Year List 2022

 Over the last few days I've added the (most likely) last two species to my Year List for 2022, Smew and Scaup.

The Smew, a redhead, was seen at Attenborough Gravel Pits on Wednesday. The Scaup, a male, was seen today at Thrybergh Country Park. These last two species take me to 163 for the year. Whilst in California, Jayne and I also recorded 101 species of bird, 70 of which were lifers!! In total the, my Year List for 2022 stands at 264 species.

Scaup

Whilst at Thrybergh, I had a look at the Mute Swans, and recorded 6 darvic rings (Y835, Y636, Y674, 061Y, 251Y and 252Y). There were 13 Mute Swans present, but the others had their legs covered up!

061Y and Y636

After Thrybergh, I drove across to Rother Valley to see if the Norwegian-ringed Black-headed Gull, JMT9, was still about - it was!!

JMT9

Also present were two darviced Mute Swans, Y178 and 439Y. Interestingly, 439Y had been seen at Rufford CP, in January 2020!

Pied Wheatear!!

 A first winter male Pied Wheatear turned up in a skate park in Whitley Bay last week, so, after a week of umming and ahhing (!) Jayne and I drove up there today to have a look at this new species.

Pied Wheatear!!

When we arrived, the bird wasn't in the Skate Park, but was, instead, hopping about along the seawall opposite The Spanish City. At times, it hopped to within 2m!!! Luckily, the weather was decent, still and sunny, so we managed to get some decent shots.

Whilst there, we also had a walk up to St Mary's Island. The tide was out, so we spotted a few waders on the way up (Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Lapwing and Ringed Plover) as well as several Pied Wagtails and Rock Pipits. On the Island there were a dozen or so Grey Seals enjoying the sun, and two flocks of Pink-footed Geese flew overhead. A couple of Red-throated Divers also flew past, and Black-headed and Herring Gulls were seen.

Year List update: 

160 - Lesser Whitethroat (1 seen whilst ringing back in September) 

161 - Pied Wheatear

Greater Sand Plover

 Yesterday, I drove across to Redcar beach to see a Greater Sand Plover that had arrived last week. Luckily, there were about a dozen people already on the beach when I arrived, and I soon got great views, as it fed along the tideline. The bird was always quite distant, but I did manage a few "record shots".

Also seen on the beach were: Sanderling (c200), Ringed Plover (c20), Bar-tailed Godwit (2), Oystercatcher (c.60), Grey Heron (2), Swallows (5), Pied Wagtails, Fulmar (1) and Black-headed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.

Year List: 

156 - Great Reed Warbler (Langford Lowfields)

157 - Fulmar

158 - Greater Sand Plover

159 - Bar-tailed Godwit

Norfolk - May 2022

 Jayne and I had a few days in Norfolk last week and managed to visit a few sites to add several birds and insects to this year's Year List.

The first addition was Garden Warbler (152), which was singing in the garden of our accommodation. The next were Great White Egret (153)  and Bearded Tit (154) that were found at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen. The last species was Swift (155), which was added back home, before we went away.

Whilst at Strumpshaw, we also added a few new damsel and dragonfly species: Banded Demoiselle, Red-eyed Damselfly, Scarce Chaser, Hairy Dragonfly and Norfolk Hawker. Several Common Lizards were also seen here, as were a couple of Painted Lady butterflies.

Scarce Chaser

Hairy Dragonfly

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to see Swallowtail butterflies at Strumpshaw this year, as the rain began. We did, however, drive across to Horsey Windpump, and, as we got there, the sun came out and we got fantastic views of one in the garden, along with another 2 or 3 in the nearby fields and path. Norfolk Hawkers were also seen here.

Swallowtail

The last few species seen were added in the dunes at Heacham, where we saw a Common Blue Butterfly and a new moth, a Marbled Clover.

Marbled Clover

Year List Update - 2nd May 2022

 Over the weekend, Jayne and I have had a couple of trips out and about, and have recorded a few new species for the Year List.

Our first trip, on Sunday, was a walk around Padley Gorge and Longshaw Estate, were we recorded Snipe (139), Redstart (140), Cuckoo (141) and Pied Flycatcher (142).

The second trip (Monday 2nd) was to RSPB Frampton Marsh, were we added the following birds: Sedge Warbler (143), Reed Warbler (144), Black-tailed Godwit (145), Ruff (146), Avocet (147), Spotted Redshank (2 breeding plumaged birds - 148), Little Gull (1 1stwinter/1st summer bird - 149), Common Tern (150) and Yellow Wagtail (151).

Spotted Redshank

Yellow Wagtail

Wales - 15th - 22nd April 2022

 Jayne and I have just spent a week in Llanbedrog, North Wales. Although primarily a family break, we did manage to do some birding, and added 10 species to the "Year List".

The first new bird was a very nice surprise, a drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (129), that was heard  from our bed!! Unfortunately, we couldn't see it, but we heard it for three mornings on the trot (at 6:30am!). The next two additions were Gannet (130) and Whitethroat (131), which were both seen in Aberdaron. The 132nd species seen was Osprey. We saw 2 pairs of birds at the Glaslyn Osprey Centre, near Porthmadog. 

Yesterday, we had a trip to Cemlyn Lagoon and RSPB South Stack. Cemlyn was very busy with 100+ Sandwich Terns (133) coming and going, along with a similar amount of Black-headed Gulls. We popped in to the old harbour at Holyhead and managed to see three Black Guillemots (134), before heading across to RSPB South Stack, where we added Razorbill (135), Kittiwake (136), Puffin (137) and House Martin (138) to the list. 

Other species seen here included: Chough, Raven, Guillemot, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Swallow, Lesser, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Linnet. 

Year List Update - 14th April 2022

 It's been a while since I last added an update for the Year List. Since then, I have managed to add quite a few new species, taking the current total to 126 species.

Birds seen are:

107 - Chiffchaff, 108 - Lesser Redpoll, 109 - Red-necked Grebe, 110 - Pintail, 111 - Tree Sparrow, 

112 - Grey Partridge, 113 - Black-necked Grebe, 114 - Yellowhammer, 115 - Peregrine Falcon

116 - Meadow Pipit, 117 - Red Grouse, 118 - Blackcap, 119 - Willow Tit,,120 - Little Ringed Plover

121 - Marsh Harrier, 122 - Sand Martin, 123 - Swallow, 124 - Barn Owl, 125 - Tawny Owl,

126 - Wheatear and 127 - Common Sandpiper, 128 - Willow Warbler

Linacre WeBS - 27th February 2022

 This morning, I went down to Linacre to carry out this month's WeBS count. It was a beautiful, bright morning with a slight frost.

The highlights of this month's count were my first Linacre Greylag Goose record of the year (1 bird) along with 7 Canada Geese (down slightly from 9 on Tuesday 22nd) and a Green Woodpecker (year tick) that was heard calling by the middle reservoir. Mallard numbers were good (141 - the highest count of the year so far), as were Little Grebe (4) and Great-crested Grebe (4). Other counts included: Cormorant (2), Mandarin Duck (5 - 3 males and 2 females), Black-headed Gull (43), Moorhen (16), Coot (12), Tufted Duck (24 - the highest count of the year), Goosander (8 females) and Grey Wagtail (1).

2 Common Buzzards were also seen over the woods along with a drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker and a singing Song Thrush.

Year List Update:                                                                                                                           105 - Golden Plover                                                                                                                                   106 - Green Woodpecker

Linacre WeBS - 22nd January 2022

 This weekend is the set date for the year's first WeBS count of 2022. As I'm out ringing tomorrow, I decided to go to Linacre this morning to carry out the count. The weather was perfect, being cold (3 degrees), overcast and still. 

I was on site at first light and had approximately 100-150 Jackdaws coming out of roost. Other birds seen in and around the woods were: Blue, Great and Coal Tit, Blackbird, Nuthatch, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Siskin (appox.50 in the trees by the middle reservoir), Dunnock, Robin and my first sighting of Sparrowhawk for 2022.

Waterbirds seen were: Mallard (123), Mandarin (8), Tufted Duck (20), Coot (11), Moorhen (18; 15 adults and 3 juveniles), Grey Heron (1), Grey Wagtail (2), Little Grebe (2), Great-crested Grebe (1 breeding plumaged bird), Black-headed Gull (43) and Cormorant (1).

Year List update: 

101- Sparrowhawk

Linacre - 15th January 2022

 This morning the weather was zero degrees when I arrived at Linacre at 7.45am, and it didn't rise throughout the  two hour visit! Thankfully, the cold (but bright) weather seemed to have brought a few winter visitors in, with my first record of Pochard (2 males on the top reservoir), since 2013!!

Pochard

Also seen were: a pair of Wigeon on the middle reservoir, 109 Mallard, 24 Tufted Ducks, 11 Coots, 17 Moorhens (14 adults and 3 juveniles), 11 Mandarins,  3 Little Grebes, 1 Great-crested Grebe (in breeding plumage and calling on the middle reservoir), 1 Grey Heron, 3 Goosander (1 male and 3 females), 1 Cormorant, 63 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Grey Wagtails and 1 Pied Wagtail. Woodland birds were quite vocal with Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tit seen and heard. A Treecreeper was also seen (year tick) as was a single Bullfinch, Blackbird, Robin, Jay and my first drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker of the year.

After my walk around Linacre, Jayne and I had a drive to Monsal Dale. On the way over, we spotted a Little Owl (year tick), on a tree in Holmesfield, and 3 Dippers (year tick) on the river in Monsal.

Little Owl

Year List update:

97 - Pochard

98 - Treecreeper

99 - Little Owl

100 - Dipper

Year List Update

The Year List has continued to grow this week, with 9 new species added. Red-legged Partridge was seen whilst driving across to Rufford. Numbers 89 - 93 were added at Linacre on Friday. Brambling was seen at Shilito Woods, whilst Stock Dove was added at Attenborough Nature Reserve on Tuesday (I forgot to add it on then!) 

The last species, Snow Bunting, was seen today, feeding on Totley Moor, by the ventilation shaft for the Totley Tunnel. 

88 - Red-legged Partridge

89 - Goldcrest

90 - Kingfisher

91 - Nuthatch

92 - Mandarin Duck

93 - Grey Wagtail

94 - Brambling

95 - Stock Dove

96 - Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

Gulls - 5th January 2022

 Yesterday (5th) I spent the day at Center Parcs, near Rufford, trying to catch some new Black-headed Gulls for the darvic-ringing scheme being run by Sorby Breck Ringing Group. Unfortunately, the gulls weren't "playing ball", so none were ringed. I did, however, manage to read a Mute Swan ring, W17370, a bird, I'd previously seen at Rufford on 13th December 2020. I also added a few more "year ticks": Siskin, Coal Tit and Great-spotted Woodpecker. 

W17370

Afterwards, I went across to Rufford CP for half an hour, and managed to spot a few ringed birds, including a new (for me), Norwegian- ringed bird, JZ48. 

JZ48

Although a new bird for me (and Rufford), it had been reported a few times at Center Parcs (December 2020, November and December 2021), after being ringed, as an adult, in Norway, on 11th May 2016. Other birds seen were: EUM3, V77K and EL87245.

86 - Siskin

87 - Coal Tit

88 - Great-spotted Woodpecker

Attenborough Nature Reserve - 4th January 2022

On Tuesday, my nephew and I went down to Attenborough Nature Reserve. We had a walk around the reserve and added a few more species to the Year List.

The main species we were after was Caspian Gull, and we managed to spot an adult bird from Tower Hide. We also had a darvic- ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull, ND30. I'll add the details when I hear back from the scheme. Other new birds seen were numbers 68 - 82. Numbers 63 - 66 were seen in Alnmouth on 3rd, excluding the Red Kite, that was seen over the M1 around Leeds on the journey home.

After Attenborough, we drove across to Clifton Pastures, where Luke saw a Hen Harrier (I didn't!). We also added numbers 83 and 84 there. 

Our final stop was Alvaston Park, where we had a quick, half an hour, check of the gulls. We spotted Danish ringed Black-headed Gull, VA4073, Canada Goose U48 and a Mute Swan with ring number 862Y. This swan was ringed at Cusworth Hall, Doncaster, on 10th August 2018 as a bird born that year (3). Luke saw her at Attenborough NR on 25th January 2020, and a friend of his saw her at Alvaston Park on 7th November 2020. Our final "tick" of the day was number 85, Ring-necked Parakeet, with 3 birds seen.

U48

862Y (Attenborough, January 2020)

Year List update:

63 - Wren

64 - Jay

65 - Coot

66 - Red Kite

67 - Greenfinch

68 - Canada Goose

69 - Greylag Goose

70 - Egyptian Goose

71 - Goosander

72 - Gadwall

73 - Tufted Duck

74 - Cetti's Warbler

75 - Caspian Gull

76 - Lesser Black-backed Gull

77 - Reed Bunting

78 - Song Thrush

79 - Fieldfare

80 - Water Rail (heard)

81 - Moorhen

82 - Long-tailed Tit

83 - Linnet

84 - Kestrel

85 - Ring-necked Parakeet

Stag Rocks - 2nd January 2022

Jayne and I were still up in Northumberland on the 2nd, so we had a few hours at Stag Rocks aka Harkess Rocks, near Bamburgh. When we got there, it was nearly high tide, so we sat on the rocks and watched the Purple Sandpipers (100+), Sanderling (50+), Turnstone, Redshank  and Dunlin, feeding on the seaweed. 

Purple Sandpiper and Dunlin

One of the Purple Sandpipers was colour ringed. It was ringed on 20th September 2020 at Filey Brigg, and mine was the first sighting since.

Colour-ringed Purple Sandpiper

Year List update:

56 - Great Tit 

57 - Rook

58 - Common Buzzard

59 - Barnacle Goose

60 - Sanderling

61 - Purple Sandpiper

62 - Goldeneye

2022 Year List begins

 I was very lucky to start this year's birding with a few hours on Holy Island, Northumberland. My first species seen was Blackbird, followed closely by Robin, Curlew and Grey Heron. Whilst there, I managed a total of 35 species, including Pale-bellied Brent Goose, Red-throated Diver and Red-breasted Merganser.

After Holy Island, I drove to Budle Bay, where I added several new species to the list (numbers 36 - 42). The last two places visited were Warkworth Beach and Amble Harbour, where species 43 - 55 were seen.

Mediterranean Gull (Amble harbour)

Year List 2022:

1 - Blackbird 

2 - Robin 

3 - Curlew 

4 - Grey Heron 

5 - Oystercatcher 

6 - Herring Gull

7 - Black-headed Gull 

8 - Great Black-backed Gull 

9 - Skylark 

10- Rock Pipit 

11 - Pied Wagtail 

12 - Eider Duck 

13 - Starling 

14 - House Sparrow 

15 - Jackdaw 

16 - Carrion Crow 

17 - Redwing

18 - Ringed Plover 

19 - Dunlin 

20 - Redshank 21 - 

Brent Goose (Pale-bellied) 

22 - Shag

23 -  Red-breasted Merganser 

24- Red-throated Diver 

25- Blue Tit 

26- Dunnock 

27 - Little Grebe 

28 - Little Egret 

29 - Lapwing 

30 - Teal 

31 - Shoveler 

32 - Collared Dove 

33 - Pheasant 

34 - Goldfinch 

35 - Chaffinch 

36 - Magpie 

37 - Mistle Thrush 

38 - Mallard 

39 - Shelduck 

40 - Wigeon

41 - Knot 

42 - Lapwing 

43 - Guillemot 

44 - Great-crested Grebe 

45 - Stonechat 

46 - Common Scoter 

47 - Common Gull 

48 - Bullfinch 

49 - Woodpigeon 

50 - Cormorant

51 - Turnstone 

52 - Mediterranean Gull 

53 - Whooper Swan 

54 - Pink-footed Goose 

55 - Feral Pigeon