of 6 ringed. Again, all the brood fledged, so another 100% success rate! This was particularly nice, as this is only the third time this species has used the boxes, since they were put up in 2006! Last year's clutch were predated, so the previous successful nest was back in 2011. 1 Tawny Owl was also ringed. This box hasn't yet been checked, so I don't know if it has fledged yet. Likewise, the adult Mandarin Duck, and her clutch still need to be checked. The last species, Pied Flycatcher, has also had its most successful year to date. In total, 3 nests were discovered this year, 2 of which had chicks that could be ringed (2 broods of 5). The first young ringed have now fledged, and the second box will be checked again next week. The other brood was predated.
As always, all nests were monitored for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme, and all birds ringed, were done so, under BTO licence.
Last week's visit to Linacre was very successful, with 43 active nests found. I was back down again yesterday, and am very pleased to say that the nests were still going strong. In addition, I spotted a few butterfly species, including a new one for the year.
First up, the nestboxes. Last week, there were 2 Pied Flycatcher nests, but this week, it had increased to 3! One of last week's nests had increased the number of eggs to 7 (from 5), and the other two contained 5 and 4 eggs. The Wren's nest was still active as was the Coal Tit's. These chicks were old enough to ring (brood of 6) as was the first brood of Blue Tits (6). I'm particularly pleased with Coal Tits, as this is the first time this species has successfully nested in the boxes. As always, the results will be entered into the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.
After checking the boxes, I had a quick check for butterflies, and dropped lucky with 1 Red Admiral, 1 Peacock, 3 Silver Y moths and, best of all, a Painted Lady!
Yesterday morning I went down to Linacre to carry out this month's WeBS count, and to catch up with the nestboxes.
The WeBS count was, as usual for May, quite quiet, with the following birds recorded: Mallard (46 birds; 32 adults and 14 ducklings - 4 broods of 5, 5, 3 and 1), Tufted Duck (4!), Grey Wagtail (2; 1 male and 1 female), Grey Heron (1), Coot (5 adults), Moorhen (4 adults) and Mandarin Duck (10).
The nestboxes, on the other hand, were much more exciting! I found our first full clutches Pied Flycatcher eggs of the year (2 nests, each containing 5 eggs). Another 2 singing males were also heard away from these boxes, so I'm keeping everything crossed for further nests. The Coal Tit and Wren nests were still going strong, and the first Blue Tit chicks of the year had hatched. In total, we now have 43 active nests on site - a very good year! Other birds recorded around the site were 3 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaffs and 1 singing Garden Warbler.
On Thursday, I was also on site, with Chloe, to ring the adult Mandarin Duck that is nesting on site. This year, we also added a colour ring, so hopefully, we'll get some more sightings of her.
Over the weekend, I was down at Linacre with other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, to carry out another check of the nestboxes. We had a couple of visits, and recorded some new species, and a very nice surprise....!
The first visit, on Saturday, saw the first check of the boxes around the Ranger's Base, and we found 13 new occupied nests. After that we checked on the owl boxes. The first contained Grey Squirrels (!), the second had a female Mandarin Duck on 11 eggs, and the third box contained..... a single Tawny Owl chick! This was a great find, as it was the first chick in the boxes since 2018.
On the second visit, on Monday, we checked the remaining boxes, and found a grand total of 30 nests, including our first Pied Flycatcher (1 egg) and Wren (1 clutch of 6) of the year. There was 1 singing Pied Flycatcher (year tick 168) in another area of the woods and 1 other nest without eggs in it, so I'm hoping we may yet get more than 1 nest this year. The last piece of good news was that the eggs on the Coal Tit nest we found last week had hatched - the first time this has happened in a box.
Walking around the reservoirs, I managed to spot a couple of Mallard broods (2 and 1), my first of the year, 21 Tufted Ducks, 1 Canada Goose, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Great-crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe, 6 Mandarin Ducks (5 males and 1 female), 6 Blackcaps, 4 Chiffchaffs and 1 singing Garden Warbler ( year tick 164).
A few insects were seen on Sunday: 1 male Orange Tip, 1 Peacock, my first Red and Black Froghopper and 2 Dark-edged Bee-flies.
Yesterday, I had my first visit of the year to check on the nestboxes at Linacre. The initial few boxes didn't bode well, but, by the end of the session, I had 20 boxes with eggs in them. As always, the boxes were checked under licence, and the results will be added to the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. There are still a few boxes to check, so hopefully, there will be a few more to add to the list.
All of yesterday's boxes contained tit nests, including only my second Coal Tit nest. The highest count of eggs was 13 in one clutch! Unfortunately, there weren't any Pied Flycatchers around at all. I'll keep checking, and hopefully, there will be some nests this year.
After checking the boxes, I walked around the rest of the site, recording my first Common Sandpiper (162) of the year.
There were also approximately 15 Swallows, 1 House Martin and 1 Sand Martin, flying around the top reservoir. The ringed Grey Wagtail was still present, singing on the top reservoir, and was joined by a female bird. Other birds seen were: 1 Grey Heron, 21 Mallard, 7 Mandarin Ducks, 1 Canada Goose, 7 Coots (1 nest on the top reservoir), 4 Moorhens, 3 Great-crested Grebes, 24 Tufted Ducks, 3 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap, 2 Song Thrushes and a calling Great-spotted Woodpecker. Unfortunately, the female Mute Swan, 6Y24, appears to have left the site.
In the afternoon, I was down at The Avenue Washlands, and spotted my first Swift (163) of the year.
Yesterday, Luke and I went down to Linacre to check on, and ring, the last few chicks. There were four boxes left, but when we got there, just two still had chicks, and two had been predated. The first box contained 3 Pied Flycatcher chicks and the other held 3 Blue Tits.
Now that all the boxes have been checked the totals for 2023 are as follows: Blue Tit; 14 broods and 93 chicks, Great Tit; 7 broods and 46 chicks and Pied Flycatcher; 1 brood and 3 chicks. This gives a total of 142 chicks ringed.
Whilst on site, we also spotted 5 adult Great-crested Grebes, with 2 juveniles and one pair on a nest, 45 adult Mallards and 7 broods of ducklings totally 34 young, 11 adult Coots and 10 juveniles (3 broods), 6 Moorhens and 8 juveniles (5 broods), 24 adult Tufted Ducks, 40 Mandarin Ducks (28 adults and 11 ducklings (3 broods), 3 Grey Wagtails (1 adult and 2 juveniles), 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Swallows, 4 Chiffchaffs, 4 Blackcaps, 1 Willow Warbler, Goldfinch, Skylark, 5 Song Thrushes (singing and 1 adult seen), 2 Bullfinches (1m and 1fm) and 1 singing Garden Warbler.
Insect wise, we saw 3 Common Blue Damselflies, 1 female Broad-bodied Chaser (first record of the year), Volucella bombylans (hoverfly), 1 Marbled White Spot (moth, a first record for the site), 1 Silver Y moth, 1 Hairy Shieldbug (my first Linacre record since 2013!), 1 Black-headed Cardinal Beetle, Thick-thighed Flower Beetles, 1 Dark-edged Bee-fly, 1 Speckled Wood, Scorpion Fly, and several Eristalis hoverflies.
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On Monday I had a few hours down at Linacre ringing the first Blue and Great Tit chicks of 2023. In total, I ringed 11 broods; 6 Blue Tits (12, 5, 7, 6, 9, 7 and 11) and 3 Great Tits (4, 6, 5 and 11). I also had an hour there today, when I ringed another 5 broods; 3 Great Tits (6, 7 and 7) and 2 Blue Tits (6 and 6).
There are still a few more boxes to ring, including a brood of 5 Pied Flycatchers.
Walking around, I also spotted this beautiful male Mandarin Duck and a brood of 13 Mallard ducklings.
This weekend was WeBS weekend, so I had a walk around this morning. The following birds were counted: Mallard (49 adults and just 2 ducklings), Tufted Duck (21), Mandarin Duck (22; 20 males and 2 females, no ducklings), Moorhen (4, no young), Coot (11 adults and 1 young - my first of the year), Little Grebe (5 adults; 4 on the middle reservoir and 1 on the top reservoir - no young yet), Great-crested Grebe (5; all adults, no chick seen today), Canada Goose (1) and Grey Wagtail (1 on the bottom reservoir).
Whilst on site, I also checked up on the nestboxes. Unfortunately, several had been predated, including two of the Pied Flycatcher nests. Thankfully, the third nest was still intact. Fingers crossed it survives.
The sun was out whilst I was there and I managed to see a couple of insects, a Green-veined White and my first damselfly of the year, a Common Blue on the ringing site.
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I had two visits to Linacre over the weekend, one for ringing and one to check the nestboxes.
The ringing trip, on Saturday, with two other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, was a short affair, with just 3 birds caught! Thankfully, the three birds were all warblers; one Blackcap, one Chiffchaff and best of all, a Garden Warbler - our first here since 2021, and the first ringed since 2017!!
The nestbox checking visit, on Sunday, was very successful, with 47 active nests found. The most exciting were 3 Pied Flycatcher nests (the highest ever total!) and a Blackbird nest, that had been built on the base of an old, broken tit box. Another 2 male Pied Flycatchers were also singing, so, I'm hoping there may be a couple more nests before the season is over. As always, the results of the visit will be added to the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.
Out on the reservoirs, there were 2 active Great-crested Grebe nests (and last week's chick), 1 Moorhen nest and 3 broods of Mallards. 12 Swallows and half a dozen House Martins were also flying around the middle reservoir. All in all, a great couple of visits!
I was down at Linacre this morning with 2 other members of the ringing group, carrying out a first check of the nestboxes. In total we found 28 active nests, all of which were Blue or Great Tits. In addition, a singing Pied Flycatcher was still in the same area as last week.
Other wildlife seen included 5 adult Greylag Geese and an adult Canada Goose on the top reservoir, the first singing Skylark of the year, a singing Stock Dove (first Linacre record and a "year tick"), 1 Common Buzzard and a male Roe Deer (my first ever Linacre record!!).
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I was down at Linacre this morning from 7am - 11am taking a first check of the year nestboxes (thanks to Antony and Pete for your support!)
As always, I was a little early, with just one box showing any sign of nesting activity; Owl Box 2, which had 6 cold, uncovered eggs (most likely Mandarin Duck). It did, however, give me time to put back on lids that had fallen off and have a walk around the reservoirs.
Whilst walking around, there were frequent drizzly showers, and I was lucky enough to see a flock of c.30 Swallows, 3 Sand Martins and 1 House Martin, feeding over the top reservoir. These were my first Linacre records of 2023. Other species seen and/or heard were: 6 Chiffchaffs, 2 Willow Warblers, 3 Blackcaps, 1 Raven, 1 Tawny Owl, 4 Great-crested Grebes, 2 Little Grebes, my first Moorhen nest (bird sitting), 1 singing Mistle Thrush, 2 singing Song Thrushes, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, a pair of Greylag Geese that flew east along the valley, and 3 Canada Geese (1 pair and another individual).
If all this birdlife wasn't enough, I also found 3 roosting Brown Long-eared Bats in one of the boxes and spotted 2 Brown Hares and a very impressive adult Grass Snake. (thanks Antony and Pete)!!!
Since my last post about the nestboxes, there have been a couple of extra visits, and the first chicks have been ringed.
To date, 12 broods of chicks have been ringed (6 Great Tits and 6 Blue Tits). In addition, a singing Pied Flycatcher was found on 14th May, but unfortunately, no nest has been found. Two of the owl boxes have had Mandarin eggs laid in them, but no adults have been ringed.
Other breeding news includes several broods of Mallard, and 1 brood each of Moorhen, Coot and Mandarin Duck.
I've had a couple of visits to check the nestboxes down at Linacre just recently. The season has begun well, with a total of 36 nests present. 34 of these are Tit nests, with both Blue and Great Tits on eggs. The other two nests were 1 Mandarin Duck (20+ eggs) and 1 Wren nest. Unfortunately, no Pied Flycatchers have been heard, or found this year.
The nests will all be monitored for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme, and all chicks will be ringed.
May is a busy month for ringing, especially the nestboxes, at Linacre, so a visit on Saturday with 2 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group saw a total of 50 pulli (young birds) ringed. All birds were Blue or Great Tits. Unfortunately, the Coal Tit nest I found in one of the boxes had been predated. Better news was the Pied Flycatcher nest. When checked, the female bird was sitting tight, hopefully on a nice, full clutch of eggs.
After checking the main nest boxes, I went down to 23 new boxes that have been put up by the bottom reservoir - The Glade. 3 broods of Blue and Great Tits were ringed. Whilst checking the boxes, a female Leucozona lucorum hoverfly landed on my arm. This was the first record of this species at Linacre!!
Two visits to Linacre this weekend, once to check on the nestboxes, and once to do some ringing.
The nestbox check took place on Saturday, but was cut short by heavy rain. I did, however, make sure I'd ringed the first brood of tits for 2021, a brood of 7 healthy Great Tits, and had checked on the progress of the Pied Flycatcher nest. Great new here, as the nest contained 2 eggs! Hopefully, this will increase to 6, 7 or even 8 over the next few days. I'm keeping everything crossed.
The ringing took place on Sunday between 6am and 9.30am. In total we caught and ringed 13 birds of 6 species. The most impressive bird has to be the adult male Kestrel. This was only the second Kestrel ringed at Linacre, following a female back in February 2018.
Other species seen around the site included a male Pied Wagtail by the main entrance on Saturday, and a new moth species, Green Carpet. Unfortunately, it flew off before I could get a photo.
The first damselfly of the year, a Large Red Damselfly, was noted today (17th) emerging from the pond by the workshop.
A lot can happen in a week, when it comes to the nestboxes at Linacre. This morning's check, showed that 3 had been predated - adult feathers and broken eggs (most likely some kind of rodent or mustelid), the chicks in one box were, thankfully, still going strong, and the pair of Pied Flycatchers had built a nest. Hopefully, they'll lay some eggs this week. The Mallard nest found last week was empty but undisturbed, so hopefully they've hatched.
Out on the water there were 80 Mallards (52 adults and 4 broods of 9, 6, 6 and 7), 5 Great-crested Grebes, 2 Grey Wagtails, 13 Moorhens (8 adults and 1 brood of 5), 29 Coots (12 adults and 3 broods of 7, 5 and 5), 9 male Mandarins and 25 adult Tufted Ducks.
Other birds seen were: 2 Swallows, 2 Yellowhammers (1 male and 1 female by the main entrance), 1 Skylark, singing by the top reservoir, 1 singing Mistle Thrush, 4 Chiffchaffs and 3 Blackcaps.
One species of insect was also seen, which is an Alderfly. There are three species in Great Britain, but they can only be identified to species level by genial dissection, so I think I'll leave it as Alderfly sp!!
It's been a couple of weeks since I last checked the nestboxes at Linacre, so I popped down for a couple of hours this morning, before the rain and wind started!!
It was a mixture of good news and bad news (as is always the case with every nestbox season). The bad news was that all three owl boxes, that had been used by Mandarins this year, appear to have failed. A quick check yesterday afternoon, revealed cold, uncovered eggs and no females. The better news, however, is that this morning's tit box check revealed a total of 32 active nests, the first chicks of the year (7 Great Tits, still naked and blind, so most likely very recently hatched), my first ever record of a Coal Tit using a nestbox, and a pair of Pied Flycatchers entering a nestbox!! In addition, the Mallard's nest with 8 eggs was empty this morning (hopefully fledged successfully), and another nest, with 6 eggs this time, was found on the floor in the woods.
After checking the boxes, I walked around all three reservoirs, and spotted the following waterbirds: Mallard (72; 51 adults and 21 ducklings from 4 broods of 8, 1, 5 and 7), Coot (12; 7 adults and 1 brood of 5 - first of the year), Moorhen 14; 9 adults and 1 brood of 5 - first of the year), Mandarin (7 males), Tufted Duck (30), Canada Goose (5; 3 flew over and 2 on the top reservoir), Greylag Goose (2 on the top reservoir - second record of the year), Great-crested Grebe (4 adults), Grey Wagtail (1), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1 adult) and a 1st summer/2nd calendar year (born 2020) Black-headed Gull - only my second May record of this species. 2 Swallows were also seen over the top reservoir.
This weekend I've had two visits to Linacre, once for the first ringing session there since September 2020, and once for the first nest box check of the year (not including the owl boxes - see here).
The ringing session, with 4 members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, and one of the Linacre volunteer rangers, took place yesterday, from 06.15 - 09.30. In total we ringed 21 birds of 9 species. Totals were (new/retrap): Blue Tit 3/2, Great Tit 4/1, Coal Tit 2/0, Robin 3/0, Chiffchaff 1/0, Blackcap 0/1, Dunnock 1/1, Chaffinch 1/0 and Goldcrest 1/0. All the retraps were Linacre-ringed birds. The 2 Blue Tits had been ringed in June 2019 and March 2020 (just before lockdown). The Great Tit was ringed in July 2018, the Dunnock in December 2018, but, best of all, was the male Blackcap, originally ringed as an adult, in July 2016! I also found out yesterday, that a Blue Tit we originally ringed at Linacre on 16th July 2016 had been found dead (killed by a cat), 7km away, on 28th April 2020. This is the longest recovery (distance) we've had, so far.
This morning's visit was to check the nest boxes. In total there were 30 boxes in use, ranging from N1 (a nest just being started) through to sitting birds. All the boxes appeared to be tit nests, except for one Wren nest. The highlight, however, of the morning was the discovery of the year's first singing Pied Flycatcher. It was in the vicinity of a nest box, so I'm keeping everything crossed for another successful breeding season (1 successful box last year, fledged 7 young). It's still quite early in the season too, so hopefully, there could be some more birds to arrive. A female Mallard was also disturbed from a nest, 1m away from a nest box, revealing a nest with 6 eggs. As always, the results of the nests will be recorded for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.
