Linacre Nestboxes - an update

I spent three and a half hours down at Linacre this morning carrying out the second check of the nestboxes. See here, for the details of my last visit. The number of nests had increased from 29 to 35, and included our first Mandarin Duck of the year.

Mandarin Duck

Later in the day, Ray and I went back down to ring her. Whilst off the nest, we counted the number of eggs, so we could do a nest record for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. I took a photo, and think I can count at least 29 eggs!! There were only 3 nest records for Mandarin Duck in Derbyshire in 2015 (the last year for which data is available), and only 48 for the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, so every record can help build up information about this species' breeding cycle.

Mandarin nest

The other 34 nests, ranging from N1 (just started), to NL (nest lined), were all either Blue or Great Tit, with the most eggs being a super clutch of 12! Last year, we had one Pied Flycatcher nest, so fingers crossed for one in 2017 as well.

2 other nests that were active today were one each for Moorhen and Coot. The Coot nest was the same one I'd seen on 11th April on the top reservoir, and the Moorhen was a new one, also on the top reservoir. It was about 1.5m up in a willow tree by the boardwalk. Hopefully, it should be safe from the dogs up in the tree! Unfortunately, I couldn't see into either nest to record the contents.

Moorhen nest

As well as nest recording, I also recorded some of the birds on and around the reservoirs. 2 Canada Geese were seen on the top reservoir, and the first Mallard ducklings (6), were on the middle reservoir. 1 Grey Wagtail was heard, an immature Cormorant was seen, and a pair of Mandarin Ducks were feeding around the bridge on the top reservoir.

Mandarin Duck pair

Siskin and Lesser Redpoll were heard again, and Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap were all singing.

Wild Garlic was in flower, as were Bluebells, Greater Stitchwort, Lesser Celandine, Marsh Marigold  and Red Campion.

Welcome Back EXP662

EXP662 is the ring number of a Chiffchaff that was ringed as a juvenile bird at Linacre on 16th July 2016 (see blog post here). This morning I was out ringing at Linacre with 3 other members of the Sorby Breck Ringing Group, when we re trapped said bird. Where it's been in between we don't know, but most recoveries of British-ringed birds show this species moving south into southern Europe and North west Africa, so this the was likely destination for "our" bird. Hopefully, it'll hang around and breed here. Along with this bird, we also ringed another 4 Chiffchaffs (all new).

Chiffchaff

Also caught this morning were (new/retrap): Blackcap (1/0), Dunnock (1/0), Coal Tit (1/1), Blue Tit (1/2), Magpie (1/0), Nuthatch (1/0).

In between net rounds we also saw: Brown Hare (2), 1 Peacock and 1 Small Tortoiseshell (first Linacre records of 2017 for all 3 species), a Dronefly (Eristalsis sp), a Harlequin Ladybird, Mandarin Duck (2 flew over), Sparrowhawk ( 1 female over), Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow,  dozens of Cowslips and a single Red Campion flower.

Peacock

Small Tortoiseshell

Harlequin Ladybird on Gorse

Ringing, Nesting, Year List addition and a new insect

I thought today's title should give you some idea of what I got up to at Linacre yesterday morning, so I hope it does exactly that.

First up, the ringing. I met at 05.45am with 4 other members of the Group for a mist netting session. When we arrived, it was zero degrees and there was a heavy frost covering the Cowslips and Red Campion. The sun soon came up, the frost melted, and we began to catch birds in the nets. First bird of the day was a Nuthatch, our first for Linacre this year. We also caught another one later on. Blackcaps seemed to be everywhere this morning, and we managed to catch 3 different birds. A Whitethroat (Year Tick) was heard singing and seen a short distance from the nets, but wasn't caught. The final migrant of the day was Chiffchaff, of which we caught 3, including a retrap from last year. We also managed a stunning male Bullfinch, several Dunnocks, Robins, a female Chaffinch, a male Blackbird  and Great Tits.

After the ringing finished at about 9.30am I decided to do a "quick" round of the boxes. Two and  a half hours later I'd been round all the tit boxes and had recorded 34 active nests with eggs and/or sitting adults, an increase of 10 nests since my last visit. This number is an occupancy rate of 39%, up from 29% on my last visit (see here). Very pleased to say the least! As before, all the nests were Blue or Great Tits, and there was still no sign of any Pied Flycatchers. Whilst walking around the site I also managed to spot a Grey Wagtail nest with 4 eggs, and saw a female Chaffinch carrying food, which is the first time I've recorded proof that Chaffinches actually breed on site. Other evidence of breeding today included the  Coot nest on the top reservoir which contained at least 1 small young today, 3 broods of Mallard (1,1 and 7), and the 2 Great-crested Grebe nests which are still being incubated.

The last item on my title today is a new insect. The insect in question is a species of ladybird; the Eyed Ladybird. As you can see from this link, this insect is found in conifer woodlands, which is exactly where I found today's specimen, so it should be relatively common at Linacre. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for more examples over the summer.

Eyed Ladybird

Year List update:
142 - Whitethroat