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

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - 10th July 2021

 Jayne and I were at Yorkshire Sculpture Park today. After a misty start, the sun came out and we ended up with a few insect species. By far the most numerous butterfly seen was the Ringlet butterfly, with 20+ present, including one breeding pair. The other butterfly species species seen were Large Skipper and  Meadow Brown. Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies were also seen as was a male Black-tailed Skimmer.

Common Blue Damselflies

Large Skipper

Black-tailed Skipper

As well as the insects, we also saw a Little Egret, a Kingfisher and a darvic-ringed Mute Swan (Y736). The swan was paired and appeared to have at least 4 cygnets. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see see the legs of the other swan to see if it was ringed. I know that the bird was ringed by Sorby Breck ringing Group, and I'll update when I get details of where and when it was ringed.

Mute Swan Y736

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - 20th January 2019

Jayne and I had a few hours at Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Sunday. Whilst there we walked around the Lower Lake, where we were lucky enough to see a Great (White) Egret that was feeding in the Reedmace just below the bridge. It was first seen in the heronry, before flying down to feed, approximately 40m away. Brilliant views!

Great White Egret

Whilst there, we also spotted Goosander (c.6), a fishing Kingfisher, 100+ Black-headed Gulls, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Canada and Greylag Geese, 2 singing Mistle Thrushes, and an old friend, Mute Swan 691. See here for ringing details and our first record of this bird.

Mute Swan 691

Year List Update - 21st January 2018

It's been a while since I updated the Year List, and it's moved on quite a bit, so here goes. Numbers 47 to 50 were seen at Derbyshire Wildlife's Avenue Washlands reserve during a ringing session. Numbers 52 to 55 were seen during a walk around The Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Numbers 56 and 57 were recorded in my garden, whilst numbers 58 to 67 were seen last weekend at Carsington Water. The Goldcrest was seen yesterday during the ringing session at Linacre, and the Tawny Owl was heard in the early hours of this morning from my bed!!

47 – Little Owl

48 – Reed Bunting
49 – Yellowhammer
50 – Mistle Thrush
51 – Kingfisher
52 – Pochard
53 – Shoveler
54 – Canada Goose
55 – Teal
56 – Sparrowhawk
57 – Siskin
58 – Gadwall
59 – Wigeon
60 – Common Gull
61 – Great Northern Diver
62 - Pheasant
63 - Willow Tit
64 – Lapwing
65 – Snipe
66 – Fieldfare
67 – Treecreeper
68 - Goldcrest
69 – Tawny Owl

Mute Swan 691

Hot on the heels of Tuesday's Mute Swan sighting, today's blog gives details of.... you've guessed it, another darviced Mute Swan!

Mute Swan 691

This bird was sighted by Jayne and me on the Upper Lake at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park this morning. Again, it was a bird that had been ringed by Sorby Breck Ringing Group, and I managed to get the details from David, our data manager. The bird had been ringed, as a 1st year bird, in August 2014 at Royds Hall, a stately home, just north of Bradford. It was seen twice in 2016 in Roundhay Park, Leeds, and Swillington Ings, before moving down to The YSP, where it was first reported on 15th January 2017, and then again today by me.

The bird was with another Mute Swan today, so hopefully, they'll settle down to breed here this year. I'm pretty sure 691 is a female bird, as she was smaller than the other bird, with a paler bill. The other bird also seemed to be "protecting/ defending" 691. Only time will tell if I'm correct.

691 (top bird) and partner

Other birds seen during the walk around the lakes were: Grey Heron (a minimum of 15 birds back on nests), Teal (8 birds), Mallard, Tufted Duck, Pochard (1 male), Goosander (1 male and  female), Black-headed Gulls (c.200), Kingfisher (3 sightings), Great-crested Grebe, Canada and Greylag Geese. Woodland birds seen included: Great-spotted Woodpecker (3 drumming), Nuthatch (calling), Robin, Blue and Great Tit.

Ringing and Walking

Today's title refers to the two things I have been doing today. The day started with my first ringing session since August with 3 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, and continued with a lovely walk around Yorkshire Sculpture Park with Jayne.

The ringing session took place at the private site in Wingerworth. The temperature when we arrived at 6.30am was just 6 degrees, and it took a while for the birds to wake up, but, by 10am, when we packed up, we'd caught 54 birds of 11 species. Numbers were as follows (new/retrap): Dunnock 3/0, Robin 6/0, Goldcrest 4/0, Coal Tit 3/2, Blue Tit 14/1, Great Tit 9/0, Nuthatch 2/1, Chaffinch 6/0, Greenfinch 1/0, Goldfinch 1/0 and Bullfinch 1/0.

The sun had come out by the end of the session, and rose to a very nice 21 degrees by the afternoon. Jayne and I decided to drive up to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to pick up a picture and to have a walk around the lake. Birdwise, it was quite quiet, with just  the usual Jackdaws, Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, Mute Swans,Canada and Greylag Geese seen around the water. We also heard a Kingfisher, and spotted a couple of Grey Wagtails flying around by the overflow from the bottom lake. Given the warm, sunny weather, we expected to see a few butterflies, and we were in luck with 1 Comma, 1 Large White, 1 male Brimstone and about 10 Speckled Woods seen. We also managed to see three species of dragonfly; 1 Common Darter, 2 Migrant Hawkers and a female Southern Hawker, that was ovipositing into  a piece of wood in the round pond by the centre.

Southern Hawker

Something from the Weekend

After yesterday morning's Linacre walk, Jayne and I went for another walk in the afternoon, this time to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. We walked around the Lower Lake where we looked at the Heronry on the island. There were at least 12 Grey Herons on the nests, including these two. We couldn't decide whether they were a pair, or a couple of males arguing over nest sites. Whatever the case, I was very pleased with this shot, especially the left hand bird with its crest raised.

Grey Herons

Whilst walking around the lake, we also saw approximately 100 Black-headed Gulls, a dozen or so Teal, 3 Goosander (1 male and 2 "redheads"), Greylag and Canada Geese, 2 Mute Swans, a single Redwing, and a first for this site, an Egyptian Goose!

This morning I was out ringing with the Sorby Breck Ringing Group. Today we joined forces with other members of the group for a ringing demonstration at the National Trust's Longshaw Estate.  The fun started before we got there however, as a Short-eared Owl was spotted perched by the side of the road as we drove past at 6.45am. The session itself lasted for a good four and a half hours, and was very well attended, by at least 30 people. Thankfully, the birds turned up as well, and we managed to ring 60+, including crowd pleasers such as; Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Goldfinch and a lovely male Great-spotted Woodpecker.

After the ringing session, the sun was still out, so Jayne and I drove across to Bakewell for a walk and a spot of lunch. We also had a walk by the river, so I had a look for the hybrid duck that we'd seen back in February (see post here).  It was still present on the river by the bridge, and this time it came much closer, allowing a much better photo.

Hybrid duck

There were still a t least 100 Black-headed Gulls still present on the river, along with Mallards and 6 juvenile Mute Swans. As usual I spent some time taking photos of the gulls. Here's just one.

Black-headed Gull

On the drive back from Bakewell we drove past Barbrook Plantation and spotted a couple of Red Deer, which we able to photograph.

Red Deer

New garden moth, first butterflies of 2014 and Year List update

With temperatures rising (19 degrees today!) I decided to put my moth trap out last night, for the first time in 2014. It was on all night (7pm to 5am), and only caught 2 moths of the same species, but, at least it was a new species- Hebrew Character.

Hebrew Character

 

2 Hebrew Characters

 

This species is a common moth, which flies between March and April, so hopefully I should see a few more over the coming months. More details here. Many thanks to the people on Ispot, who identified it for me.

 

When the sun came out today I managed to see my first butterflies of the year as well. First up was a Small Tortoiseshell basking on the side of the house. The next two species; Peacock and Comma, were both seen as I walked around Yorkshire Sculpture Park this afternoon. Click here to find out more information about these species.  Last up, 1 new bird for the year was a singing Chiffchaff in the afternoon sunshine.

Year List update:

113 - Chiffchaff

Moth List update:
3 - Hebrew Character

 

Ringing Tick and Year List Update

Yesterday morning I was up and out with the Sorby Breck Ringing Group again. This time we helping out at a ringing demonstration at the National Trust's Longshaw Estate .

We set up at 7.00am and the first net round produced a very nice sight; an adult male Brambling. This was a first for me, and thanks to the generosity of the other ringers present, I got to ring it. Thanks everyone! No photos unfortunately, cause the ones I took were all rubbish and too poor to post! Have a look at this link to see just how nice a male Brambling is.

After this the weather started to deteriorate and we had the close the nets for a while. Luckily though, we reopened them after half an hour or so and managed to record 34 birds including 3 male Bullfinches, Great, Coal and Blue Tits, 1 Chaffinch,  a couple of  Blackbirds and a Great-spotted Woodpecker.

In the afternoon I went out to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with my wife, daughter and her boyfriend, for some lunch and a walk.  We went down to the lake, where we saw a couple of  "year ticks"; Grey Heron and  Great-crested Grebe. The herons were back on their nests on the islands on the lake. They aren't breeding yet, but are back rebuilding the nests and preparing for the forthcoming breeding season. Here's a picture of the lake with the nests in it. Its well worth a visit later in the Spring, as the nest can be seen very well from public footpaths.

Heron nests at YSP

Year List update:
81 - Grey Heron
82 - Great-crested Grebe

Year List Update

I spent a few hours at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park today and managed to add a new species to the Year List with the "redhead" Smew that was on the Lower Lake. Also here were 14 Goosanders and at least 6 active nests in the Heronry. No summer migrants though!

Heronry on the Lower Lake

Here's a picture of a stunning male Sparrowhawk that landed on the feeders in the garden this morning. Luckily/Unluckily he didn't manage to grab a bite to eat, so the Siskins, Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll, Chaffinch, Blackbirds, House Sparrows and Blue Tits that had been feeding seconds earlier all lived to see another day! Another good record for the Garden Birdwatch Scheme.

Sparrowhawk

 

Year List:

97: Smew

Woodland ringing and a lakeside walk.

Out and about again this morning with the guys from the Sorby Breck Ringing Group. This week we were back in the woodland garden in Chesterfield, where we were kept very busy with 77 birds, of which only 4 were retraps.

As well as carrying out the identification, ageing and ringing of over 20 birds,  I got more practice extracting birds again this week,including new species such as Goldfinch and Chaffinch.

Birds ringed by me today were as follows (new/retraps): Great Tit 9/0, Blue Tit 5/1, Dunnock 1/0, Coal Tit 4/0, Goldfinch 1/0 and Goldcrest 1/0 ( a lovely male bird).

After the ringing I went out to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with Jayne where we had a walk around the newly re-opened Upper Lake. The trees were looking super with their autumnal colours and there were lots of woodland birds flitting about. The highlight of the walk, however, were the 2 Kingfishers we spotted perched up and fishing from the lakeside reedbeds. Gorgrous birds!

Here are a couple of pictures of the lake and heronry.

Weir and Lower Lake

 

Heronry and Kingfisher perch?

 

Year Listing Hell!!!!!!!

I knew when I started this "year listing madness" that I would end up being very frustrated and yes, it's happened already!!

Being off school and having a reasonable day weather wise, Jayne and I decided to go for a walk around the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. This site is just off Junction 38 of the M1 and, knowing that a Ring-billed Gull has been wintering at Sands Lane Gravel Pits just off junction 40, I managed to convince Jayne that it would be a quick 5 minutes and worth driving that bit further to go and see it. We duly arrived to an empty set of gravel pits and the usual "it was here about 20 minutes ago!!!!!!" from one of the local birders. To cut a long story short, we waited about 1 hour, saw 100+ Black-headed Gulls, half a dozen Common Gulls, a couple of Goosander and a Kingfisher (year tick!). Aaaargh!!!!! Here's a picture of one, probably the same bird, that I saw here back in 2010.

Ring-billed Gull

(note the pale iris - dark in the very similar Common Gull)

To make up for this disappointment we went down the the Sculpture Park and had a lovely walk by the main lake. There is a heronry here and there were about a dozen nests, complete with returning adults- very nice.

The year list has move on 2 species:

83 - Kingfisher
84  - Lesser Redpoll (in garden last week)

Yorkshire Sculpture Park - 23rd January 2011

A favourite place for us to visit is the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, just off the M1 at junction 38. Although not a birdwatching spot as such, it is set within the Bretton Country Park and as a result, a good selection of common birds can often be seen when walking around the grounds looking at the various sculptures.

Today we parked in the Country Park carpark and walked the 2km up to the Visitors' Centre. The walk passed by the lake where approximately 100 Black-headed Gulls and 1 Common Gull were sat on the ice. A few Mallard were also present along with 6 Goosander (2 male and 4 female), but the real highlight of the day were the 6 Grey Herons that had returned to the heronry and were perched up in the top of the trees. Although a little early to begin breeding yet, it won't be long until the first eggs are laid. The site can be seen very well from bridges in the area, if you use a telescope, and the noise of the chicks can be heard from alot further away.

Grey Heron

This area and the nearby river are good spots to see both Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail, but today we "dipped" i.e. missed, both these species! Our walk continued across open grassland , where a party of 80'ish Canada Geese were grazing the grass. Next was a small wooded area, where we managed to see and hear Nuthatch, Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird, a singing Song Thrush and a Mistle Thrush.

After a spot of lunch in the Visitors' Centre (very nice!!) we headed back to the car park adding Bullfinch (2 stunning males), Blue and Great Tit, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Redwing to the list.

This site is a great place for a day out at anytime of the year. Visits during the spring will obviously give you great views of the herons, but the lake also has breeding Great-crested Grebes, Little Grebe, Mute Swans and Mallards and the surrounding scrub and woodlands hold a number of summer migrants (Whitethroat, Blackcap etc..) and Yellowhammers.

One last thing before I go. Last summer we went for a walk around the grounds and stumbled across this amazing Golden Pheasant, sunbathing in the rhododendrons. I don't know whether it was a one-off or part of a  feral breeding population, but it looked good and I couldn't resist getting a photo.