RSPB St Aidan's - 9th April 2026

 Today, Jayne and I made our annual visit to RSPB St Aidan's to add a few new birds to this year's Year List.

Our first new bird, Cetti's Warbler (121) was added as soon as we got out of the car, and was heard throughout our visit. Going to the Visitors' Hut, we asked about the Little Owls (122) that are often to be seen around that area. The member of staff there soon found one for us.

Little Owl

We carried on walking around the reserve, and soon managed to find our first Black-necked Grebes (123) of the day, with 4 together.

Black-necked Grebes

Whilst watching the grebes, we heard the first "booming" Bitterns (124) of the day, and, much to our surprise, a singing Sedge Warbler (125), which seemed quite early. The last two birds seen were Bearded Tit (126), with 4 seen, our first here, and Sand Martin (127) with a minimum of 20 seen. 

No trip to St Aidan's can go by without mention of the 1000's of Black-headed Gulls that breed there. Although not everyone's favourite, surely no-one can deny the beauty of this bird in full breeding plumage!

Black-headed Gulls

Year List Update - 21st April 2025

 This last week, I've been out and about a few times, and have managed to add 6 more species to this year's Year List.

The first bird, Garganey (149), was a male bird that was seen at Catcliffe Flash, in Sheffield on Tuesday. It was asleep the entire time I was there (!), and quite distant, but I managed to get a record shot, along with a couple of Tufted Duck, a Gadwall and some Teal.

Garganey

The other 5 species, were added today in Lincolnshire. The first one, Common Crane (150), was added in a field about 1 mile away from the Willow Tree Fen reserve. In total, there were 18 birds all feeding in one field. Quite a sight, and not one I was expecting to see!!

3 of the 18 birds present

The last 4 new species seen were Sedge Warbler (151), Reed Warbler (152), Whitethroat (153) and Yellow Wagtail (154), which were all added at RSPB Frampton Marsh.

Yellow Wagtail (with friend)

Whilst there, Jayne and I also spotted a good number of other species, including: Canada, Greylag and Brent Goose, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Ruff, Redshank, Little Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Goldfinch, Linnet, Pintail, Shoveler, Mallard, Teal, and, best of all, a self-found male Green-winged Teal!!!

Green-winged Teal (asleep)

Bonaparte's Gull and Red-breasted Goose - 2 Lifers!

 Its not often that a Lesser Yellowlegs has to play second fiddle on a day's birdwatching in Great Britain, but, on today's trip to RSPB Frampton Marsh, that is exactly what happened!!!

Lesser Yellowlegs (we went back later!!)

Jayne and I decided to drive across, after seeing that an adult, summer-plumaged Bonaparte's Gull (1st Lifer of 2024 and my 144th species of the year) had made a reappearance on the Reedbed Marsh, after being found earlier in the week. We walked quickly past the Yellowlegs (!) and saw the gull more or less straight away, sitting on the water, about 20m away, with several Black-headed Gulls. The bird remained on view all day, and we managed to get a few shots.

Bonaparte's Gull (rear bird), with Black-headed Gull

Within the same view, we also spotted 2 Little Gulls - an adult and a 1st winter/2nd calendar year bird (145). There were dozens (hundreds?) of Avocets around the reserve, along with several Ruff (146), breeding Lapwing, Redshank and 2-300 Black-tailed Godwits. Unfortunately, we dipped the Black-winged Stilt (a female, 2nd year bird), so we'll have to go back again for that one!!

Black-tailed Godwit

Walking up to the sea wall, we heard the first Sedge Warblers (143) of the year, and caught a brief sight of a fly-over Yellow Wagtail (147). Two Garganeys (male and female - 148) were seen (fast asleep), along with 2 Little Ringed Plovers (149) and  a stunning, male White Wagtail (150). Also seen were Little Egret and two Great (White) Egret.

The last new bird of the day was a Red-breasted Goose (151 and lifer number 2), that was feeding with the Brent Geese. Although this is a species of more often seen as an escapee in Britain (as was the bird we saw earlier in the year at Clumber Park), this bird "felt" wilder, and, as it was associating with the Brent Geese, stands more of a chance of being accepted as such. It gave good telescope views, and I managed a half decent record shot. 

Red-breasted Goose (1st winter?)

My 142nd bird of the year, Red Grouse, was seen yesterday, on Stanage Moor, Derbyshire.

RSPB Frampton Marsh - 16 Year Ticks!!

Today, Jayne, Luke and I went across to RSPB Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire. We had a superb day in sunshine and 23 degree heat, and managed to see an amazing range of birds including 16 "year ticks" (and an additional one, Hobby, on the drive across). We saw several Linnets here as well, but my first of the year, was seen in Apperknowle on Thursday.

The birds seen are listed below, but the best bird of the day was, by far, the Corn Bunting. It was found by Jayne (thank you, thank you, thank you!!!), and was first in the UK since, well, I can't even remember, that's how long ago it was. The bird in question, was found sitting on a barbed wire fence by 360 Hide, and very kindly sat long enough to get a half decent picture.

Corn Bunting

Other highlights were a stunning male Garganey, 300+ Brent Geese, a day-flying Barn Owl, 2 Whimbrel, Greenshank, breeding plumaged Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, lots of singing Whitethroats and last, but by no means least a "plastic fantastic" drake Wood Duck!!

Wood Duck

A few butterflies were also flying about, including  2 Peacocks and (new for the year) Speckled Wood and Large White.

Speckled Wood (courtesy of Luke)

Year List update:
123 – Linnet
124 – Reed Warbler
125 – Whitethroat
126 – Ruff
127 – Greenshank
128 – Black-tailed Godwit
129 – Brent Goose
130 – Avocet
131 – Dunlin
132 – Curlew Sandpiper
133 – Barn Owl
134 – Ringed Plover
135 – Little Ringed Plover
136 – Hobby
137 – Whimbrel
138 – Sedge Warbler
139 – Garganey
140 - Corn Bunting

French-ringed Reed Warbler

Yesterday I was out for my first ringing session in a while at Poolsbrook Marsh, with 5 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group.

We arrived on site at 5.00am, got the nets out and started to catch some birds. By the end of the morning's session we had caught 73 birds of 15 species. Totals were (new/retrap): Wren 2/0, Dunnock 2/0, Robin 1/0, Blackbird 1/0, Sedge Warbler 1/0, Reed Warbler 33/2, Lesser Whitethroat 2/0, Whitethroat 3/0, Blackcap 6/0, Chiffchaff 2/0, Willow Warbler 5/1, Willow Tit 4/0, Blue Tit 0/1, Bullfinch 4/0 and Reed Bunting 3/0.

As you can see, we had a good range of resident and migrant species, including 7 species of warbler. The vast majority of birds were new (and juveniles), but we did have a few previously ringed birds, including a very special Reed Warbler bearing a "Museum Paris" ring!! As the name implies, this bird, which we aged as an adult, had been ringed in France. It'd be great to think that it is a bird that was born at Poolsbrook, and was then ringed on migration through France, before returning the breed here in Derbyshire. I'll update the blog when we get the details back from the BTO.

Other birds seen today included Kingfisher, Common Buzzard and Water Rail (heard only).

Idle Valley Nature Reserve

Today Luke and I met up with several members of the Chesterfield RSPB Group for a walk around the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Idle Valley Nature Reserve. we spent most of the day on site, and recorded approximately 60 species, including 9 "year ticks".

We started out at the Visitors' Centre, where we saw 2 Tree Sparrows on the feeders, and a Swallow and a House Martin in amongst a big flock of c.100 Sand Martins. We then spent the next 2 and a half hours walking around the area near Bunker Wood and Bellmorr Lake and Ponds. Canada and Greylag Geese were numerous, as were Mallards. We also spotted a minimum of 5 Red-Crested Pochards (2 pairs and a male), 3 Shovelers (2m and 1fm), Tufted Ducks, Pochard (2m), Gadwall, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Lesser Black-backed (a large breeding colony of c.100 birds) and Black-headed Gulls, 1 Snipe and Coot (including 2 broods of 6 and 4 chicks)

Coot chick

Passerines were also present, with dozens of Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers and Blackcaps singing around the site. A real surprise was a singing Sedge Warbler (quite an early record), and at least 1, possibly 2 singing Cetti's Warblers (a lifer for Luke).

After lunch Luke and I went off to the far end of the Reserve in Lound, to look for a Great White Egret. Unfortunately, we didn't spot it, but we did spot 4 Little Egrets, 3 breeding plumaged Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Avocets, 2 Oystercatchers and a Little Ringed Plover.

3 species of butterfly were also seen: Orange Tip (1 male), Comma (1) and Speckled Wood (1 - my first of 2017).

Year List update:
123 – Red-crested Pochard
124 – House Martin
125 – Sedge Warbler
126 – Cetti’s Warbler
127 – Black-tailed Godwit
128 – Little Egret
129 – Avocet
130 – Little Ringed Plover
131 - Oystercatcher

Year List update- 6 new species

I haven't blogged about this year's "year list" for a few weeks, and, as you can see from the title of this post, I've managed to add 6 new species to this year's list.

The first two species, Grasshopper Warbler and Sabine's Gull, were added at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Carr Vale reserve a few weeks back.

The next two species, Sedge and Garden Warbler, were added last weekend, whilst ringing at Poolsbrook Marsh last weekend.

The final two species, Yellow-legged Gull and Little Egret were added this week. The Yellow-legged Gull, a nice adult bird, was reported on the Sheffield Bird Study Group website, as being on playing fields in Low Edges, a five minute drive from home, so I popped along and "ticked" it. The Little Egret was seen today fishing in the Boating Lake on the Esplanade in Ryde, Isle of Wight.

Whilst in Ryde, Jayne and I also spotted 5 moulting adult Mediterranean Gulls. Although not a year tick, there are always nice to see and photograph. Here are a couple of photos.

Mediterranean Gull (back bird) and Black-headed Gull

Year List update:
157 – Grasshopper Warbler
158 – Sabine's Gull
159 – Sedge Warbler
160 – Garden Warbler
161 – Yellow-legged Gull
162 – Little Egret

Poolsbrook Marsh - 24th July 2016

Every summer I go out ringing with Sorby Breck Ringing Group at Poolsbrook Marsh. We were out there again at the weekend, and managed to ring 56 birds of 15 species. Birds caught were (new/retrap) : Blackcap 4/0, Garden Warbler 6/0, Reed Warbler 16/2, Sedge Warbler 4/1, Willow Warbler 4/1, Chiffchaff 5/0, Whitethroat 1/0, Dunnock 2/0, Robin 3/0, Wren 1/0, Great Tit 1/0, Blue Tit 2/0, Bullfinch 1/0, Chaffinch 1/0 and Reed Bunting 1/0.

As you can see, we managed to catch 7 species of warbler, including 4 birds that we'd ringed at this site before. 2 of the birds, a Sedge Warbler and a Reed Warbler had both been ringed just over 3 years ago (3 years and 4 days to be exact!). The Sedge Warbler was a juvenile bird when ringed, which shows how birds born here return to breed. The Reed Warbler was aged as an adult in 2013. Another Reed Warbler and one of Willow Warblers (both adults), were first caught on 5th July 2015, and re trapped here on Saturday, 1 year and 19 days later). Great records!

The other notable record of the morning was the excellent number of Reed Warblers and Garden Warblers caught. Out of the 56 birds caught, 34 were juveniles, which is also great news from this wonderful site.

In between net rounds and ringing, we managed to record a few birds, including Grey Heron, Swallow, House Martin, Swift (10) and a Kingfisher that was fishing nearby.

Warblers, Warblers, Warblers!!!

Last weekend's ringing session at Linacre was quite quiet, with just 7 birds ringed, so yesterday, with the weather conditions perfect, we (Sorby Breck Ringing Group), were out at Poolsbrook Marsh, a large area of reed bed and scrub near Staveley, to see if we could improve on that total.... and we did!

Poolsbrook Marsh

We arrived on site at 4.30 am, and, after a little net lane management, we had the nets up ready to start catching birds. The first net round was accompanied by the sound of a reeling Grasshopper Warbler. The first bird out of the first net was also this species and turned out to be the first of 3 caught and ringed- a new species for both Stewart and me! One of the birds caught was a juvenile. which is also a great breeding record for the site. Here's a shot of that first bird.

Grasshopper Warbler

We stayed on site until 9.30 am, and during that time, we managed to catch adults and juveniles of another 6 species of warbler (Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Reed and Sedge Warbler), along with a couple of Blackbirds, juvenile Robins, Reed Buntings and  Blue Tit), bringing the morning's total to 44 birds- nice! Two of the Reed Warblers were re traps, with very similar ring numbers, so were most likely ringed here, by our group in previous years. I'll update when I get the information back from our data manager.

One of the young Willow Warblers I ringed sat quietly on my hand for about 10 seconds before it flew off, so I was able to get this super photo. What a privilege!

Willow Warbler

Linacre WeBS and Nest box News

Yesterday morning is was cool (just 3 degrees) but dry, still and sunny, so I took the opportunity to pop down to Linacre for a few hours to count the ducks, check the nestboxes and see if there were any new summer migrants on the patch.

Last week when I checked the boxes there was just the beginnings of few nests, but the birds had obviously been busy this week as there were now 15 nests with eggs ranging from 2 to 10! None were being incubated yet, so no full clutches yet. Still, all good data for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.

There weren't many birds about on the water, but a pair of Greylag Geese prospecting for possible nest sites was interesting, as was my first sighting of Kingfisher, flying down the top reservoir. Other birds present were: Mallard (30), Tufted Duck (21), Mandarin Duck (5 males), Coot (8), Moorhen (1), Grey Wagtail (1 on the middle reservoir) and Great Crested Grebe (3; 2 on the middle reservoir and 1 on the top reservoir).

No new summer migrants were seen today, but there were 6 Chiffchaffs, 2 Willow Warblers and several Blackcaps singing, along with Swallows that were heard, but not seen.

This year's Year List has moved on this week with 3 Little Ringed Plovers at Carsington Water on Wednesday,
Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler singing yesterday at Poolsbrook Marsh and today's Kingfisher.

Year list update:
112- Little Ringed Plover
113- Whitethroat
114- Sedge Warbler
115 - Kingfisher

Sedge Warbler Recovery

So far in my ringing "career" I've only ringed 1 Sedge Warbler, so you can understand my excitement, when I received an email from David, our data manager at Sorby Breck RG, telling me that the bird I ringed last year, had been "recovered" by ringers in France on its way south for the winter!

The bird in question was a juvenile, born last year at the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Carr Vale Reserve, and ringed by me on July 28th (see here for details and a couple of pictures). The bird was "recovered", which means it was retrapped away from the site it was ringed, by ringers in Sandouville, in the Seine Maritime region of northern France on August 12th, a distance of 431km. According to BTO's Birdfacts page, British Sedge Warblers have been recovered throughout France and Spain, down into Western Africa, so who knows where this bird spent the winter.

In the same session, we also retrapped another 2 Sedge Warblers, 1 of which had been ringed by my trainer at Carr Vale in 2013, so there's a possibility, that "my" bird could turn up in Derbyshire again this year. I'll be sure to let you know if this happens.

Carr Vale Ringing - 2 new species

On Saturday I was out ringing with my trainer and Brian from The Sorby Breck Ringing Group, at the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Carr Vale reserve. It was the first visit for a while, and hopes were high for a few warblers. We were not disappointed as we caught 27 individuals of 7 different species, including 2 new species for me.

The first new species was a Lesser Whitethroat. It was one of the first birds out of the nets, and also my first sighting of the year. Unfortunately no photos as I was busy getting all the information from it!

The second new species for me was a Sedge Warbler- 1 of 3 birds processed today. The bird I ringed was a new bird, born this year, while the other 2 were retraps. 1 had been ringed by my trainer at Carr Vale last year, and we're still waiting for information about the other bird. Here's a couple of photos- the first is the bird held safely in the "ringers' grip", whilst the second is a close up of the bird's head. What a super bird!

Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler's head

Along with these 2 birds I was also lucky enough to ring another 27 birds of 13 species -Whitethroat (2), Chiffchaff (2), Wren (1), Blackcap (2), Reed Warbler (2), Reed Bunting (1), Bullfinch (1), Great Tit (2), Blue Tit (2), Long-tailed Tit (2), Dunnock (1), Robin (1) and Song Thrush (1). All these birds were new birds, except the Dunnock, which was a retrap.

Year List update
163 - Lesser Whitethroat

RSPB Lakenheath- 28th May 2013

During our recent trip to Suffolk Jayne and I popped across to the RSPB's Lakenheath Reserve in the search of a male Red-footed Falcon, that had been present for over 3 weeks. Unfortunately, the day before our visit it had had a run in with a local Sparrowhawk and wasn't playing ball. Added to that, the weather had turned cool, wet and windy, so we left slightly disappointed!

Despite the "no-show" from the falcon, we did manage to see and hear 25 species of bird including 3 Hobbys hunting together, hunting Marsh Harriers, Reed, Sedge,Cettis and Grasshopper Warbler, "pinging"Bearded Tit, a Kingfisher and several Cuckoos, including this one that perched briefly.

Cuckoo

This Reed Warbler sat singing in the reeds near the path and I managed to grab a few shots before it disappeared again.

Reed Warbler

First eggs!!

Popped down to Linacre for an hour this afternoon to show Jayne the Pied Flycatcher that I saw yesterday. It wasn't around today - arrgh!!! Whilst waiting though I had a quick check of a few nest boxes and got lucky with box 26 that contained five tit eggs - hurrah. Last year the first eggs were found on 15th April, so you can see how late there are this year. 5 is about half the usual total for a Blue or Great Tit, and the eggs were cold and not being incubated, so this clutch is still being laid. I'll check again at the weekend when, hopefully, the clutch will be complete and there will be a few more full nests. Hopefully the Pied Fly will be around again as well.

Box 26

 

A couple of Stock Doves were feeding in the field by the main entrance and whilst walking by the middle reservoir we managed to hear and photograph a male Blackcap. Can you spot him in this photo?

 

Blackcap

Before I went to Linacre I spent a couple of hours with members of the ringing group at Carr Vale, a Derbyshire Wildlife Trust reserve near Bolsover, where we set up a new feeding station and cut some net rides. Sedge Warblers ( a year tick) were singing all around us and hopefully we'll be able to ring these and other warblers over the summer.

 

Year List update:

124 - Sedge Warbler

RSPB Farm Walk 7th May 2011

Spent a few hours this morning carrying out my second survey walk for the RSPB's Volunteer and Farmer Alliance at  a farm near Blyth, Nottinghamshire.

Last month's walk (see here) was quite quiet, but this month things had livened up a little with the arrival of a few summer migrants and more breeding activity from the resident species. First birds heard and seen were the Skylarks with at least half a dozen individual birds singing and displaying around the site. Chiffchaffs were also singing, and the first new summer migrants were Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Sedge Warbler.

Sedge Warbler

Walking along by the river I came across several Mute Swans, Mallards, a pair of Gadwall and a pair of Tufted Duck. Canada and Greylag Geese were present on the nearby lake and half a dozen Sand Martins were also flying around.