Linacre WeBS - 14th December 2024

 Last weekend, I carried out the last Linacre WeBS count of 2024. It was, again, a very quiet affair with lower than average numbers of birds.

Birds seen were: Mallard (75), Mandarin Duck (21), Tufted Duck (6), Coot (1), Moorhen (10), Grey Heron (1), Cormorant (1), Great-crested Grebe (1), Little Grebe (1) and Black-headed Gull (9).

There were a few other birds in and around the woods: Nuthatch, Siskin (heard), Buzzard, Jay, Blackbird, Dunnock and a nice flock of c15 Long-tailed Tits, around the top reservoir.

Donna Nook - 1st December 2024

 It's been five years, since Jayne and I were last at the Atlantic Grey Seal breeding reserve at Donna Nook, in Lincolnshire (see post here). Today, we drove across, and had amazing views of bulls, cows and pups (1,400 at the moment!).

Pups

Cow and Pup feeding

Bull

Seal's flipper

There were a few birds flying about, the most numerous being Great Black-backed Gull, with several adults and juveniles feeding around the colony. Other birds seen were: Shelduck, Herring and Black-headed Gulls, Skylark (over) and Curlew.

Great Black-backed Gull (and cow seal)

Lithuanian Black-headed Gull - Holmebrook Valley CP

 This afternoon, I popped down to Holmebrook Valley CP to have a look at the Black-headed Gulls down there. There were about 60 on the water, including a new Lithuanian-ringed bird HA51.792.

HA51.972

I'll update the blog, when I received ringing details.

Rufford Gulls - 24th November 2024

Storm Bert put pay to any ringing this weekend, so instead, I headed over to Rufford to check up on the gulls. I was there for just under two hours, and saw 16 ringed Black-headed Gulls.

Birds seen were: 273A , 293A, 280B (ringed by me, as an adult, in November 2022, and my first sighting since 20th January 2024), 207C, 264C, 270C, 273C, 298C (ringed in February 2024, as a 5, i.e. born in 2023, and my first siting this winter), 207F, 220F, 221F, 223F, 230F, 234F, 239F (a new bird) and 244F (a new bird).

239F (age 3, born this year)

244F (age 3)

Clumber and Rufford - 16th November 2024

 On Saturday, I was out at Clumber Park, with the family. Whilst there, I had a quick check of the Black-headed Gulls and Mute Swans, finding a couple of ringed birds.

The first bird I saw was a Polish-ringed Black-headed Gull, TV02. I checked the number, and realised it was a bird I had first seen, at Clumber, back in February 2023. See the post here, for details, and a picture of this bird, as a 2nd year bird.

TV02

The second bird I saw was a ringed Mute Swan, Y404. This is a new bird for me. I'll update, when I find out where it was ringed. A single Great (White) Egret was also seen on the main lake.

Y404

After Clumber, Jayne and I had a very quick, half an hour, visit to Rufford, where I managed to spot 14 of "our" darvic-ringed Black-headed Gulls: 273A, 277A, 293A, 293B, 207C, 264C, 273C, 207F, 217F, 221F (new), 223F,  229F (new), 230F (new) and 234F (new).

221F

229F

230F

234F

Linacre WeBS and Ringing- October and November 2024

 I carried out this month's WeBS count at Linacre this morning. It was 12 degrees, grey and overcast, and, not for the first time this year, very quiet!!. I also realised that I hadn't posted last month's totals either, so here they are too.

October 2024 - Mallard (57), Moorhen (9; 8 adults and 1 juvenile), Coot (3), Cormorant (5 juveniles), Grey Heron (2), Tufted Duck (17), Mandarin (80), Great-crested Grebe (1), Grey Wagtail (2) and Black-headed Gull (2).

November 2024 - Mallard (53), Moorhen (9; 7 adults and 2 juveniles), Coot (1), Cormorant (1), Grey Heron (2), Tufted Duck (0!), Mandarin (16!!), Little Grebe (1), Pied Wagtail (1) and Black-headed Gull (1).

Last weekend, we were ringing at Linacre and managed to catch 25 birds: Redwing (6/0), Blue Tit 7/0, Great Tit 1/2, Coal Tit 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 6/0 and Wren 1/1.

Linacre Gadwall - 3rd November 2024

 Jayne and I had a quick walk around Linacre this morning. It was pretty quiet, until we arrived at the middle reservoir, where we disturbed a pair of Gadwalls.

This sighting is my first at Linacre since 2022, and only the fifth record since I started watching the site on a regular basis!. The other sightings were: 2 in February 2012, 2 in October 2013, 2 in December 2022 and 2 in March 2023. I managed to grab a quick photograph, before the battery on my camera ran out of juice!!

Gadwall 

P519 is back!

 I had my first visit to Rufford for a few weeks yesterday, and, in a couple of hours, I'd spotted 22 ringed birds; 21 of "ours" and a familiar face, P519.

P519 is a Lithuanian-ringed bird (ringed, as an adult, on 1st April 2010, 1,456km away). I first spotted this bird in February 2019, although it had been seen here, by other observers, in January and November 2018. It has been seen every winter since then. Yesterday's sighting was the first of the winter.

P519

Other ringed gulls were: 255A, 258A, 259A, 277A, 293A, 295A, 242B (my first sighting), 202C, 207C, 245C, 246C (my 1st sighting), 258C, 264C, 270C, 273C, 207F, 214F, 217F, 219F, 220F, 223F and 225F (all the F birds are my 1st sightings).

Other birds seen were: Greylag Geese (c150, including  a ringed bird, 5230485, which had been ringed in April 2024), Canada Geese (c.100), 6 Mute Swans (Broken Beak, his partner and 3 cygnets, plus another adult female) and 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Cornwall Birding - 200th species!

After Thursday's ringing session, Luke and I spent the rest of the day birding around the area. During the time, we added 4 new species to my Year List, going over the 200 mark for the first time in a few years.

Our first stop was Porthgwarra and Gwennap Head, where we had a lovely walk along the cliff tops, spotting Stonechat, a single Wheatear, Raven, Jackdaws, and 5 Chough (198).

Chough

Our next stop was Penzance. We walked down on the seashore, near the railway depot, picking up a single Swallow and this stunning, and, as always, very confiding, Snow Bunting (199).

Snow Bunting

Our final stop was the RSPB's Marazion Marshes, where we manged to find the elusive 1st winter Red-backed Shrike (200th species), a single Great Egret, and, to finish the day, a lovely flock of at least 11 Cattle Egret (201).

Red-backed Shrike

Cornwall Ringing

 Yesterday morning (31st), Luke and I were up early visiting a private ringing site in the Nanjizal Valley in West Cornwall (West Cornwall Ringing Group). Thanks for arranging Luke, and thanks to Kester and Jon for allowing me onto your site.

We arrived at 7am, and got straight on with the ringing. The first bird I ringed was a Chiffchaff (the first of 26 ringed by me that morning!). Other birds ringed were: Blackcap (12), Robin (6), Song Thrush (5), Redwing (3), Blackbird (3), Great-spotted Woodpecker (2;1 new and 1 retrap), Goldcrest (1), Firecrest (3), Cetti's Warbler (3; 1 retrap and 2 new) and, best of all, Yellow-browed Warbler (3 new birds) 67 birds from a total of 80!

The obvious stand out birds were, of course, the Yellow-browed Warblers, the Firecrests and the Cetti's Warblers - 3 new species for me. The Yellow-Browed Warblers were also colour-ringed, as part of a national scheme (see here), to try and find out a little more about their distribution and wintering sites. This site has colour-ringed just over 40, this winter alone!

Yellow-browed Warbler

Firecrest

Cetti's Warbler (10 tail feathers)

The morning was very busy, but we did manage to keep an eye on birds flying over, the best of which was a Merlin (year tick 197).

Falmouth - 29th October 2024

 Today, we spent the day in and around the Falmouth area, with our nephew, Luke and family. We managed another couple of year ticks, Firecrest (195) and Common Scoter (196),   had amazing views of a winter-plumaged Red-throated Diver and saw another couple of ringed Herring Gulls.

We started the day with a walk around the Penryn Campus, where Luke found us at least half a dozen Firecrests.

Firecrest

Afterwards, we popped down to Falmouth, where we found Herring Gulls,W:073 (down on the water' edge) and W:120 (in town).

W:073

W:120

After a quick visit to Pendennis Point, where Luke found me a fly-by Common Scoter, we headed off to Swanpool. On arrival, we (Luke) spotted a Red-throated Diver fishing with a Cormorant and a Shag, about 5-10m off shore.

Red-throated Diver

St Ives - 26th - 27th October 2024

 Jayne and I arrived in St Ives on Saturday afternoon, and, after settling in to our accommodation, we had a walk around the town, enjoying the lovely sunshine and sunshine.

View from or apartment

As always, I had my eyes peeled for darvic-ringed Herring Gulls, and soon found two new birds; W916 and W918. I'll send off the details, but I'm sure they'll have been ringed in and around the harbour.

W916

W918

We spent the whole of Sunday in and around the town. We started off walking around the town, where we saw W916 and W918 again. A small group of c.40 Turnstones were also around the harbour, along with a single Black-headed Gull and a single Great Black-backed Gull. We then walked up onto The Island and spent a couple of hours in and around that area, adding Gannet (c.10), Red Admiral (1) and, best of all, a female-type Black Redstart (Year Tick 194).We found the bird feeding on rocks below the Coastguards' Lookout. Amazingly, another bird was found a couple of hours later, feeding around the rook of The Guildhall!!

Black Redstart

Walking back along the harbour, we spotted another ringed Herring Gull,W917. This was a new bird, seen on the railings around the harbour.

W917

Hayle Estuary and Ryan's Field - 26th October 2024

 Jayne and I arrived in Cornwall on Saturday, and, after some lovely food in the Birdies Bistro, headed straight to the RSPB's Hayle Estuary and Ryan's Field.

Walking into the hide, we were greeted by approximately 10 Redshank, a single Black-headed Gull and a Danish-ringed Spoonbill, that was feeding on the reserve.

Spoonbill V463

We then walked across to the estuary where there were several hundred Canada Geese, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret, Shelduck, Wigeon (200+), Teal (100+), Ringed Plover (2), Dunlin (2), Bar-tailed Godwit (5), Curlew (c.30), Herring, Black-headed, 1 Great Black-backed and at least 6 Mediterranean Gulls (4 1st winters and 2 adults).

Bar-tailed Godwit

Black-headed Gull and Mediterranean Gull

Mediterranean Gull (adult, left bird, and 1st winter)

Rufford Gulls - 6th October 2024

 On the way back from Norfolk on Sunday, we popped into Rufford for a short, 1 hour visit. There were a lot more birds present, up from c.40 to c.170, and included 6 or our darvic ringed birds.

The birds seen were: 206A, 258A, 293A, 295A, 207C and 258C. All, except 295A, had been reported already this autumn. 295A was last seen back in February (see here).

295A

258A and 258C

Norfolk - 5th and 6th October 2024

 This weekend, Jayne and I went down to Norfolk, where we had a lovely walk around Wells-next-the-Sea and around RSPB Snettisham.

We were at Wells yesterday, in a very warm and sunny 17 degrees. We walked down from the town to the beach and back. Species seen were: Redshank, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Dark-bellied Brent Goose (c300), Red-throated Diver (1 breeding plumaged bird fishing in the channel), a tern species, Little Egret, Great Egret (2 flying over), Black-headed and Herring Gull and a juvenile/1st winter Wheatear - great spot Jayne! We also saw a couple of Wall Brown butterflies at Old Hunstanton Golf Course later in the day - my first of the year.

Wheatear (juvenile/1st winter - almost in focus!)

This morning, we had a walk around RSPB Snettisham. Unfortunately, there wasn't a very high tide, so we didn't get the flyover from the birds, but we still saw thousands of waders. Species seen were: Oystercatcher, Curlew, Dunlin, Avocet, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, and Knot ( year tick 193). we also had 20+ Little Egrets and 12 Spoonbills, including a darvic ringed bird; NF1U. A report has been sent off, and it appears to be a Dutch-ringed bird (see here). I'll update with full details, when I receive them.

Spoonbill NF1U

UPDATE: The Spoonbill had been ringed, as a pullus, at Ventjagersplaten, Lebret, The Netherlands, 294km away, on 28th May 2024. Before my sighting, it had been reported at Besthorpe Nature Reserve, Nottinghamshire on 24th July 2024. It was next seen at Alkborough Flats, Lincolnshire, on 19th August, before spending the best part of September (1st to 29th) at Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire. My sighting was the latest, so far.

Gibraltar Point Ringing - 28th September 2024

 A couple of weekends ago, I had a morning's bird ringing at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's Gibraltar Point NNR in Lincolnshire. It was the first time I'd ringed here, and it really came up trumps, with 2 fantastic species ringed (including a lifer!).

The first new bird, and the lifer, was a Barred Warbler!!! It was aged as a first winter (i.e. born this year), and was one of the first birds of the day. A fantastic start!

Barred Warbler

The second bird, and one that I got to extract from the nets, was a Yellow-browed Warbler. Although not a lifer, it was the very first time I'd seen one in the hand - another great bird!

Yellow-browed Warbler

Year List update: Bearded Tit (189 - seen at Minsmere in August), Reed Warbler (190 - ringed at Blackburn Meadows in August), 191 - Barred Warbler and 192 - Yellow-browed Warbler.

Soggy Rufford!!

 I didn't go to Rufford last weekend, because of the heavy rain, so I really wanted to get back across today. I went, and ironically, it was pouring with rain!! There were only 40 Black-headed Gulls today (presumably the others were still out on the fields enjoying the rain!), but I did manage to see 5 darviced birds.

The darviced birds were: 206A, 258A, 297A, 207C and 245C. The first birds are regulars, but for 245C, it was the first sighting since 4th February 2024, and only my 5th re-sighting since it was ringed in October 2023. See here for a picture of the same bird, back in December 2023.

245C

206A and 245C

Broken Beak (a male Mute Swan) was still present today, along with his mate and 3 cygnets, as were 25 Canada Geese, 1 Greylag Goose, 1 Grey Wagtail, c20 Mallards and a singing Chiffchaff.

Broken Beak and family

Linacre WeBS - 21st September 2024

 I undertook this month's WeBS walk yesterday. It was a dreary, drizzly morning, but relatively warm at 16 degrees. 

The totals were: Mallard (81), Mandarin Duck (98), Moorhen (17;14 adults and 3 juveniles), Coot (4), Tufted Duck (22), Great-crested Grebe (4; 2 adults and 2 juveniles, all on the middle reservoir), Grey Heron (2), Cormorant (1), Pied Wagtail ( 1 heard), Grey Wagtail (2), Wigeon (a single male that flew in, landed briefly, and flew off - the first of the Autumn/Winter) and Black-headed Gull (3 - the first of the Autumn/Winter).

The woods were pretty quiet, but I did  hear/see Nuthatch, Wren, Robin, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch ( a charm of c.20 feeding on Knapweed seeds by the top reservoir), Jay, Blue, Long-tailed and Great Tits. Feeding with a small Tit flock were a couple of Chiffchaffs. 1 Chiffchaff was also heard singing!!

Top reservoir and four Sunflowers

Linacre Butterflies - 14th September 2024

 At this time of the year, whenever the sun comes out, I like to get down to Linacre to see if there are any insects about, just in case it's the last sightings I get this year! Yesterday was such a time, with lots of sun and temperatures of 20 degrees. I wasn't disappointed, with 8 species of butterfly seen, along with two dragonflies, a few bees, craneflies, hoverflies and a wasps' nest!

The butterfly species were: Red Admiral (5), Comma (2), Peacock (2), Speckled Wood (7), Large White (2), Green-veined White (3, including a pair attempting to mate) and, best of all, a Small Copper (my first record of the year!).

Small Copper

Small Copper (and friend)

Other species seen were: Migrant Hawker (2), Brown Hawker (1), Red-tailed and Common Carder Bumblebees, Eristalis hoverflies and 1 Marmalade Hoverfly. 

Whilst walking along the bank below the top reservoir, I came across a hole, approximately 1/2m deep, with several hundred wasps flying around it! I peeped in, very carefully (!) and could see the remains of a wasps' nest. I couldn't get a great photo, so I'm not sure if they were Common or German Wasps, but, whatever species, it was great to see. Presumably, the nest had been discovered and dug out by a Badger, or a Honey Buzzard (only joking!!).

Wasps' nest