Norwegian Black-headed Gull - Poolsbrook CP

After looking at the Parrot Crossbills this morning I drove across to Poolsbrook CP to see if there were any interesting gulls. Unfortunately, there weren't any other than the usual Great Black-backed (6), Lesser Black-backed (4), Herring (10) and Black-headed (c.100).

One bird, an adult Black-headed Gull, however, caught my eye, when I spotted a colour ring, J6HO (white on green).

BH Gull J6HO

A quick check on the internet (www.cr-birding.org ) showed that it was a Norwegian bird. Details of the bird were entered into the Norwegian Bird Ringing Scheme's website, and details came back that the bird had been ringed in Oslo, Norway, in April 2017 as an adult bird (3rd calendar year plus). See here for details. This was the first sighting of the bird since it was ringed.

Parrot Crossbills - Lifer!!

I was up at the top end of the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire this morning to catch up with some Parrot Crossbills that had been reported on Birdguides.

The birds (c.12) were located just above Howden Reservoir  a couple of weeks ago, and I managed to catch up with them feeding in trees. The beaks were much larger than the accompanying Common Crossbills.  I managed some reasonable views through the scope and got a photo of one of the males.

Parrot Crossbill

Year List update:
198: Common Crossbill
199: Parrot Crossbill

Linacre WeBS - 16th December 2017

This month's WeBS walk should have been last weekend, but I couldn't get down, so instead, I went down yesterday morning. It was just 1 degree when I arrived and I spent one and a half hours on site recording the following waterbirds: Mallard (81, the 2nd highest count of the year), Mandarin Duck (25), Tufted Duck (20), Teal (1 flew up the top reservoir), Black-headed Gull (24), Moorhen (17), Coot (2), Great-crested Grebe (1), Grey Wagtail (1) and Pied Wagtail (1 - my first Linacre record since April 2015!!)

Pied Wagtail

The woods were quite quiet, but the resident tits (Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed) were all seen, along with Jay, Crow, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Dunnock, Buzzard, Goldcrest, Blackbird, Redwing, Siskin, Wren and Robin.

Enjoying some free seed

Frozen Leaves

Year List Update - 3rd December 2017

The year is coming to a close, but I'm still managing to add a few more species to the Year List. As you'll see below, I'm up to 197 species, so hopefully, I should manage to top the 200 mark this year, especially as I'll be visiting Norfolk before the end of the year.

The new additions are: Marsh Tit, Hawfinch, Bewick Swan and European White-fronted Goose.

The first two species were seen at The Yorkshire Arboretum last weekend, whilst the latter two species were seen today at WWT Slimbridge. Here are a few photos.

Hawfinch (female)

Hawfinch (male)

Hawfinch

Bewick Swan and White-fronted Goose

Year List update:
194: Marsh Tit
195: Hawfinch
196: Bewick Swan
197: White-fronted Goose (European)