I spend a lot of time looking at bird blogs from around the world. I know, how boring am I?!
Anyway, the other day I cam across this great blog post about a leusistic Willow Warbler that had been caught during August on Hilbre Island in North West England. I was really impressed with the colouration of this bird and so I thought I'd share it with a few more people. Hope you like it.
Follow this link to the post of 18th August 2012.
Welcome to my blog all about my birdwatching, wild bird ringing activities and moth recording at Linacre Reservoirs, Derbyshire; in Great Britain and abroad.
Friday, 7 September 2012
Sunday, 2 September 2012
200th post!
Hello and welcome to my 200th post! I was out again yesterday morning with the Sorby Breck Ringing Group at our regular site in Sheffield. The morning started very well with a Swallow the first bird in the nets, followed by 61 other birds of 13 species.
I personally ringed 13 birds today: Goldfinch - 1 juvenile, Chiffchaff - 1 juvenile, Great Tit - 2, House Sparrow 1 juvenile, Blue Tit - 2 and 2 retraps, Swallow - 1 juvenile, Blackbird - 2 juveniles and Dunnock - 1 juvenile.
At this time of year a lot of the birds are moulting which can make them look quite different, such as this juvenile Blackbird.
Other birds seen but not ringed today were a Sparrowhawk which was hunting around the site and a Kestrel which was spotted hunting nearby.
I personally ringed 13 birds today: Goldfinch - 1 juvenile, Chiffchaff - 1 juvenile, Great Tit - 2, House Sparrow 1 juvenile, Blue Tit - 2 and 2 retraps, Swallow - 1 juvenile, Blackbird - 2 juveniles and Dunnock - 1 juvenile.
At this time of year a lot of the birds are moulting which can make them look quite different, such as this juvenile Blackbird.
Blackbird
Other birds seen but not ringed today were a Sparrowhawk which was hunting around the site and a Kestrel which was spotted hunting nearby.
Friday, 31 August 2012
Old Moor - 31st August 2012
News of a Red-necked Phalarope at RSPB Old Moor yesterday got my "twitching instinct" going and so I drove over for a few hours this morning. Unfortunately the bird had departed overnight, so no new tick this time!
Instead of looking at the phalarope I spent time scanning the hundreds of Lapwings to see what I could see. 4 Black-tailed Godwits were feeding from Wath Ings hide along with 2 Ruff, 12 Golden Plover (many still in summer plumage), 7 Green Sandpipers and 1 Greenshank. A few more waders were present over on Wader Scrape Hide, namely Common Sandpiper and Ringed Plover.
Away from the birds I managed to see and photo a few nice insects: Common Darter, Ruddy Darter and Meadow Brown.
Instead of looking at the phalarope I spent time scanning the hundreds of Lapwings to see what I could see. 4 Black-tailed Godwits were feeding from Wath Ings hide along with 2 Ruff, 12 Golden Plover (many still in summer plumage), 7 Green Sandpipers and 1 Greenshank. A few more waders were present over on Wader Scrape Hide, namely Common Sandpiper and Ringed Plover.
Away from the birds I managed to see and photo a few nice insects: Common Darter, Ruddy Darter and Meadow Brown.
Meadow Brown
Common Darter pair
Ruddy Darter (note the black legs and waisted abdomen)
Monday, 27 August 2012
Linacre WeBS Walks - July and August 2012
I was just looking at the blog when I suddenly realised I hadn't put on the results of the July and August WeBS walks. I was away for the walk itself, but other members of the Chesterfield RSPB group carried it out with the following results: Mallard (40), Coot (13), Moorhen (4), Little Grebe (1 adult and 2 juveniles), Great crested Grebe (2 adults and 3 juveniles), Grey Wagtail (1 adult and 1 juvenile), Tufted Duck (12) and Mandarin Duck (7).
The juvenile Grey Wagtail and Little and Great-crested Grebes was the best records for July. As the weather was really good on the day of the count a good number of butterflies were also recorded: Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Small Skipper.
I was back for the August walk so here are the results: Mallard (30), Coot (7 adults and 2 juveniles), Moorhen (2 juveniles), Little Grebe (1 adult), Great crested Grebe ( 2 adults and 3 juveniles), Grey Wagtail (1 adult and 2 juveniles), Mandarin Duck (5), Tufted Duck (28), Grey Heron (1 flying up the valley), Cormorant (4 juveniles), Kingfisher (1 carrying a fish) and Little Owl (1).
The Cormorant, Little Owl and Kingfisher sightings were the highlights of the morning. There have been a lot of Kingfisher sightings this year and the fact that one was seen with a fish could well mean it has a nest nearby! Similarly, the Little Owl has been seen in the same spot three times now, so the chances of this being the nest site seem pretty high. Hopefully I'll be able to give you some good news on both these sightings in the future. 4 Cormorants is the highest count we've ever had at Linacre, so it'll be interesting to see if they all hang around for the winter.
Away from the water things were quite quiet with the only summer migrant seen being a Willow Warbler in the trees around the top reservoir.
The juvenile Grey Wagtail and Little and Great-crested Grebes was the best records for July. As the weather was really good on the day of the count a good number of butterflies were also recorded: Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Small Skipper.
Small Skipper
I was back for the August walk so here are the results: Mallard (30), Coot (7 adults and 2 juveniles), Moorhen (2 juveniles), Little Grebe (1 adult), Great crested Grebe ( 2 adults and 3 juveniles), Grey Wagtail (1 adult and 2 juveniles), Mandarin Duck (5), Tufted Duck (28), Grey Heron (1 flying up the valley), Cormorant (4 juveniles), Kingfisher (1 carrying a fish) and Little Owl (1).
The Cormorant, Little Owl and Kingfisher sightings were the highlights of the morning. There have been a lot of Kingfisher sightings this year and the fact that one was seen with a fish could well mean it has a nest nearby! Similarly, the Little Owl has been seen in the same spot three times now, so the chances of this being the nest site seem pretty high. Hopefully I'll be able to give you some good news on both these sightings in the future. 4 Cormorants is the highest count we've ever had at Linacre, so it'll be interesting to see if they all hang around for the winter.
Away from the water things were quite quiet with the only summer migrant seen being a Willow Warbler in the trees around the top reservoir.
Monday, 20 August 2012
Linacre Ringing - 18th August 2012
Saturday morning's ringing session took place at Linacre Reservoirs in a mixture of sunshine and showers. After four hours we managed 35 birds of 9 species, new birds first and retraps in brackets; Blue Tit - 9, Great Tit - 9 (1), Coal Tit- 3, Dunnock - (1), Robin- 4, Bullfinch - 1, Jay- 1, Blackcap - 4 including 3 juveniles and Wren - 2.
As well as the ringing we heard Tawny Owls "hooting", saw a Kestrel hunting, a late Swift and a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by about 20 House Martins.
Butterflies on site include Green veined White, Meadow Brown and Holly Blue.
As well as the ringing we heard Tawny Owls "hooting", saw a Kestrel hunting, a late Swift and a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by about 20 House Martins.
Butterflies on site include Green veined White, Meadow Brown and Holly Blue.
Holly Blue
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Swallow roost and Year Tick
Following on from last week's successful ringing session at the swallow roost at The Avenue Washlands in Chesterfield, we returned again on Thursday night for another go.
From the outset it was obvious that there were much fewer birds around. but by the end of the night we had ringed another 33 Swallows. Added to this we also caught 4 Pied Wagtails, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Reed Warbler and 1 Blackbird.
Friday saw me head down the British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water with my nephew. We spent a few hours looking around the stalls and then went off to the Lyndon Reserve to see the nesting Ospreys. A pair have nested in Manton Bay again this year raising 2 chicks. All 4 birds, the adults and their chicks, were seen around the nest site. Lovely!
Year List:
152: Osprey
From the outset it was obvious that there were much fewer birds around. but by the end of the night we had ringed another 33 Swallows. Added to this we also caught 4 Pied Wagtails, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Reed Warbler and 1 Blackbird.
Friday saw me head down the British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water with my nephew. We spent a few hours looking around the stalls and then went off to the Lyndon Reserve to see the nesting Ospreys. A pair have nested in Manton Bay again this year raising 2 chicks. All 4 birds, the adults and their chicks, were seen around the nest site. Lovely!
Year List:
152: Osprey
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
RSPB Old Moor- 13th August 2012
I had a trip over to RSPB Old Moor on Monday with my nephew and niece. We managed to see a good range of birds and insects and I added 2 new species to my Year List; Greenshank and Green Sandpiper.
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Greenshank
The first hide we went into was Wath Ings at the far end of the reserve. At this time of year the water levels are dropped and there is a large area of mud, perfect for the many passage waders that are passing through. It was here that we spotted a total of 9 Green Sandpipers and a couple of Greenshanks as well as dozens of Lapwings, up to 8 Grey Herons, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Canada Geese and the first Teal and Wigeon of the winter!
Next stop was the Wader Scrape hide, where a large flock of Goldfinch and Linnet were feeding, and 5 Common Terns, including a juvenile bird, were flying about.
Linnet
Walking back to the centre we spotted a few dragonflies including Common and Ruddy Darter.
Common Darter
Before going home we decided to have a go at pond dipping and look at the birds on the feeding station. We spotted a juvenile Great- spotted Woodpecker on the peanuts and managed to catch a Diving Beetle and some type of dragonfly larvae, posssibly a hawker species.
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Diving Beetle
Dragonfly larvae
Year List:
150 – Greenshank
151 – Green Sandpiper
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