New Forest, Poole Harbour and RSPB Arne

 After our visit to Salisbury, Jayne and I spent the next four days in The New Forest and Poole Harbour/Swanage area. Whilst there we added 9 more species to the Year List.

Our first new bird was House Martin (139), which was seen around our accommodation in Fordingbridge. Firecrest (140) was added during a walk in Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary in The New Forest, as was Willow Warbler (141).

Firecrest

On 9th, we had a 3 hour cruise with Birds of Poole Harbour, where we managed to see 3 Spoonbills (142), 2 distant Ospreys (143), and, best of all, amazing views of a female White-tailed Eagle (144).

WT Eagle G466

The White-tailed Eagle that we saw was a female, G466, that was translocated from The Isle of Skye into the Isle of Wight in 2020 by the Roy Dennis Foundation. She has been settled in this area, with a male bird, G463. See details here. Whilst on the trip, we also saw Black-headed, Great Black-backed, Herring and Mediterranean Gulls, Black-tailed Godwits, a Spotted Redshank, Redshank, Great-crested Grebes, Curlew, Lapwing, Canada, Greylag and an Egyptian Goose, 3 Little Ringed Plovers (145) and Sandwich Terns (146). 

Our last addition to the Year List was Dartford Warbler (147) that was seen on Hyde's Heath at RSPB Arne. Unfortunately, no photos, as the two birds we saw, decided to keep low down in the gorse, to avoid the attention of a pair of Stonechats!

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).

Wales - 15th - 22nd April 2022

 Jayne and I have just spent a week in Llanbedrog, North Wales. Although primarily a family break, we did manage to do some birding, and added 10 species to the "Year List".

The first new bird was a very nice surprise, a drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (129), that was heard  from our bed!! Unfortunately, we couldn't see it, but we heard it for three mornings on the trot (at 6:30am!). The next two additions were Gannet (130) and Whitethroat (131), which were both seen in Aberdaron. The 132nd species seen was Osprey. We saw 2 pairs of birds at the Glaslyn Osprey Centre, near Porthmadog. 

Yesterday, we had a trip to Cemlyn Lagoon and RSPB South Stack. Cemlyn was very busy with 100+ Sandwich Terns (133) coming and going, along with a similar amount of Black-headed Gulls. We popped in to the old harbour at Holyhead and managed to see three Black Guillemots (134), before heading across to RSPB South Stack, where we added Razorbill (135), Kittiwake (136), Puffin (137) and House Martin (138) to the list. 

Other species seen here included: Chough, Raven, Guillemot, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Swallow, Lesser, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Linnet. 

Scotland 21st April 2019

On 21st, Jayne and I visited 3 new places in Scotland. First stop was The Hermitage near Dunkeld, where we walked through the woodland and recorded just a few species: Wren, Goldcrest, Siskin, Buzzard, Grey Wagtail, Dipper (entering a nest), Chaffinch, Blue, Great and Coal Tit.

In the afternoon, we visited The Explorers' Garden in Pitlochry, where we had very similar species, and a new one, Nuthatch, and a new species of insect, a Norwegian Wasp.

Norwegian Wasp

Our final stop of the day was the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes reserve. This reserve has breeding Ospreys, which we were able to see from the hides and via  webcam. The female bird was seen incubating the eggs. Other birds seen were: Chaffinch, Great, Blue, Coal and Long-tailed Tit, Yellowhammer, Mute Swan, Mallard and Canada Goose.

We were also lucky to see a pair of Red Squirrels running around the trees near the feeding stations.

Red Squirrel

Year List update:
148 – Osprey

Cuber Reservoir

My last post about the birds of Mallorca concerns the Cuber Reservoir.

Cuber Reservoir

Jayne and I visited it to see Griffon and Black Vulture, both of which were seen flying over the reservoir. In total we saw 4 Griffon and 2 Black Vultures. Whilst walking around the site, we also heard Nightingale singing, and saw 1 Tawny Pipit, a group of 11 Ravens flying over and a hunting Osprey that landed on the water's edge. Another Black Vulture was, surprisingly, seen later in the holiday flying about 30m above the main motorway whilst travelling towards Palma!

Black Vulture

Griffon Vulture

Year List update:

182 – Black Vulture

183 – Griffon Vulture
184 – Tawny Pipit

185 - Nightingale

Rutland Water - 5th April 2018

Luke and I went to Rutland Water Nature Reserve on Thursday to catch up with the Ospreys that had returned to breed on the reserve. We spent the day there, and got great views of the Manton Bay pair, along with another 4 "year ticks", including a Wheatear, that was quite unexpected. We also a breeding plumaged Mediterranean Gull that had originally been ringed in Poland.

The weather was great, 12 degrees, bright blue skies and sunshine, so we also managed to get our first butterflies of the year; 1 Comma, 1 Small Tortoiseshell and 3 male Brimstones.

The other "year ticks" (numbers 103 - 107) on the list below, were seen at Scarborough on Tuesday (3rd), where I also had a stunning breeding plumaged Mediterranean Gull. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a photo as I'd left my camera at home!!!!!

The Chiffchaff, 4 in total, were seen at Linacre on Wednesday 4th.

Year List update:
103 – Red Kite
104 – Kittiwake
105 – Turnstone
106 - Fulmar
107 – Rock Pipit
108 – Chiffchaff
109 – Willow Warbler
110 – Black-necked Grebe
111 – Sand Martin
112 – Wheatear
113 - Osprey

Scotland - Day 2

Yesterday was our second day in Scotland. We started very early, meeting up at RSPB Loch Garten at 5.30am, hoping to see our first Capercaille. Unfortunately, we "dipped", and no birds were seen during the organised event. We did, however, see dozens of Siskins, Chaffinches, the famous Ospreys (see blog here for details of this year's nest) and Coal Tits. Best of all though, was a beautiful Red Squirrel, that was sat outside the hide eating the birds' peanuts.

Red Squirrel

After missing out on the Capercaille (and Crested Tit!) at Loch Garten, we decided to head back up Cairn Gorm to see if there were any Black Grouse at the RSPB's viewpoint there. There weren't!!! Unfortunately, it was VERY windy when we got there, and there was no sign of any birds at all. Undeterred, we set off to the car park and found the flock of approximately 15 Snow Buntings feeding there again. We enjoyed watching them for about 20 minutes before heading back to the hotel for breakfast.

Our first stop after breakfast was a loch where we'd be informed breeding plumaged Black-throated Diver could be found. We found the loch easily and a diver was found straight away. It was too far away to photograph, but we had great views through the 'scope. We also saw an Osprey here, along with 3 Greylag Geese, 2 Mallards, a pair of Wigeon (possible breeders?), a pair of Oystercatchers and several Red Grouse, including this confiding individual that I was able to photograph from the car.

Red Grouse

Our next stop of the day was the RSPB's Loch Ruthven reserve. This reserve is well known as a reliable spot for breeding plumaged Slavonian Grebes, and we managed to see 4 birds from the public hide. Again, they didn't come close enough to photograph, but we watched them well through the 'scope. There were also 2 pairs of Little Grebes on eggs, a male Goosander and several singing Willow Warblers.

Willow Warbler (singing)

Year List update:

142 - Black-throated Diver

143 - Slavonian Grebe

Cairn Gorm

Jayne and I are up in Scotland for a few days, and, as the title suggests, we visited Cairn Gorm today. We went in search of Ptarmigan, but were out of luck. We did, however, manage to hear Red Grouse and see Meadow Pipts (!), a male Pied Wagtail and a super flock of 15 Snow Buntings. Four of the buntings landed close enough to get a few photos.

Snow Buntings in snow

After the visit to Cairn Gorm we drove down to RSPB Loch Garten where we popped into the centre to see the pair of breeding Ospreys. Both birds were on the nest when we arrived. We didn't see the other specialities, but we're heading back there tomorrow, so fingers crossed.

In the evening we had a short visit to the River Spey where we saw 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 pairs of Goldeneye , several singing Willow Warblers and a single Dipper.

Year List update:
136 – Red Grouse
137 – Common Sandpiper
138 – Redstart
139 – Snow Bunting
140 – Osprey
141 - Dipper

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

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

Year List Update

Just a quick  post to update the old Year List. Three new species were added recently as follows:

172 – Osprey
173 – Greenshank
174 – Ruff

The Osprey was added whilst visiting Rutland Water for the Bird Watching Fair and the 2 waders were seen last week on a quick visit to RSPB Old Moor at Barnsley.

Greenshank

Ruff

Like London Buses...

Books that is, not birds.

Back in October last year I spotted two new books that I thought would make lovely Christmas presents for yours truly. I ordered both and waited for their arrival. 5 months later and both arrived within two days of each other. Happy Christmas.

The first to arrive was a super book describing the story behind the reintroduction of Ospreys to Rutland Water in Leicestershire.

The book is full of amazing photographs, sketches and information from a range of different people who have been, or are still, involved in the project and is well worth a read.

The second book is another excellent, if not somewhat different book, in that this one is a field guide, which will, hopefully, help me identify all those pesky hoverflies I've got photos of.

The book, imaginatively called British Hoverflies, is the newest in a series of field guides from an excellent company called Wild Guides. It has over 500 colour photographs and covers 165 of the most easily identifiable hoverfly species found in Britain. Now all I've got to do is trawl through my photographs and identify them all. Who knows, I might even blog about some, if and when I've put names to them- lucky you!!

Both books are definately worth a look. The Osprey one can be ordered via the Rutland Osprey Project website and the hoverfly book can be bought directly from the Wild Guides website (see link above) or via this link.

Please have a look at the Osprey website especially, as it will keep you up to date with their work and there is also information about the birds that breed there, what they're doing at the moment (migrating north as we speak) and live web cams that will allow you to see the young birds as they grow later in the year.

No ringing today because of the rain this morning, so I thought you might like to see an awful picture that I took out of my kitchen window this morning of a Lesser Redpoll, a Siskin and a Goldfinch, having breakfast on my feeders.

Lesser Redpoll (bottom left), Siskin (male at the back) and Goldfinch (top right)

Swallow roost and Year Tick

Following on from last week's successful ringing session at the swallow roost at The Avenue Washlands in Chesterfield, we returned again on Thursday night for another go.

From the outset it was obvious that there were much fewer birds around. but by the end of the night we had ringed another 33 Swallows. Added to this we also caught 4 Pied Wagtails, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Reed Warbler and 1 Blackbird.


Friday saw me head down the British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water with my nephew. We spent a few hours looking around the stalls and then went off to the Lyndon Reserve to see the nesting Ospreys. A pair have nested in Manton Bay again this year raising 2 chicks. All 4 birds, the adults and their chicks, were seen around the nest site. Lovely!

Year List:

152: Osprey