Linacre WeBS and Insects

 This month's WeBS count took place yesterday, and whilst there, a few butterflies, 1 species of moth and two damselfly species were also recorded.

Birds seen were: Mallard (38; 36 adults and 2 ducklings), Mandarin Duck (11 adults and 2 ducklings), Tufted Duck (25 adults), Coot (21 birds; 11 adults and 10 young), Moorhen (4 adults), Great-crested Grebe (7 adults and 8 young), Grey Heron (1 young bird), Grey Wagtail (2), Chiffchaff (4 singing), Blackcap (2 singing), Garden Warbler (1 singing), Willow Warbler (1 singing), Swallow (4 juveniles feeding over the top reservoir), Swift (1 - the first Linacre record of 2025!), Skylark (1 singing), Stock Dove (heard), Lesser Black-backed Gull (2 adults) and 3 Racing/Feral Pigeons (complete with rings), drinking in the bottom reservoir.

Racing Pigeon

The butterflies seen were: Ringlet (12 - the highest ever count?), Speckled Wood (3), Comma (2), Meadow Brown (7), a white butterfly, possibly Small White, and a Small Skipper (1st record since 2023).

Small Skipper

The two damselfly species seen were: Common Blue (c.6), and, the best by far, a female Banded Demoiselle - my first female at this site.

Banded Demoiselle (female)

Other species seen were 1 Myathropa florea (hoverfly), Harlequin Ladybirds, 1 Latticed Heath (moth) and a single Brown Hare.

Derbyshire Hoopoe!!

News came out on Bird Guides yesterday that a Hoopoe (162) had been discovered near Bolsover, Derbyshire. I couldn't get over then, but I popped across after school today, and got great views, as it fed on the lawns. I managed a few photos. 1 Little Owl was also seen.

Hoopoe (and friend)

Another species that I added to this year's "Year List" was Swift (161), when 7 were seen over New Whittington, Chesterfield.

Linacre - 30th June 2024

 It hasn't been a great summer for butterflies so far, but a walk around Linacre this morning got me two new species for the year, along with a new moth and a record count of Common Sandpipers.

The two new butterflies were: Meadow Brown and Ringlet, with 2 of each species seen, on the dam banks and the ringing site respectively.

Meadow Brown

Ringlet

Two moth species were identified: Latticed Heath (2nd record of the year) and a Shaded Broad-bar (1st record of the year).

Shaded Broad-bar

Birdwise, it was a decent morning too, with some very good post breeding counts, a new (for the year) breeding record and, as already mentioned, a new high record of Common Sandpipers. Birds seen were: Mallard (114 adults and 4 broods of 1, 3, 5 and 1;124 birds in total), Mandarin Duck (62 adults and 3 broods of 5,1 and 1; 69 birds in total), Tufted Duck (26 adults), Grey Wagtail ( 7 birds; 2 adults and 5 juveniles), Grey Heron (1),  Moorhen (3 adults - no young!), Coot (1 adult and 3 juveniles), Common Sandpiper (3 flew from the wall on the middle reservoir - my first ever record of more than 1 bird - possible breeding?), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1), Kingfisher (1), Swift ( a nice record of 7 birds over the middle reservoir), Swallow (1 bird!), Common Buzzard (1), Skylark (1 singing), Chiffchaff ( 5 singing), Blackcap (6 singing), Garden Warbler (1 singing),  Great-crested Grebe ( 12 birds; 6 adults and 2 broods of 2 and 4) and Little Grebe (1 juvenile on the middle reservoir - first young of the year).

Little Grebe

Linacre - 22nd June 2024

 Last weekend, I was down at Linacre for a few hours. The boardwalk around the top reservoir was still out of bounds for repairs, and the water level there had also been dropped. Unfortunately, no waders....yet! As is expected in June, it was very quiet, with just a few ducklings around and about. The highlight (perhaps "lowlight") of the walk was my first sighting of Swift (at Linacre) for the year. This is very late, and only involved one bird that was seen for about 30 seconds! No hirundines were seen. I checked the last few boxes, and was very pleased to see that the second brood of Pied Flycatchers had fledged successfully, making that 10 chicks in total - the highest ever count.

Out on the water the following bids were counted: Mallard (77 adults and 6 ducklings), Tufted Duck (15 adults), Lesser Black-backed Gull (4 adults), Mandarin (15 adults and 6 ducklings), Moorhen (just 6 adults - no young yet!), Coot (2 adults and 3 chicks - the only ones seen so far this year), Grey Wagtail (1 adult) and Great-crested Grebe (7 adults and 6 juveniles).

I also had a quick check, and fill, of the feeders. Whilst walking down, I flushed a Tawny Owl and also saw my first Straw Dot (moth) and Volucella bombylans (hoverfly, bumblebee mimic) of the year. A Chimney Sweeper moth, reported by Antony, in the fields beyond the top reservoir on 26th, was the first record since 2019.

Volucella bombylans

Linacre Nestboxes - 27th April 2024

 Yesterday, I had my first visit of the year to check on the nestboxes at Linacre. The initial few boxes didn't bode well, but, by the end of the session, I had 20 boxes with eggs in them. As always, the boxes were checked under licence, and the results will be added to the BTO's Nest Record Scheme. There are still a few boxes to check, so hopefully, there will be a few more to add to the list.

All of yesterday's boxes contained tit nests, including only my second Coal Tit nest. The highest count of eggs was 13 in one clutch! Unfortunately, there weren't any Pied Flycatchers around at all. I'll keep checking, and hopefully, there will be some nests this year.

After checking the boxes, I walked around the rest of the site, recording my first Common Sandpiper (162) of the year. 

Common Sandpiper

There were also approximately 15 Swallows, 1 House Martin and 1 Sand Martin, flying around the top reservoir. The ringed Grey Wagtail was still present, singing on the top reservoir, and was joined by a female bird. Other birds seen were: 1 Grey Heron, 21 Mallard, 7 Mandarin Ducks, 1 Canada Goose, 7 Coots (1 nest on the top reservoir), 4 Moorhens, 3 Great-crested Grebes,  24 Tufted Ducks, 3 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap, 2 Song Thrushes and a calling Great-spotted Woodpecker. Unfortunately, the female Mute Swan, 6Y24, appears to have left the site.

Swallow

In the afternoon, I was down at The Avenue Washlands, and spotted my first Swift (163) of the year.

Linacre Insects - 22nd July 2023

 It stopped raining for an hour this afternoon (!), so I popped down to Linacre to see what was about. I only walked around the bottom reservoir, before the rain started again, but I did manage to spot a few insects and birds.

Insects seen were: Meadow Brown (3), Green-veined White (1), Marmalade Hoverfly, Volucella pellucens (3), Cinnabar Moth caterpillars,  Silver Y moth (2), Soldier Beetles , White-tailed, Common Carder and Red-tailed Bumblebees, and Common Blue Damselfly (1m).

Silver Y Moth

Cinnabar Moth caterpillar

Birds seen were: House Martin (c20 - 30 feeding over the middle reservoir), Swift (2), Grey Wagtail (1 juvenile), Cormorant (1), Mandarin Duck (8; 1 female with 7 good-sized ducklings) and Little Grebe (2; 1 adult and 1 juvenile, on the middle reservoir).

Little Grebe (chick)

Yorkshire Black-winged Stilts

 This year has seen a large influx of Black-winged Stilts, with at least 3 pairs so far known to be breeding (2 at RSPB Frampton Marsh) and 1 at Edderthorpe Flash, which is part of the RSPB Old Moor/Dearne Valley reserves.

This morning, Jayne and I drove across to Edderthorpe to see the birds. We found them straight away, but only aw the adult birds, not the four chicks. Whilst there, we also saw a Great White Egret, Avocets ( a minimum of 5 adults and 8 chicks, but probably a lot more), a Grey Heron , Cettis Warbler (singing) and 1 Little Ringed Plover.

Black-winged Stilt

Afterwards, we drove across to Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where we had a walk around the grounds, spotting a Mullein Moth caterpillar, 13 Mute Swans (7 adults and 6 cygnets), c.200 Sand Martins, c.20 Swifts, c.20 House Martins, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, a juvenile Grey Heron, Mallard and Great-crested Grebes. There were very few insects around, as it was very windy, overcast with a few rain showers, but we did spot a couple of Ringlets and also managed to see our first Gatekeeper of the year.

Gatekeeper

Year List update - 171 Black-winged Stilt

Swift and Wood Warbler

 Two new additions to the "year list" over the couple of days, with Swift (161) and Wood Warbler (162) added.

My first Swifts of the year were 3 over school on Friday, whilst the Wood Warblers (3) were seen today in the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust's Wyming Brook reserve. 1 bird in particular was very "showy", just by the path.

Wood Warbler

Linacre Ringing - 18th July 2021

Last Sunday I was down at Linacre for a mist netting session with Sorby Breck Ringing Group. It was our first session since May, and we managed to catch  a good number of birds, including our first juvenile warblers of the year.

Totals were (new/retraps): Blue Tit 0/1, Goldcrest 1/0, Great Tit 7/0 - all juveniles, Willow Warbler 2/0 - both juveniles, Chiffchaff 2/0 - both juveniles, Blackcap 6/0 - 5 juveniles, Blackbird 2/1 - 2 juveniles and an adult female, first ringed in 2019, Dunnock 1/0 - 1 juvenile and Wren 1/0 - juvenile.

Willow Warbler (juvenile)

Other birds seen whilst there were a Swift (the last record of 2021?), a Jay and a Sparrowhawk. 

The temperature was 20 degrees whilst we were there, so there were lots of insects about, including 2 Gatekeepers, 1 Brown Hawker, 2 Small Skippers, 2 Meadow Browns, 20+ Ringlets, 2 Great Pied Hoverflies and, nest of all, a single Purple Hairstreak!!!

Lathkill Dale - 6th June 2020

Jayne and I went for a walk along Lathkill Dale today. The weather wasn't great, with strong winds and lots of cloud, but we did get a few spells of sunshine which brought out a few insects.

Birdwise, it was quite quiet, but we did manage to see and hear 4 Ravens (family party perhaps?), and, best of all, a pair of mating Spotted Flycatchers! Other birds seen were: Jackdaws, Crows, Blue and Great Tit, Mallards, Mute Swan (1 pair with 5 cygnets), Grey Heron, Swallow, Swift, House Martins (20+), Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Moorhen and Coot (2 broods).

A few insects were seen in the sunnier periods, including my first Chimney Sweeper moth of 2020, male and female Common Blue Butterflies, one Speckled Wood and a Volucella bombylans hoverfly.

Common Blue (male)

Common Blue (female)

Volucella bombylans (bumblebee mimic)

Year List Update - 15th May 2020

I last updated my year list back in February (see here). At the time, I had recorded 91 species in the UK, and was looking forward to an Easter trip to Majorca!! Obviously, due to the Corona Virus lockdown, the trip was cancelled, as was all other, non-essential travel, and opportunities to see some of my usual spring birds didn't happen.

Having said that, the list has continued to increase, with birds seen over the garden, or on our daily exercise walks, and it now stands at a not- too-terrible 108 species.

Year List update:
92 – Yellowhammer
93 – Chiffchaff
94 – Whooper Swan
95 – Dipper
96 – Skylark
97 - Blackcap
98 – Willow Warbler
99 – Raven
100 – Linnet
101 - Swallow
102 – House Martin
103 – Whitethroat
104 – Garden Warbler
105 – Swift
106 – Pied Flycatcher
107 – Meadow Pipit
108 – Cuckoo (heard)

Birds 92 - 105 were all first recorded in Dronfield and the surrounding area, with the exception of the Whooper Swan, which was a late addition, having been seen over Linacre on 21st March (my last visit before lockdown). Willow Warbler was first recorded in the garden, my first ever garden sighting! Numbers 106 - 108 were seen yesterday, by Jayne and me, on our first car trip since March, when we had an hour at Padley Gorge (4pm - 5.00pm).

RSPB Frampton Marsh

One year ago Jayne, Luke and I spent the day at RSPB Frampton Marsh in 23 degree heat, and gorgeous sunshine (see here). We were back again today, and the weather wasn't quite as kind (12 degrees, grey and overcast), but the birds more than made up for it. In the 5 hours that we were there, we got some fantastic views of the birds, including 2 "lifers" for Luke (Turtle Dove and Grasshopper Warbler, both heard, but not seen), and 13 "year ticks" for me.

We started off walking from the car park, where we had c.10 Swift overhead. We then heard Reed, Sedge and Cetti's Warbler, and a very close Cuckoo (glimpsed briefly by Jayne), before watching 2 breeding plumaged Spotted Redshank, 2 Wood Sandpiper, several Ruff, 1 Greenshank, Redshank, Avocet, Ringed and Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin (1 breeding plumaged bird), Lapwing, Whimbrel (1), Common Sandpiper (1), Little Egret, Grey Heron, Buzzard, Shelduck, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Garganey (one pair), Canada, Greylag and Barnacle Geese, Mute Swan, Brent Geese, Swallow, Sand and House Martin, Pied and Yellow Wagtail, Skylark, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat and Whitethroat!

Male Ruff

Phonescoped Garganey

Year List update:

160 – Swift
161 – Sedge Warbler
162 – Reed Warbler
163 – Spotted Redshank
164 – Wood Sandpiper
165 – Ruff
166 – Garganey
167 – Common Tern
168 – Turtle Dove
169 – Whimbrel
170 – Grasshopper Warbler
171 – Little Ringed Plover
172 – Yellow Wagtail

Cap de Formentor - Mallorca

The first place Jayne and I visited outside of Puerto Pollenca was the Cap de Formentor (see details here).

Lighthouse at Cap de Formentor

The key species we were hoping to see was Eleanora's Falcon, and we managed to see 4 individual birds flying over the cliffs. Other new species seen were: Crag Martin, Swift, Pallid Swift and Blue Rock Thrush.

Year List update:
163 – Crag Martin
164 – Eleanora’s falcon
165 – Pallid Swift
166 – Blue Rock Thrush

Linacre WeBS - 16th June 2018

Luke and I were down at Linacre yesterday to carry out June's WeBS walk. We had 2 hours on site and recorded the following: Mallard (70; 43 adults and 27 ducklings, 4 broods of 5, 7, 2 and 13), Mandarin Duck (30; 19 adults and 11 ducklings, 2 broods of 8 and 3), Tufted Duck (14 adults), Great-crested Grebe (3 adults), Grey Wagtail (2 adults), Grey Heron (1), Moorhen (7; 4 adults and 3 young chicks) and Coot (4; 3 adults and 1 juvenile).

Mandarin ducklings

Other birds seen around the site included: Swallow (2), House Martin (2), Swift (c.15- 20), Chaffinch (1 juvenile bird), Treecreeper (1) and Skylark (1 singing).

We also saw 2  Brown Hares in the fields as we drove down the main entrance.

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

Linacre Birds - 7th August 2017

It's been just over a month since I last blogged about Linacre Reservoirs here, so, after a 3 hour visit on Monday, I thought I'd better post something!

The trip started off in grey, windy, overcast conditions. This time of year can be quiet, but I was able to record the following waterbirds: Mallard (48 birds, all moulting), Tufted Duck (25; 19 adults and a brood of 6 ducklings, the second brood of the year), Mandarin Duck (22 birds, again all moulting), Coot (7 birds; 5 adults and 2 well grown young), Moorhen (14 birds; 7 adults and 7 juveniles), Great-crested Grebe (6 birds; 4 adults and 2 juveniles), Cormorant (1), Grey Wagtail (4 juveniles), Kingfisher (1 heard on the middle reservoir), a Teal (1 female/juvenile bird on the top reservoir, which is my first ever August record for this species) and, perhaps the best bird of the day, a juvenile Common Sandpiper, which was feeding on the overflow on the middle reservoir. Click here to see a short video of it feeding.

Common Sandpiper

Other birds seen around the site included: Swift (1), Swallow (3), House Martin (10), Kestrel (1), Buzzard (1),  Chiffchaff (2 singing, and several feeding in and around the willows by the top reservoir), Blackcap (2; 1 male and 1 "browncap" in the ringing area), Robin (juvenile) and Treecreeper (1).

There was also another report of Common Scoter on Birdguides when I got home, but, unfortunately, I didn't see it!!!

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

Linacre Ringing - 4 breeding records

This morning's ringing session at Linacre was a quiet one, with just 10 birds caught, but within that small number, we were very lucky to record juvenile birds, born this year, of 4 species (Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Blue Tit and Mistle Thrush). Of these 4 species, 3; Blackcap, Garden Warbler and Mistle Thrush, were the first records of young birds for 2017, and prove breeding on site. The Blue Tits included new  juvenile birds, unfortunately, not ones ringed in the boxes. The 4th species in the title was Common Buzzard. We didn't ring any chicks (unfortunately), but we did spot an adult bird carrying food into the woods, which, again, is positive proof of breeding. This last record, is particularly pleasing, as it's the first time I've recorded breeding of this species at Linacre.

Other birds caught this morning were: Bullfinch (a new male and a retrap female) and a retrap male Nuthatch.

In between the net rounds we recorded a couple of Swifts, a Grey Wagtail (thanks David), a House Martin, a Kestrel, a Brown Hare, a Sparrowhawk and a Chimney Sweeper (moth - see here for details).

We also took the ladders with us today, so we could check the owl boxes. The Mandarin Duck eggs we found in April (see here) had gone (hopefully hatched and fledged, and not predated), and the other boxes (including the Little Owl box), were all empty.

Year List update

I was looking through the blog yesterday, when I realised I'd not updated the Year List since the start of May. Since then, I've added another 8 species to the list, including one (Lesser Whitethroat) that I've not had a for a few years. This species was seen (briefly), and heard singing at Holmebrook Valley Country Park in Chesterfield on 7th May. After seeing this bird I picked Luke up, and travelled to Barlow where we had great views of a Little Owl.

Little Owl

We then drove up to Padley Gorge where we recorded Pied Flycatcher (2 singing males), Redstart (1 singing male), Cuckoo (1 calling male) and Tree Pipit (2 singing males at nearby Barbrook Plantation).

The final "tick" came at the weekend, when a male Whitethroat was recorded singing in the ringing area of Linacre. Hopefully, we'll be able to confirm breeding of this species here again this year.

Year List update:

146 – Swift (first seen in Chesterfield on 5th May)

147 – Lesser Whitethroat

148 – Little Owl

149 – Pied Flycatcher

150 – Redstart

151 – Cuckoo

152 – Tree Pipit

153 - Whitethroat

Linacre - 7th May 2017

I spent a couple of hours at Linacre yesterday, recording 2 new species for the year; Swift and Skylark. The Swifts, 4 birds, were flying over the bottom car park when I arrived at 6.30am, and the Skylark, a single singing bird, was in the fields above the top reservoir. As well as these 2 species, I also recorded my first ever May record of Black-headed Gull, with 3 breeding plumaged birds flying over the middle reservoir!

Other birds of note  were: Greylag Goose (2), Canada Goose (1), Mallard (52; 46 adults and one brood of 6 ducklings), Tufted Duck (22), Mandarin (3 males), Grey Heron (1), Coot (14; 8 adults and a brood of 6 chicks), Moorhen (6 adults and 2 nests), Great-crested Grebe (4 birds and 2 nests) and Grey Wagtail (2).

Greylag Goose

Moorhen

Other birds seen were: House Martin (3), Swallow (1), Willow Warbler (2 singing), Chiffchaff (4 singing), Blackcap (3 singing), Song Thrush (collecting food), Bullfinch (1 male) and Buzzard (1 being mobbed- as always!!).