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 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!
Starlings have returned to the nestbox on the side of the house again this year. As in previous years, I have begun monitoring the success of this nest for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme, and will ring the chicks (under licence) when they're big enough.
The first evidence of a nest this year was on 29th March. The adults began incubating, and, on 23rd April, four chicks were were hatched. This is a photo from today, and, as you can see, they're thriving...despite the cold and wet conditions! The weather is set to improve this week, so fingers crossed they all survive. I'm sure the mealworms that I'm providing, will help a little.
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.
The Starlings arrived back in the nestbox on the side of our house again this year and laid their first egg on 8th April. 4 eggs were laid and incubation began.
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!
Starlings have nested in the nestbox on the side of our house since 2014 ( 50 chicks fledged so far). This year they had a slow start, with the first egg laid on 12th April (1st April last year).In total, 5 eggs were laid in this clutch, and all five hatched successfully on 29th April. The parents did a great job in feeding them all (with some help from the mealworms we provided!) and, after being ringed, all five birds fledged (four on 20th May, and the fifth bird on 21st May).
The nestbox is now empty, but, a second brood could still be laid, so I'll keep my ears and eyes open to see what the rest of the year brings. As always, this nest, and its contents have been recorded for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.
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.
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.
