Northumberland - Day 1

 Jayne and I are up in Northumberland for a few days, so we've taken the opportunity to get a few new birds for this year's Year List.

Our first new birds were seen on the drive up: Red Kite (49), Kestrel (50) and Curlew (51). The next birds were seen at Newbiggin by-the-Sea: Oystercatcher (52), Redshank (53), Ringed Plover (54), Sanderling (55), Turnstone (56), Dunlin (57), Shorelark (2 on the golf course; 58), Twite (23 with the Shorelarks; 59), Rock Pipit (60) and Short-eared Owl (61).

Shorelark

The next few species were seen on the drive from Newbiggin to Shilbottle: Pink-footed Goose (62), Greylag Goose (63) and Mute Swan (64). We also stopped off at Widdrington Moor Lake, where we spotted 2 pairs of Red-breasted Merganser (65), Wigeon (66), 2 redhead Smew (67) and several male and female Goldeneye (68).

Year List update - 15th April 2023

 Over the last week or so I've had a few trips to catch up with a few more "year ticks", taking this year's total to 132.

The first trip was to the moors just above Sheffield to try and catch up with Ring Ouzel and Wheatear. Unfortunately, my first visit blew a blank, as there was a very heavy mist/fog on arrival! I did, however, manage to see several Red Grouse (126).

The next trip, to Ossett in West Yorkshire was a proper "twitch" to see 2 Black-crowned Night Herons (128) that had appeared on the river there. 1 was seen, initially perched up in a tree, but then feeding- very nice! A Kingfisher (127) was also seen, along with half a dozen Sand Martins, a single Swallow, and my first Orange Tip butterflies of the year (2 males).

Black-crowned Night Heron

My next "tick" was a single House Martin (129) that I saw at Linacre yesterday morning. This morning, Jayne and I had a return visit to the moorlands, where, despite some more mist (!), we managed to spot a hunting Short-eared Owl (130), a couple of Ring Ouzels ( male and female - 131) and a couple of Wheatears (male and female - 132).

Wheatear

RSPB Frampton Marsh - 2 Insect Lifers

It's not often that I go to an RSPB reserve and get more insect "lifers"  than birds, but today that is exactly what happened when I visited RSPB Frampton Marsh. To be honest, I'd gone with the intention of seeing the insects in question, so I was very pleased to see them both.

The first insect lifer was a Willow Emerald Damselfly (see here). This damselfly is a relative newcomer to Britain, and has a very limited, but expanding, range. I'd heard they were present here, so, after  getting directions from the Visitors' Centre, I set off to find them. It took a while, but, eventually, I spotted a male perched up on the hedgerow, and got a few photos. Fantastic!

Willow Emerald Damselfly

The second new insect was a Sea Aster Mining Bee (see here). This species also has a limited range, but Frampton is a stronghold. Again, I managed a couple of photos.

Sea Aster Mining Bee

Other insects seen included: Migrant Hawker (male and female), Ruddy Darter (1 male), Common Darter (10s) and a very impressive Wasp Spider.

Wasp Spider

Birds seen were: Peregrine Falcon, Short-eared Owl (1 over the saltmarsh - year tick), Spoonbill (17, including a Dutch-ringed bird), Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Knot, Turnstone (4 - a new species for me here), Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit (c.3500!!), Lapwing, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail (2), Shoveler, Mallard, Canada and Greylag Geese.

Year List update:
189 – Long-eared Owl (young heard in NE Derbyshire in August)
190 – Short-eared Owl

191 – Spoonbill

Year List Update

As always the "year list" has continued to grow over the last week. Number 141, the Garden Warbler was added on Sunday 6th when I was lucky enough to find a singing male in the ringing site at Linacre. A very productive trip to the National Trust's Padley Gorge and nearby Barbrook Valley last Monday added numbers 142 - 146, whilst my first confirmed sighting of Swift came later in the week. The final bird, a stunning Short-eared Owl, was seen today.

Year List update:
141 – Garden Warbler
142 – Pied Flycatcher
143 – Redstart
144 – Cuckoo
145 – Whinchat
146 - Stonechat
147 - Swift
148 - Short-eared Owl

Something from the Weekend

After yesterday morning's Linacre walk, Jayne and I went for another walk in the afternoon, this time to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. We walked around the Lower Lake where we looked at the Heronry on the island. There were at least 12 Grey Herons on the nests, including these two. We couldn't decide whether they were a pair, or a couple of males arguing over nest sites. Whatever the case, I was very pleased with this shot, especially the left hand bird with its crest raised.

Grey Herons

Whilst walking around the lake, we also saw approximately 100 Black-headed Gulls, a dozen or so Teal, 3 Goosander (1 male and 2 "redheads"), Greylag and Canada Geese, 2 Mute Swans, a single Redwing, and a first for this site, an Egyptian Goose!

This morning I was out ringing with the Sorby Breck Ringing Group. Today we joined forces with other members of the group for a ringing demonstration at the National Trust's Longshaw Estate.  The fun started before we got there however, as a Short-eared Owl was spotted perched by the side of the road as we drove past at 6.45am. The session itself lasted for a good four and a half hours, and was very well attended, by at least 30 people. Thankfully, the birds turned up as well, and we managed to ring 60+, including crowd pleasers such as; Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Goldfinch and a lovely male Great-spotted Woodpecker.

After the ringing session, the sun was still out, so Jayne and I drove across to Bakewell for a walk and a spot of lunch. We also had a walk by the river, so I had a look for the hybrid duck that we'd seen back in February (see post here).  It was still present on the river by the bridge, and this time it came much closer, allowing a much better photo.

Hybrid duck

There were still a t least 100 Black-headed Gulls still present on the river, along with Mallards and 6 juvenile Mute Swans. As usual I spent some time taking photos of the gulls. Here's just one.

Black-headed Gull

On the drive back from Bakewell we drove past Barbrook Plantation and spotted a couple of Red Deer, which we able to photograph.

Red Deer

Short-eared Owl

I was driving past Leash Fen at about 4pm this afternoon when I noticed a few cars parked up on Fox Lane. At this time of the year, it can only mean one thing- Short-eared Owl. I parked up, and sure enough, there it was hunting over the rough grassland. I was able to watch it for half an hour, as it hunted and perched up in one of the Silver Birch trees. Unfortunately, a pair of Carrion Crows then mobbed it and the bird flew onto the ground, where it could no longer be seen. Here's my best photo.

Short-eared Owl

This bird is a "year tick" as is the Meadow Pipit that was heard whilst watching the owl.

Year List update:

113 - Short-eared Owl

114 - Meadow Pipit

Year List Update and a new Dragonfly

This week is half term, which means I've had a bit of time to get out and about to do some birdwatching and increase my "year list". I've also added a new species of dragonfly to my "life list" with a Scarce Chaser seen.

The first new bird that I found was the Long-eared Owl. I saw this bird hunting over the moorland in the Peak District. I won't give the exact site, as it is a site where the bird has been known to breed.

The next birds, numbers 132- 138 (except House Martin, which I saw a few weeks ago, but forgot to add on), were all seen on a recent trip the RSPB Ouse Washes reserve in Cambridgeshire. I'm particularly pleased with the Short-eared Owl, Bittern (heard booming), and the Common Cranes, which are never easy to find. Whilst on site, we also saw and heard at least 2 Cuckoos, saw a Great-spotted Woodpecker feeding chicks, a fly-over Green Woodpecker, Swallows and caught up with my first dragon and damselflies of 2015, namely Blue-tailed Damselflies, Emerald Damselflies and this beautiful Scarce Chaser, which is a new species for me!!. I'm pretty sure its a young male, and, as its name suggests, its pretty scarce in the UK. See here for more details about this species.

Scarce Chaser

The final new bird is a Nightingale, which is now imposssible to see in Derbyshire. For this bird we, Jayne and I, travelled a little further south to Paxton Pits Nature Reserve. We were very lucky and managed to hear and actually see at least 2 male birds singing around the Kingfisher Hide. If you've never heard  the song of the Nightingale, listen to it here, as its an amazing sound. Whilst there, we also heard more Cuckoos, and saw a couple of males flying around the site. 

Year List update:
 131 – Long-eared Owl

132 – Common Tern

133- Common Crane

134 - Little Egret

135 – Short-eared Owl

136 – Bittern

137 – House Martin

138 – Reed Warbler

139 - Nightingale

Linacre and Leash Fen - 28th January 2012

Had a couple of hours at Linacre this morning, mostly to have a check of the nestboxes for the forthcoming breeding season, but also to catch up with the birds.

Most of the boxes were still in place and complete with their lids. There were, however, a few exceptions such as this one below, which will need replacing soon!

I want to make sure we have the best season yet for the birds, but also because I will be ringing the youngsters (pulli) with my trainer, so the more birds the better. I'll blog about that when it happens.

Lots of birds were singing this morning as it was a lovely bright, sunny day, the most notable being Song Thrush (my first this year), Blue, Great and Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Robin and Wren. Waterbirds seen this morning were: Mallard (106), Mandarin (7), Coot (7), Tufted Duck (14), Great-crested Grebe (1), Goosander (2; 1 male and 1 female), Black-headed Gull (46), Grey Heron (1), Moorhen (6) and Grey Wagtail (1).

An afternoon visit to Leash Fen provided two year ticks:

78 – Short-eared Owl
79 – Meadow Pipit

Lincolnshire - 24th February 2011

I always like to get at least one day's proper birdwatching in during the holidays, so I decided to go and explore a part of the world I rarely visit, namely North Lincolnshire, along the south side of the River Humber.

First stop of the day was Barton upon Humber Gravel Pits. A pair of Long-tailed Ducks had been reported here, but despite a good hour's searching I couldn't locate either bird! Instead I managed to get a few "year ticks" with half a dozen Gadwall, a couple of Shoveler, approximately 40 Pochard and a fly-by Kingfisher. Also present on the banks of the river were Oystercatcher, 30+ Curlew and Shelduck.

Kingfisher

Next stop was the cement works at South Ferriby, about 5 miles to the west and again on the banks of the River Humber. A juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard has spent the winter in this area and, for some reason, likes this particular patch of land. Presumably a good supply of voles is more important to it than beautiful scenery! Anyway, as is normal with this species, the bird spends alot of time sitting on the floor and today was no exception. It was eventually located about 800m away from the road, sat on the floor preening. Despite my best efforts I couldn't get a decent photo, but here is a link so you can see other people's efforts. My first "lifer" of 2011!!! As well as this great bird, I also managed to pick up 3 Marsh Harrier, including a pair displaying, 100+ Canada Geese and about 50 Pink-footed Geese feeding on Read's Island.

My final destination today was another spot, again, only about 5 miles away, called Worlaby Carr. It has become quite well  known in the birding world recently as an excellent spot to see and photograph Short-eared Owl, during the winter months. I arrived at 3pm and 4 birds were already flying around hunting. I dropped lucky and managed to photograph one sat on a post. Although some distance away, it is possible to make out its near horizontal stance and whiteish plumage. A great bird and wonderful "year tick"!

                                                                      Short-eared Owl

Raptor Persecution in Derbyshire

I know this isn't my usual type of post, but I thought it might be of interest to everyone with an interest in our native birds of prey, especially those living within our own county.

Warning: this doe not make pleasant reading!!

http://www.britishringers.co.uk/uploads/Nestwatch%202010.pdf