Seven Hours at Linacre!

 Yesterday (19th), I had a couple of visits to Linacre. The first, from 06.00 - 09.30, was a ringing session, with 3 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, whilst the second from 14.00 - 17.30, was a solo walk, looking for insects and carrying out this month's WeBS walk.

The ringing session was quite a quiet affair, with just 9 birds ringed. Happily, 8 of the 9 birds were juveniles, i.e. born this year, but the low number was quite disappointing, given the time of year. Hopefully, numbers will pick up, as the summer progresses. Bird caught were (new/retrap): Blackcap 1/0 (juvenile), Chiffchaff 4/0 (all juveniles), Robin 1/0 (juvenile), Blue Tit 1/0 (juvenile) and Bullfinch 2/0 (1 adult - born last year, and 1 juvenile).

By the afternoon, the temperature had risen to 22 degrees, so I went back down for a walk around the site. As you can see from the picture below, the bottom reservoir is currently nearly dry. It has been drained as maintenance work is being carried out on the overflow. As a result there were few birds there, but the exposed mud could bring in some waders perhaps.

Bottom reservoir

Waterbirds see were: Mallard (42 - 40 adults and 2 juveniles), Tufted Duck (24 - all adults), Mandarin Duck (17 - all adults), Coot (1 adult), Moorhen (3 adults), Grey Heron (1), Great-crested Grebe (3 adults - no juveniles this year), Herring Gull (1 adult), Lesser Black-backed Gull (5 adults and 1 juvenile),and, the best of all, a juvenile Common Sandpiper!

Whilst on site, I also spent a lot of time (!) looking at the amazing number of butterflies and other insects present. Very conservative estimates of species seen are: Meadow Brown (50+), Gatekeeper (9), Speckled Wood (3), Comma (2), Painted Lady (6 - 5 very fresh looking individuals and 1 very tatty one!), Holly Blue (4), Green-veined White (2), Large White (1), Peacock (3), Small Skipper (1), Silver Y (1), Shaded Broad-bar (1 in the ringing site), Brown Hawker (2), Common Blue Damselfly (100+, including ovipositing pairs), Blue-tailed Damselfly (1 male), Migrant Hawker (6), Volucella inanis (2), Volucella pullecens (3), Myathropa florea (1) and Eristalis sp!

Migrant Hawker

Common Blue Damselfly

Volucella inanis

Linacre Ringing and a new Moth!

 This morning I was down at Linacre, with 3 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, for our first mist netting session since 2nd May 2026. Although it was quite quiet, with just 10 birds of 5 species, ringed, it was great to be back, and also resulted in the first juveniles of the year, 3 retraps of birds ringed previously and a new moth species for the site!

First up, the ringed birds (new/retrap): Blackcap 2/1 - the two new birds were this year's juveniles, whilst the retrap was a male bird ringed, at Linacre, as a juvenile, on 23rd August 2025, and presumably back, as a nesting bird this year (!) I wonder where it spent its first winter - Spain, Northern Africa?, Chiffchaff 2/0 - both new birds were juvenile birds, Blue Tit 1/2 - a new adult bird and two retraps, both ringed at Linacre, on 26th April and 13th July 2025 respectively, Wren 1/0 - a juvenile bird and Robin 1/0 - a 1 year old bird (age 5). Other birds seen/heard on site were Swift (5 overhead), Willow Warbler (1 singing), Garden Warbler (1 singing), Woodpigeon (dozens in the fields), Nuthatch (heard) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (heard).

Away from the birds, we also spotted a few insects: Common Blue Damselfly (1 male), Latticed Heath (1), Red Admiral (1), Cinnabar Moth (1), Painted Lady (1), Ringlet (1), Meadow Brown (1), Small White (1) and, best of all, a new moth species; Clouded Border! Details of this moth can be found on Butterfly Conservation's website  here and its status in Derbyshire here.

Clouded Border

Linacre Nestboxes 2026 - The results are in!

Since the end of April, several members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group have been monitoring the nestboxes at Linacre, for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme We have been doing this since 2012, and this weekend was the last visit of the season.

The first birds of the season were ringed on 16th May, and the last were ringed on 30th May. This year's totals were: Blue Tit (161 birds from 20 broods), Great Tit (56 birds from 11 broods), Pied Flycatcher (8 chicks from1 brood), Robin (1 brood of 5 birds) and  Mandarin Duck (2 adult birds; 1 new female and a female first ringed in 2024). A female Garden Warbler, with a brood patch, was also caught at the start of May. Now that the nestboxes are all completed, our attention will turn to the breeding warblers on site. Hopefully, the season will be good and we'll get lots of youngest to monitor and ring.

Whilst walking around the site, we often see other birds, including this fabulous Great-crested Grebe that was seen, resting in amongst the Amphibious Bistort, yesterday morning.

Great Crested Grebe

And they're back..!!

 I was down at Linacre this morning to carry out the first nestbox check of 2026. It was a mixed bag, as always, with 7 nests with eggs in them, many empty nestboxes, and a few "dead" boxes. Some of the empty boxes had the beginnings of nests, so there should be more to come over the next few weeks. The results, as always, will be sent off the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. Whilst there, I also had the first records for 3 new species of summer migrant.

In total, four nests were either Blue or Great Tits, and the other three were Mandarin Duck nests. None of the tit nests had a full clutch, and none were incubating yet. The Mandarin nests ranged from 4 eggs to 16+!!

As well as the birds, we also found a couple of wasps, and, a first for the site, two Wood Mice, together in one box!

Wood Mice

Other birds also recorded were: Chiffchaff (7), Willow Warbler (3), Blackcap (3), Swallow (20+), House Martin (1 with the Swallows, Year Tick 128), Sand Martin (also 1 with the Swallows - the first site record since 2024), Raven (1 over), Greylag Goose (2  flying along the valley), Canada Goose (heard, first thing), 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Cormorant and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Siskins were also heard, but not seen.

Linacre and Barbrook Reservoir - 21st March 2026

 This morning, I was out with 3 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group for a session at Linacre. I'd heard Chiffchaffs singing for a couple of weeks, so was very keen to see if we could catch the first birds of the new season.

After 3 and half hours we had caught 13 birds (new/retrap): Chiffchaff 2/0, Coal Tit 0/2, Great Tit 0/1, Blue Tit 1/1, Dunnock 1/1, Robin 2/0, Blackbird 0/1 and Goldcrest 1/0. Whilst there, we also had 10 Greylag Geese fly over (highest ever count?), a flock of c15 Fieldfare over, a single Sparrowhawk, drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Treecreeper, 2 Stock Doves (singing) and  2 Nuthatches.

Afterwards, Jayne and I went for a walk up on Barbrook Reservoir. The hoped-for Wheatear didn't put in an appearance, but, in the 12 degrees warmth and sunshine, we did record: Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Kestrel, Raven, Lapwing ( 2 birds), Mallard, Tufted Duck (pair), Canada Geese (2) and a Year Tick, Reed Bunting (117).

Reed Bunting

In addition, we also saw a small group of 6 Red Deer and at least 6 pairs of Common Toads breeding in the pools.

Red Deer

Common Toad

Linacre Ringing and WeBS

 On 26th October, I was down at Linacre for a ringing session. We managed to catch 61 birds, including our first Redwing of the winter (a juvenile) along with the following birds, new/retrap: Blue Tit 18/1, Great Tit 6/1, Coal Tit 6/0, Long-tailed Tit 14/1, Wren 1/0, Robin 1/0 and Goldcrest 10/0. The retrap Great Tit was a juvenile that I had originally ringed, in Box c3, in May 2025. 

Last weekend, (9th) I carried out the monthly WeBS count at Linacre. Numbers were beginning to build up, with the following birds seen: Mallard (69), Tufted Duck (73),  Moorhen (7), Coot (5), Cormorant (2), Grey Wagtail (1), Pied Wagtail (1 on the muck heap by the main entrance), Black-headed Gull (6), Mandarin (38) and a single Kingfisher. 

Whilst on site for the WeBS walk, I also had the first Fieldfare of the winter (c.40 flew over) and a couple of Raven very low over the bottom reservoir. 

Linacre WeBS and Ringing

 This week, I have been down to Linacre a couple of times to carry out this month's WeBS count and for a ringing session.

The WeBS count was as follows: Mallard (46), Tufted Duck (28 adults, no breeding again this year), Mandarin Duck (5), Coot (8; 5 adults and 3 juveniles), Moorhen (8; 5 adults and 3 juveniles),  Grey Wagtail (4), Cormorant (1), Grey Heron (1), Great-crested Grebe (4: 1 adult and 3 juveniles) and 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. Other birds seen were: Goldfinch, Bullfinch (heard), Robin, Dunnock, Chiffchaff, 1 Mistle Thrush, c.8 House Martins and c.20 Swallows.

The ringing session, held on 23rd, was the best one so far this year, with 80 birds ringed. Totals were (new/retrap): Chiffchaff (19/0 - all juveniles), Willow Warbler (5/0 - 4 juveniles), Blackcap (14/1 - the retrap being a juvenile first ringed here in July), Blackbird (1/0 - an adult), Blue Tit (20/1 - the retrap being a bird ringed in box c.26 on 18th May 2025), Great Tit (6/0 - all juveniles), Long-tailed Tit (1/1 - the retrap being a bird first ringed here in November 2024), Robin (2/0 - both juveniles), Wren (2/0 - 1 juvenile), Goldfinch (1/0 - 1 juvenile), Dunnock (1 juvenile) and Goldcrest (5/0 - 4 juveniles).

Other birds seen were: House Martin (c.17), Swallow (2 over) and Crossbill (10 over).

5 butterflies (3 Red Admirals, 1 Speckled Wood and 1 Painted Lady) were also seen.

Linacre Ringing - 13th July 2025

Yesterday, we had a fantastic ringing session down at Linacre, where we ringed 54 birds of 11 species, including 4 summer migrants.

Birds ringed were (new/retrap): Blackcap 15/0, 9 of which were juveniles, Chiffchaff 7/0, including 6 juveniles, Willow Warbler 1/0 (adult), Garden Warbler 1/1 ( 1 juvenile and a retrap adult, first caught at Linacre in May 2023), Blue Tit 12/1 (all juveniles, the retrap having been ringed in Box 1a on 18th May), Great Tit 9/2 ( 9 juveniles, including 1 from Box G2, ringed on 11th May), Treecreeper 1/0 (juvenile), Nuthatch 1/0 (adult), Bullfinch 1/0 (adult), Wren 1/0 (juvenile) and Robin 1/0 (juvenile).

A Few More Birds!!

 Since my last post, Jayne and I have been out and about, and have managed to add another 6 species to the "Year List!.

The first new species was Pied Flycatcher (155), a single male heard singing at Linacre on 24th April. Several other were also seen and heard at Padley Gorge today. The next species, Garden Warbler (156), was special, as it was a female bird, with a brood patch, that was caught and ringed at Linacre on 26th April. Fingers crossed for successful breeding this year.

The other new species were all seen or heard at Padley Gorge and Big Moor this morning. Cuckoo , 1 heard (157), Redstart, several heard, but none seen - annoying leaves!! (158), Tree Pipit, 1 seen and heard singing (159) and finally, Whinchat - 1 male seen on Big Moor (160).

Tree Pipit

Whinchat

One new butterfly was also seen at Padley Gorge, namely, Green Hairstreak.

Green Hairstreak

Linacre - Ringing, Migrants and Year Ticks

 Last weekend (1st March) I was down at Linacre for a ringing session, and yesterday (8th March),  I was back again for a walk around the reservoirs. 

The ringing session was quiet, with just 13 birds ringed: Great Tit 4/2, Coal Tit 0/2, Dunnock 1/0 and Lesser Redpoll 4/0. The Redpoll (125) were the best birds of the morning, being both the first record for Linacre in 2025, and being a "Year Tick". The retrap Great Tits had been ringed in 2023 and 2024, and the 2 retrap Coal Tits had both been ringed in 2024.

Yesterday's visit, in 5 degrees, and glorious sunshine, brought out the first Chiffchaff (126) record of 2025, with 2 singing birds. Other birds singing were: Robin, Dunnock, Song Thrush (3), Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Nuthatch, Coal and Great Tit and Wren. Other species seen were: Canada Goose (a pair on the top reservoir), Greylag Goose (a pair flying along the valley), Mallard (40), Mandarin Duck (6, including birds searching for nesting sites in the woodlands), Moorhen (7), Coot (10), Grey Wagtail (3), Great-crested Grebe (5 birds; a pair each on the bottom and middle reservoirs, and a single, calling bird, on the top reservoir), Cormorant (1 breeding plumaged bird on the top reservoir, Pheasant,  Jay and Great-spotted Woodpecker (drumming).

Canada Geese

After ringing, Jayne and I had a walk along Stanage Edge, where we heard our first Derbyshire Curlew of 2025 and saw Meadow Pipits, Skylark and 2 Red Grouse (127).

Linacre WeBS and Ringing- October and November 2024

 I carried out this month's WeBS count at Linacre this morning. It was 12 degrees, grey and overcast, and, not for the first time this year, very quiet!!. I also realised that I hadn't posted last month's totals either, so here they are too.

October 2024 - Mallard (57), Moorhen (9; 8 adults and 1 juvenile), Coot (3), Cormorant (5 juveniles), Grey Heron (2), Tufted Duck (17), Mandarin (80), Great-crested Grebe (1), Grey Wagtail (2) and Black-headed Gull (2).

November 2024 - Mallard (53), Moorhen (9; 7 adults and 2 juveniles), Coot (1), Cormorant (1), Grey Heron (2), Tufted Duck (0!), Mandarin (16!!), Little Grebe (1), Pied Wagtail (1) and Black-headed Gull (1).

Last weekend, we were ringing at Linacre and managed to catch 25 birds: Redwing (6/0), Blue Tit 7/0, Great Tit 1/2, Coal Tit 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 6/0 and Wren 1/1.

Linacre Birds and Ringing - 2 new species!

 Last week, 9th and 11th, I had my first walk and ringing session at Linacre since returning from holiday (more of that in future posts). 

On the 9th, I had a walk around the bottom and middle reservoirs. The top reservoir is still closed off, due to ongoing work on the boardwalk. The following birds were seen/heard, numbers are quite low, due to having no access to the top reservoir: Stock Dove (2), Great Crested Grebe (7; 2 adults and 2 broods of 2 and 3 juveniles), Mallard (106), Tufted Duck (8 adults, no juveniles yet this year), Mandarin Duck (17 adults), Moorhen (7 birds; 6 adults and 1 chick), Coot (2 adults), Cormorant (1), Grey Wagtail (2 juveniles), Grey Heron (3), Lesser Black-backed Gull (9; 3 adults and 6 juveniles)  and House Martin (heard). Because there are works ongoing on the top reservoir, the water levels are lower than normal. As a result, there is more mud exposed, and this has lead to a first record of a Redshank.

The ringing session took place on Sunday 11th. 5 members of Sorby Breck Group ringed 43 birds of 12 species, including a brand new species: Linnet! The Linnet, 11 in total, were part of a much larger flock of between 50 -100, that have been feeding in the neighbouring fields to the ringing site. Hopefully, they'll hang around for the winter!

Totals for the morning were: Linnet 11/0 (all juveniles), Blackcap 3/0 (all juveniles), Willow Warbler 3/0 (1 adult and 2 juveniles), Chiffchaff 3/0 (all juveniles), Garden Warbler 1/0 (juvenile), Great Tit 4/0 (1 adult and 3 juveniles), Blue Tit 3/2 (2 adults and 3 juveniles), Robin 2/1 (all juveniles), Wren 2/0 (1 adult and 1 juvenile), Dunnock 2/0 (1 adult and 1 juvenile), Chaffinch 5/0 (all juveniles, feeding with the Linnet flock) and Great-spotted Woodpecker 1/0 (1 juvenile).

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).

Dutch-ringed Redwing at Linacre

 Every year, we try to catch some of the Redwings, that spend the winter months in Britain. This morning, we (Sorby Breck Ringing Group), were at Linacre before light to set up the nets and see if we could get lucky. By the end of the morning, we had ringed 8 birds (of about 30 in the area), including our first ever foreign-ringed bird, a juvenile ringed in Holland. Further details of exactly where and when, to follow when I hear back. UPDATE: the Redwing had been ringed 510km away, in The Netherlands, 8 days before it was caught at Linacre. Fantastic!! 

Dutch-ringed Redwing

Birds ringed were (new/retraps) : Redwing 7/1, Blackbird 1/0, Great Tit 8/0, Blue Tit 7/1, Coal Tit 2/1, Long-tailed Tit 2/0, Treecreeper 1/0, Wren 1/0, Chaffinch 1/0, Bullfinch 1/0 and Goldcrest 5/0.

Whilst there we also spotted a few other birds: Cormorant (1 over), Raven (1 heard), Tawny Owl (heard first thing), Jay ( 2 seen), Skylark (1 heard), Buzzard (1 over) and Sparrowhawk (2; a male and female hunting the Redwing!!).

Linacre Ringing - 8th October 2024

Last weekend, we had a ringing session down at Linacre. We arrived at 6.45am, and, by 11am, we had ringed 47 new birds of 8 species.

Birds ringed were (new/retrap): Blackbird 2/0 (1 juvenile), Song Thrush 2/0 (both juveniles), Blue Tit 12/2, Great Tit 22/1, Coal Tit 1/0 (juvenile), Wren 3/0 (all juveniles), Blackcap 1/0 (juvenile male - weighing in at just over 20g!!) and Chiffchaff 1/0 (adult).

This was, by far, our best session at Linacre this year, with the best birds obviously being our latest ever ringed  Blackcap and Chiffchaff. The two Song Thrushes were also great records, and presumably, relate to locally bred birds.

Blackcap

Chiffchaff

Song Thrush

Linacre Ringing - 2nd September 2023

 Yesterday morning I was down at Linacre, from 05.45 - 10.00, for a ringing session, with 2 other members of  Sorby Breck Ringing Group. It was our first session there since February, and we were treated to a great session, with 26 birds, of 6 species, including our first ever adult Tawny Owl and 2 of this year's pulli, that had been ringed in the boxes in May and June.

Tawny Owl

Birds ringed were (new/retrap): Tawny Owl 1/0, Blackcap 3/0 (all juveniles), Chiffchaff 1/0 ( 1 juvenile), Robin 1/0,  Blue Tit 10/1, Great Tit 5/3, Coal Tit 1/0.

All the retraps had originally been ringed at Linacre. 2 as juveniles in October and November 2022. The other 2, one Blue Tit and one Great Tit, had been ringed in the boxes in May and June this year.

Linacre Nestboxes Update

 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.

Mandarin Duck

Mallard and ducklings

Linacre Weekend

 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!

Linacre Weekend

 Last weekend (26th and 27th November) I had a couple of visits to Linacre. On Saturday, I walked around all three reservoirs for this month's WeBS walk. On Sunday I was down again for a few hours ringing, with 3 members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group.

The WeBS walk was fantastic with the highest counts of the year for Mallard (201), Mandarin Duck (185) and Tufted Duck (87). Other species seen were: Moorhen (13; 12 adults and 1 juvenile), Coot (10 adults), Grey Wagtail (2), Pied Wagtail (1), Little Grebe (1) and Great-crested Grebe (2). Another highlight of the walk was the amazing sight of approximately 4-500 Jackdaws that were flying around the middle reservoir in a Starling-like murmuration just before dawn!

The ringing session on Sunday was very good as well, with 50 birds of 10 species ringed (new/re trap): Robin 0/2, Redwing 5/0, Great Tit 12/2, Blue Tit 9/6, Coal Tit 5/1, Goldcrest 1/1, Lesser Redpoll 2/0, Magpie 1/0, Dunnock 1/1 and Blackbird 0/1. 

The Blackbird was a great re trap, having been ringed, by me, in August 2016, as a 3 (born that year), making it 6 and a half years old! It was also really good to catch the first Redwing of the winter and the Lesser Redpolls.

Linacre Ringing - 5th November 2022

 Just two of us managed to get to Linacre for this week's ringing session with Sorby Breck Ringing Group, but we had a fantastic few hours with 46 birds, of 8 species, ringed.

As always, the majority of the birds were Blue and Great Tits, with 18 (15 new and 3 re-traps) of the former and 9 (8 new birds and 1 re-trap) of the latter caught. 2 Coal Tits (both new) were also caught, along with 11 Long-tailed Tits (all new), 1 Blackbird (new), 1 Chaffinch (new), 3 Goldcrests (2 new and 1 re-trap) and, best of all, a young Sparrowhawk - the first to be ringed at Linacre!!

Sparrowhawk!!

As well as the ringing, we also managed to see a flock of c.30 Redwings, c.20 Fieldfares and we also heard Tawny Owls calling.