Linacre Shag Dies

I was down at Linacre this morning to carry out this month's WeBS count. We were very hopeful of recording the immature Shag, after missing out on it on the last few visits. We did find it today, but unfortunately it had died. We found it dead in the beech woods on the north side of the bottom reservoir. There were no obvious signs of injury, so presumably it died from starvation. When I arrived home I had an email from Rod Key, the Derbyshire Ornithological Society's bird recorder, showing a picture of the dead bird, taken on 18th December, so I assume this is when it died. It was found under trees which are used for roosting by Cormorants, so perhaps it had been roosting here too, had died and fell down onto the ground? Whatever happened, it was quite sad to see this bird dead, after such a long stay. Who knows when or if I'll ever record another at Linacre.

Shag

Following the sad discovery, we carried on walking around the 3 reservoirs, and recorded the following birds: Mallard (124 - the highest count of the year), Tufted Duck (34), Mandarin Duck (25), Cormorant (2), Black-headed Gull (78), Grey Wagtail (2), Kingfisher (1), Moorhen (16) and Coot (6).

The woods were busy today with at least 10 Goldcrests seen.

Goldcrest

6+ Treecreepers, a male Bullfinch, Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Great-spotted Woodpeckers (4), Nuthatch, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Redwing (3 over), Woodpigeon, Chaffinch and 1, possibly 2 Chiffchaffs, that were feeding in trees on the south side of the middle reservoir, were also present. 

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff