Welcome to my blog all about my birdwatching, wild bird ringing activities and moth recording at Linacre Reservoirs, Derbyshire; in Great Britain and abroad.
On the way back from Norfolk on Sunday, we popped into Rufford for a short, 1 hour visit. There were a lot more birds present, up from c.40 to c.170, and included 6 or our darvic ringed birds.
The birds seen were: 206A, 258A, 293A, 295A, 207C and 258C. All, except 295A, had been reported already this autumn. 295A was last seen back in February (see here).
This weekend, Jayne and I went down to Norfolk, where we had a lovely walk around Wells-next-the-Sea and around RSPB Snettisham.
We were at Wells yesterday, in a very warm and sunny 17 degrees. We walked down from the town to the beach and back. Species seen were: Redshank, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Dark-bellied Brent Goose (c300), Red-throated Diver (1 breeding plumaged bird fishing in the channel), a tern species, Little Egret, Great Egret (2 flying over), Black-headed and Herring Gull and a juvenile/1st winter Wheatear - great spot Jayne! We also saw a couple of Wall Brown butterflies at Old Hunstanton Golf Course later in the day - my first of the year.
This morning, we had a walk around RSPB Snettisham. Unfortunately, there wasn't a very high tide, so we didn't get the flyover from the birds, but we still saw thousands of waders. Species seen were: Oystercatcher, Curlew, Dunlin, Avocet, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, and Knot ( year tick 193). we also had 20+ Little Egrets and 12 Spoonbills, including a darvic ringed bird; NF1U. A report has been sent off, and it appears to be a Dutch-ringed bird (see here). I'll update with full details, when I receive them.
A couple of weekends ago, I had a morning's bird ringing at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's Gibraltar Point NNR in Lincolnshire. It was the first time I'd ringed here, and it really came up trumps, with 2 fantastic species ringed (including a lifer!).
The first new bird, and the lifer, was a Barred Warbler!!! It was aged as a first winter (i.e. born this year), and was one of the first birds of the day. A fantastic start!
I didn't go to Rufford last weekend, because of the heavy rain, so I really wanted to get back across today. I went, and ironically, it was pouring with rain!! There were only 40 Black-headed Gulls today (presumably the others were still out on the fields enjoying the rain!), but I did manage to see 5 darviced birds.
The darviced birds were: 206A, 258A, 297A, 207C and 245C. The first birds are regulars, but for 245C, it was the first sighting since 4th February 2024, and only my 5th re-sighting since it was ringed in October 2023. See here for a picture of the same bird, back in December 2023.
I undertook this month's WeBS walk yesterday. It was a dreary, drizzly morning, but relatively warm at 16 degrees.
The totals were: Mallard (81), Mandarin Duck (98), Moorhen (17;14 adults and 3 juveniles), Coot (4), Tufted Duck (22), Great-crested Grebe (4; 2 adults and 2 juveniles, all on the middle reservoir), Grey Heron (2), Cormorant (1), Pied Wagtail ( 1 heard), Grey Wagtail (2), Wigeon (a single male that flew in, landed briefly, and flew off - the first of the Autumn/Winter) and Black-headed Gull (3 - the first of the Autumn/Winter).
The woods were pretty quiet, but I did hear/see Nuthatch, Wren, Robin, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch ( a charm of c.20 feeding on Knapweed seeds by the top reservoir), Jay, Blue, Long-tailed and Great Tits. Feeding with a small Tit flock were a couple of Chiffchaffs. 1 Chiffchaff was also heard singing!!
At this time of the year, whenever the sun comes out, I like to get down to Linacre to see if there are any insects about, just in case it's the last sightings I get this year! Yesterday was such a time, with lots of sun and temperatures of 20 degrees. I wasn't disappointed, with 8 species of butterfly seen, along with two dragonflies, a few bees, craneflies, hoverflies and a wasps' nest!
The butterfly species were: Red Admiral (5), Comma (2), Peacock (2), Speckled Wood (7), Large White (2), Green-veined White (3, including a pair attempting to mate) and, best of all, a Small Copper (my first record of the year!).
Other species seen were: Migrant Hawker (2), Brown Hawker (1), Red-tailed and Common Carder Bumblebees, Eristalis hoverflies and 1 Marmalade Hoverfly.
Whilst walking along the bank below the top reservoir, I came across a hole, approximately 1/2m deep, with several hundred wasps flying around it! I peeped in, very carefully (!) and could see the remains of a wasps' nest. I couldn't get a great photo, so I'm not sure if they were Common or German Wasps, but, whatever species, it was great to see. Presumably, the nest had been discovered and dug out by a Badger, or a Honey Buzzard (only joking!!).
Just 3 new additions to the Year List recently: 186 was the Hobby seen over Linacre on 31/8, 187 was a juvenile Sabine's Gull (1 of 2 present at Redmires Reservoir South Yorkshire today) and 188 - Yellow-legged Gull (1 at Redmires).
The Sabine's Gull was my first in South Yorkshire, my first juvenile bird and my first since 2016 (see label for details). It was 1 of 2 juveniles present. We (Jayne and I) only saw 1, and unfortunately, we didn't manage to get a photo before they both flew off. Next time perhaps!
