Linacre WeBS - 13th September 2026

 Today was this month's scheduled WeBS count, so I had a couple of hours (7am - 9am) down at Linacre. Unfortunately, all of last week's "goodies" had gone, but this did mean I could concentrate on the count, and not get distracted!

Numbers were: Mallard (54), Tufted Duck (21), Mandarin (13), Grey Wagtail (3), Pied Wagtail (1), Grey Heron (1), Moorhen (8; 6 adults and 2 juveniles), Coot (2), Cormorant (7) and Great-crested Grebe (1). 

Mandarin Duck

Cormorant

As you can see, numbers were quite low, due mainly to the very low water levels on the top and bottom reservoir (approximately one third full).

Bottom Reservoir

Other birds seen were: House Martin (5 overhead), Chiffchaff (at least 5 singing and 2 seen, in the willows, by the top reservoir), Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Blackbird, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Buzzard, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Skylark (heard) and Woodpigeon.

Woodpigeon

Grey Squirrels were everywhere, as always, but this one, a tail-less individual, caught my eye.

Grey Squirrel 

Linacre Update - 3rd May 2026

 I've been down to Linacre a couple of times over the weekend, once for ringing and once for a quick walk around and a check of the nestboxes.

The ringing was a quick session of just three hours, and resulted in four birds (1 Garden Warbler, 1 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit and 1 Song Thrush). The Garden Warbler was a great surprise, as it was a female bird (with a brood patch) that had first been ringed, at Linacre, in May 2023, as an adult.

The second visit, yesterday afternoon, was again, just a couple of hours. The highlight was our first Pied Flycatcher nest of 2026. It contained 5 eggs that were cold and uncovered, so not being brooded yet. As always, the nest recording is carried out as part of the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. Interestingly, I'd not heard or seen any Flycatchers yet, so they must have slipped in unnoticed!

Pied Flycatcher

Other birds seen around the site were: Mallard (3 broods of 6,4 and 2), Mandarin Duck, Tufted Duck, Great-crested Grebe (2 pairs), Coot, Moorhen, Swallow (20+), House Martin (c.6), Swift (1 - the first Linacre record of 2026), Grey Wagtail (1 heard) and Pied Wagtail (1 male).

Mandarin Duck

And they're back..!!

 I was down at Linacre this morning to carry out the first nestbox check of 2026. It was a mixed bag, as always, with 7 nests with eggs in them, many empty nestboxes, and a few "dead" boxes. Some of the empty boxes had the beginnings of nests, so there should be more to come over the next few weeks. The results, as always, will be sent off the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. Whilst there, I also had the first records for 3 new species of summer migrant.

In total, four nests were either Blue or Great Tits, and the other three were Mandarin Duck nests. None of the tit nests had a full clutch, and none were incubating yet. The Mandarin nests ranged from 4 eggs to 16+!!

As well as the birds, we also found a couple of wasps, and, a first for the site, two Wood Mice, together in one box!

Wood Mice

Other birds also recorded were: Chiffchaff (7), Willow Warbler (3), Blackcap (3), Swallow (20+), House Martin (1 with the Swallows, Year Tick 128), Sand Martin (also 1 with the Swallows - the first site record since 2024), Raven (1 over), Greylag Goose (2  flying along the valley), Canada Goose (heard, first thing), 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Cormorant and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Siskins were also heard, but not seen.

Linacre - 7th April 2026

 This morning was my first visit to Linacre since our week away. I had a walk around all three reservoirs, and added two new species to the 2026 Year List.

The first new species was Blackcap (118), with 2 birds heard singing. The second species was Willow Warbler (119), with 1 seen and heard singing in fields by the top reservoir.

Other species today were: 21 Mallard, 20 Mandarin Duck, 8 Coot (including the first nest of the year), 2 Moorhen, 62 Tufted Duck, 6 Great Crested Grebe (a pair on each reservoir), 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 Cormorant, 2 Canada Goose and Pied Wagtail (1 on the muck heap by the entrance, and another, or the same bird, singing on the top reservoir.

Pied Wagtail

Later in the day, Jayne and I went back up to Barbrook Reservoir, where we spotted another Year Tick; Swallow (120), when 2 flew overhead.

Greater Sand Plover

 Yesterday, I drove across to Redcar beach to see a Greater Sand Plover that had arrived last week. Luckily, there were about a dozen people already on the beach when I arrived, and I soon got great views, as it fed along the tideline. The bird was always quite distant, but I did manage a few "record shots".

Also seen on the beach were: Sanderling (c200), Ringed Plover (c20), Bar-tailed Godwit (2), Oystercatcher (c.60), Grey Heron (2), Swallows (5), Pied Wagtails, Fulmar (1) and Black-headed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.

Year List: 

156 - Great Reed Warbler (Langford Lowfields)

157 - Fulmar

158 - Greater Sand Plover

159 - Bar-tailed Godwit

Summer Migrants Arrive

 The sun was out at Linacre this morning and so were the birds!

Between 8am and 10.30am I walked around all three Reservoirs and recorded 12 Chiffchaffs, 4 Blackcaps, 2 Willow Warblers, 1 Swallow and 1 Common Sandpiper.

Common Sandpiper (heavily cropped!)

I also had  my first April record of Herring Gull ( 1 adult - most likely from the increasing breeding population in Chesterfield), 3 Grey Wagtails, 1 Pied Wagtail, the first Mallard ducklings of the year (5 on the bottom reservoir), 1 Common Buzzard, 10 Canada Geese (highest count of the year), 6 Great-crested Grebes, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 30 Tufted Duck, 17 Coot, 13 Mandarin Duck and 7 Moorhens, including the first nest of the year. 

Linacre Nestboxes and Ringing - 15th and 16th May 2021

Two visits to Linacre this weekend, once to check on the nestboxes, and once to do some ringing.

The nestbox check took place on Saturday, but was cut short by heavy rain. I did, however, make sure I'd ringed the first brood of tits for 2021, a brood of 7 healthy Great Tits, and had checked on the progress of the Pied Flycatcher nest. Great new here, as the nest contained 2 eggs! Hopefully, this will increase to 6, 7 or even 8 over the next few days. I'm keeping everything crossed.

Pied Flycatcher nest

The ringing took place on Sunday between 6am and 9.30am. In total we caught and ringed 13 birds  of 6 species. The most impressive bird has to be the adult male Kestrel. This was only the second Kestrel ringed at Linacre, following a female back in February 2018.

Kestrel

Other birds ringed were (new/retrap): Blue Tit 0/1, Great Tit 4/1, Coal Tit 1/1, Goldcrest 2/0 and  Blackcap 1/1, including a female originally ringed in 2018 as a 5, i.e. born in 2017.

Other species seen around the site included a male Pied Wagtail by the main entrance on Saturday, and a new moth species, Green Carpet. Unfortunately, it flew off before I could get a photo.

The first damselfly of the year, a Large Red Damselfly, was noted today (17th) emerging from the pond by the workshop.

Linacre WeBS - 10th November 2018

During last month's WeBS walk, Luke and I found 2 "female type" Teal. This morning we were down at Linacre again, to carry out this month's count, and one of the first birds we saw was a male Teal. We managed to get quite close and got a decent photo. Later in the morning we found this same bird, and a female, together on the other side of the middle reservoir. We can't be sure, but it would be nice to think that this morning's birds were the same two as last month, and that the male bird has come out of eclipse plumage. This species is less than annual at Linacre, so hopefully, they'll stay around for the rest of the winter, and perhaps into 2019.

Teal (male)

Mandarin Duck numbers were still pretty good, with 88 seen (113 last month). Other birds seen were: Tufted Duck (34), Mallard (70), Coot (4), Moorhen (21, the highest count of the year), Grey Wagtail (2), Pied Wagtail (1, the first record of 2018), Black-headed Gull (47) and Cormorant (2).

Away from the water, there were at least 6 Redwings, 1 Mistle Thrush and several Blackbirds feeding on a Hawthorn bush by the top reservoir, where we also had a Raven fly over, and a confiding Robin.

Robin

Linacre WeBS - 16th December 2017

This month's WeBS walk should have been last weekend, but I couldn't get down, so instead, I went down yesterday morning. It was just 1 degree when I arrived and I spent one and a half hours on site recording the following waterbirds: Mallard (81, the 2nd highest count of the year), Mandarin Duck (25), Tufted Duck (20), Teal (1 flew up the top reservoir), Black-headed Gull (24), Moorhen (17), Coot (2), Great-crested Grebe (1), Grey Wagtail (1) and Pied Wagtail (1 - my first Linacre record since April 2015!!)

Pied Wagtail

The woods were quite quiet, but the resident tits (Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed) were all seen, along with Jay, Crow, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Dunnock, Buzzard, Goldcrest, Blackbird, Redwing, Siskin, Wren and Robin.

Enjoying some free seed

Frozen Leaves

Spotted Flycatcher

I was up in Ripley, North Yorkshire at the weekend enjoying my son's wedding(!). In a quiet moment, I had a walk around the village where I spotted a pair of Spotted Flycatchers, who were busy "flycatching" in the church yard, and returning to an unseen nest. Both birds were very confiding, and posed beautifully on the various gravestones. A very nice "year tick".

Spotted Flycatcher

Whilst there, I also had a walk down to the nearby Ripley Castle and River Nidd, where I had another pair of Flycatchers collecting food, as well as Grey Wagtails feeding at least 2 juveniles, a fly over Grey Heron and several pairs of Jackdaws visiting nest holes. Other species recorded in the village including Pied Wagtail, House Sparrow, Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Goldcrest, Red Kite, Swallow, nest building House Martin and Swift.

House Martin

Year List update:
174 - Spotted Flycatcher

Three New Birds

I was up at Carsington Water for a couple of hours on Tuesday evening (18th) walking around Stones Island. I was on my annual "wagtail hunt", as this site is usually a good place to catch up with passage Yellow and White Wagtails. As it was, I dropped lucky with White Wagtail, but "dipped" on the Yellow.

The White Wagtails (a minimum of 3, possibly more), were feeding around the back of Stones Island, along with several Pied Wagtails. Here's a picture of a male and  a female.

White Wagtail (male)

White Wagtail (female)

Unfortunately, White Wagtail can't be added to the "year list" as it isn't a species, it's just the European race of the British Pied Wagtail, but I did manage to add another 2 species with a Common Sandpiper and a beautiful breeding plumaged Dunlin being seen.

Common Sandpiper

Other species seen included: Little Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Great Northern Diver (breeding plumage, but distant), Black-headed Gull, Coot, Mallard, Canada Goose, Great-crested Grebe, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Dunnock, Oystercatcher (2) and Redshank (2).

Redshank

Year List update:
134 – Common Sandpiper
135 – Dunlin

Mute Swan - 089

I don't often blog about other people's sightings, but when I got news from my nephew, Luke, about a Mute Swan he'd seen on Tuesday at Holmebrook Valley Country Park in Chesterfield, I thought the news was worth a post.

The bird in question was wearing a yellow darvic ring, number 089.

Mute Swan 089

I did a quick internet search, and guess what? It turns out the bird was ringed our very own Sorby Breck Ringing Group, at Treeton Dyke, South Yorkshire, on 10th September 2013, as a 3, i.e. a bird born in that year. I contacted David, our data manager who provided me with the following details. Since it was ringed, it has only been reported on 2 other occasions, both at Rother Valley Country Park, South Yorkshire, on 12th April 2015 and on 25th August 2015. Luke's sighting was the first since then. Who knows where it's been in the meantime? Luke thought that it was setting up a territory with another Mute Swan, so hopefully, if it does, we'll be able to keep tabs on it throughout the summer.

Whilst there, he also recorded a pair of Gadwall (his first record at this site), 2 Kingfishers, 2 Pied Wagtails, a single Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gulls, and, best of all, a Water Rail!!!!

Water Rail

Update on 17th Feb: Luke and I've just been down to Holmebrook Valley CP again, and the swan is still there, with the female bird.

Sheffield Waxwings

I was out early this morning down on Queen's Road in Sheffield to "tick" some Waxwings for the "Year List". 300 had been reported on Birdguides yesterday, so I thought my chances were quite good. When I arrived at 7.45am there were about 20 Redwings and 3 Blackbirds feeding on the Rowan trees,  but no Waxwings. However, at about 8am, a small group of 4 birds arrived, and then, over the next 15 minutes, numbers built up very quickly to number at least 400!! They were very flighty, and barely settled for more than a few seconds, but I managed some photos.

Waxwings

After looking at the Waxwings, I drove down to Worcester, and added another 10 species to the "Year List" (numbers 37 - 41)

32 – Pied Wagtail
33 – Feral Pigeon
34 – Redwing
35 – Waxwing
36 – House Sparrow
37 – Mute Swan
38 – Common Buzzard
39 - Cormorant
40 - Herring Gull
41 – Lesser Black-backed Gull
42 - Lapwing

Derbyshire Red Kite

Last night, following a text from my nephew, Luke, I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours watching a Red Kite at a site in North Derbyshire. I won't say where it was, because, as we all now, there are many people out there who find the thought of any type of predator in the countryside a very unwelcome thing, and would be quite happy to see it gone! Suffice to say, the bird has been present in the same area for at least 3 days, perching on fence posts, walls and feeding on the ground. This is only my second ever Derbyshire record. Hopefully, there will be many more in the future.

The bird never came very close. It was about 500m away when I arrived, sitting on a fence, and only moved to about 300m in the 2 hours I was there. In fact, out of the 2 hours I was watching the bird, it spent about 1 3/4 hours sitting round, and about 15 minutes feeding. Here are a few, heavily cropped photos.

Red Kite

Other birds seen in the area included this Pied Wagtail, 2 Curlew, 2 Lapwing, Yellowhammer (male heard singing), and Linnets. The Red Kite record was sent to the Derbyshire Ornithological Society.

Pied Wagtail

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

Carsington- 4th April 2016

After my walk around Linacre on Monday, I decided to pop across to Carsington Water to see what was about.

I had a walk around Stones Island and managed to find 3 White Wagtails, the European version of our Pied Wagtail. It isn't a species in its own right, so it won't appear of the Year List. Cracking bird, nonetheless.

White Wagtail

Also present was this Pink-footed Goose. It's a very unusual species to be found "on the ground" in Derbyshire. Normally, they're seen flying over the county throughout the winter months, so I'm not sure where this one's come from. It's either a feral bird, or possible a wild bird that's been injured and has found the area to its liking. Where ever its from, it was coming to bread with the local Mallards, and appeared very tame!

Pink-footed Goose

One last bird of note was Common Gull. There were six present sitting on buoys around the Sailing Club.

Common Gulls (4 of the 6 present)

Firecrest!

After a morning's ringing session (more about that later) I drove out to Silkstone near Barnsley, with Jayne, to "twitch" a Firecrest that has been present at the sewage works fora few weeks.

We arrived just before midday, and spotted a small group of birders, so headed in their direction. After about 10 minutes, and lots of false starts (pesky Goldcrests!!!), we managed to spot the bird, and watched it for about 10 seconds before it disappeared. We had another 10 -15 minute wait, before the bird was found again, and this time it hung around for about 1 minute, and gave some reasonable views. A great bird, and my first since at least 2010. I didn't manage to get a photo, but here's a link to a great shot on the Bird Guides website.

While looking for the Firecrest, we spotted a few other birds, namely: Treecreeper, Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Pied and Grey Wagtails on the neraby sewage words.

This bird was, of course, a "year tick", and it's the second of the week, following a Red-legged Partridge that I saw stood on the top of a farm building in Apperknowle on Thursday. I was a bit taken aback to see it on the top of a building as I've only ever seen this species on the ground before!

Year List update:
118 - Red-legged Partridge
119 - Firecrest

Mancunian Great Northern Diver

Jayne had an appointment in Stockport today, so I had  a few hours to spare. Checking the Bird Guides website, I noticed there was a juvenile Great Northern Diver at Salford Quays, which was described as "showing well", so I popped across to have a look and "tick" it for the "year list".

Great Northern Diver

When I arrived, it was indeed "showing well", down to about 10m at times, and I was able to get quite a few shots, including the one above. It's my best ever view of this species, and looked quite out of place in the middle of the city! Here's one more shot, showing the bird next to the ski jump that's on the quay.

Great Northern Diver in Salford!

Other birds seen in the area were: Canada Goose (year tick), Moorhen (1), Coot (2), Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail (2), Feral Pigeon, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull and this beautiful juvenile Cormorant ( 1 of 4 present).

Cormorant

Year List update:

79 – Great Northern Diver

80 – Canada Goose

New Ringing Site

After a week of cold, windy weather, and a distinct lack of ringing activity, I managed to get out for a few hours with Ray and Alan from Sorby Breck this morning, to have a first session at a new site in Coal Aston. The site is a small, family-run farm with cattle, and the family have set up two feeding stations in the garden area, where we set the nets. The site looks very good for Swallows, so hopefully we'll be able to ring some this summer. We've also put up 5 tit boxes, which I'll check later this month.

The weather for today's session wasn't the best, as it was quite windy, but we still managed to put up 3 nets, and, in just over 3 hours, we caught 17 birds of 6 species (House Sparrow, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tit), which is a pretty good start. Here's a picture of the first bird caught and ringed at this site; a female House Sparrow.

House Sparrow

As the year progresses we should extend this list as new species arrive, and we catch some of the other resident species.

Other birds seen around the site today were; Song Thrush (1 singing bird), Redwing (1 over), Robin (singing birds), Wren (singing birds), Pied Wagtail (a pair of birds, possible breeders?), Great-spotted Woodpecker (heard drumming) and Carrion Crow.

Linacre -11th January 2015

The weather this weekend was pretty useless for ringing, so I had a couple of hours down at Linacre this afternoon to see what was about. It was quiet, except for three Grey Herons that were down on the bottom reservoir, my highest count since December 2013. This species is a former breeder at Linacre, 2010 being the last successful year that breeding was confirmed, so hopefully, they might hang around and breed again this year.

Grey Herons

Apart from the herons, I also spotted 115 Mallards, 130+ Black-headed Gulls, 2 male Goosanders, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (flying over),  8 Moorhen, 6 Coot, 7 Mandarin Ducks, 13 Tufted Ducks, 2 Grey Wagtails (Year Tick), 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Fieldfare, Redwings (heard flying over) and a Common Buzzard that was perched up in the woodlands by the bottom reservoir.

On the drive out I spotted a Brown Hare in the field, my first record of 2015.

Year List update:

54 – Song Thrush (on 5th)

55 – Grey Wagtail

56 – Pied Wagtail