Northumberland Birding - December 2019

I've just returned from a few days in Northumberland where I managed to get out and about seeing a few nice birds to end the year.

Whilst there, we visited Embelton Bay, Seahouses, Alnmouth, Stag Rock at Bamburgh, St Mary's Island and the Fish Quay at North Shields. Birds seen included; Purple Sandpiper (20+) at Stag Rocks, Turnstones (everywhere), Eider Ducks, Stonechat, Red-throated Diver and Sanderling (Alnmouth beach).

As always, I kept my eyes peeled for Black-headed Gulls, and managed to see a Polish ringed bird at Stag Rocks and a Lithuanian-ringed bird at North Shields Fish Quay.

Polish bird T86W

Lithuanian gull HA02829

I'll update the blog when I get the ringing details back.

Whilst at St Mary's Island, we saw some Grey Seals (adults and juveniles), which the first time for us at this site.

UPDATE: The Lithuanian gull was ringed 1423km away, as a pullus, on 23/06/06, making it over 13 years old.

The Polish gull as ringed, as an adult (2+ years old), 1320km away on 20/05/17, and has been recorded at Stag Rocks every winter since.

Gull Ringing - 21st December 2019

After a few false starts, I managed to get out with Dean and Eleanor from Sorby Breck Ringing Group (and others from Birklands Ringing Group and Mike from Center Parcs) to ring my first Black-headed Gull.

We spent the day at Sherwood Center Parcs, and ringed 3 birds, all 1st winter birds. The bird I ringed, number 246A, was the second bird of the day. I'll look forward to, hopefully, seeing this bird again this winter, or, even better, hearing where it spends the summer.

246A

Linacre WeBS - 15th December 2019

Linacre's December WeBS walk was quite a quiet affair with the following birds seen: Mallard (80), Tufted Duck (just 4!), Mandarin Duck (21), Moorhen (16), Coot (2), Little Grebe (2), Great-crested Grebe (1), Grey Wagtail (1) and Black-headed Gull (58).

Gulls at Rufford - 24th November 2019

After the ringing session on Sunday I had  an hour at Rufford Abbey CP with the gulls. In total I saw 5 colour/darvic ringed birds.

Three of the darvic rings were from the Sorby Breck/Birklands Ringing Group partnership, and involved a familiar bird, 217A, that was ringed at Center Parcs in January 2019, and one I first saw here in February 2019, and then again on 9th November 2019.

217A

The next 2 gulls were numbers 235A and 237A, both ringed at Center Parcs on 13th and 20th November 2019 respectively. These sightings were my first.

235A

237A

The other 2 darviced birds were also well known birds, EUM3 (Dutch ringed) and P519 (Lithuanian ringed), both of which have been seen here on several occasions last winter and this autumn.

Linacre Ringing - 24th November 2019

Yesterday I was down at Linacre for a 4 hour ringing session with 3 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group. We had a steady morning, with 41 birds of 11 species.

Numbers were as follows (new/retrap): Blue Tit 6/7, Great Tit 7/5, Long-tailed Tit 1/2, Coal Tit 3/1, Redwing 1/0, Blackbird 1/0, Wren 1/1, Bullfinch 2/0, Chaffinch 1/0 and Jay 1/0.

Linacre WeBS - 23rd November 2019

For the first time this month here's a blog that actually involves Linacre Reservoirs, and not too many Black-headed Gulls!!

I spent an hour and a half down at Linacre this morning (in the rain), carrying out this month's WeBS walk. It was very quiet with the following birds recorded: Mallard (65), Mandarin Duck (5), Tufted Duck ( just 4!), Coot (2), Moorhen (10), Great-crested Grebe (1), Cormorant (2) and Black-headed Gull (40).

The woods were pretty quiet too, with a few Blue, Great, Coal and Long-tailed Tits about. The highlight, however, was a single "wheeting" Chiffchaff seen in the willows by the middle reservoir.

Pomarine Skua!!

We had a trip over to the Grey Seal colony at Donna Nook in Lincolnshire today. We had super views of the seals, including males, females and pups.

Whilst looking at the seals, however, we were amazed to see an adult Pomarine Skua flying over our heads! It landed amongst the seals, about 20m away, and began to eat the afterbirths from the 800+ pups.

Pomarine Skua

Year List update:
194 - Pomarine Skua

Alvaston Park - 16th November 2019

A couple of weeks ago I was in Alvaston Park, and spotted the Danish ringed Black-headed Gull VA4073, (see here). I was back there again today, and saw it again.

VA4073

Whilst there I also spotted a new-for-me Polish ringed bird, TLPN. This bird, originally ringed in Poland on 8th June 2019, as a pullus, was first seen here on 12th October 2019. It was very confiding, and I managed to get some lovely pictures.

TLPN

One metal ringed bird was also seen. Unfotunately, this bird, also a first winter bird (born this year), was only seen briefly, and I was only able to read the first digit of its ring, 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ before it flew off.  Another time perhaps!

2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Other birds seen were: 8 Ring-necked Parakeets, 1 Stock Dove, 20+ Canada Geese, Tufted Ducks, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan (8) and Common Gull (at least 3).

Common Gulls

Gulls, Gulls, Gulls!!!

I spent just over an hour in Rufford Country Park this afternoon and saw 6 colour ringed Black-headed Gulls and 1 metal ringed bird!

Three of the colour ringed birds, 217A, 227A and 232A, were British ringed and had been ringed by ringers from Sorby Breck and Birklands Ringing Groups. I have recorded 217A here before, on 3rd February 2019 (see here), whereas 227A and 232A were new birds for me.

217A

I don't yet know where and when 227A was ringed, but 232A was ringed just a couple of kilometres away, as a first winter bird, at Center Parcs on 30/10/19.

227A

232A

The metal ringed bird, EL87245, was also British-ringed, so I'll send off details and update the blog when I hear back.

The other 3 darviced gulls were all known birds, namely EUM3 (Dutch ringed and seen on every visit since August), P519 (Lithuanian ringed see here and here) and V77K (Danish ringed bird, first seen here in February 2019 see here and my first sighting of the winter.)

V77K

UPDATE: The metal-ringed gull EL87245 was ringed on 02/01/13, by Birklands Ringing Group, 3km away.

Danish Gull VA4073 Returns

A quick trip to Alvaston Park in Derby today looking for gulls produced a Danish-ringed bird, VA4073, a bird that I first saw here in November 2018 (see here), and again in February 2019 (see here). The bird was born and ringed on the island on Hirsholm, Denmark on 26th May 2018 (911km away). When I first saw it, it was in 1st winter plumage, with a few juvenile feathers remaining, and looked like this.

VA4073 in November 2018

It looked very similar in February 2019.

VA4073 in February 2019

Today, after having undergone a full moult, the juvenile feathers were gone, and it looked like this.

VA4073 today

Norfolk Birds

Jayne and I were in Norfolk for a few days this week. We visited RSPB Titchwell on Tuesday, where we spotted all the usual suspects, including my first year tick, Red-throated Diver, since 1st September.

We stayed in Blakeney, and had a few walks around the marshes there. Bearded Tits were seen in the reeds by the main path, and gave some great views. Other birds seen here included; Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed and Herring Gull, Marsh Harrier and Brent and Pink-footed Geese

Bearded Tit

I also spotted a couple of Muntjac Deer in a nearby garden, including this female.

Muntjac Deer

On the 30th I had a couple of hours sea watching at Cley, where I managed to see Gannets, Guillemots, Ringed Plover, Red and Black-throated Divers, and, best of all, a very distant Great Skua (year list).

Our last trip was to the marshes at Burnham Overy, where we spotted Little and Great White Egret (2), Redshank, Grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin, Curlew and a Kingfisher.

Year List update:
192 - Red-throated Diver
193 - Great Skua

Rufford Gulls

A short, hour long trip to Rufford CP, yesterday saw me catch up with 2 familiar Black-headed Gulls. The first, EUM3 (Dutch ringed), is almost guaranteed on every visit now, and it was in the same place, enjoying some delicious bread again!

EUM3

The second gull, P519 ringed in Lithuania on 1st April 2010 as an adult 1456km away, was first seen by me in February 2019 at Rufford (see here). It had been seen before, at Rufford, in January 2018 and in November 2018, so it's obviously a regular bird here. Yesterday's sighting was the first since February 2019, and hopefully it's back for the winter again.

P519

Linacre WeBS - 27th October 2019

Ringing at Linacre was cancelled this morning dur to strong winds, so instead, Sarah, Robin and I walked around all three reservoirs and carried out this month's WeBS count.

No real surprises this month, but the Mandarin Ducks (48) looked very smart in their newly moulted breeding finery. Also, it was nice to see my first Linacre Black-headed Gulls of the winter, with 24 seen (no rings though).

Other birds seen were: Mallard (87), Tufted Duck (22), Coot (5), Moorhen (13), Grey Heron (1), Grey Wagtail (1), Cormorant (1), Great-crested Grebe (1) and Little Grebe (1).

Look who's back!

I was in Bakewell this afternoon, checking the gulls, when I spotted a familiar bird  - EY19562 (see here).

EY19562

This adult Black-headed Gull was first spotted here in November 2018, and then recorded another 3 times last winter. It had originally been ringed 40km away at Westport Lakes, Staffordshire, as a first year bird, on 10th December  2014, making it 5 years old. Hopefully, it'll hang around the area for another winter.

Linacre Ringing - 12th October 2019

After a couple of wet and windy weekends it was really nice to get out to Linacre again for a ringing session yesterday. I was there with 5 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, and we managed to catch a ring 75 birds of 11 species.

As usual, the majority of birds ringed were tits, with 24 Blue (23 new and 1 retrap), 24 Great Tits (22 new and 2 retraps), 1 Coal Tit (new bird) and 8 Long-tailed Tits (7 new and 1 retrap). We did however, also ring Goldcrest ( 7 new birds), 1 Wren (new), 2 Robins (new), 1 Treecreeper (new), 1 Chiffchaff ( a new, 1st year bird), Blackbird (4 new birds, including 2 probable continental birds) and 2 Redwings (our first of the year).

Chiffchaff

Treecreeper

In between net rounds we also recorded a Peregrine Falcon (only my third Linacre record, and my first since 2016), Raven (1 over), 1 Cormorant and a lovely skein of approximately 180 Pink-footed Geese flying SE. A Red Admiral butterfly was also seen briefly.

Linacre WeBS - 28th September 2019

I was down at Linacre birdwatching for the first time this month (!) and carried out the monthly WeBS count. It was quite quiet, but, as always, at this time of the year, the Mandarins were in good form, looking very smart, and giving me my highest count of the year... so far.

Birds seen were: Mallard (104), Mandarin Duck (72), Tufted Duck (21), Coot (5), Moorhen (17), Grey Heron (1), Grey Wagtail (1), Cormorant (1) Great-crested Grebe (2) and Little Grebe (1). At least 2 Chiffchaffs were also heard singing around the top and middle reservoirs.

Tufted Duck

Black-headed Gull 230A

I was at Rufford Country Park on Sunday to check on the Black-headed Gulls. Two familiar rings were read, 206A (British-ringed) and EUM3 (Dutch-ringed), along with a new bird, 230A.

230A

Regular readers of this blog will recognise the ring colour and sequence as being one used by Sorby Breck Ringing Group (the group I ring with) and Birklands Ringing Group. I contacted the lead ringer of this scheme and he confirmed that 230A had been ringed at the nearby Center Parcs site on 2nd February 2019. My siting was the first since then. Hopefully, it'll hang around for the winter, and get spotted back on its breeding grounds next Spring.

Linacre ringing - 8th September 2019

I didn't manage to get any ringing in at Linacre in July and August, but I was down there on Sunday with 4 other members of Sorby Breck Ringing Group and what a session we had! In just over 4 hours we managed to catch and ring 81 birds of 15 species.

Birds caught were (new/retrap): Wren 1/0, Dunnock 4/0, Robin 1/0, Treecreeper 1/0, Whitethroat 1/0, Blackcap 6/0, Willow Warbler 2/0, Chiffchaff 2/0, Goldcrest 2/0, Blue Tit 26/1, Great Tit 23/3, Coal Tit 2/0, Nuthatch 2/0, Goldfinch 1/0 and Chaffinch 1/0. As is normal at this time of year, the vast majority of the birds caught today were juveniles, including 1 of the retrap Great Tits that had been ringed in one of the boxes at Linacre on 23th May this year. Other notable records were the juvenile Whitethroat, 2 young Willow Warblers, 6 juvenile Blackcaps and 2 juvenile Chiffchaffs.

Whitethroat (juvenile)

Chiffchaff (juvenile)

Other birds seen/heard were: Grey Heron (1 over), House Martin (9 over), Swallow (3 over), Tawny Owl (birds heard in the woods on arrival at 6am) and Meadow Pipit (2 over).

The sun was out, and the temperature rose to 15 degrees late morning, which brought out some late butterflies: 5 Red Admirals,  3 Painted Ladies, 4 Small Tortoiseshells, 1 Large White and 1 Small White and a Mother of Pearl moth.

Painted Lady

RSPB Frampton Marsh - 2 Insect Lifers

It's not often that I go to an RSPB reserve and get more insect "lifers"  than birds, but today that is exactly what happened when I visited RSPB Frampton Marsh. To be honest, I'd gone with the intention of seeing the insects in question, so I was very pleased to see them both.

The first insect lifer was a Willow Emerald Damselfly (see here). This damselfly is a relative newcomer to Britain, and has a very limited, but expanding, range. I'd heard they were present here, so, after  getting directions from the Visitors' Centre, I set off to find them. It took a while, but, eventually, I spotted a male perched up on the hedgerow, and got a few photos. Fantastic!

Willow Emerald Damselfly

The second new insect was a Sea Aster Mining Bee (see here). This species also has a limited range, but Frampton is a stronghold. Again, I managed a couple of photos.

Sea Aster Mining Bee

Other insects seen included: Migrant Hawker (male and female), Ruddy Darter (1 male), Common Darter (10s) and a very impressive Wasp Spider.

Wasp Spider

Birds seen were: Peregrine Falcon, Short-eared Owl (1 over the saltmarsh - year tick), Spoonbill (17, including a Dutch-ringed bird), Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Knot, Turnstone (4 - a new species for me here), Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit (c.3500!!), Lapwing, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail (2), Shoveler, Mallard, Canada and Greylag Geese.

Year List update:
189 – Long-eared Owl (young heard in NE Derbyshire in August)
190 – Short-eared Owl

191 – Spoonbill

Linacre Insects

I spent a few hours at Linacre over the last few days and recorded the following insects: Southern Hawker (1), Brown Hawker (3, including 1 ovipositing female), Common Blue Damselfly (2 males) and Common Darter (2 tenerals on 30th - my first 2019 record).

Brown Hawker (female)

Common Darter

Butterflies seen were: Red Admiral (3), Painted Lady (1), Large White (1), Green-veined White (1), Common Blue Butterfly (2 males and 1 female), Wall Brown (1), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Peacock (2), Speckled Wood and Small Copper (3).

Small Copper

Herring Gull EPM

Jayne and I were in Llandudno over the weekend. Whilst there we spotted a Herring Gull with a colour ring, EPM. I recognised it straight away as a bird I'd seen there before, in December 2016 (see here for details and ringing and subsequent re sightings).

EPM

I sent the record off, and saw that it had now been reported on the sea front at Llandudno another 6 times since my sighting. All sightings range from September to April, with mine being the earliest "winter" record, so we still don't know if it breeds elsewhere, and winters in Llandudno. It is now  9 years and 255 days since it was ringed.

Whilst in North Wales, we visited the National Trust's Bodnant Gardens again, and saw Azure and Blue-tailed Damselflies, Common Darter (mating pairs) and several Southern Hawkers. Butterflies seen were: Painted Lady (10), Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Small Tortoiseshell and Common Blue.

Common Darter

Azure Damselflies

LINACRE LIFER!!!

It was about 20 degrees on Thursday, so I popped down to Linacre in the afternoon for 3 hours to see what was about. In the sun there were lots of butterflies in and around the buddleia in the ringing site, including: Painted Lady (8 - it's been a fantastic year nationwide for this species, and my best ever at Linacre too), Red Admiral (1), Peacock (2), Comma (1), Wall Brown (1), Gatekeeper (1), Common Blue Butterfly (3 males, 1 in the ringing site and 2 on the bank below the top reservoir. A female was also seen in the ringing site on 23rd), Small Tortoiseshell (1), Meadow Brown (1), Speckled Wood (1), Small Copper (1 on the bank below the bottom reservoir) and Large White (2). Other insects seen were: Brown Hawker (2), Volucella inanis (1), Volucella pellucens (1) and many Marmalade and Eristalis hoverflies.

Birdwise it was relatively quiet, except for the Linacre lifer in the shape of a juvenile REDSTART!!

Redstart

This bird was seen flycatching on the boardwalk, with about 3 Chiffchaffs, for about 1 minute, during a short rain shower. Luckily I managed to get this photo before it flitted off into the bushes and disappeared. I only have one other record of this species at Linacre, 2 birds reported in May 2016, so it could be a breeding species, which has been missed, or it could  just be a passage migrant. Only time, and more records will tell. 

Other birds seen were: Mallard (71), Tufted Duck (14), Mandarin Duck (29), Coot (2 adults and no juveniles!!), Moorhen (12; 4 adults and 8 juveniles), Great-crested Grebe (1 adult), Grey Wagtail (1 juvenile), Robin (1 juvenile), Swallow (2), House Martin (6) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (10 dropped in for 5 minutes during the rain).

Polish BH Gull at Rufford

Last Thursday (22nd August), I was back at Rufford CP in Nottinghamshire to check on the Black-headed Gulls again. There were still only about 20 gulls there, but I did see EUM3 (Dutch ringed bird) and 206A (British-ringed bird), along with a new gull, TRVE, a Polish-ringed bird - my first for Rufford!

TRVE

As you can see from the photo, this bird is a juvenile/1st winter one, having been born this year. The metal ring, FS34676, has the word Poland on it, so I there's a clue as to where it was ringed. Details have been sent off, and I'll update the blog as soon as I hear back.

UPDATE: This bird was ringed, in Poland, as a chick, on 27th May 2019, 1349km away!

Black-headed Gull EA32375 in Bakewell

Yesterday, Luke and I went across to Bakewell to see if we could find any ringed Black-headed Gulls. There were only about 20 gulls there, but we soon spotted one wearing a metal ring. We began to feed it with some bread, and within 20 minutes or so we'd managed to photograph and read the ring number, EA32375. We also spotted London on the ring, showing it was a British-ringed bird. Details were sent off to the BTO, and I'll update the blog when I hear back.

EA32375

Whilst there, we also spotted the colour-ringed Canada Goose AAAH, a female bird, first seen here on 10th February 2018, and again on 15th July 2019, after being ringed in Bowness on Windermere in 2nd July 2013.

AAH

UPDATE: Details from the BTO show that EA32375 was ringed, as a chick, by Merseyside Ringing Group at Shotton, Flintshire on 26th June 2019, a distance of 91km away. Our sighting was the first since ringing.

Black-headed Gulls - an update

Last winter was my best ever for recording darvic, colour ringed Black-headed Gulls in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, with 25 different birds seen. These birds returned to their breeding grounds in March, and so I haven't had any new sightings since then... until July.

The first sighting of this "winter" was of a possible returning bird, seen in Bakewell on 13th July (see here). Whilst going through my records I also noticed a Finnish bird that I had seen in Alvaston Park on 11th November 2018. I sent the record off and found out that the bird had been ringed 1808km away, as a pullus, on 6th June 2017.

Today I was at Rufford Country Park, Nottinghamshire, to see who was about, and I wasn't disappointed. The first bird I saw was a very familiar face, EUM3.

EUM3

Close by was a new gull, green-ringed 206A. 

206A

As soon as I saw this bird's ring colour I knew it was one that had been ringed by a member of Sorby Breck Ringing Group, as I'd had 2 other green-ringed birds ending in A, last winter (see here).  As it turned out, it had been ringed by our group on 18th December 2018, as an adult male, 4km away at Sherwood Forest Center Parcs lake. It was sighted at Rufford on 25th January 2019, and my sighting was the first of the winter. Fantastic!!