Ring-necked Duck - again!!

Ring-necked Duck isn't a species I see that often, especially not in Derbyshire, so a report of an eclipse male at Ogston Reservoir this week had my "twitching" instincts up and running. As it turns out, this is my 3rd record this year, and my second in my home county!.

I popped down on Thursday morning (24th) and found the bird within 2 minutes, right out, on the water, in front of the public hide. The light was awful, but I got great 'scope views and managed a few half-decent photos.

Ring-necked Duck (front bird) with Tufted Duck

Ringed-necked Duck

Year List Update - 20th July 2025

As always, at this time of the year, the Year List slows down, as most of the easier-to-find species have been recorded. I have, however, managed to add a few new species.

The first is Long-eared Owl (179), that was seen in NE Derbyshire in June. Next up was Crossbill (180), that was recorded at Linacre on 5th July. Spotted Flycatcher (181) was seen on a walk in Tideswell Dale, also on 5th July. Green Woodpecker (182) was heard, but not seen, at Hardwick Hall last week, and the final bird, Yellow-legged Gull (183), was seen today, at Ogston Reservoir.

Yellow-legged Gull 

Update: Common Sandpiper (184) was seen at Ogston, on 28th July.

Year List Update - 14th January 2024

This weekend, I managed to add another 4 species to my "Year List" for 2024, taking my total so far this year to 101.

The first new addition was Barn Owl (98), when I was spotted whilst driving across to Center Parcs for some gull ringing. The second bird was Great Grey Shrike (99) that Jayne and I saw up at Ramsley Reservoir in the afternoon. It was quite distant, and the sky was grey, but I managed a record shot.

Great Grey Shrike

Late this morning, Jayne and I drove across to Ogston Reservoir, where we added two new species. The first, and my 100th of the year, was Brambling (100) - a stunning male. I love this shot, a bit different!

Brambling

The final bird was a Water Rail (101), that came out of the reeds to feed under the feeders briefly.

Water Rail

Spotted Crake - 10th September 2023

 At the weekend, I decided to  go down to Ogston Reservoir to see a juvenile Spotted Crake (species number 184) that had been present for a few days. The bird was showing from the Members' Hide, so, after re-joining the club, I settled down to see this bird (my first since 2013!!). 

Thankfully, before I'd even sat down, it appeared out of the reedbed, and began to feed about 10m away. As I sat, it got closer and closer, until it was about 2m away, and then stayed out for about 1 1/4 hours! My best ever views of this fantastic little bird, and well worth the annual membership fee.

Spotted Crake

Whilst there, I also managed to add another two species to the "Year List", namely Greenshank (2 present and my 185th species of the year) and Osprey ( a juvenile female that had also been present for the best part of a week and my 186th species of the year).

Year List Update - 4th March 2019

The "Year List" has moved on again, with several new species added at Carsington Water last weekend (numbers 119 - 121), Red-legged Partridge at Linacre, Iceland Gull at Ogston Reservoir (1 adult and 1 1st winter) on Saturday, and Peregrine Falcon (Hardwick Wood fly over during a ringing session) and Great Grey Shrike at Clumber Park on Sunday.

Great Grey Shrike

Whilst at Ogston there were also a 1st winter and a near adult  "Viking" Gull a.k.a. a Herring x Glaucous Gull hybrid in the roost. The 1st winter looked very Glaucous-like, but had dark primaries, but I didn't manage to see the adult bird. Nice to see, even if it's not a  full species!

Year List update:
119 – Barnacle Goose (F)
120 – Tree Sparrow
121 – Snipe
122 – Red-legged Partridge
123 – Iceland Gull
124 – Peregrine Falcon
125 – Great Grey Shrike

Derbyshire Osprey

News on the Bird Guides website that there were a couple of Ospreys at Ogston Reservoir, made me decide to pop across there earlier in the week in order to "tick" it for the Year List. I arrived at the West Bank car park at about 9.30am, and within 5 minutes, saw an Osprey flying high over the reservoir. It continued to fly along the reservoir, and then stooped, dived into the water and caught a fish!!!

Year List update:
159: Osprey