Welcome to my blog all about my birdwatching, wild bird ringing activities and moth recording at Linacre Reservoirs, Derbyshire; in Great Britain and abroad.
Luke and I had a drive across to East Yorkshire on Friday. Our main target bird was the Black-throated Thrush (a lifer for Luke and a very good Year Tick (194) for me), which we managed to see after about half an hour.
Whilst at Tophill Low, we also managed to add Red-crested Pochard (2 pairs on D reservoir, 195) to the list. The final bird, Bewick's Swan (196), was seen within a flock of c120 Whooper Swans at nearby Branton.
Jayne and I have just returned from a family break in Pitlochry. Whilst there, we saw a few new birds and some lovely Red Squirrels.
We visited RSPB Loch Garten, and, after a short while (10 minutes), spotted my first ever British Crested Tit (191). It was feeding on peanuts, by the footpath to the centre. It flew in, fed for about 30 seconds and then flew off!
This weekend, Jayne and I went across to RSPB Frampton Marsh to try and see a couple of North American waders, that have been present for a couple of weeks. We dipped one (Semipalmated Sandpiper), but we did manage to get fantastic views of the other species, Lesser Yellowlegs (189 and lifer number 4 of the year) as it fed about 10m away, in front of East Hide. What a fantastic bird to catch up with!
An adult female Brown Booby (species 187) has been present in and around South Gare, near Redcar for just over a week. This morning, I have a drive up there and added it to my "Life List".
At the weekend, I decided to go down to Ogston Reservoir to see a juvenile Spotted Crake (species number 184) that had been present for a few days. The bird was showing from the Members' Hide, so, after re-joining the club, I settled down to see this bird (my first since 2013!!).
Thankfully, before I'd even sat down, it appeared out of the reedbed, and began to feed about 10m away. As I sat, it got closer and closer, until it was about 2m away, and then stayed out for about 1 1/4 hours! My best ever views of this fantastic little bird, and well worth the annual membership fee.
RSPB Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire is a fantastic reserve that I love to visit several times a year. This time of year is great for waders (and lots more besides!), so Jayne and I had a trip there today.
As I said, there are loads of waders at Frampton at this time of the year, and together we spotted: Ruff (50+), Black-tailed Godwit (100+), Dunlin (c40), Green Sandpiper (1), Spotted Redshank (1, in winter plumage), Wood Sandpiper (1, and my 182nd bird of the year), Avocet (c.100), Lapwing (c50), Ringed Plover (1), and Curlew Sandpiper (1, and my 183rd species of the year). Unfortunately, there was some maintenance work going on whilst we were there, causing some disturbance to the birds, and we didn't manage to connect with Little Stint, Greenshank or the Pectoral Sandpiper, that was reported half an hour after we left!!!
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Other birds seen were: Spoonbill (33!), Little Egret (20), Buzzard (2), Marsh Harrier (1), Kestrel (1), Swallow (3), Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird, Pintail (3), Mallard, Wigeon (1m), Teal, Pochard (1m), Mute Swan, Whooper Swan (1- presumably an injured bird that hasn't migrated?), Greylag and Canada Geese.
Whilst there, we also spotted several insects: Speckled Wood (6), Common Darter (1m), Migrant Hawker (1fm) and, best of all, a single, male Willow Emerald Damselfly- very nice!
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Back on 3rd August, Jayne and I spent some time on Cromer beach. Whilst there, I had a look at the gulls around the pier, after a ringed juvenile Caspian Gull (177) had been reported yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn't spot the ringed bird, but I did see another juvenile bird, which posed beautifully (and was later confirmed as a Caspian Gull).
Jayne and I had a walk up to Big Moor on Saturday. The weather wasn't great - windy and rain showers (surprise, surprise!), but we did manage a couple of "year ticks": Whinchat (181) and Black Darter.
The Whinchat, a single juvenile, was seen on the top of the bracken, along with a family party of Stonechat. Here are photos of the two species (both juveniles) to show the key differences.
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On Thursday, I popped down to Westleton Heath to catch up with the last species I wanted to see whilst down in Suffolk, the Dartford Warbler.
I parked up in the car park, and within a couple of minutes, had heard the distinctive "chattering". I managed 4 sightings of different birds, but, unfortunately, they didn't come very close, so this is a heavily cropped photo.
On Wednesday, Jayne and I had 3 hours at RSPB Minsmere. We got there just after 6am, and walked around the main scrape area, before finishing off back at the café with a delicious vegan sausage cob!
It was quite quiet as we set off, but the first sighting, of a Common Lizard, warming up on a post was a great start. As the weather warmed up, we began to spot several Stonechats, Linnets, Reed Bunting, Common Terns, the first Common and Ruddy Darters, along with a couple of Migrant Hawkers and dozens of Gatekeepers.
Arriving at the East Hide, we began to spot a few more birds, with the following waders seen: Green Sandpiper (3), Common Sandpiper (1), Ruff (3), Avocet (c50), Black-tailed Godwit (c.60), Redshank (2), Dunlin (6), Lapwing and Spotted Redshank (5). Gulls were far and few between, but we did spot a few Black-headed Gulls, a single, juvenile Mediterranean Gull, 1 adult Kittiwake and, best of all, 26 Little Gulls, including a few in breeding plumage. 5 Spoonbills were asleep, and there were also several Shelducks (juveniles), Teal, Mallard, Greylag, Canada and at least one family party of Barnacle Geese.
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We carried on around The Scrape, spotting another Migrant Hawker, a male Black-tailed Skimmer, more Common and Ruddy Darter and dozens of Red Admirals and Peacock butterflies, feeding on Hemp Agrimony.
Our final stop was the Bittern Hide. Here we spotted Bearded Tit (heard only), a Muntjac Deer, a Kestrel, a distant Marsh Harrier and a fly-by Bittern.
Back at the Visitors' Centre, we had a few minutes watching the butterflies on the Buddleia bushes. Red Admirals and Peacocks were in good numbers again, along with a single Brimstone (1 male), 1 Comma, Gatekeeper (c.5) and at least a couple of Grayling. 3 Hornets were also seen buzzing around the bushes.
Year List update: Little Gull (179)
After our walk in Holt Country Park, we drove across to Mannington Gardens. We had a walk around the grounds and spotted some nice wildlife.
First up were the butterflies: Comma, Peacock, Red Admiral, Gatekeeper, Large White, Green-veined White, Meadow Brown and 1 Silver-washed Fritillary.
Dragonflies seen were: Emperor ( 1 male and 1 female ovipositing in the moat), Black-tailed Skimmer (1 male), Common Darter and Small Red-eyed Damselfly (2 males seen).
Other insects seen were: Roesel's Bush-cricket (my second in one day!!) and another new species, a Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes).
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On Saturday, Jayne and I went to a special RSPB viewpoint in Trimingham, Norfolk, to see some European Bee-eaters (year tick 175). The birds; 3, 1 pair and a male, were in a quarry, where, earlier in the year, they had attempted to breed. Unfortunately, the birds' breeding attempt failed (likely predation), but they are still hanging around the site.
Whilst there, we saw all three birds flying around the quarry, catching insects (bees presumably!!) and perching up. They were quite distant, but we had great views through the 'scope and managed a few, very dodgy, photos.
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On Friday, Jayne and I spent a few hours at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Cley Marshes reserve.
We went in search of one particular bird, a Long-billed Dowitcher (year tick 172), which had been reported recently. When we arrived, we headed straight to Bishop's Hide. The first sound that met us was coming from the 20+Lapwings that were in front of the hide. We also spotted a very confiding Spoonbill, 10+Ruff, juvenile Shelducks, lots of Avocets (adults and chicks), 2 Green Sandpipers (year tick 173), Bearded Tit (year tick 174), and Black-headed Gulls before our attention turned to the c. 50 Black-tailed Godwits. The Dowitcher had been seen with these birds, and, after a few minutes, we managed to spot it, fast asleep in amongst them. It did eventually wake up for about 1 minute(!) before going straight back to sleep. Unfortunately, the bird was too far away for a photo.
After the Dowitcher, we had walk along the beach, where we added Sandwich Tern, Linnet, Oystercatcher, Marsh Harrier and Ringed Plover to today's list.
It was quite overcast, but we did spot a few butterflies: Peacock (6), Gatekeeper (20+), Small Skipper (10+) and Small Tortoiseshell (1). A single Wall Brown and Red Admiral were also seen by the Visitors' Centre.
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.
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Last night, Jayne and I drove out to Bonsall Moor to "see" 3 Quails that had been reported singing there for the last few days.
We arrived on site and heard the birds (a minimum of 2, possibly 3) within a few minutes. A great record for a bird that I have only ever heard once before.
Year List update: 170 - Quail.
On Wednesday, Jayne and I went out with our friend Stewart from Derbyshire Bird Tours in the search for Nightjar and Woodcock.
We met up at 8.15pm and spent the next two and a half hours up on the edge of the moors, where we had fantastic views of both these species, along with Tree Pipit, Cuckoo, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler (heard), Great Spotted Woodpecker , Tawny Owl (heard) and Linnet.
Year list update: 169 - Woodcock
Last night, Jayne and I had a few hours at a moorland site near Sheffield, where we managed to hear Nightjars churring. Whilst there, we also had fantastic views of a hunting Long-eared Owl and heard the "squeaky gate" call of their young. Fantastic!!
Year List update: Long-eared Owl (167) and Nightjar (168).
Jayne and I had a few days on Anglesey this weekend. We stopped in Treaddur Bay and visited a few well known spots and one new one.
Our first stop was the National Trust's Bodnant Garden, where we enjoyed a lovely walk around, including the beautiful Laburnum Arch, and spotted a few insects - Beautiful Demoiselle (male and female), Common Blue, Large Red and Azure Damselfly. We also spotted a Grey Wagtail feeding recently fledged young - with Large Red Damselflies!!
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On our final day we visited the National Trust's Plas Newydd site, in search of Red Squirrels. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to see any this time, but we did enjoy a lovely walk around the grounds and house.
Year List update: Black Guillemot (164), Sandwich Tern (165) and Arctic Tern (166).
The weather played ball today (20 degrees and sunny) so Jayne and I set off up Deep Dale for a walk.
Whilst there, we spotted 4 species of butterfly, including our first Green Hairstreaks of 2023. Species seen were: Orange Tip (15+), Green Hairstreak (c.10), Brimstone (1 male) and Red Admiral (1).
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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.
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