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?

Linacre 1st May 2011 - sunshine, wind, butterflies and a year tick.

Every year it's the same and it never fails to amaze me just how quickly the trees come into leaf and everything turns green! So it was this afternoon when Jayne and I popped down to Linacre for a few hours in the sunshine. I've only been away for a week, but in that short space of time everything has changed. Most noticeable today were the "May blossom" or Hawthorn trees around the site, which were all out  in full flower and looking beautiful.

Hawthorn flowers

As well as this, the Wild Garlic flowers had also opened up and had peppered the green carpets with dozens of lovely white flowers.

Wild Garlic in flower

As well as the flowers this afternoon's visit, despite the very strong winds, was very good for butterfly sightings with 6 species being seen, namely Speckled Wood (1), Large White (7), Peacock (2), Orange Tip (2 males), Comma (1) and a beautifully coloured Small Copper (1).

Small Copper

Birdwise, the reservoirs were pretty quiet, although 2 singing Garden Warblers were a good year tick. A Common Sandpiper was present on the middle reservoirs, dodging all the dogs and people playing on the lovely mud (!) and 2 broods of Mallard, 7 and 8, were swimming around as well. The hybrid goose (see here) was still present on the top reservoir and 4 Great-crested Grebes (2 pairs) were still looking forlornly for somewhere to build a nest!