Linacre WeBS Walk - 13th October 2012

This month there were 6 members of the Chesterfield RSPB group  for the WeBS walk at Linacre. 3 of us did the rounds whilst the other 3 took some time to empty the nest boxes and do some running repairs.Thanks to everyone who gave their time this morning.

Linacre nestboxes

The counts were about average this month with the following water birds recorded: Mallard (55), Tufted Duck (11), Moorhen (2), Coot (9), Black-headed Gull (25), Great-crested Grebe (3; 1 adult and 2 juveniles), Little Grebe (1), Cormorant (2), Grey Wagtail (2), Pied Wagtail (1) and Mandarin Duck (70; the highest count this autumn). The first Redwing of the autumn was also seen this morning and there were many vocal Jays around the site. A Kestrel was seen hunting around the main entrance and a Buzzard was heard overhead, as was a skein of Pink-footed Geese.

Ever year at this time we like to clean out the nest boxes to ensure they are in good shape for next year's breeding season. This morning we managed to get around about 50 and also added an extra bit of protection in the form of these hinges.

Hopefully they will mean that we don't lose any lids next year.