Linacre WeBS - 14th December 2024

 Last weekend, I carried out the last Linacre WeBS count of 2024. It was, again, a very quiet affair with lower than average numbers of birds.

Birds seen were: Mallard (75), Mandarin Duck (21), Tufted Duck (6), Coot (1), Moorhen (10), Grey Heron (1), Cormorant (1), Great-crested Grebe (1), Little Grebe (1) and Black-headed Gull (9).

There were a few other birds in and around the woods: Nuthatch, Siskin (heard), Buzzard, Jay, Blackbird, Dunnock and a nice flock of c15 Long-tailed Tits, around the top reservoir.

Linacre - 8th September 2024

 It rained hard last night, so I decided to have a look at Linacre this morning, on the off chance that something exciting had dropped in. Guess what...? It hadn't!!!

When I go there (9am) it was dry, so I set off up to the top reservoir. On arrival, I heard Grey Wagtail ( 4 were seen) and saw the first of 94 Mallards. I then spotted a Cormorant, that very quickly turned into 2, 3, 4 and 5 ( the highest count of the year)! 

Cormorants ( distant and in the pouring rain!)

Other birds seen, before it began to rain very heavily, were: Coot (2 adults), Moorhen (7 adults and 1 juvenile), Mandarin (42), wheeting Chiffchaffs and a single Swallow.

Linacre WeBS - August 2024

 I carried out this month's WeBS count at Linacre yesterday. As always at this time of the year, it was pretty quiet. Unfortunately, the top reservoir is still closed off, for repairs to the boardwalk, and the water levels are much lower than normal there. Despite searching, I couldn't locate any passage waders!

Counts for this month's survey were: Mallard (100; 99 adults and 1 duckling), Mandarin (22 birds), Coot (2 adults), Moorhen (14; 11 adults and 3 juveniles), Tufted Duck (18 adults, no sign of breeding this year), Grey Wagtail (2 juveniles), Grey Heron (1), Great-crested Grebe (2 adults) and Kingfisher (a minimum of 2 birds - 1 on the middle reservoir and 1 on the bottom reservoir, but there appeared to be a few flying around - possibly juvenile birds?).

There were still c50 Linnets in the field by the car park, along with 5 Stock Doves, a feral Pigeon, 10 Chaffinch and Goldfinch. A small flock of c15 House Martins were over the middle reservoir, and a single Common Buzzard was seen.

Just 1 butterfly was seen, a single Speckled Wood, in the farmer's field, by the car park.

Speckled Wood

Linacre WeBS - 19th November 2023

 Today was the day for this month's WeBS walk around Linacre. I had a couple of hours, walking around all three reservoirs, recording just shy of 400 waterbirds of  9 species.

Counts were: Mallard (154), Mandarin Duck (153), Coot (10), Moorhen (19), Tufted Duck (47), Kingfisher (1), Cormorant (1), Great-crested Grebe (3) and Black-headed Gull (13).

Mandarin Ducks

Other birds seen/heard were: Raven (2), Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Nuthatch, Wren, Robin, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tit and Redwing.

Linacre WeBS - September 2023

 I was down at Linacre yesterday morning for this month's WeBS count. I had a good walk around all three reservoirs, and recorded some good numbers of returning waterbirds.

Birds seen were: Mallard (124 - my highest September count), Mandarin Duck (157 - also my highest ever September count), Tufted Duck (13 - still quite low numbers), Moorhen (23; 17 adults and 6 juveniles), Coot (9; 6 adults and 3 juveniles), Little Grebe (1 adult on the bottom reservoir), Great-crested Grebe (3; 2 adults and 1 juvenile on the middle reservoir), Kingfisher (2 on the bottom reservoir), Grey Heron (10) and Grey Wagtail (2).

Walking around, I also had 5 species of corvid (Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Jay, Magpie and Raven), along with 2 singing Chiffchaffs, 1 Mistle Thrush, Blue/Great and Long-tailed Tits, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Woodpigeon.

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 WeBS December 18th 2022

 After a week of ice and snowy conditions (maximum temperature of  3 degrees) I went down to Linacre yesterday morning (17th) to carry out this month's WeBS count. I had expected the reservoirs to be frozen, but, apart from a little ice ( c.10 %) on the bottom reservoir, the other two reservoirs were completely ice-free.

I walked around all three reservoirs and recorded the following numbers: 231 Mallard (highest count of the year), 114 Mandarin Duck, 72 Tufted Duck, 16 Moorhen, 8 Coot, c.50 Black-headed Gull, 5 Cormorant, 1 Grey Wagtail and 1 Little Grebe.

Black-headed Gulls

Other birds seen around the site included: 1 Tawny Owl, Siskin (3, the first of the winter), Magpie, Nuthatch, Blackbird, Wren, Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tit, Fieldfare (heard) and Redwing (10 over).

UPDATE: A report on Derbyshire Facebook Page from 18th recorded 119 Teal (!!!), 2 Gadwall, 1 male Shoveler, 104 Tufted Duck, 8 Goosander, 3 Cormorants and  19 Lapwing!!!

Linacre WeBS - 12th December 2020

 I was down at Linacre yesterday morning to carry out this month's WeBS walk. It was one of the best walks I've done all year, with record counts for both Mallard and Mandarin Duck. 

Totals seen were: 181 Mallard, 179 Mandarin Duck, 69 Tufted Duck, 10 Moorhen, 5 Coot, 48 Black-headed Gull, 9 Goosander (5 males and 4 females, including birds displaying), 2 Grey Wagtail and 2 Little Grebes.

The woodlands were quite quiet, but I was quite surprised to hear a singing Song Thrush on arrival! The final bird of note was Fieldfare, which was heard flying over.

Linacre WeBS - 15th November 2020

 This month's WeBS walk was my first visit to Linacre in November. As is usual at this tine of the year, there were good numbers of waterfowl present, along with a singing Wren, Blackbirds, Jay, Crows, Woodpigeons, Goldcrest, Long-tailed, Blue, Coal and Great Tit, 2 Magpies, 1 Sparrowhawk and a fly over Raven.  

Waterfowl counts were: 115 Mallard, 80 Mandarin Duck, 48 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Cormorant, 29 Black-headed Gulls, 2 "redhead" Goosander, 11 Moorhens, 4 Coots, 1 Kingfisher and 1 Grey Wagtail.

Linacre WeBS - 17th October 2020

Yesterday I had a couple of hours at Linacre to carry out this month's WeBS walk. There had been a notable increase in duck numbers, and I recorded the highest count for Mandarin Duck for the year.

Numbers were: 140 Mallard, 105 Mandarin Duck, 43 Tufted Duck, 12 Moorhen, 4 Coot, 4 Grey Wagtail, 1 Grey Heron, 16 Black-headed Gull and 5 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Grey Heron

Other birds reported around the reservoirs were: Blackbird, Wren, Starling (c.25 over), Treecreeper (2), Jay, Crow, Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Great-spotted and Green Woodpecker and  Tawny Owl (heard).

Later in the day, I saw a report of c140 Pink-footed Geese that had been reported flying over Linacre later in the morning. This was the first report of the year.

Linacre WeBS - 28th June 2020

After a week of temperatures in the high 20s, this month's WeBS walk was a pretty chilly affair, with 12 degrees and a strong, cold wind! All in all it was pretty quiet, with very little to get excited about.

Totals were: Mallard (109, including just 1 obvious duckling), Tufted Duck (16 - all adults), Moorhen (6 adults, including 1 bird sitting on a nest, but no young), Coot (10; 7 adults and 3 well grown young), Mandarin (9 adults and 1 brood of 10 ducklings), Grey Wagtail (4; including 2 juveniles). As I said, nothing too exciting, and no grebes, cormorants or gulls!

Moorhen on nest

After walking around the reservoirs, I had an hour in the ringing site, looking for any insects. As you can imagine, given the cool weather, it was quite quiet again, but I did manage to spot my first Linacre Ringlet of the year, along with one male Common Blue Damselfly and 3 species of hoverfly (yet to be identified).

Ringlet

Cromford Canal - 21st May 2020

Jayne and I had a walk along Cromford Canal on Thursday. We started off at the Wharf and walked towards Ambergate for about 2 and a half miles.

As always, we had great views of Little Grebe on the canal, including one pair with a tiny "humbug" chick. Moorhens had chicks (5), as did Mallard (2 broods) and Canada Geese (4 goslings). Warblers were in good voice with Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Garden Warbler heard. The Garden Warbler was singing from the top of a tree, so we actually got to see it! A single Pied Flycatcher was heard singing from the woodlands. We also spotted a shrew species running along the tow path. Unfortunately, it disappeared into the vegetation by the canal before we got good views, but it could have been a Water Shrew.

Little Grebe and chick

Garden Warbler

Canada Geese goslings

Once the sun came out, damselflies started to appear, with Large Red Damselflies and Azure Damselflies being the most common species. The highlight, however, was a stunning male Banded Demoiselle, my first sighting of 2020, that Jayne spotted just beyond the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Lea Wood Nature Reserve. It was being "buzzed" by the Azures, and I managed to catch this lovely photo with all 4 wings on show.

Banded Demoiselle.

Linacre WeBS - 25th January 2020

I carried out the first Linacre WeBS count of the year this morning. The weather was very still and grey, with a temperature of 7 degrees.

Birds seen were: Mallard (86), Tufted Duck (18), Mandarin Duck (30), Moorhen (11), Coot (6), Little Grebe (2), Great-crested Grebe (1 in full breeding plumage!), Goosander (2 redheads), Cormorant (1), Kingfisher (1) and Black-headed Gull (26 , but no rings!).

Many birds were singing in woods including Song Thrush, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Mistle Thrush, Nuthatch, Green Woodpecker (yaffling), Great-spotted Woodpecker (drumming), Wren, Goldcrest, Robin and Woodpigeon.

Year List update:
80 – Barn Owl (1 at Apperknowle on 17th)
81 – Song Thrush 
82 – Kingfisher
83 – Goldcrest

Linacre WeBS - 15th December 2019

Linacre's December WeBS walk was quite a quiet affair with the following birds seen: Mallard (80), Tufted Duck (just 4!), Mandarin Duck (21), Moorhen (16), Coot (2), Little Grebe (2), Great-crested Grebe (1), Grey Wagtail (1) and Black-headed Gull (58).

Linacre WeBS - 23rd November 2019

For the first time this month here's a blog that actually involves Linacre Reservoirs, and not too many Black-headed Gulls!!

I spent an hour and a half down at Linacre this morning (in the rain), carrying out this month's WeBS walk. It was very quiet with the following birds recorded: Mallard (65), Mandarin Duck (5), Tufted Duck ( just 4!), Coot (2), Moorhen (10), Great-crested Grebe (1), Cormorant (2) and Black-headed Gull (40).

The woods were pretty quiet too, with a few Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tits about. The highlight, however, was a single "wheeting" Chiffchaff seen in the willows by the middle reservoir.

Linacre WeBS - 27th October 2019

Ringing at Linacre was cancelled this morning dur to strong winds, so instead, Sarah, Robin and I walked around all three reservoirs and carried out this month's WeBS count.

No real surprises this month, but the Mandarin Ducks (48) looked very smart in their newly moulted breeding finery. Also, it was nice to see my first Linacre Black-headed Gulls of the winter, with 24 seen (no rings though).

Other birds seen were: Mallard (87), Tufted Duck (22), Coot (5), Moorhen (13), Grey Heron (1), Grey Wagtail (1), Cormorant (1), Great-crested Grebe (1) and Little Grebe (1).

Linacre WeBS - 28th September 2019

I was down at Linacre birdwatching for the first time this month (!) and carried out the monthly WeBS count. It was quite quiet, but, as always, at this time of the year, the Mandarins were in good form, looking very smart, and giving me my highest count of the year... so far.

Birds seen were: Mallard (104), Mandarin Duck (72), Tufted Duck (21), Coot (5), Moorhen (17), Grey Heron (1), Grey Wagtail (1), Cormorant (1) Great-crested Grebe (2) and Little Grebe (1). At least 2 Chiffchaffs were also heard singing around the top and middle reservoirs.

Tufted Duck

Linacre Nestboxes and Summer Migrants - 14th April 2019

Luke and I were down at Linacre this morning to have the first check of the nestboxes for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. We went around all of the "tit" boxes and found 12 with eggs in them already, including one with a Great Tit sitting, and a further 20 with the beginnings of nests in them. All the eggs were tit eggs, and all but one of the nests were tit nests. One nest looked a little different with grass in it, so fingers crossed for this one. Unfortunately, there weren't any signs of Nuthatches using the boxes... yet. The owl boxes will be checked later in the week.

Tit nest with 12 eggs

Along with these nests, we also inadvertently flushed a female Mallard off a nest that was built on top of a 1m high wall (the first one I've ever found at Linacre), and also had a pair of very annoyed Chiffchaffs alarm calling and wing flicking at us as we walked past them. The Moorhen's nest that we found last weekend was still active, with a bird sitting on it, whilst a tiny, newly-fledged Moorhen chick was by the boardwalk on the top reservoir. Last, but by no means least, was a Blackbird carrying nesting material.

Mallard nest

Other birds noted this morning were: 4 Bramblings still around the top reservoir, Greylag Geese (birds heard honking, but not seen, 1st record of 2019), Teal (a pair on the top reservoir), Siskin and Lesser Redpoll (heard by the top reservoir), Blackcap (4+ singing), Willow Warbler (2 singing) and a very nice mixed flock of Swallow (c.40), Sand Martins (c.20) and House Martins (4+) feeding on the top reservoir, and coming in to roost on the dam wall (1st Linacre records of 2019).

Linacre Bird News - 7th April 2019

Luke and I were at Linacre this morning for a walk around all 3 reservoirs. We recorded the following waterbirds: Mallard (37), Tufted Duck (46), Mandarin (14), Great-crested Grebe (5 - including 1 pair displaying), Cormorant (2), Grey Wagtail (1 heard), Black-headed Gull (3 - unusual in April), Coot (9), Moorhen (7, including 1 sat tightly on a nest).

Moorhen

Whilst walking around the reservoirs we also recorded at least 9 singing Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps and the first Willow Warbler of the year. Other signs of breeding included both Mistle Thrush and Chaffinch seen carrying nesting material.

Blackcap

Interestingly, Luke managed to spot 4 Bramblings by the top reservoir, an excellent record!

Linacre - 2nd March 2019

Luke and I had a couple of hours at Linacre yesterday morning, hoping to see, or hear, our first spring migrants. Unfortunately, we didn't see, or hear, any migrants, but we did get some good counts of the waterbirds, and recorded a species that we'd not recorded at Linacre since 2014!

First the waterfowl numbers: Mallard 59, Tufted Duck 29, Mandarin Duck 26, Moorhen 14, Coot 10, Grey Wagtail 2, Great-crested Grebe 5, Canada Goose 2, Black-headed Gull 14.

We also had drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker, Stock Dove (1), Skylark (1 singing), Siskin,  and ….. Red-legged Partridge (2; the first record since 2014).

Red-legged Partridge