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 weekend (20th), I went across to Rufford for a couple of hours. In total, I recorded 16 green-ringed Black-headed Gulls, and metal-ringed EL87245.
Birds seen were: 246A, 258A, 273A, 293A, 295A, 297A, 254B, 272B, 280B, 202C, 207C, 245C, 258C, 264C, 273C and 275C.
This last week, I've managed to add three new species to the Year List.
The first species, Dipper (102), was added last Sunday, when 1 bird was seen in Monsal Dale. The second species, Egyptian Goose (103) was seen yesterday, when 3 were seen at Center Parcs whilst gull ringing. The third new species, Great (White) Egret (104), was seen today on Carburton Lake, Nottinghamshire. In fact there were 2 Great Egrets and 6 Little Egrets together, all within about 100m!!
Last week (20th), I walked around Linacre to carry out this month's WeBS count.
After a week of very cold temperatures, the bottom reservoir was about 25% frozen, and there were some good numbers of birds: Mallard (145), Mandarin Duck (45), Moorhen (12), Coot (12), Grey Heron (2), Goosander (13; 8 males and 5 females), Teal (c.32), Cormorant (2), Grey Wagtail (1) and Tufted Duck (28).
This weekend, I managed to add another 4 species to my "Year List" for 2024, taking my total so far this year to 101.
The first new addition was Barn Owl (98), when I was spotted whilst driving across to Center Parcs for some gull ringing. The second bird was Great Grey Shrike (99) that Jayne and I saw up at Ramsley Reservoir in the afternoon. It was quite distant, and the sky was grey, but I managed a record shot.
I had my first visit of 2024 to Rufford on Sunday. There weren't a lot of Black-headed Gulls around (c.150), but I did see 13 of "our" green-ringed birds along with the Lithuanian-ringed bird, P519 and the British metal-ringed bird, EL87245.
Birds seen were: 258A, 273A, 295A, 254B (ringed by me on 22nd October 2022 and my first sighting since October 2023), 272B, 280B (ringed by me on 19th November 2022, and my 4th sighting this winter), 202C, 207C, 215C, 258C, 264C, 268C (ringed by me, as a 3, born in 2023, on 31st December 2023, as an adult, age 4) and 273C (ringed on 6th January 2024).
268C and 273C were the first sightings since being ringed.
As well as the gulls, I also spotted a very impressive 43 Goosander (27 female and 16 males).
After our week away, I was back down at Linacre on Sunday for my second walk of 2024. It was a cool 3 degrees, grey and overcast.
Birds seen were: Mallard (104), Goosander (5; 2 males and 3 females), Great-crested Grebe (2 on the middle reservoir, including 1 in near full breeding plumage), Little Grebe (1), Moorhen (17), Coot (7), Tufted Duck (32), Black-headed Gull (70), Mandarin (37) and Cormorant (1).
I also managed a couple of "Year Ticks"; 1 Grey Wagtail (96) and 1 Green Woodpecker (heard - 97).
Whilst at Queen Elizabeth II Country Park today, Jayne and I spotted a darvic-ringed Black-headed Gull, 2JR0.
During our last few days in Northumberland, we managed to add a few more birds to the "Year List", with trips to Alnmouth and Queen Elizabeth II Country Park.
The first new addition, heard by our accommodation in Shilbottle, was Skylark (87). Whilst in Alnmouth, we added Little Egret (88) and Bar-tailed Godwit (89), on the estuary, along with 10 Ringed Plover, Curlew, Lapwing, Dunlin, Grey Heron, Shag and Herring and Black-headed Gulls.
Whilst up in Northumberland, we had a day in Edinburgh. As always, we stopped off at Musselburgh Lagoons for an hour.
The first bird I heard was a Willow Tit (83). I then walked down to the seawall, where I spotted an adult Great Northern Diver (84), a couple of Slavonian Grebes (85), flyby Velvet Scoter (86), Eider Ducks, several Long-tailed Ducks, Shags and fly-by Black-headed and Common Gulls.
Today we started off at Beadnell, where we had a lovely vegan breakfast, before walking along the beach to the harbour. Along the way we saw several Jackdaws, a couple of Rock Pipits and, best of all, a juvenile (possibly male) Long-tailed Duck. We also had another 3 birds (all males?) in the harbour at Seahouses.
Jayne and I are up in Northumberland for a few days, so we've taken the opportunity to get a few new birds for this year's Year List.
Our first new birds were seen on the drive up: Red Kite (49), Kestrel (50) and Curlew (51). The next birds were seen at Newbiggin by-the-Sea: Oystercatcher (52), Redshank (53), Ringed Plover (54), Sanderling (55), Turnstone (56), Dunlin (57), Shorelark (2 on the golf course; 58), Twite (23 with the Shorelarks; 59), Rock Pipit (60) and Short-eared Owl (61).
After my walk around Linacre yesterday, Jayne and I drove cross to Hassop Station near Bakewell to see the 250+ Waxwings (42) that had been present for the last couple of weeks. They were "showing very well" in the trees around the café area, and we got fantastic views.
One of the photos was of a bird with a colour ring on. Details have been sent off, and I'll update the blog as soon as I hear back.
I was out at Linacre first thing yesterday to get my first count of 2024. The day started wet and windy, but it soon dried up, and the sun came out. By the end of the walk around all three reservoirs, I had counted a total of 33 species to start this year's Year List.
Birds seen were: Robin (1), Mistle Thrush (2), Blackbird (3), Carrion Crow (4), Jackdaw 200+ coming out of the roost (5), Goosander (18; 12 males and 6 females on the middle reservoir, 6), Siskin (7), Great-crested Grebe (1 on the middle reservoir; 8), Mallard (124; 9), Moorhen (17; 10), Coot 10; 11), Mandarin Duck (44; 12), Tufted Duck (24; 13), Cormorant (3; 14), Kingfisher (1 on the bottom reservoir, 15), Black-headed Gull (2; 16), Buzzard (2 in the fields; 17), Starling (10 in the fields; 18), Wren (19), Dunnock (20), Pheasant (21), Redwing (22), Goldfinch (23), Raven (1; 24), Woodpigeon (25), Long-tailed Tit (26), Blue Tit (27), Coal Tit (28), Great Tit (29), Treecreeper (30), Song Thrush (31), Chaffinch (32) and Nuthatch (33).
Driving home, I also added the following species: Feral Pigeon (34), Herring Gull (35), Lesser Black-backed Gull (36) and Fieldfare (37).
Back at home, I spotted: Greenfinch (38), Collared Dove (39), House Sparrow (40) and Magpie (41).
