Linacre WeBS - January 2023

 Thus weekend I was down at Linacre to carry out the first WeBS count of the year. It was a cold, but bright, 0 degrees, with approximately 40% of the reservoirs covered in ice.

The main highlight of this month's walk was the sight of 49 Teal on the middle reservoir - my highest ever count at Linacre. This follows on from a site record of 119 back in December 2022. Presumably, both counts refer to harsh weather movements. Another highlight was the sight of 32 Whooper Swans, flying west along the valley - my first sighting here since March 2020.

Whooper Swans

Other birds seen were: Mallard (136), Tufted Duck (42), Mandarin Duck (19), Little Grebe (3, including one in full breeding plumage), Great-crested Grebe (1, in full breeding plumage), Coot (13), Moorhen (14), Cormorant (2), Black-headed Gull (52), Goosander (1 female) and Pied Wagtail (1).

Over the weekend, I also added a few new birds to the Year List: 81) Tawny Owl 82) Whooper Swan 83) Little Owl (in Holmesfield), 84) Mistle Thrush 85) Raven 86) Great-spotted Woodpecker and 87) Fieldfare.

Tuolumne Meadows - Yosemite 10th August 2022

On our third, and final, day, Jayne and I travelled to Tuolumne Meadows, at a height of approximately 10,00ft. The landscape was very different here, with a much more open feel and fewer trees.

We started at the Visitors’ Centre, before taking a short 2-mile  across the meadow to the River Tuolumne and Soda Springs. We had great views of several Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers, Mountain Chickadees, White-crowned Sparrows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, Brewer’s Blackbirds and a Red-tailed Hawk. The birding highlight of this trip, however, was a pair of breeding Killdeer, with 2 well grown young on Soda Springs.

Killdeer (juvenile)

Mammals seen here were: Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Belding Ground Squirrels, Lodgepole Chipmunk and Yellow-bellied Marmot.

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Belding Ground Squirrel

Yellow-bellied Marmot

Insects seen were: Mormon Fritillary, Orange Sulphar, Clodius Panassian and a Meadowhawk (dragonfly) sp (possibly Cardinal).

Rufford Gulls - 7th January 2023

 Yesterday saw my second visit of the year to Rufford CP to check on the overwintering Black-headed Gulls. It was 12 degrees and still, with just 70ish gulls present. No other species of gull were present, but I did spot 14 Goosander ( 10 males and 4 females).

Gulls seen were: EUM3, V77K, P519, 293A, 294A, 295A, 297A, 249B, 272B, 276B, 280B, 293B, 205C, 207C and 215C. (Click on the labels to see details of these birds).

Of the 15 ringed birds seen, three were new for me: 280B, an adult bird ringed on 19th November 2022 at Center Parcs, 205C, a first winter bird (born in 2022) and ringed on 22nd December 2022 at Center Parcs, and 215C, an adult bird, first ringed, at Center Parcs, on 5th January 2023.

280B

205C

215C

Northumberland - 2nd - 6th January 2023

 Jayne and I have just had a few days in Northumberland (with family). We were based in Alnmouth, and, as always, we spent the days visiting some of our favourite spots, up and down the coast, adding 41 species of bird to the Year List.

The first new species were recorded on the way up (40 to 42) , and on the beach at Alnmouth (43 to 50) : 40) Pheasant 41) Red Kite 42) Grey Partridge 43) Pied Wagtail 44) Curlew 45) Grey Heron 46) Great Black-backed Gull 47) Oystercatcher 48) Redshank 49) Linnet and 50) Stonechat.

On our second day, I had an early morning trip up to Holy Island, and managed a couple of hours, before the tide changed, managing to add 8 new species: 51) Light-bellied Brent Goose 52) Ringed Plover 53) Bar-tailed Godwit 54) Dunlin 55) Teal 56) Lapwing 57) Shoveler and 58) Song Thrush. Later on, on the same day, we drove down to Blyth, hoping to see Thor, the Walrus. Unfortunately, he had moved on, but we added a few more species: 59) Wigeon 60) Eider Duck 61) Red-breasted Merganser 62) Turnstone 63) Sanderling and 64) Pink-footed Goose.

Next day, we spent the morning walking around the National Trust's Cragside, where we saw two new species: 65) Goldcrest and 66) Siskin. 

Our last day started with a drive down to Craster, and a cliff top walk to Dunstanburgh Castle. On the drive we saw 67) Yellowhammer 68) Redwing and 69) Bullfinch. Whilst walking to the castle, we added 70) Shag 71) Fulmar (several pairs around the cliffs by the castle),72) Rock Pipit and 73) Purple Sandpiper. We then drove up to Seahouses, where we were very lucky to spot a female Long-tailed Duck (74) from the harbour wall several Feral Pigeons (75)and 200+ Golden Plover (76) in the fields on the drive up to Bamburgh. Stag Rocks was very quiet, with just 10 Turnstones!!

On the drive home, we stopped off at Big Waters NR (hoping to see an American Wigeon - no luck!!), but we did add 77) Gadwall and 78) Goldeneye. The final two "ticks" of the trip were Pochard (79) and the male Scaup (80) at Thrybergh CP.

Rufford Country Park - 1st January 2023

Following on from the walk around Linacre, I had my first visit of the year to Rufford Country Park on Sunday. The number of Black-headed Gulls had increased to c.200 and, during the couple of hours there I spotted 10 green darvic-ringed Gulls (206A -my first sighting since December 2021), 246A - the first gull I ringed, back in December 2019, 295A - my first sighting since February 2022, 249B - last seen in November 2022, 255B - last seen on 10th December 2022, 276B - 5th sighting since being ringed in November 2022), 283B -1st sighting, ringed on 19th November 2022, 293B -1st sighting , ringed on 10th December 2022, 202C - 1st sighting, ringed on 22nd December 2022 and 207C - second sighting, ringed on 22nd December. 

293B

202C

In addition, I also spotted EUM3 (Dutch bird), V77K (Danish bird), P519 (Lithuanian ringed), Norwegian Common Gull, JN075 and a new Dutch metal-ringed Black-headed Gull, 3.832.176 (ringing details to follow). 

UPDATE: 3.832.176 was ringed, as a chick, 369km and 558 days ago, in Serooskerke Schouwen, Zeeland, The Netherlands. My sighting was the first since ringing.

Year List update:

33) Sparrowhawk 34) Kestrel 35) Canada Goose 36) Greylag Goose 37) Common Gull 38) Herring Gull 39) Mute Swan

Linacre Reservoirs - 1st January 2023

 Hello, and welcome to 2023!!! I had my first visit of the year this morning (8.30am - 10.00am) and recorded the first bods of the new year.

The first species seen at Linacre in 2023 was....... Common Buzzard (2 in the field by the entrance). Nota bad start! Other species seen and heard around the woods were: Robin (singing), Blue/Great/Coal and Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Wren (singing) Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Jay and Woodpigeon.

On the water were: 141 Mallards, 13 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Little Grebes, 1 Great-crested Grebe, 11 Coots, 19 Moorhens, 1 Grey Wagtail, 3 Cormorants, 43 Tufted Ducks, 63 Mandarin Ducks and 3 Goosanders (2 males and 1 female).

Goosander

The only mammal species seen was Grey Squirrel, which were everywhere!!

This year's Year Lists begins:

1) Robin 2) Magpie 3) Blackbird 4) Carrion Crow 5) Collared Dove 6) Jackdaw 7) Rook 8) Dunnock 9) Common Buzzard 10) Blue Tit 11) Great Tit 12) Goldfinch 13) Grey Wagtail 14) Chaffinch 15) Mallard 16) Tufted Duck 17) Black-headed Gull 18) Lesser Black-backed Gull 19) Moorhen 20) Coot 21) Little Grebe 22) Great-crested Grebe 23) Goosander 24) Coal Tit 25) Long-tailed Tit 26) Wren 27) Treecreeper 28) Jay 29) Nuthatch 30) House Sparrow 31) Starling 32) Greenfinch.