Welcome to my blog all about my birdwatching, wild bird ringing activities and moth recording at Linacre Reservoirs, Derbyshire; in Great Britain and abroad.
Last night, Jayne and I drove out to Bonsall Moor to "see" 3 Quails that had been reported singing there for the last few days.
We arrived on site and heard the birds (a minimum of 2, possibly 3) within a few minutes. A great record for a bird that I have only ever heard once before.
Year List update: 170 - Quail.
This morning I had three hours walking around Linacre, checking the nestboxes, carrying out this month's WeBS count, and looking at the insects that were out and about in the 20 degree temperature.
First up the nestboxes. I walked around and checked the last few remaining nests, and the great news is that they had all fledged successfully, including the three Pied Flycatchers- hurrah!! I'll write another blog post about the totals later in the year.
Next, the WeBS walk. Species (and numbers seen) were: Mallard (99; 83 adults and 16 ducklings), Tufted Duck (41 adults), Mandarin Duck (42; 32 adults and 10 ducklings), Coot (22; 12 adults and 10 juveniles), Moorhen (20; 11 adults and 9 juveniles), Great-crested Grebe (8; 5 adults and 3 juveniles), Little Grebe (2;1 heard on the middle reservoir and 1 seen on the top reservoir), Grey Heron (1), Grey Wagtail (1), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1 adult), and, best of all, a Common Sandpiper on the bottom reservoir - the first record of the year!). Other birds seen or heard were: Song Thrush (2 heard), Chiffchaff (3 heard), Blackcap (4 heard) and Garden Warbler (1 heard in the ringing site).
Insects were the best I've had so far this year, with several first sightings. Meadow Brown (15 - an excellent count across the site, and the first Linacre record of the year), Ringlet (2 in the ringing site - first Linacre record of 2023), Speckled Wood (5), Red-tailed and Tree Bumblebees, Red and Black Froghopper, Common Blue and Azure Damselflies (the latter species, the first Linacre record of 2023), Swollen-thighed Flower Beetle, Volucella bombylans (white-tailed variety), Volucella pellucens (first 2023 record), Latticed Heath (2) and a Harlequin Ladybird larvae.
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On Wednesday, Jayne and I went out with our friend Stewart from Derbyshire Bird Tours in the search for Nightjar and Woodcock.
We met up at 8.15pm and spent the next two and a half hours up on the edge of the moors, where we had fantastic views of both these species, along with Tree Pipit, Cuckoo, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler (heard), Great Spotted Woodpecker , Tawny Owl (heard) and Linnet.
Year list update: 169 - Woodcock
Today I made a return trip to Whixall Moss to try and catch up with the two species I missed on my last visit, at the start of the month: Large Heath and Raft Spider (Dolomedes fimbriatus). This time, I joined a guided walk, with a couple of experts - good move!!!
Within a few minutes of being back on the moss we had spotted a Raft Spider on the water. This first sider was a male, and just 10ft away was a female carrying an egg sac. Fantastic!!
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Our guide also pointed out some of the special plants that can be seen on site, including Bog Asphodel, Lesser Bladderwort, Cranberry, Sundew and Royal Fen.
Yesterday, Luke and I went down to Linacre to check on, and ring, the last few chicks. There were four boxes left, but when we got there, just two still had chicks, and two had been predated. The first box contained 3 Pied Flycatcher chicks and the other held 3 Blue Tits.
Now that all the boxes have been checked the totals for 2023 are as follows: Blue Tit; 14 broods and 93 chicks, Great Tit; 7 broods and 46 chicks and Pied Flycatcher; 1 brood and 3 chicks. This gives a total of 142 chicks ringed.
Whilst on site, we also spotted 5 adult Great-crested Grebes, with 2 juveniles and one pair on a nest, 45 adult Mallards and 7 broods of ducklings totally 34 young, 11 adult Coots and 10 juveniles (3 broods), 6 Moorhens and 8 juveniles (5 broods), 24 adult Tufted Ducks, 40 Mandarin Ducks (28 adults and 11 ducklings (3 broods), 3 Grey Wagtails (1 adult and 2 juveniles), 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Swallows, 4 Chiffchaffs, 4 Blackcaps, 1 Willow Warbler, Goldfinch, Skylark, 5 Song Thrushes (singing and 1 adult seen), 2 Bullfinches (1m and 1fm) and 1 singing Garden Warbler.
Insect wise, we saw 3 Common Blue Damselflies, 1 female Broad-bodied Chaser (first record of the year), Volucella bombylans (hoverfly), 1 Marbled White Spot (moth, a first record for the site), 1 Silver Y moth, 1 Hairy Shieldbug (my first Linacre record since 2013!), 1 Black-headed Cardinal Beetle, Thick-thighed Flower Beetles, 1 Dark-edged Bee-fly, 1 Speckled Wood, Scorpion Fly, and several Eristalis hoverflies.
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Jayne and I joined a Butterfly Conservation walk around Fineshade Wood today, in search of the Chequered Skipper. Unfortunately, despite walking around the site for approximately 3 hours, we didn't find any today.
We did, however, record other species, including a "lifer" in the shape of Grizzled Skipper.
Today Jayne and I visited the Fenn's, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses in Shropshire. We went in search of two insects, the Large Heath butterfly and the White-faced Darter dragonfly.
Unfortunately, we didn't see the former species (perhaps a little early in the season??), but we did have fantastic views of the darter, including a pair "in tandem".
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