Rufford - 18th January 2025

 Yesterday morning, I had a couple of hours at Rufford, before grandparenting duties took over. Whilst there, I managed to add 3 new Year Ticks, as well as spending some time checking the gulls.

I arrived on site at 8am, and parked up in the main car park. Within about 10 minutes, 4 Hawfinch (112) flew into the trees and posed beautifully. Unfortunately, the light was terrible, but I still managed a decent enough record shot.

Hawfinch

I then set off around the lake, where I added Stock Dove (113) and Marsh Tit (114) to this year's list. The Marsh Tit (s) were seen around the feeding station, and I managed to get a shot, showing the distinctive  white spot, on the lower mandible.

Marsh Tit

Carrying on to my usual spot, by the main lake, I was surprised to see c.100 Black-headed Gulls hanging around, waiting for breakfast, along with 6 Lesser Black-backs and a couple of Common Gulls. The Group ran out of green darvic rings a few weeks ago, so yellow ones have been used. Two of these birds were spotted: 2V00 and 2V05.

2V00

2V05

Other ringed birds were: 293A, 280B, 207C, 258C, 264C, 273C, 207F, 219F, 221F, 234F and 276F.

3 Mute Swans (Broken Beak, his partner and 1 juvenile), Kingfisher (heard), Siskins and 10 Goosander (7 males and 3 females), were also  recorded.

Linacre WeBS - August 2024

 I carried out this month's WeBS count at Linacre yesterday. As always at this time of the year, it was pretty quiet. Unfortunately, the top reservoir is still closed off, for repairs to the boardwalk, and the water levels are much lower than normal there. Despite searching, I couldn't locate any passage waders!

Counts for this month's survey were: Mallard (100; 99 adults and 1 duckling), Mandarin (22 birds), Coot (2 adults), Moorhen (14; 11 adults and 3 juveniles), Tufted Duck (18 adults, no sign of breeding this year), Grey Wagtail (2 juveniles), Grey Heron (1), Great-crested Grebe (2 adults) and Kingfisher (a minimum of 2 birds - 1 on the middle reservoir and 1 on the bottom reservoir, but there appeared to be a few flying around - possibly juvenile birds?).

There were still c50 Linnets in the field by the car park, along with 5 Stock Doves, a feral Pigeon, 10 Chaffinch and Goldfinch. A small flock of c15 House Martins were over the middle reservoir, and a single Common Buzzard was seen.

Just 1 butterfly was seen, a single Speckled Wood, in the farmer's field, by the car park.

Speckled Wood

Linacre WeBS - 6th April 2024

 The second visit to Linacre this week was this morning, when I carried out this month's WeBS count. It was 13 degrees when I arrived at 7am, and this had risen to 17 degrees (!) by the time I left at 9am.

In the two hours that I was there the following waterbirds were seen: Mallard (47), Tufted Duck (17), Mandarin (12), Canada Geese (2), Mute Swan (1 - 6Y24), Moorhen (10), Coot (4), Cormorant (1), Great-crested Grebe (6; 3 pairs, 1 on each reservoir) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (4).

Mandarin Duck

Lots of birds were singing in the sunshine, including 8 Chiffchaffs, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap 1 Skylark and 3 Song Thrushes. Other birds seen were: Sparrowhawk (1 high over the woodlands), 3 Stock Doves and my first Swallow of the year (hurrah!).

Linacre 24th and 29th March 2024

 I had a couple of visits to Linacre in the last few days of March. It was quite quiet on both occasions, but I did manage to see a few summer insects and check up on the Mute Swan.

Waterfowl numbers have fallen off in March (as usual), as birds set up their breeding pairs/territories. Having said this, there have been a few still about, with double figure counts still for Mallard (43 on 23rd) and Tufted Duck (18 on 23rd). As mentioned above, the female Mute Swan (6Y24) was present on both visits. 1 Little Grebe was heard on 23rd, so hopefully breeding will take place again this year. Great-crested Grebe numbers are also up to 5, with birds present on all three reservoirs. Surprisingly, a late female Goosander (29th) and 1 Black-headed Gull (24th) were also noted. Three Grey Wagtails were also seen on 29th. 2 Cormorants were seen on 24th and 1 was still present on 29th.

Mandarin Ducks

The woods held the usual suspects, but a nice addition was my first record of Stock Dove for 2024 (3 near the Rangers' Base), along with up to 8 singing Chiffchaffs, and, best of all, a Red Kite, low over the woods, being mobbed by two Jackdaws on the 29th. This is my first record for a couple of years, although there were a few sightings by other people last year.

Insect wise, it's still quiet, although I reported my first hoverfly species of the year, Eristalis sp, on 24th, along with a Buff-tailed Bumblebee. It was warmer on 29th (14 degrees), so there were more insects about, including Common Carder Bees, Tree Bumblebee, an unidentified Mining Bee sp and a beautiful (male, I think) Tawny Mining Bee.

Tawny Mining Bee

Nottinghamshire Day Trip - 18th February 2024

 Yesterday, I had a little drive around a few sites in Nottinghamshire, adding 5 species to the Year List.

I started off, in the rain (!) at Rufford, searching for Hawfinch. Unfortunately, after two hours, I came away empty handed. I did, however, manage to add Jay (119) and Stock Dove (120).

Next up, was Budby South Forest, where I managed to spot Stonechats (121) and singing Woodlarks (122).

From here, I drove on to Clumber Park, spotting the long-staying, feral Red-breasted Goose (in the background of the photo) along with Mute Swan, Y358 (ringed 13km away, in 2019, as an adult. This was my 6th sighting at Clumber), and a green-ringed Black-headed Gull, 263C. This was the first sighting of this bird since it was ringed, at Center Parcs, on 16th December 2023.

Y358

263C

The next stop, was a return visit to Rufford, where there were just 70 Black-headed Gulls, along with 10 Goosander (8 females and 2 males) and lots of geese!! Ringed gulls were: 258A (my 30th sighting since February 2020!), 207C (14th sighting since December 2022), 258C (6th sighting since December 2023), 270C (2nd sighting, since December 2023) and 273C (4th sighting since 6th January 2024). 

The final stop of the day, was Carburton Lake, where I managed to spot a very distant adult Caspian Gull (123). A single Red-legged Partridge (124) was seen on the drive back home.

Linacre WeBS - 28th August 2023

 I carried out the monthly WeBS count this morning. It was warm and sunny and a really enjoyable walk around all three reservoirs.

Birds seen were: Mallard (97 adults and 3 ducklings), Tufted Duck (17 adults), Mandarin Duck (49 adults and 2 ducklings), Moorhen ( 8 adults and 6 juveniles), Coot (6 adults and 3 juveniles), Grey Heron (1), Grey Wagtail (1), Canada Goose ( 1 heard) and Great-crested Grebe (2 adults and 4 juveniles).

Other birds seen were: Raven (1 over the top reservoir), Magpie (2), Chiffchaff (3 singing and lots of "wheeting"), Blackcap (1 singing in the ringing site), Jay (heard) and Stock Dove (heard singing).

Linacre Nestboxes - 30th April 2023

 I was down at Linacre this morning with 2 other members of the ringing group, carrying out a first check of the nestboxes. In total we found  28 active nests, all of which were Blue or Great Tits. In addition, a singing Pied Flycatcher was still in the same area as last week.

Other wildlife seen included 5 adult Greylag Geese and an adult Canada Goose on the top reservoir, the first singing Skylark of the year, a singing Stock Dove (first Linacre record and a "year tick"), 1 Common Buzzard and a male Roe Deer (my first ever Linacre record!!).

Roe Deer

The first Mallard ducklings of the year were also seen today, 2 broods of 5 and 4.

Mallard ducklings (3 of 4)

Linacre - 27th March 2021

 Last Saturday morning, I spent a couple of hours at Linacre. It was five degrees, windy, with a few hail showers!

Water bird numbers had begun to fall, but there were still reasonable numbers around: 52 Mallard, 73 Tufted Duck, 13 Mandarin, 4 Great-crested Grebe, 3 Grey Wagtail, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Canada Geese, 1 Cormorant, 12 Coots and 11 Moorhens, including 1 sitting on a nest.

In addition, there were 5 singing Chiffchaffs, 3 drumming Great-spotted Woodpeckers (no Lessers!!), a singing Mistle Thrush, a Chaffinch with nesting material, a male Siskin by the top reservoir again, my first Linacre Treecreeper of the year, 2 Stock Doves in the bottom car park, a Brown Hare by the main entrance and, best of all, a female Yellowhammer, also by main entrance.

Linacre Reservoirs - 6th March 2021

 Yesterday was my first visit to Linacre of March. I arrived on site at 6.45am and spent two hours walking around all three reservoirs. 

As always at this time of the year there were a lot of species singing, including  1 Mistle Thrush, 2 Song Thrushes, Chaffinch, Nuthatch, Woodpigeon, Great and Coal Tit, Robin, Wren and Dunnock. In addition, 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers were heard drumming and a pair of Stock Doves and Jackdaws were exploring potential nest sites.

Out on the water there were 3 Canada Geese (1 pair on the bottom reservoir, and 1 single bird on the middle), 104 Mallards, 90 Tufted Duck, 44 Mandarins, 11 Coots, 9 Moorhens, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Cormorant, 1 Little Grebe (heard), 3 Great-crested Grebes (2 on the middle reservoir, and 1 on the top), 42 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Common Gull (2nd record of the year!) and 1 male Goosander.

The best sighting of the day, however, was a Woodcock that appeared out of the woods, and flew straight past me along the entire length of the top reservoir!! It was my best ever sighting of this species, as I usually only see them in silhouette in the summer "roding" over woodland, and also a great Linacre record for this rarely-seen, nocturnal species. My last record was a dead bird, seen in January 2020 (see here).

Linacre Gull Fest and WeBS - 15th February 2021

 This month's WeBS walk at Linacre Reservoirs took place yesterday. Following a week of very cold temperatures (+2 maximum) and snow there was a lot of ice covering all three reservoirs (c.40%), which made counting easier, and also lead to some excellent records.

First up, the waterfowl counts: 148 Mallard, 105 Tufted Duck (my highest ever count, possibly cold weather movement?), 102 Mandarin Duck, 12 Moorhen, 9 Coot, 1 Cormorant (in full breeding plumage), 4 Little Grebe, 10 Goosander (4 males and 6 females), 168 (minimum, most likely 200+) Black-headed Gull (including 2 metal-ringed birds and a darvic-ringed bird),  2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (both adult-type, returning breeders from Chesterfield?), 1 Herring Gull (flew over the top reservoir for 5 minutes - only my sixth record since 2006!), 1 adult Common Gull, only my third ever Linacre record, previous records being in 2014 and 2016 and 2 Grey Wagtail. 

Common Gull (and Black-headed Gull)

As you can see, the number of Black-headed Gulls was fantastic, probably due to me being on site until 2.00pm, and because of the icy conditions elsewhere, as were the Herring and Common Gull records. Lesser Black-backed Gull sightings have increased in  the last few years, as they have established themselves as a breeding species in Chesterfield (first confirmed breeding in 2018 I think) and will continue to grow as the breeding population increases. The same may happen for Herring Gull, as they too, have become a breeding species in Chesterfield too.

Whilst scanning through the Black-headed Gulls, I spotted 2 metal-ringed birds and 1 darvic-ringed bird. Unfortunately, I couldn't read the metal rings (too far away), but I did manage to get a distant photo of the darvic-ringed bird, and saw that it was 2T46. This was a bird that my nephew, Luke, saw at nearby Holmebrook Valley CP, on 6th November 2020, and had been ringed in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, on 19th September 2020. The first photo is this bird in November, whilst the second is from yesterday. Luke's photo was taken much nearer (!), whilst my photo shows how the bird's breeding plumage brown hood is developing.

2T46, Holmebrook Valley CP, November 2020

2T46, Linacre Reservoir, February 2021

Other birds seen/heard around the reservoirs were: Tawny Owl (heard), Raven (2 displaying), Green Woodpecker (heard), Skylark (1 seen and heard over the top reservoir), Common Buzzard (3 together), Sparrowhawk (1 displaying), Stock Dove (4, and singing heard).

NOTE: a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker was noted (not by me!) on 14th February, feeding with a mixed tit flock - the first 2021 record.

Alvaston Park - 16th November 2019

A couple of weeks ago I was in Alvaston Park, and spotted the Danish ringed Black-headed Gull VA4073, (see here). I was back there again today, and saw it again.

VA4073

Whilst there I also spotted a new-for-me Polish ringed bird, TLPN. This bird, originally ringed in Poland on 8th June 2019, as a pullus, was first seen here on 12th October 2019. It was very confiding, and I managed to get some lovely pictures.

TLPN

One metal ringed bird was also seen. Unfotunately, this bird, also a first winter bird (born this year), was only seen briefly, and I was only able to read the first digit of its ring, 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ before it flew off.  Another time perhaps!

2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Other birds seen were: 8 Ring-necked Parakeets, 1 Stock Dove, 20+ Canada Geese, Tufted Ducks, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan (8) and Common Gull (at least 3).

Common Gulls

Linacre Nestboxes

This week is the BTO's National Nestbox Week, so I decided to go down to Linacre to check on our nestboxes, and make sure that they are all as they were at the end of last year's breeding season. In total, we have 90 boxes in and around Linacre; 84 tit boxes, 5 "owl" boxes and a "Little Owl" box, so I was on site for 3 hours.

Most of the boxes were fine, but several had lost their lids over the winter, and one was found laying on the floor. Thankfully, I'd taken my repair kit with me, so all the boxes are now back in place ready for the birds, and this year's BTO's Nest Recording Scheme.

Whilst on site I recorded a few birds, including my first Red Kite since 2014 (!), the first 2019 Linacre record of Canada Geese (a pair) and a pair of Stock Dove inspecting one of the nest boxes!!

Canada Geese

Linacre WeBS - February 2019

This month's WeBS count took place yesterday morning, and the following birds were counted; Mallard 64, Mandarin Duck 28, Tufted Duck 27, Coot 7, Moorhen 10, Cormorant 2, Goosander 4; 2 males and 2 females - my first Linacre record since January 2018!), Great-crested Grebe 6; including 1 pair displaying, Black-headed Gull 70 and Kingfisher 1. In amongst the Mallards was this single, all white duck, first seen last month.

The woods were full of birds enjoying the 8 degree warmth and sunshine with many species recorded singing including Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird, Song and Mistle Thrush, Nuthatch, Goldcrest and Coal Tit. There were also at least 3 Great-spotted Woodpeckers drumming, a large flock of Siskin in the Larches by the middle reservoir and my first Stock Dove record for Linacre in 2019.

Year List - 100 species +

This weekend I've managed to add 3 new species to the "year list". The first new species, Waxwing, was added yesterday, when I popped across to Sheffield (Cemetery Avenue), to see a flock of approximately 25 birds.

Waxwing

The next two species, Ring-necked Parakeet (2) and Stock Dove, were both added this morning on a gull ring reading trip to Alvaston Park, Derby (more on that in another post!).

Year List update:
99 – Waxwing
100 – Ring-necked Parakeet
101 – Stock Dove

Linacre Ringing - 7th May 2018

Last weekend I had a quick trip to Linacre to check on the progress of the "owl" boxes, following our successful trip there on 21st April (see here for details). The results were mixed, with a new species ringed and one deserted nest.

First the good news. The Tawny Owl that had been found in one of the boxes in April, had been successful and 2 downy chicks were found and ringed by me and other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group. This constitutes the first breeding of this species in one of the "owl" boxes.

Tawny Owl chicks

Another female Mandarin Duck was also found in a second box, incubating eggs. She too was ringed.

Mandarin Duck

Unfortunately, the Stock Dove nest that was found in April had failed, with 2 broken eggs in the bottom of the box. We don't know what happened to the adult birds, but they may have been disturbed or killed by a predator, such as a Grey Squirrel.

Results from these nests will be forwarded to the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.

Linacre Ringing and Nestboxes- 21st April 2018

I was down at Linacre yesterday morning with Luke and 5 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group for a ringing session. We also had time to check the owl boxes, and recorded 2 new breeding species using the boxes!

The first species that we found in one of the boxes was Stock Dove. This is an under recorded species at Linacre, so it was really nice to find it breeding. One bird flew out of the box as we approached. A quick look, found 2 eggs.

Stock Dove nest

The second new species was Tawny Owl. A sitting bird was found as we checked the other boxes. She didn't come off the nest, so, although we couldn't confirm breeding (yet), it looks as though she might well have eggs or small chicks underneath here. 

Tawny Owl

Two other boxes were checked, and both contained Mandarin Ducks. One box had a sitting female and 13 eggs. The other box didn't have a female bird, but it did have 12 cold eggs. Hopefully, the female will come back and continue to incubate them.

Mandarin Duck

All 3 nests will be monitored for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. 

As well as checking the nestboxes, we also managed to ring the female Mandarin Duck and had a mist net ringing session ringing the following birds (new/retrap): Mandarin Duck 1/0, Dunnock 1/0, Blackcap 4/1, Chiffchaff 0/1, Long-tailed Tit 0/4, Nuthatch 0/3 and Bullfinch 1/0.

It's always great to hear, see and catch the first warblers of the year. Especially nice, however, was the fact that the retrap Blackcap was a bird we'd ringed at Linacre as a juvenile on 11th June 2017, showing site fidelity. Hopefully it'll stay and breed and we'll retrap it again later in the year.

Blackcap

The Chiffchaff was also a bird we'd ringed previously at Linacre. This bird, however, was a little older, having been ringed as an adult male on 17th April 2016. Interestingly, the Chiffchaff hasn't been re trapped at Linacre since 2016. Was it here last year, or did it go somewhere else? Does it stay to breed or move somewhere else? As always, lots more questions than answers!!!

Another male Blackcap was seen and heard singing. Luke managed to get a photo, showing it wearing a ring! Unfortunately we didn't catch this bird, so we don't yet know whether it was ringed by us or elsewhere. Again, let's hope we can catch it later in the year to find out more information about it.

Blackcap

Other sightings from Linacre today included a Common Sandpiper on the bottom reservoir, the second record of the year (thanks Luke!), Green Woodpecker (heard), Sparrowhawk (1 over), Cormorant (3 over) and the first Butterfly of the year, a Small Tortoiseshell. 

Common Sandpiper

Summer Migrants at Linacre

Luke and I had 2 hours at Linacre this morning and walked around all 3 reservoirs. We recorded good numbers of the usual waterbirds, along with a pair of Greylag Goose (present since Wednesday 29th) and our first singing Blackcap (3) and Willow Warbler (1) of 2017. The Willow Warbler was by the top reservoir, and was 3 days earlier than 2016, whilst the Blackcaps were by the middle reservoir (1), and by the stairs by the bottom reservoir (2) and were an  amazing 16 days earlier than last year!! Also singing this morning were: 9 Chiffchaffs, 7 Song Thrushes, Wrens, Stock Doves and Dunnocks. 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers were drumming.

Greylag Geese (a pair?)

Waterbirds seen were: Mallard (33), Tufted Duck (27), Coot (6), Moorhen (12), Cormorant (3; 2 adults and a young bird), Great-crested Grebe (6; 3 pairs, including 1 pair that appeared to have a nest), Mandarin Duck (6) and Grey Wagtail (4: 2 pairs). A mixed flock of c.30 Siskins and Lesser Redpolls was flying around the Larch woodlands.

Wood Anenome, Lesser Celandine and Coltsfoot were in all in flower. Interestingly, another 4 Perch and another dead Trout were in the overflow from the middle reservoir, along with, what looked like a half eaten duck, possibly a Mallard?

Mallard?

Year List update:
115 - Chiffchaff (at Linacre on 12th March)
116 - Willow Warbler

Linacre - 25th March 2017

Luke and I had 2 hours at Linacre this morning. We arrived at 7am and it was bright and sunny, but only minus 1 degrees. When we left at 9am it was still bright and sunny, but the temperature had risen to 7 degrees.

One of the first birds we heard today was a calling Tawny Owl, surprisingly our first Linacre record of 2017. We walked around all 3 reservoirs, and recorded 10 singing Chiffchaffs, 2 Song Thrushes, 2 Mistle Thrushes, Siskin (heard and 2 seen), 4 drumming Great-spotted Woodpeckers, 9 Mandarin Ducks, 36 Mallards, 31 Tufted Ducks, 10 Coots, 9 Moorhens, 6 Great-crested Grebes (3 pairs), 1 Canada Goose, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Grey Wagtails, 3 Black-headed Gulls, 1 "redhead" Goosander, 1 Common Buzzard and 3 Cormorants, including this ringed individual.

Cormorant

As we were heading back to the car we decided to have one last look for Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. No luck unfortunately, but we did stumble on 5 Stock Doves, including a pair that were inspecting a potential nest hole. This not only our highest ever count at Linacre, but also the first time we've seen them near a nest site. Hopefully, I'll be able to report a successful nesting report later in the season.

Linacre WeBS - 12th March 2017

Today was the date for this month's BTO WeBS count, so I popped down to Linacre for 6:45am to see what was about.

As soon as I arrived into the car park I had a nice surprise as there were 2 Stock Doves feeding on the ground, my first Linacre record for 2017. Unfortunately, they both flew up as I drove in, so I didn't get a photo. Walking down to the bottom reservoir I had a couple of Great-spotted Woodpeckers drumming, along with the usual Tits, Chaffinches, Dunnocks, Wrens and Blackbirds all singing. Tufted Ducks were on the bottom reservoir, and in total I saw 47, along with 49 Mallards, 4 Great-crested Grebes (2 pairs), 12 Coots, 10 Moorhens, 1 Cormorant, 2 Grey Wagtails, 9 Black-headed Gulls, 8 Mandarin Ducks, including 5 together in trees by the Rangers' Base, and, best of all, a male Wigeon - a "year tick" and my first here since December 2015. Here's a heavily cropped photo, because, as usual, it stayed in the middle of the reservoir!

Wigeon

As well as counting the waterbirds I also managed to record my first Linacre Chiffchaff of the year, with 1 singing on the south side of the middle reservoir. Other signs of Spring included a lovely big patch of frogspawn on the top reservoir, a flowering Marsh Marigold, also on the top reservoir, Wild Garlic leaves, some lovely Daffodils and at least 4 singing Song Thrushes.

Frogspawn

Marsh Marigold

Daffodils

One final sighting of note today was this dead fish, found in the overflow from the middle reservoir. I think it's a Perch, which, unsurprisingly, is a species I haven't recorded here before.

Perch?

Siskins and a Redpoll

I haven't been out ringing for a couple of weeks, so this morning's session at our private site in Wingerworth, Chesterfield was a nice chance to get back out again. We met up at 6.30am and ringed 44 birds of 12 species over the next 4 hours. As the title suggests, the highlights were the Siskins and a single Lesser Redpoll. We don't ring lots of these species, so when they're around, it's nice to catch a few. We've also had some good recoveries of Redpolls ringed at this site when they return to Scotland to breed. Hopefully, some of today's birds will turn up there later in the year.

Siskin

Today's totals were (new/retrap): Siskin 4/0, Lesser Redpoll 1/0, Goldfinch 14/0, Chaffinch 4/0, Bullfinch 3/0, Robin 0/1, Blue Tit 3/4, Great Tit 2/1, Long-tailed Tit 1/1, Robin 0/1, Wren 1/0 and Goldcrest 1/0.

Other birds seen and heard this morning were: Song Thrush (singing), Blackbird, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Stock Dove (year tick). There were also at least half a dozen Common Frogs spawning in the pond.

Year List update:
110 - Stock Dove