Rufford - 18th January 2025

 Yesterday morning, I had a couple of hours at Rufford, before grandparenting duties took over. Whilst there, I managed to add 3 new Year Ticks, as well as spending some time checking the gulls.

I arrived on site at 8am, and parked up in the main car park. Within about 10 minutes, 4 Hawfinch (112) flew into the trees and posed beautifully. Unfortunately, the light was terrible, but I still managed a decent enough record shot.

Hawfinch

I then set off around the lake, where I added Stock Dove (113) and Marsh Tit (114) to this year's list. The Marsh Tit (s) were seen around the feeding station, and I managed to get a shot, showing the distinctive  white spot, on the lower mandible.

Marsh Tit

Carrying on to my usual spot, by the main lake, I was surprised to see c.100 Black-headed Gulls hanging around, waiting for breakfast, along with 6 Lesser Black-backs and a couple of Common Gulls. The Group ran out of green darvic rings a few weeks ago, so yellow ones have been used. Two of these birds were spotted: 2V00 and 2V05.

2V00

2V05

Other ringed birds were: 293A, 280B, 207C, 258C, 264C, 273C, 207F, 219F, 221F, 234F and 276F.

3 Mute Swans (Broken Beak, his partner and 1 juvenile), Kingfisher (heard), Siskins and 10 Goosander (7 males and 3 females), were also  recorded.

Mannington Gardens - 30th July 2023

 After our walk in Holt Country Park, we drove across to Mannington Gardens. We had a walk around the grounds and spotted some nice wildlife.

First up were the butterflies: Comma, Peacock, Red Admiral, Gatekeeper, Large White, Green-veined White, Meadow Brown and 1 Silver-washed Fritillary. 

Dragonflies seen were: Emperor ( 1 male and 1 female ovipositing in the moat), Black-tailed Skimmer (1 male), Common Darter and Small Red-eyed Damselfly (2 males seen).

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Other insects seen were: Roesel's Bush-cricket (my second in one day!!) and another new species, a Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes). 

Roesel's Bush-cricket (female)

Red-legged Shieldbug

Birds were far and few between, but we did spot a single Swallow, a fly-over Hobby, Mallards, Moorhens and a fishing Common Tern.

Edible Frogs were on site, but we didn't see any this time.

UPDATE: We went back last night (2nd) and managed to see and hear the Edible Frogs from the bird hide. Whilst there, we also saw 2 Marsh Tits (176), coming to the feeders and a Kingfisher catching a fish.

Edible Frog (honestly!!)

Linacre - 3rd February 2018

Luke and I had a couple of hours out at Holmebrook Valley CP and Linacre this morning. Despite persistent drizzle, and a little bit of sleety snow, we had a good walk.

First up Holmebrook Valley. We arrived at just after 7:30am and saw: Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Mute Swan and Kingfisher.

Linacre records were: Mallard (60), Mandarin Duck (17), Tufted Duck (15), Coot (8), Moorhen (10), Great-crested Grebe (2), Little Grebe (1) and Black-headed Gull (29). Great-spotted Woodpecker was heard, as were Song Thrush (singing), Bullfinch and Green Woodpecker (calling).

Black-headed Gulls 

In the afternoon Jayne and I drove across to Sheffield to see 3 Waxwings. we got brief views through the rain!!

Waxwings

Year List update:
72 – Marsh Tit
73 – Goldeneye
74 – Song Thrush
75 – Green Woodpecker
76 – Waxwing

Year List Update - 3rd December 2017

The year is coming to a close, but I'm still managing to add a few more species to the Year List. As you'll see below, I'm up to 197 species, so hopefully, I should manage to top the 200 mark this year, especially as I'll be visiting Norfolk before the end of the year.

The new additions are: Marsh Tit, Hawfinch, Bewick Swan and European White-fronted Goose.

The first two species were seen at The Yorkshire Arboretum last weekend, whilst the latter two species were seen today at WWT Slimbridge. Here are a few photos.

Hawfinch (female)

Hawfinch (male)

Hawfinch

Bewick Swan and White-fronted Goose

Year List update:
194: Marsh Tit
195: Hawfinch
196: Bewick Swan
197: White-fronted Goose (European)

6 Year Ticks

I was out and about again this morning, trying hard to "tick" a Black Redstart that has been present on an industrial site in Sheffield since 13th January. I was there for two hours, but unfortunately drew a blank. As you can guess, it was recorded later on, about 2 hours after I'd left! See the BirdGuides Website here for details and some great pictures. The good news, however, is that whilst there, I did manage to get a couple of "year ticks", with about half a dozen Skylarks present and singing over the site, and  a flock of about 15 Linnets also seen.

In the afternoon, Jayne and I decided to drive over to the National Trust's Clumber Park to enjoy the 15 degree temperatures! We walked all around the lake, and added another 4 species to the "year list". The first species, Marsh Tit, was very good to see, as I didn't manage to get it at all last year at all. I'm not sure why, as there were everywhere today, especially at feeding stations. It's not the easiest species to identify, so here's a link to the BTO's i.d. guide. Well worth a look. Here's a terrible, out of focus picture I took today. They really are fast!

Marsh Tit

The next species seen was Stock Dove, which was seen in the trees by the car park. The last two species, Shoveler and Pochard, were seen on the main lake. There was a pair of Shoveler, and 7 Pochard (4 males and 3 females).

Shoveler (male)

Other species seen on the lakes included Mallard, Gadwall, Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Great-crested Grebe, Mute Swan, Black-headed and this single Lesser Black-backed Gull. 

Mute Swan

Year List update:

93 – Skylark

94 – Linnet

95 – Marsh Tit

96 – Stock Dove

97 – Shoveler

98 - Pochard

Bird Fair 2014

On Friday I went down to Rutland Water with my nephew, Luke, to visit this year's British Bird Fair. I like to go along every year to look around all the different trade stands, spot a few celebrities, buy a new book (or two) and get a few "year ticks".

The day started at the BTO's Ringing Demo. The weather conditions were perfect, and the nets were full, including a smart looking Marsh Tit. This was the first I've seen "in the hand", and was a very nice year tick too. Whilst there, Luke also got the chance to release a Blackcap and a couple of Great Tits.

After the ringing, we walked around the stands, where I bought a new moth book,  helped the BTO celebrate 75 years of the Nest Record Scheme, by eating a slice of their birthday cake, and then went along to a moth talk featuring a celebrity, Richard Lewington, the illustrator of many superb wildlife books, most of which I've bought (see here for details of the books he's illustrated). The talk was great, and included a few new moths (Canary-shouldered Thorn, Swallow Prominent and Lesser Swallow Prominent), but the highlight for Luke was a very photogenic Elephant Hawkmoth (his first), which posed very nicely for him.

Luke and an Elephant Hawkmoth

The final part of the day was a visit to the Osprey Project to see.... the Ospreys. We walked along to the Wader Scrape hide and saw the Manton Bay Pair, who were sitting on the perch next to the nest. Unfortunately, this pair hasn't managed to raise any chicks this year, but a total of 11 chicks have been born around the reservoirs. Whilst here, we also spotted a couple of Little Egrets, a few Common Terns, 2 Egyptian Geese and 4 Common Sandpipers.

Year List Update:

167 – Marsh Tit

168 – Osprey
169 – Egyptian Goose