The Beardy Birder

Holme Pierrepont, 30th Jan

2012-02-02T10:14:00.001-08:00

Started the week going for a walk on monday morning at holme pierrepont with michelle and the dogs. It was a beautiful sunny morning although it was very cold. There were plenty of wildfowl about on the ski-tow lake, although i didnt have a proper look at it. At the finger ponds there were more wildfowl including a single Goldeneye and around 45 Gadwall. This site seems to have been excellent for Gadwall this winter, i counted around 150 a few weeks back. It is generally a great site for wildfowl anyway, but the Gadwall seem to be booming this year! More on that later!

We left the finger ponds to walk down the river and on to a little wooded area i hadn't been to before to look for snowdrops. There was indeed some snowdrops out, my first of the year and a few other plants poking through. This area was rammed with birds, including a flock of redwing, some long tailed tits, and my first Song Thrush of the year.

I'd read on Notts Birders that a few Smew had been seen at Blott's pit over nearer the A52 so we popped down to see if we could connect. We pulled up next to the road near the entrance to the lake and a male Bullfinch gave probably the best views i've had of this species. It was seen hovering, not unlike a goldcrest, picking at some vegetation, obviously young shoots or buds, but it was bizarre. Between bouts of hovering, it sat on the plant it was eating, only about 5 metres away, allowing us to see it perfectly from our makeshift hide, the car!

We went down to blott's pit, and i said i'd only have a quick scan, as we needed to be off, and i wasn't expecting to see much without a scope. However, as soon as we got there another birder said there were 3 smew out amongst the other wildfowl! I raised my binoculars to my eyes and almost instantly set eyes on a drake smew, and a few metres further in the distance, another drake! I have seen females twice before but have always wanted to connect with a male in the wild and it was an awesome experience. The second drake was soon lost from view but the first one hung about, swimming amongst the other ducks for some time. I got incredible views from the very helpful man's scope, showing a perfectly formed drake. The impression one gets from a drake smew is that it is extremely smart, with its contrasting black and white plumage and compact form. I described it as 'a very dapper duck' and i think this does it justice, with its 'drawn on' black lines, dark mask, and amazing double crest. I think this duck definately makes it into my favourite birds, though the list is very long!

I haven't posted for a while.... again! Seen quite a bit already this year but won't be back tracking. I will post when i can, and hopefully will start adding photos again!!!

Christmas Day

2011-12-28T12:54:00.001-08:00

Just another note!

On xmas day i decided a nice thing to do would be to go out and have a look around my 'parents house patch' which is a relatively small patch near my parents house. Its where i used to go fishing with friends as a teenager at a small brick pit called bass pit which was extremely popular with the youth anglers of sleaford, and i caught many a fish from there, and once fell in.

The patch itself runs from a farm track off mareham lane which is surrounded by quite intensively farmed arable fields usually growing the usual lincolnshire staple of smelly brassicas and onions. Alongside the track, the farmer has actually planted a mix of native trees all the way down seperating it from the field, so at least he's doing something. These sometimes attract warblers and other small birds in the summer but the trees are quite small and uniformly planted but are a welcome addition to the landscape. Further along quite a nice, if gappy, hedge has been left to border one of the fields which often holds reed buntings and thrushes, and another patch of native trees has been planted along one side. A walk across one of the fields brings one to the railway sidings where a line of tall poplar run alongside a track with thick scrub dominating the other side. This eventually leads along to a large railway pit which has been there for as long as i remember and is bordered by willow and alder carr, with a few large dead willows and islands in the middle. This is a magnet to local wildfowl and must be one of very few local wildfowl habitats, but it only seems to attract a poor diversity of species, probably owing to it being quite shallow and presumably hosting a poor population of fish, as the birds seen on the lake are crustacean and plant eaters, such as tufted duck, geese and loads of coots. Pescivores such as grebes and sawbills are species i've never seen here. The rest of the patch continues along farmtracks surrounded by more arable land bordered by the odd hedgerow before returning to the path which was left to walk towards the lake.

I've not seen much at this patch, and its usually the same species i see here each time i go, but it makes for a nice walk nonetheless. On christmas day i went for a little walk to work up an appetite before dinner, and it was quite good. The first birds i noted were a lot of calling dunnocks from the oak plantation and i managed to see a few, it was notable as there were a lot of birds calling from all over. Meanwhile a mixed flock of Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting flew over and landed in an ivy covered tree next to mareham lane, birds which i see here often, its always nice to see Yellowhammers. It was otherwise quiet around the farmland and even on the path down to the lake there was little about, apart from a couple of Redwing and a single Blue Tit, as well as a stoat running across the path.

On the lake itself there were actually a lot of birds, but a scan with the bins didn't reveal much of interest aside from a single Pochard, but there were loads of tufted duck, coot and black headed gulls. Walking through the farmland i noticed a large bird sitting atop a post, and from a distance it had the appearance of a falcon, so i edged closer. It still looked falcon sized as i got closer but i just couldnt make it out too well, and then it flew and revealed itself as a Buzzard! It really didnt look that big when it was perched, but must have been hunched up against the wind... A couple of kestrel were also seen, including one being mobbed by gulls, and a new bird for the patch, a Grey Partridge was also seen, though in particularly un-festive fashion, it was not atop a pear tree, nor were there any turtle doves.... maybe there'd be more festivity going on at home....

happy christmas eh!

End of the year round up

2011-12-28T11:22:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy year, and a very busy last few months, so hopefully next year will bring with it a bit more free time and less stress! A new job which allowed me at least one day off a week would be very nice indeed! in the meantime i'll just chin up and power through! haha!

So yes, its been busy, but i've actually managed a fair bit of birding compared with a few months ago, snatching little bits here and there and actually having a couple of days off due to unclaimed holiday pay! Since i last posted way back in october i've had a few good trips out, not necessarily seeing many new birds, but certainly seeing some which have really made some trips unforgettable.

Here's some highlights, made up first of birds which have added to my year list!

We'll start with the best shall we, a bird which i have wanted to see ever since seeing it amongst other exotic looking herons in the pages of various field guides, the Squacco Heron which famously (locally at least) stayed for around 10 days under a railway bridge on the river erewash bordering attenborough on the border of notts and derbyshire. This bird cropped up on birdforum on a friday night and i got ridiculously excited, but then got a bit drunk, and woke up the next day feeling a bit rough around the edges. With work in the afternoon i ended up lazing about and didn't go and see it, and felt very silly doing so. However, excitement in the wildlife trust office midweek revealed that the bird was still there, and a WEEK after hearing about it, i ended up going down on the friday morning and watching it catching fish every few minutes for about 45 minutes, before getting hungry and leaving it to it. An amazing bird though, giving incredible views and looking wonderful in the wintry sunshine. Its piercing eyes and bright green legs, along with its beautiful white underwings in flight definately made this the bird of the year, hands down!

The week after i was doing some work in sellers wood and had a great time, seeing loads of birds, but the highlight was seeing my first Nottinghamshire Ring Necked Parakeet. OK, a naturalised species and a bit of a pest, but hearing it squawking around on a bleak november afternoon certainly brightened up the day. Walking through thick undergrowth in woodlands at this time of year will also bring about a well quoted, almost cliched, avian experience and lo! it happened twice in the space of an hour - a woodcock (or 2!) being flushed from right beneath my feet. A nice bird which i am yet to see properly as they are always flying away through the undergrowth every time i see them! The addition of goldcrests, tit flocks and a few bullfinch, along with incredible amounts of (very late) fungi, made this a very enjoyable walk around the woods!

The latest twitch i've had (one of very few successful this year) was only the week before xmas, when i ventured to Gedling pit to see a juvenile Rough Legged Buzzard, which had taken up residence for about a week. Some excellent shots have been posted round and about (birdforum has a few) of this wonderful bird, but as i got there a little late, the bird had pretty much given up on flying around and had decided to roost in some distant pine trees. I got some reasonably good views of it, although had i just seen it on my own i would have probably just said pale common buzzard! A lifer nonetheless! It was nice to see a flock of lesser redpoll too, which were another tick for the year!

I had a couple of saturdays off in december too which was a lovely treat and on both occasions i decided to go to attenborough in search of bitterns. Unfortunately though, sightings of these awesome herons have been few and far between this winter, probably owing to the mild weather, so i have been unlucky in finding any! Maybe i should look more over the river at holme pit, they're reported there more often, but never when i'm there!

Anyway, when i went on the 3rd, i had an excellent day and saw 52 species which is probably the most i've had in one day. The highlights begun early as i saw my first willow tit of the area before i'd even got into the reserve, flying from the hedge bordering the cricket club and into some of the gardens! It only got better too as i decided i'd go down to the delta wood to see if i could find a lesserpecker, and although i failed in that i did see a further 2 Willow tit, feeding on a bird table with a whole host of other birds. I sat on a nearby bench for around an hour just taking photo after photo and simply enjoying the multitude of birds within a few metres, and best of all managed to add a confiding individual of a personally elusive species, the Siskin, to my yearlist! (i saw a flock of about 10 the tuesday after too! Wait for one bus eh?) Waterbirds were showing well today too, and i saw my first Goldeneye and Goosander of the year, a barnacle goose amongst a massive flock of greylags, quite a few ducks (150 teal!) and a couple of water rail. Snipe lapwing and a little egret too. So yes it was a great day! It proves as well that it doesn't matter if you're really seeing anything particularly new, just seeing reliably returning species like waterfowl and waders that turn up like clockwork each year and hearing the familiar sounds of a wetland landscape can really make your day!

I went again on the 17th and had another great day falling short at still a very respectable 48 species! The day was certainly dominated by Fieldfare, a bird that i have only seen very rarely actually on the reserve with previous sightings restricted to seeing one or two birds in bushes. Today there were a few hundred throughout the reserve, near the kingfisher hide birds were atop almost every tree and this trend continued all the way through past the tower hide and down the path past the wet marsh. With birds flying through all the time i would have put it at around 300 birds. Another highlight was when i noticed a large tit flock near the tween hides, and decided to have a good look. These are always fun to watch no matter what may be seen, but today i was rewarded with a Treecreeper and a Goldcrest amongst the commoner species. A stoat was also seen climbing a dead elder, about to predate a Dunnock, before it saw me and dashed away into the undergrowth - hungry, but i bet the bird was grateful! Once again waterbirds were everywhere (obviously!) and highlights included a Water rail, a Snipe flying through and plenty of ducks. Numbers of winter visitors are on the up, with nearly 20 Goosander and 15 Goldeneye, as well as a lot of Teal and plenty of Pochard. Strangely, numbers of Shoveler, gadwall and wigeon are low, especially the former, as they normally number around 100, today there were 2! The highlight of the day was seeing a female Smew - my first for attenborough and only my second ever - feeding at reasonably close range, a wonderful bird which for a short time was even seen out of water.

So quite a good few weeks, there has been more but they're the highlights. My year list currently stands at 146 which is very nearly at the stage of last year, but i've also been a lot more strict! I think this is pretty good and there's still 3 days to get more!!! off to attenborough again tomorrow and hopefully will go to clifton on new years eve before work. New years resolution.... BLOG MORE!!!!!!!!!!

Golden Plovers

2011-10-21T16:42:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update, last thursday i was working at Besthorpe, pulling up some pesky willow saplings which had established on the site of a future wet meadow when i saw a flock of golden plovers. After lunchtime the sound of a large flock of birds was evident, but i didnt see anything. It sounded like distant pink footed geese, but i dismissed it as noises coming from the nearby quarry workings. However, at around 2pm, about 200 plovers flew overhead calling noisily. I got my bins out and followed them and they joined an enormous flock which spanned the horizon, a quick estimate revealed a count of well over a thousand birds. They disappeared into the distance all to quickly, but a few broke off a few minutes later and passed back overhead.

Certainly beats my previous record count of 3 birds at netherfield lagoons last year! hahaha.

Went to the lake district that weekend so i'll do a little report of that soon.

Not really been out since but i'm hoping to go to clifton tomorrow morning to see whats about

Couple of attenborough trips

2011-10-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

At the end of september i had a rare day off, so i had a trip to attenborough. There's been loads reported at this patch of mine of late, so at the moment it seems to be the only place i've really been going as i don't have much chance to get out at the moment.

I wasn't there long but managed to get a good species list, including some pretty good birds. On leaving the visitor centre i walked down towards the tween pond viewing screens, a lot of Lapwing were present, amongst the usual scattering of common wetland birds, but little else. On the wheatear fields new wet meadow (in progress!) a single Meadow Pipit was having a bath in one of the water channels, and there was a flock of around 30 Linnet moving about on the meadow too. Since this new habitat has been created, these finches have moved in and i have seen them regularly down here, a bird i had not seen previously. They re clearly taking advantage of this opportunity, but as it progresses on as a meadow habitat, i think we may see them back of them again.

Out on clifton pond, even more Lapwings were about, being pretty much the dominant species apart from the gulls. Also present were an amazing 6 snipe, small numbers by many peoples standards, but good for this reserve. A Cetti's warbler was also heard repeatedly calling from the reedbeds. Wildfowl numbers had increased, but were still relatively low, with gadwall and teal numbering around 20 each, and a few wigeon and shoveler here and there too. After a while a couple of Black Tailed Godwits flew in, a bird i have missed on countless occasions this year and a very welcome addition to my years list. Amazingly, also present was a Little Ringed Plover, which had apparently been about for a few days, and surely must be ready to leave for africa. (this bird is so late in departing, BTO birdtrack didn't believe my record!) 6 Buzzard and a Red Tailed Hawk were also seen flying in the distance, high over Branshill Wood. On the way back, i looked at tween pond again and saw 2 Black-tailed Godwits again, i have since decided these were the same birds i'd seen earlier that day, but it was nice to get a closer look at these handsome waders, and a Green Sandpiper had decided to make an appearance too, feeding close by to the godwits.

Two weeks later, yesterday as it happens, i returned to attenborough again. A spotted redshank was seen here last thursday, but hadn't been reported since, but i decided i'd go down and have a look anyway! I had an excellent days birding, staying at the reserve for 4 hours and seeing some nice birds. It was very windy and it got worse as the day went on but it was still enjoyable.

I started again at the visitor centre and as soon as i'd locked my bike up, a Cetti's warbler piped up straight from the small reedbed in front of the visitor centre. This shows just how well this species is doing at the reserve having only been recorded for the first time only a few years ago. Now it seems that there are so many that they are exploiting every suitable bit of available habitat in order to maintain their own territories. I don't know if its just luck, or that the management of the reserve is so good, but everyone at attenborough should be very proud of the reserves population of these loud little warblers! Also at the visitor centre was a White-cheeked pintail, most probably the feral bird that i last saw here last february, 18 months ago!

I walked down towards the main part of the reserve, there was little of interest on the windblown tween pond apart from around 70 Lapwing, so i continued. A little egret was seen feeding in the little pond on the wheatear field, looking very at home amongst the reeds, before clocking me and flying up towards the back of the tween pond. Once again the little flock of Linnet were on the wheatear wet meadow.

The sightings board at the visitor centre said that a Ruff had been seen that day, i've never had a confirmed sighting of one of these relatively scarce waders (for nottinghamshire) so was hoping it was still about. I went into the kingfisher hide to check out the tree sparrows and also have a look out on the lake. On a tiny pebble spit on the far right of the lake were several black headed gulls and a couple of starlings, and i could just about make out the shape of a bird slightly larger than the starlings. I got out the scope and could just about make out the rough shape of a sandpiper. Anothr birder entered thee hide and i got him onto the bird and we confirmed that it was indeed the Ruff. The bird moved about the lake for a while, flying up with the gulls every now and again, and for some time was observed being chased away by Lapwings in the central spit of the lake. It was interesting to watch and had a very particular way of feeding, very actively running around dipping its head constantly. A good lifer!!! A snipe appeared soon after in almost the same spot, almost tricking me, and 3 more flew by next to the nearest reedbed.

Over at the tower hide, the most notable thing was the perceptible increase in wildfowl, especially since my visit two weeks ago. Teal were most numerous, here there were nearly 80 individuals and my whole count for the day was a whopping 110+, and there were around 60 Gadwall, 40 Shoveler and a measly 2 Wigeon! It seems my obsessive wildfowl counting season has begun once again!!! Notably, no Pochards or other wildfowl are present yet, although sawbills and goldeneyes don't tend to appear until later in the winter. After a while two little egrets appeared and began feeding amongst the reedbeds, and the Ruff was relocated and was watched by a few of us for a while again.

Also of note were 2 Kestrels in the Nest box, obviously sheltering from the wind, another Cetti's Warbler at the delta along with 2 little grebes (and little else, it was extremely gusty here!). One last look over at the tween pond before i left resulted in a 1st winter gull on one of the spits. I believe it was a Yellow Legged Gull, as it was very pale with grey 'splodges' on its chest, dark primaries and the right 'jizz', another first for the year! pretty good going today i think!

Its Autumn!!

2011-10-08T04:27:00.000-07:00

Hello

Been a while, though i didn't realise it had been THAT long! July was the last time i posted, back when i was looking at butterflies to pass the time! Time has certainly flown since then, probably owing to me being extremely busy at the moment, which also would explain my lack of posting, and a little less birding, photography, etc.

I've been on a few trips over the last couple of months, managing to add a few birds to my year list, as well as seeing a good few birds i haven't seen in a while. I've been to attenborough and clifton mostly but the frequency that i have been able to get out has been rather low.

I had a couple of trips to attenborough at the start of August, twice in one week actually, and on both occasions i saw a few good birds. These included my first Greenshank of the year, my first ever Barnacle goose, a presumed escapee that has been knocking around all year in the area, and various other waders such as common sandpiper, ringed plover and growing numbers of Lapwing. Little egret numbers were also high with up to six birds present. On my birthday i saw a juvenile Mediterranean Gull on the works pond, and in general had a good days birding. 3 Kingfishers also put on a good show at the delta hide, chasing one another around the reedbed, and walking near the visitor centre i watched in awe at an incredible array of warblers flitting about in a small group of trees. There were 7 species present amongst the brances including Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler and astonishingly enough, a Cetti's too, strange as i didnt expect to see one in such a location!

A few good birds have been seen at Clifton and i've been down a few times. Yellow wagtails have been incredibly frequent here this year, having been present nearly every time i've been. I also finally saw my first Wheatear of the year, after a rather uneventful walk on a friday evening at the end of september. These 2 birds were wonderful to see as i had missed out on seeing them throughout the year, and will most probably be the last ones i'll see til next year now! (Although some greenland-race birds have been passing through this week). At the end of august, another walk around the site resulted in 3 WHINCHAT being seen, these were my first ever sighting of this species and i got excellent views of these birds, all females i believe, as they demonstrated typical Saxicola behaviour - flying low to the ground from a perch on a bush to pick insects from the base of the hedge before swooping back to a higher perch on the top of the hedge. I followed them for some time down the hedge before they decided enough was enough and flew behind me back to where i had begun, leaving me to decide to leave them be, having disturbed them quite enough. Happy with this sighting as i don't see many being recorded in nottinghamshire apart from at clifton!

The beardy butterflier

2011-07-26T15:35:00.001-07:00

Not been up to much birding of late, which comes with the time of year i suppose. July sees my attention turn to other winged creatures, which fly more conspicuously among the meadows and hedgerows - places best enjoyed in the summertime. Butterflies!

We've been doing a fair bit of work on the meadow reserves with the trust, and have been surrounded by all sorts of colourful insects. I remarked a few weeks back that I hadn't seen a lot of butterflies this year, but i now retract my statement, as i have now seen loads of them and they have really sparked up my interest again. On the 14th, we were working at Lambley reed pond, cutting thistles to attempt to lower their dominance on the site. It was that day that the butterflies really caught my attention, especially as i have got my 200-300mm macro lens working again! There were loads flitting about all over the place, but especially over near the pond itself, where the vegetation was thickest. Butterflies were busy drinking thirstily from knapweeds, willowherbs and thistles, while the bramble bushes were also alive with them. There were a good number of species but most dominant were Small Whites, Meadow Browns, Peacocks and a few Ringlets. I tried for a while to get some decent shots, but the best i came out with were of the Peacocks and Whites.

The next week we were at Brierley's Meadow near Besthorpe, a tiny meadow reserve but with a good diversity of plants, and with that, butterflies. We were once again clearing thistles, which is a bit of a shame as the insects love them, but there was plenty of knapweeds and other flowers to keep them going. Meadow Browns and gatekeepers reigned dominant here, but they were joined by a number of Ringlets, Small Coppers and a couple of Small Skippers. Later that day we indulged in a bit of Ragwort pulling but attempted to do it in a sympathetic manner as many of the florets were covered with the caterpillars of the Cinnabar Moth, a species specialised to eat the usually toxic Ragwort which are a common sight at this time of year. We left plants which were covered with them and made sure we piled other plants nearby for them to eat.

I have since found a butterfly haven which i have visited twice already this summer, with plans to return. It is at one of my usual birding patches near clifton woods. The fields that are farmed nearby are often full of butterflies, but there are a few patches on the way to Barton-in-fabis that are left as set-aside. There are also a couple of ponds nearby, along with the woods themselves. As a result of this mosaic of habitats, the abundance and diversity of butterflies is pretty high.

In the woods and on its edges, it is not uncommon to find Brimstones flying up and down, especially in early spring. This time of year Red Admirals can be seen regularly, sunning themselves on bare ground where the sunlight breaks through gaps in the thick sycamore canopy. On the edges where the sun is shining, especially where there is thick, raised vegetation such as ivy or blackthorn, Comma butterflies can be seen waiting on a leaf, ready to attack any intruding males, or to attempt a coupling with any passing females. To see a pair of males scrapping mid-air, with the sun bringing out their vibrant colours, is a wonderful sight on a bright sunny day.

On the field edges and in the large meadow which has been set aside from farming, there is a different set of butterflies entirely. Thistles are a common plant here and at the moment are filling the skies with their feathery seeds, but where they are still in flower, many large butterflies such as Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells have been seen drinking from the purple flowerheads. It is impossible to walk a few metres without seeing a White butterfly, but i am not entirely confident of identifying species, especially on the wing, as they very rarely rest for long when you approach. Walking through the vegetation disturbs the species that sit low, such as Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers. Gatekeepers are a little more conspicuous, with their brighter colouration and tendency to sit in the open, but meadow browns are more subdued in their colouring and are excellently camouflaged so that you won't see it until the last minute when it suddenly explodes into flight a few inches from your feet. I have found the latter species to be more abundant however, even though the gatekeepers at first seem more numerous. Other species do reside here, but are not seen as regularly, such as Ringlets and Small skippers, and i have not seen many blue butterflies, but i think as i survey the area more thoroughly more species will turn up.

I have only properly looked at a small area of the site too so i will be returning over the coming weeks to see what else there is to find. I'm also attempting to take some good photographs, which is difficult as they always seem to fly away or sit somewhere where some foreground vegetation blocks the cameras view, but i'll keep trying! Their ecology and natural history, as well as their breeding cycles are all very interesting too, as is learning about their conservation and the threats to our native populations. I have been reading an excellent book which describes each species in detail and gives a good account of all aspects of their lifestyle, along with brilliant paintings of each stage in their life cycle, The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland by Jeremy Thomas and Richard Lewington (ISBN 978-0-9564902-0-9). I have the hardback, which cost me 25 quid, but it is well worth it as it is more than an ID guide but really delves into the world of our native species, with much passion and knowledge. Its not one for taking into the field though, so i must really get a smaller field guide at some point!

I'll post some pictures as soon as i have sorted through them all. that could take a while!

Summer Time

2011-07-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

I have attempted a bit of birding since my last report, i had an evening ride to netherfield again, but it was a very sunny evening and i couldn't actually see anything on the main part of the lagoons without getting blinded by the sun! I didnt stay very long but i did notice that the starlings have begun flocking here to roost in the reedbeds. Numbers will grow over the next few weeks but i don't think they'll peak til october, like last autumn. Still, it is a sight to behold.

Earlier in the week, i had a bikeride to a couple of meadow reserves in nottingham, to see what was growing there, as this time of year also brings out the botanist in me. A lot of plants are turning to seed now, but there are a host of other species which are just coming into flower and will continue to do so until autumn, sustaining the bees and butterflies and anything else that relies on them. I am but a beginner in the realm of botany, and i find just getting out there and sitting in a meadow with a good ID book (i use Francis Rose's The wildflower key) is a great way of getting to know the different species. It can be frustrating separating a specimen from a host of lookalikes, but once you have found out its amazing how much knowledge sticks. Its a slow journey but its good to make some progress.

The first meadow i went to was Kings Meadow, but i didn't stay long, as although there was a good mix of wildflowers, there are some dodgy folks around there and rustling in the bushes, along with shady looking people hanging around didnt make me want to stick around, especially with an expensive camera and lens in my bag. I went instead to Wilford Claypit and am glad i did. I've been here a few times to look at the dragonflies and wildflowers, as well as doing a bit of conservation work. Its a lovely reserve which doesn't look much at first, but once you explore it in finer detail then it reveals some nice surprises. My trip that evening was no exception and i spent the evening photographing a variety of plants, including the weird-leaved but beautiful Yellow-wort and best of all a host of Fragrant Orchids, a wonderful plant with a heady aroma, tall pink flowerheads and individual flowers which are perfectly formed, with a large spur which dangles tantalisingly down from each floret. There were a couple of Twayblades which had gone to seed (i've never seen one in flower) and a few other Orchids which i still haven't ID'd.

While photographing the Orchids, a juvenile Heron alighted on the dipping platform nearby, and i managed to get some good shots of it, my best heron photos yet in fact, and it happily sat preening itself, eyeing me up occasionally while i stood pointing my lens at it.

Last wednesday, me and Michelle went to Attenborough! This was the first time i've been since april! I can't believe its been that long, especially as last year I managed to go 2 or 3 times a week. I have been especially busy this summer so i suppose that's my excuse. We were there only a while, and it was eventful, but once we'd had a circular walk rainclouds had started forming and we were both hungry. We were there in the evening so the hides were unfortunately closed but we saw a fair few birds, including a few Little Egrets which have been seen regularly there over the last few weeks. One was showing especially well, standing alone in the middle of the wet marsh, looking incredible, especially as its breeding plume was at a jaunty angle. A couple of Oystercatchers were seen running around on the island on clifton pond, and there were a lot of Lapwings about. Their numbers peak here in july and august, i had counts of up to 400 last summer. On the river path behind clifton pond we also saw a Weasel, which was amazing. It did the same thing most weasels and stoats do when i've seen them, which is dash across your path before popping out and inspecting you inquisitively for a while before disappearing once again. It reappeared momentarily before bounding down the path, doing a little jump and burying itself once again amongst the vegetation beside the path. A wonderful sight!

Since then i have been very busy, but i have been out a few times in search of butterflies... more on that later.

Netherfield Lagoons 8th July

2011-07-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

Had to decide on friday, spend the day in the kitchen, doing menial tasks, finding stuff to do, inevitably getting bored, or go out on my bike despite the frequent heavy rain showers and foreboding looking clouds, inevitably getting wet.

Obviously i got on my bike. Went once again to Netherfield lagoons. I wanted to go to Attenborough this week at some point but it is quite a lot further afield, meaning that if I'm restricted by time, then a shorter ride is certainly more appropriate. So i made sure i packed my raincoat, and headed out.

I got about halfway before the heavens opened so got my coat on. What had begun as a bit of rain soon turned into a heavy downpour, and with a couple of miles to go i was resigned to getting wet. Even the raincoat didn't afford much protection, and somehow the inside of the arms got wet, but i kept going knowing that once i got to the reserve boundary there was a nice big train bridge to hide under while the worst of the weather passed.

I ended up spending most of my visit to the reserve under here. The rain persisted until i got under the bridge and continued on and off for around 45 minutes, but there was an end in sight, as to the west there was some brighter skies, i just had to wait. The wait wasn't actually ever so bad, there was plenty of wildlife to look at while i stayed dry. Sand Martins and Swallows were continually passing through, the former passing by within a few feet, the latter performing breakneck aerial maneuvers chasing each other defending their territories. There's a large colony of these birds which nest each year under this bridge, providing quite a welcome as you enter the reserve.

Finally the weather improved so I emerged from my shelter and made my way to the main paths round the reserve. Upon cresting the top of the steps, i looked behind me and saw that i potentially didn't have long to wander round, as some extremely dark clouds were gathering in the distance. Some i saw were already depositing rain down over Gedling and others had just passed me by and were hanging low over Radcliffe on Trent. Luckily, where i was the rain seemed to pass either side, leaving me relatively dry except for one small shower which lasted only a couple of minutes.

The weather must have been keeping the birds at bay, as walking around there wasn't too much to look at, although there were a few Warblers about and a Song Thrush was belting out its song from the woody areas. The lagoons however were bustling with life, i guess birds which live near water don't mind getting a bit wet.

I stopped soon after i joined the central path which runs between the two main lagoons, as i had heard a Green Sandpiper had been spotted to the far left of the reedbed a few times this week. And sure enough amongst a lapwing, a few Mallard and even a couple of Teal (first i've seen in a while), there was a tiny little wader nipping in and out of the reeds. I have seen these birds before and they just didnt seem so small, in comparison to the Lapwing it was minute. I watched it for a while, making sure of its ID and it all added up, but it was very difficult to observe, as it was in a patch of reeds which were obstructed from view. Still i was happy enough with the sighting as its not a species i see often.

Looking out over the rest of the lagoon, there was a good diversity of birds about, and there were loads of them too. The water level was very low, as is the norm in the country this summer, and as a result, there was lots of exposed mud and aquatic vegetation. On the far left there was a group of Lapwing moving about feeding in the detritus. Further along were a group of ducks snoozing on the waters edge, mostly eclipse plumaged Gadwall and a handful of Pochard. As i scanned further to the right there were groups of different birds all clumped together. There were lots of ducks and coots, and the right half of the exposed mud and shallows was almost completely dominated by Gulls and a couple of Terns. Most were Lesser Black Backed, of varying ages, but there were a few Greater Black backs which were easy to compare when standing amidst some lessers. Black headed gulls of a range of ages were also scattered here and there.

The highlight, aside from the Green Sandpiper however, was a Little Ringed Plover, which was seen by chance as the sun shone upon it. It was only really visible when it was dashing across the mud, in its usual style. Its a species i haven't seen at this reserve, and although i've seen quite a few this year, especially at besthorpe, it was still nice to see something a little different. Compared to the other birds this little thing seemed absolutely tiny, its a surprise one of the gulls hasn't picked it off.

I scanned the lagoons a while longer, picking up on a few Grey Herons, and some wildfowl which i hadn't expected to see at this time of year, around 6 Shoveler and 2 Eurasian Wigeon. There were loads of Reed Warblers singing from the reeds and a few were also showing particularly well. Also of note was the sheer number of juvenile birds on the water. A huge family of Gadwall were present, with loads of tiny ducklings, there were countless mallard chicks and the Coots were aggressively defending their young from any birds which strayed too close. It really was very busy on the lagoon today. A kestrel was also seen hunting above the path, always good to see.

couple of trips

2011-07-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

Feeling loads more refreshed after last weekends festivities, and i have been out on my bike a few times too, as well as having a great day volunteering with the wildlife trust on friday (even though it was only Balsam Bashing!)

Earlier in the week i visited Clifton, for the first proper birding trip i've had there in a few weeks. It was all in all pretty quiet unfortunately, but that is to be expected at this time of year, especially with it being so warm. One thing i noticed is that the lush green vegetation that dominated the landscape earlier in the year has faded as the weeks have gone by. Most of the spring blooms have gone over and set seed and the smaller plants have been overtaken by tall grasses. High summer truly seems to have settled in.

There was very little going on around the fields as we walked around, not even many small passerines, obviously the breeding season is over and most birds will be resting up for a while. A group of swallows were seeing feeding just above the wheat crop on the weir field, and there seemed to be a good number of swifts feeding in the skies above. Aside from the odd chiffchaff and the calls of a number of wrens, even the woodland was pretty dead. The only places where there was any activity was near the water. The river had plenty of common terns and gulls flying up and down, and Holme Pit was busy with a family of coots, which seemed to have raised a second brood, chasing off the remaining two juveniles which had almost fully grown. Elsewhere on the pond were a few swans, a scattering of ducks, and lots of singing reed buntings and the scratchy sound of reed warblers was also obvious. A common tern quartered the reeds while we sat enjoying the sunshine, and it was great to see it diving spontaneously into the lake every now and again to attempt to pick off some prey from the surface of the water.

The highlight of the day however was spending an hour (in two sessions) down by the river, at a location where i have noted Kingfishers a few weeks back. Me and Fred sat there quietly, watching a pair of these wonderful birds flying to and fro catching fish and taking them back to where their nest must be. They were sticking to our side of the river, and were only a few metres away, an absolutely fantastic experience, and they would often cross the river to fish over the other side. We were careful not to disturb them and they seemed unfazed by our presence, coming in and out repeatedly. An amazing experience. Some very good photos can be found on Rob Hoare's website, as he went down following my 'tip-off' a few days later and spent a few hours watching them. http://cliftongrovebirds.co.uk/latest_sightings.html

On saturday evening i was perusing the local bird sightings and came upon a report of some Black Tailed Godwits arriving at Netherfield Lagoons. It was pretty late by that time but i decided it would be a nice evening for a bike ride. The godwits had been present in the morning so i wasn't too sure of whether they'd be there when i arrived, and sure enough they weren't.

I spent around half an hour enjoying the balmy evening, despite getting eaten alive by midges, scanning the slurry lagoon with my scope. There were loads of birds on the lagoon, although it was difficult to view due to the sunlight right in my eyes. There were loads of loafing gulls, mainly black headed and LBBGs, there may well have been a med there as one had been reported but i couldnt see one in there! A few lapwings made up the only waders on the lagoon, and otherwise it was mainly ducks and coots. A little egret and grey heron were also seen in clsoe proximity to each other, the first little egret i've seen in notts for a while!

will probably go back again this week, as there seems to be quite a bit being reported. might even go to attenborough too! who knows?

Post Glasto

2011-06-29T02:41:00.000-07:00

Well i just got back from Glastonbury Festival on monday night, managed to stay the whole weekend which was a great experience. its a wonderful place with a lot going on, if a little too many people! I'm still a bit knackered from 6 days of partying in the sun and rain (and mud!) but i feel it was worth it!

I kept my birding glasses on while away as it was set in such amazing countryside, so it was therefore abundant in wildlife - surprising as there was so much human activity!

On the way down there were countless buzzards, and as we passed bristol, raptor sightings increased and i even managed a few sightings of several Red Kites! Still as amazing as ever to see. There were also a few Roe Deer seen in the fields, a sight i don't often get up here in the Midlands. What struck me was how much nicer the farmland is here, compared to the bland arable fields which cover nottinghamshire, the farming here is usually livestock, and with this comes a more green and lush landscape. The rolling hills are peppered with large mature trees and woods and even the roadsides are full of a great diversity of wildflowers. On a road we were travelling on on the way back, i saw a verge which was covered in a huge variety of flowers, the most notable being Pyramidal Orchids, there were loads of them! On a roadside!!! I still love nottinghamshire, but this end of the country is a lot more beautiful!

At the festival itself, there were still lots of birds about. There was a constant flock of Lesser Black Backed Gulls filling the air over the site, waiting for an oppurtunity to rifle through the litter that so many people can drop (its disgusting really). Up at my campsite, which was situated in a nice quiet lawn in front of worthy farm, there was an abundance of Swallows which kept me entertained as i sat by my tent. There was a rookery nearby too, and every evening around 9pm, chattering flocks would pass overhead noisily, obviously flying off to a communal roost somewhere to the south. They would pass each day like clockwork, forcing everyone in the area to look up. It gave the feeling of being in the wild, depsite 200,000 people milling around below.

Buzzards were seen regularly over the skys, often being mobbed by rooks and jackdaws. Elsewhere on site there was also a good diversity of passerines. On a busy thoroughfare in the festival, i passed on many occasions a group of trees which always had a singing Chiffchaff, heard clearly over the din of the festival, and goldfinches and Long tailed tits were constantly heard in the hedgerows.

So i had a great time, if very tiring, and managed to see plenty of wildlife thrown in. Just need a couple more days and i'll be right as rain! Off to clifton later to have a wander (hopefully my dodgy knee won't stop me) so i'll write up a report later in the week.

Mid June

2011-06-19T11:10:00.001-07:00

Its a bit of a quieter time of year in the birdwatching calendar at the moment, although soon there will be some interesting passage migrants coming through. Since returning from Rutland i haven't really had chance to go wildlife watching much, which is a bit of a shame, but i still have been spending most of my time in the great outdoors, just been very busy doing other things!

With the wildlife trust, we have been busy pulling invasive Himalayan Balsam up from Clifton Woods. I've made plans both wednesdays to have a bird around the area afterwards but as usual other things have cropped up! However, a couple of weeks back in did have the pleasure of seeing a kingfisher at very close range while biking back down the trent from the woods afterwards. I was alerted to its presence by its piping calls, and sat on the riverbank awaiting its appearance. It was on my side of the river and i got great views as it repeatedly flitted between some bankside willows and a sunken tree a few metres out. I would like to return with my camera when i have the time! Elsewhere around clifton its been pretty quiet aside from a few nuthatches and woodpeckers calling in the woods and plenty of terns up and down the river.

On thursdays we have still been up at Besthorpe, and there was an open day there on the 11th. I always keep an eye out for whats about but it has been reasonably quiet aside from a few little ringed plovers and some Shelduck which have been confirmed as breeding, although their brood of around 10 has reduced drastically to 3 i think! However on thursday, while putting some reed fencing in, i witnessed something amazing. A hobby had been bothering the large sand martin colony all day, and i was alerted once again to its presence by the alarm calls of the martins. I looked up and the hobby had managed to seperate one sand martin from the main flock, and was chasing it down. It was incredible to see the aerial manoueverability of both birds and the agility the falcon had, stopping and turning at break neck speed. The sand martin dodged a few attempts at it, but the hobby soon won and it slammed into its prey and slowly glided off, devouring it in flight. Not brilliant news for the sand martin, but an excellent display of predation.

Otherwise the only place i've really been otherwise is Holme Pierrepont, as its an easy but satisfying ride. i've been down 4 times this week! i went on monday just to clear my head (bit hungover) and had a lovely time watching swallows, swifts and sand martins, some of which were juveniles i believe. Elsewhere, huge creches of canada and greylag geese were busy feeding on the grass, and there were several common terns about. I returned the next day with some friends but didn't really see too much, as we were concentrating on picking elderflowers, which are now stewing to make a delicious cordial. I went again before going volunteering at clifton on wednesday, at 7am, which was a lovely time to be down there, and at the weekend, returned for a picnic too, where on the river, a creche of canadas swam downstream, with 66 little ones, and a kingfisher was also seen on a number of occasions...

I must get out and about and properly do some natur-ing but i'm exceedigly busy - i'm off to glastonbury with work this week... not for the actual weekend though :(

in a bit!

RSPB Nature count

2011-06-06T06:17:00.000-07:00

The RSPB are currently running a nature count survey, similar to their big garden birdwatch which is held in january. I beleive the aim of this one is to get an idea of what birds are breeding in peoples gardens at this time of year, as well as gaining info on other birds such as house martins and swifts which may fly over.

It was probably due to the time of day that i did mine (1300-1400), that there were not many birds in my result... Normally there's a few coming in and out of the garden, but i didnt see many at all! I was also sat (partly concealed) in the garden which may have had something to do with it...

Oh well a result is a result so here we go...

JACKDAW - 1

COLLARED DOVE - 2

WOODPIGEON - 1

SWIFT - 5 (over)

... and thats it! I was thinking earlier in the day that i hadnt seen the collared doves in the garden for a while, so it was nice that they popped in. I nearly had some more but the birds didn't land in the garden! A chaffinch was singing in next doors tree, a few blackbirds and a dunnock were also heard singing, and greenfinches and goldfinches flew over several times (although these rarely actually come into the garden itself). The great tits and blue tits didnt even bother to show up!!!

oh well, i'll send them in, and it will be interesting to see the results soon!

Rutland Water

2011-06-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

I've been planning to visit rutland properly for a while now, and this weekend we did just that. I went last year with uni to see the ospreys, but we weren't there long so didn't get to see a lot. I've wanted to return ever since.

The plan was to go down for a couple of days with a group of mates and enjoy a bit of birding at the two reserves, cycle round the entire lake, and then spend the rest of the time relaxing, maybe playing a bit of football and having a few drinks. Unfortunately not everything went to plan, we weren't there that long, there were some logisitical problems and we wasted a lot of time hanging about, but it didn't mean we had a bad time. I've just got back this evening, pretty tired, but i am pleased to say it was a great weekend.

I only managed to get to one reserve, the Lyndon one. I planned to go early saturday morning, but despite getting up at 6.30, various things happened to delay this, and after having to bike to oakham to get supplies i didnt get down til about 11!!! however i don't feel i missed much by leaving later as i had a great time.

The birding day started off as i awoke, as a Great Spotted Woodpecker exploded out of a tree calling loudly, something obviously startled it, as it sat high in some branches for ages constantly making alarm calls. I had excellent views of it, as did my friends, although i don't think paul fully appreciated it at that time of the morning and he soon stumbled back to bed. There were quite a lot of birds around the campsite, including lots of tits and finches along with some juveniles. A few swallows were flying very low to the ground which looked great in the bright morning sunshine.

As the day wore on and we made coffee and egg butties in a most leisurely fashion, a few other bird species made the list, including a singing Cuckoo, and then we had a trip to find a shop. We ended up going all the way to oakham however which took longer than expected, but it was a very pleasant ride and i added Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Kestrel and Swift to the days list, amongst others. When we got back, while having more coffee, a Hobby flew overhead, and then i decided finally to make tracks and head down to the Lyndon reserve.

I went to the visitor centre first, taking in great views of the lake and checking out the birds at the feeders. Loads of Greenfinch and Goldfinch were present, and another GS Woodpecker was there too, coming to the peanut feeders intermittently. A stunning male Yellowhammer and a few Tree Sparrows were welcome additions too. Looking over the lake there were a few common ducks and geese about, as well as a few Lapwings. As i recalled from last time there were also loads of Shelduck about.

Heading on to the actual reserve, i took the path leading to all the hides, hoping to get as many birds as possible. The paths down to the reserve were nice to walk down, with lots of wildflowers, moths and butterflies to keep me entertained. There were loads of birds singing in the trees, mainly blackcaps, and there was the ever present sound of begging great tit juveniles. A sand martin flew overhead too, the only one i saw all day...

I entered the first hide, the 'deepwater' hide, which overlooked the main part of the lake. I can imagine this can be an interesting one for the winter to watch wildfowl and gulls, but at this time of year it was difficult to see much, as not a lot was on the open water. On the far bank i was only able to see the larger species properly as it was pretty far away, so much so that i thought i saw 5 Oystercatchers flying towards me, but when they got closer it was revealed that they were actually Greylags! duh! Over towards the left of the hide, where the bunds and shallow water begun, there was bit more to see. Loads of Swifts were feeding low over the water and there were some Herring and Lesser Black Backs on the bunds, showing an array of ages and plumage.

While scanning these, i caught sight of a dark bird flying over the water, i got a better view of it and managed to confirm it as a BLACK TERN! Brilliant! This is the first time i've seen one in summer plumage - the jet black contrasted with its white rump, and its paler underwings all added together to make a very smart bird. Its behaviour was interesting too, bringing me back to the time i saw the attenborough bird last autumn, as it flapped lazily around on a set route a few feet from the surface of the water, dipping occasionally to grab some food. A great start to the walk!

I moved on towards the next hide, the walk being largely uneventful, save for a calling Reed Bunting from across one of the meadows. As i approached the hide, a couple of people were standing on a bench looking through their bins. I asked what they were looking at and they kindly pointed my eyes to the direction of a Red Kite, which was having a hard time being mobbed by some gulls. It was a magnificent sight of a bird i've only seen once before from quite a distance, so it was great to get a proper view of one. It stayed in view for a few minutes before disappearing round some trees out of view. I went into the hide after this and while scanning the small pond area a Little Egret flew directly across, providing an excellent photographic opportunity, had I only had my camera ready! Only minutes later, some commotion in the sky alerted me to the presence of one of my target species, Osprey. I had great views of the bird, coming to within about 30m as it was being mobbed by a couple of Herring Gulls. It was able to dissuade the gulls eventually, but only by elevating itself higher into the sky than they were prepared to go. It eventually came back down a little but was only really viewable through my scope, but i managed to follow it for some time, before it flew east out of view. An amazing raptor, and much bigger than i remembered (although i missed them in flight last time i saw them). There wasn't much else to see at the hide, other than a pied wagtail juvenile sunning itself on an island, and a Garden warbler flying low into a willow beside the pond, so i decided to move on once again to see the Osprey Nests.

On the way to the first Nest hide (waderscrape), i managed to get a shot of a singing willow warbler which was perched only a metre or so above me in a tree. I then entered the hide, which is very open with lots of light (and wind... and people...). This is the main 'visitor' hide where volunteers are on hand to provide information and views of the nesting ospreys. One lady kindly told me that the female was on the nest looking after 3 chicks. The bird i had seen previously had been the male, who had flown the nest before i got there. It was nice to see the osprey again at the nest, although it wasn't that exciting as she didnt move much! Another osprey moved in at one point, causing some excitement, especially as it moved in towards the nest, before flying higher up again and moving around nearby. It was decided that this was not the nesting male, but another interloper, who decided to move on, rather than risk agression from the parent birds. We all got some great views of this.

Elsewhere from the hide, there were plenty of reed buntings and Sedge Warblers in the reedbed, along with a nice pair of Gadwall. Out in the water, amongst the bunds however, there was not much to be seen. There were loads of swifts catching insects from above the water, with a few House Martins interspersed, and on the far bank, a little egret was seen feeding, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. I also missed a Kingfisher that everyone else seemed to see, right in front of the hide!!!

Finally, i moved on to the last hide, the Shallow-water Hide. I hoped to see some interesting waders here possibly, and i definately heard something while i was walking down the path to the hide, but in there i was unable to find anything of interest. However i did have a good time watching the Lapwings which were busy defending their territories from Jackdaws and other lapwings. They were agitated all the time, running about and chasing off the corvids. I managed to get some reasonably good shots of these birds, and really enjoyed watching their aerial displays. There wasn't really much else to see from here that i hadn't seen from the other hide though, so after looking at some rather cute Egyptian goose babies, i decided to leave.

It seems i left the hide a minute too soon, as when i was walking away, i came across a couple of birders looking through scopes. I asked what there was, and the male Osprey had finally returned with a fish and was feeding the mother and chicks, i managed to get an OK view of them, but without much detail, as i only used my bins, but it was good to see them together. Walking away, i noticed 2 birds singing loudly from within a hedge, thinking they must be Garden Warblers. This is a species i have struggled with as they are notoriously difficult to see and i often overlook their song as Blackcaps, but i persevered and was finally rewarded with a view of one of them. It was good to finally get a proper view while hearing their songs so clearly.

And that was that, now I was pretty thirsty and tired, and had to navigate my way all the way back, the only problem with this reserve i think, is that it is a linear path so you simply retrace your steps back (albeit on a more direct route!). Though it wasn't unpleasant so never mind!

I had planned to go to the other reserve, but we didnt really get to. When we actually got there, we found we had to pay to get in. I had no problem with this, but as my other friends were not as interested, we decided against it. I will have to go another day and have a proper look around. As a great bonus to the weekend however, a Red Kite flew overhead as we were packing away our campsite, pretty low down showing its size and beauty, as well as its graceful flight. An excellent end to the weekend.

I managed 63 species in total for the weekend (though i was aiming for 100! this may have been nearly managed if i had gone to the other reserves!), which was great, and i cannot wait to go back again and hopefully achieve what i wanted again!!!

hmmphatt

2011-05-24T03:12:00.000-07:00

Not been out properly for a while, mainly due to the fact my bike has broken so i can't just go out whenever i like to any reserves, unless i want to spend money on a bus ticket and wait for said bus! poor excuse really but never mind! Been quite busy too i suppose.

I did however have a wonderful two days volunteering last week. On the wednesday the NWT's hebridean sheep were getting their annual shear, and we were on hand to round up the sheep and help where it was neccessary. The weather for the day remained poor, drizzly and windy, but we had a good day nonetheless. The highlight was definately sorting the lambs from the ewes, i've never thrown so many lambs over a fence before...

Saw a bit of wildlife though not lots, the field we were shearing in had a good number of Skylark nesting in it and there were plenty singing from the heavens, and there were plenty of yelllowhammers singing away too. At newstead where we were sorting the lambs, we disturbed a Hare which ran across our path while we were attempting to sneak up on the flock.

Thursday we went for the annual volunteer 'jaamboree', a yearly get together of all us vols, this year up at the Idle Valley near Retford. It was a pleasant day where we rounded up 19 Dexter cattle, which took ages, as we had to shift them round a large lake. On this lake there were apparently some Avocets but i didnt see any, although there were plenty of other birds around. Once we had done this we headed for the visitor centre to enjoy a barbecue, before heading out on a short walk around the lagoon closest to the centre. It was interesting to see the work being done here and there was a beautiful stretch of the river Idle (which didnt live up to its name!) complete with a small shoal of trout swimming in a riffle on a river bend. Didn't get to see much birdlife as we were going at some pace, though an Oystercatcher was a welcome sight, and there were warblers singing everywhere. A very nice reserve indeed, and certainly one i need to visit properly at another date.

Not been out since then, the weather has turned incredibly windy over the last few days and i'm still without a bike. I've spent a lot of time in my garden though and have been enjoying an intimate experience with a family of great tits. I have only seen one adult although i doubt the male is far away, and there are definately 2 juveniles and quite possibly a 3rd. A blue tit or 2 keep visiting my feeder too, so i beleive they are raising a family too, hopefully the juveniles will show themselves in my garden as well. Glad my feeders are sustaining the birds!

Hoveringham, 13th May

2011-05-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

I awoke with a whole day ahead and nothing planned. A fishing trip had been on the cards but my friend pulled out and i didnt really fancy going on my own. I hadn't been on a good long bikeride for a little while so i decided to do a bit of a long circular route with a bit of birding on the way.

I started off going down the river to radcliffe on trent before carrying on to Gunthorpe. On the way i heard and saw many birds, the most notable being singing yellowhammers near shelford, and over the amazing view from the top of radcliffe, a Buzzard being mobbed by a couple of Jackdaws.

At gunthorpe i stopped off for a little rest by the river, at a beautiful spot with a mature bit of woodland on the far bank. There were green and greater spotted woodpeckers calling from the wood, and on the riverbank i watched a restless Heron moving up and down. There were lots of fry boiling up the shallows so i think the birds had plenty to feed on. I then biked down the river for my half-way destination - Hoveringham.

I haven't been to hoveringham since the end of January when i went down to see some pinkfooted and white-fronted geese and a Great white egret. A few bits and bobs have been reported here of late but i wasn't here to see anything in particular, though a few waders would be nice.

I set my scope up and stopped periodically to scan the water and the far banks. The vast expanse of open water was a little empty really owing to the time of year - much better covered in ducks and gulls in winter! However the far bank was what i was really interested in. However there wasn't much to be seen - until i got about a quarter of the way down the lake and i spotted a single Oystercatcher at the waters edge. A bird not often seen by me and one of my favourites so this was good. Otherwise my views over the lake didnt really reveal much else, but i did see something interesting fly over the water towards the islands in the middle. I decided it would be better to go and view these instead. On the way i briefly saw a Stoat watching me before it dashed for cover into a dry ditch along the path, causing alarm amongst some reed warblers within.

Over at the islands there was a hive of activity. There were a lot of nesting canadas and greylags and a few goslings about too. Also present were many ducks and a good number of Great Crested Grebes, some with little ones riding on top.

Most interesting however were the Oystercatchers. I think the bird i had seen previously flying over was the original oystercatcher i had seen earlier. In total i believe there were 5 birds present, there was an obvious pair on a central island, with what must have been the male standing guard over a more inconsipicuous female. Elsewhere were a further two, one of which waas quite mobile and the other standing on the island to the far right calling incessantly. The 5th bird was one i saw being shunned by the pair on the central island, getting chased to the waters edge before being forced to fly off down to the far end of the lake. These birds provided entertainment for a good while for me, even while i sat down to enjoy my lunch.

I scanned the area to the right hand side of the islands too, a grassy penisula which reaches out into the lake. There were a few lapwing milling about in the grass while on the waters edge i noticed a group of 3 small waders running along. They were very difficult to see as they were well camoflauged and in the distance but i believe they must have been Little Ringed Plovers. This species soon became more obvious as i watched the area with the Oystercatchers again, up to 5 LRPs were seen flying about the islands, chasing each other and running up and down the waters edge. They were extremely mobile, not staying in the same place for more than a minute or so, and proved highly interesting to watch. Along with the other birds my final count came to around 8 of these tiny little waders, which is great, i hope they manage to nest successfully.

This proved to be an exciting birdwatching trip and was finally topped off by seeing a couple of drake Wigeon on one of the islands. I thought this was quite odd and wondered what they were doing here so late, but apparently it isn't too late for them to be heading up north. It was nice to see them though and I look forward to watching them come the winter once again.

After this I cycled back through the village, through Lowdham and on to Lambley. It was a pleasant, if a little tiring route. Much of my cycling around nottinghamshire doesn't involve a single hill, so around here its a bit of a change, I got my breath back at the small Notts Wildlife Trust reserve in Lambley, seeing a couple of Red-crested Pochards, which i wasn't expecting, and it was also interesting to watch a small group of Swallows divebombing the surface of the pond, presumably collecting water for building their nests.

I ended the ride cycling out of lambley and back to town via mapperley top. A thoroughly enjoyable day!

Netherfield Lagoons, 9th May

2011-05-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

After the brilliant evening watching the stints, i went to Netherfield Lagoons on the monday morning. It was beautifully sunny when i woke up without a cloud in the sky so i left quite early, but by the time i had got half way there, the sun had started to disappear behind the increasing clouds!

However, I had quite a pleasant walk around the reserve, especially noting that the flower and insect life had sprung up a lot more. I spent quite a long time taking photos of some of these, including attempting to get some decent damselfly shots, but i was unsuccessful as they were extremely wary, flying off when they sensed even the smallest movement.

Bird wise, there was lots about, especially little songbirds. There was a lot of noise coming from the warblers, mostly Blackcap, Whitethroat and Willow Warbler. Along the path running between the two main lagoons a Cetti's warbler's song exploded from within the undergrowth, and either side of the path were many Sedge and Reed Warblers. A chiffchaff singing loudly from some distant trees brought the warbler count to 7 out of a possible 10 species at this reserve.

I scanned the slurry lagoon for quite some time, hoping that a wader of some sort may decide to comply and drop in for me but i was unlucky, until a single Lapwing dropped in as some sort of consolation! Otherwise there was little of note on the lagoon amongst the loafing Black Headed Gulls and various ducks. Around 10 Gadwall were present however.

When doing my final scan of the lagoon, I heard something i had not heard in 2 years, a noise i have been anticipating all spring... a Cuckoo! I walked round to the bench overlooking the lower gravel pits and was instantly able to see the bird in question calling frequently from the top of a large willow tree. I watched for quite a long time before it outlasted me and i moved on. Brilliant! What's more, as i was down at the new pond dipping platform, watching shoals of roach in the crystal clear water, i heard another Cuckoo calling from within some scrub. It called for some time before falling quiet. Minutes later, i noticed a bird flying from the same direction, first thinking it was a sparrowhawk! It flew right overhead and i managed to get a good view of the bird, my best ever in fact! 2 Cuckoos in one day! Not at all bad.

Temminck's Stints

2011-05-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

over last weekend there was excitement in the local birding communtity, as a group of Temminck's stints decided to pay the area around besthorpe a visit.

They dropped in a mere 12 hours after i had finished working down at besthorpe on thursday, with 4 being spotted on the new scrapes at Besthorpe south. This is great news as it means that something has been done right to attract a good diversity of birds to the area. Unfortunately i was unable to go down again so i had to hold on and hope they stayed a while.

The next day i checked rarebirdalert, and noticed that 4 now had been seen at collingham new workings. This was encouraging, obviously they'd moved on from Besthorpe but at least they were still in the area. I was at work til 5 but i had planned to go straight afterwards. I eneded up popping home first but managed to be on atrain t collingham by 18.15, and arrived in the village at 7.

I went down towards the quarry site, enjoying the balmy summery evening. It looked like rain and was quite overcast, but was lovely and warm and quite humid so was enjoyable to cycle in, and it was very peaceful after a day in the office. Farmland birds were everywhere, especially Yellowhammers, which are particularly abundant in this part of the county, birds were constantly singing from every hedge. I disturbed a large flock of what were most likely Linnet and a mix of other finches from a stubble field too. There was also plenty of warblers about, the most notable being many Whitethroats whose songs exploded from within the well managed and mature hedgerows along the roads.

I got to the first part of the quarry, with a terrible view point between the hedge, although it did give a good comanding view of a new pit which had recently been dug and was now full of water. A male shelduck was snoozing on a spit, and there were a few lapwing moving about too. It didnt look too promising but i set my scope up anyway. After a glance through my bins, i suddenly realised there was a couple of small birds on the near side of the water. I looked in my scope but with it being cheap and the light being poor now, i stuggled to make them out apart from being very small waders. I soon lost them and set about scanning the rest of the pool.

A couple of plovers were noted on the far bank, with one feeding near the shelduck, but it was difficult against the ground and from such a distance to work out the species. I kept on looking and then, just as i was looking back at the shelduck, the little waders turned up again. I got out the collins guide and flicked to temmincks, but still i couldnt clinch an ID. These birds were too far away for my rubbish scope and the only thing i could go on was their size. They looked to me like a mix between a common sandpiper and a dunlin, but smaller than a ringed plover (in comparison to the birds nearby. It was terribly frustrating.

Luckily a couple of other birders turned up and confirmed the ID for me. One of them had an excellent scope which all of us got a good look through. The birds were easily seen and although they looked quite non-descript, the gentleman pointed out the mottling to its feathers and the general pale colouration. This along with the size and the fact that the main confusion species, the little stint, were unlikely at this time of year, being more an autum passeage migrant, confirmed the ID. the scope revealed the ID of the plovers too, 1 was ringed the other little ringed. This was great as i have never seen a Ringed Plover either, so two lifers in one sitting.

They soon left to get their tea, and left me waiting as i still had a while to wait to get my train. I continued watching the birds, and managed to see 5 altogether, one feeding by the ringed plover, and a further 4 feeding over by a little ringed plover. I left after about half an hour and made my way back to the village. On the way back i checked to see if the barn owl was at Brierleys Meadow, a little reserve managed by the wildlife trust, and was pleased to see one of them as soon as i biked up to the gate. It soon glided over but looked amazing and ghostly in the failing light. I didnt disturb it any longer and moved on promptly.

One final thing of note is the path which leads past brierleys and eventually ends up at besthorpe south is a yellowhammer hotspot. Flocks of 50-100 birds are often present and birds can be seen up and down the lane. I'm planning at some point to go down and take some photos - hopefully setting up a feeding station and hide. As always though, the best laid plans... - i often plan things like this but never act on them.... we'll see eh?

Besthorpe - 5th May

2011-05-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

I have been volunteering with the Notts Wildlife Trust for quite a while now, and we have been doing work over the last few months at Besthorpe Nature Reserve, near Newark. Huge amounts of re-landscaping have been done to attempt to create a better habitat for birds and other wildlife, including creating shallows and wet grassland around the large pit in the southern part of the reserve - as well as creating a sand martin bank and several islands. In the northern part of the reserve, we have been planting a new reedbed and hopefully in the future this area will be a haven for wetland wildlife.

While working there i have seen plenty of wildlife, but today we had a wander around the reserve before embarking on more reed planting and fencing, and over the day i saw so much birdlife, showing that it already is a great place for birds and will hopefully improve over time.

On the southern edge of the reserve on 'mons pool', there were lots of geese, but in the distance were several Shelduck pairs. Walking further round we noticed a few Little Ringed Plover which were running about on a small island. On further inspection it turned out there were as many as six birds, the most i've seen at once (well it beats ONE haha), as well as my first Dunlin of the year (and only my second ever!). We continued to walk round to look at the Sand Martins which i have seen a few times already here, and there were hundreds of them flying about like a swarm, going in and out of their nests in the sandbank that had been created for them only months before... there is apparently around 500 nest holes which is incredible.

We then moved to the northern part of the site to start work, and while working there were plenty of Warblers to be heard. This has been the case every week recently, as there is good habitat surrounding the new reedbeds. There were lots of whitethroat singing from the scrub, and in the woodlands that surround the reeds there were the sounds of willow warbler, chiffchaff and blackcap all day. New for me here though were the many Reed Warblers which could be heard singing away from the patch of dry reedbed, as well as a Grasshopper Warbler which had been reeling intermittently throughout the day. I also heard my first Turtle Dove of the year on two occasions...

Not many birds were noted passing over, though sometimes a lot do, but the highlight of the day was a Yellow Wagtail that flew overhead and landed a few metres from where we were working. It soon clocked us and flew off towards the arable land to the east.

I don't normally see too much when i'm out with the trust - but today was really exceptional - 2 year ticks (Dunlin and Turtle dove) and a brilliant host of other birds!

Clifton, May 3rd

2011-05-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

Had a bikeride to clifton today - i've been meaning to for a while as i've wanted to photograph the wild garlic once it had come into flower. I wasn't disappointed, as it was literally in flower everywhere. The smell was lovely and it was quite a sight to behold too. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

The birding around clifton has been great by the looks of things, according to Rob Hoare's website www.cliftongrovebirds.co.uk. All sorts has been seen over the last few weeks, although when i go down i always seem to miss most of what i go to find. Over the last few weeks there has been Brambling and Ring Ouzel (which i failed to locate a couple of weeks back), hordes of wheatear (which have eluded me this year), and recently, continental races of Yellow wagtail, white fronted goose, a CRANE and loads more. Keep an eye on his site it really is an excellent resource.

I had a short walk around the grove today to see if i could pick up on anything. My main aim was to see what was around at the weir, as yesterday 2 dunlin, a common sandpiper and a green sandpiper were seen. On the way i saw a peregrine flying high over the trent, gliding on the thermals as well as quite a few Common Terns, feeding with a small group of black headed gulls.

Down at the weir, I sat by the river for a while scanning the banks, but all i saw were swans mallards and a grey heron. I was about to give up when somehow i managed to spot a Common Sandpiper sitting motionless on a concrete pillar which was half submerged in the water. It was difficult to identify at a distance, but i managed to get a little closer and peek at it through some bushes. It eventually clocked me and flew off, clinching its ID. first of the year!

I was also rather hoping to pick up on some swifts today as a few had moved through over the weekend but was left disappointed, although there were a few swallows about at the weir, and as i was walking down a path 2 sand martins passed me within a metre away which was cool. I ventured over the 'weir field' towards the yellow gate pond, where on the way i counted around 25 Lapwing in a cow field. They weren't displaying and seemed quite stationary, leading me to believe that they may be guarding some eggs, as i also didnt see any chicks about. Around the group of cows and calves i also saw 3 Yellow Wagtails, a first for the year for me, and 2 more passed overhead. Also in the field were around 100 Starling and several Linnet.

Warblers were everywhere today. In the wooded areas blackcaps were noted everywhere, but the real stars of the day were the Whitethroats. I probably noted around 20 birds today, more often heard than seen, but a few were being particularly showy - especially when there were more than one bird in a tree, chasing each other around and being very vocal. At Holme pit there were reed warblers singing and i even managed to see a couple pretty well, as well as hearing the more scratchy song of the sedge warblers. A couple of reed bunting were noted too.

Starting over!

2011-04-26T13:22:00.001-07:00

Right i've fallen behind again, but with the fact that a few people have started reading my blog again, i'm going to try to keep up. I had begun writing a LONG post detailing everything i'd done over the past few weeks, and even though it was a good few weeks, it seemed a mammoth task trying to remember everything, even with the help of BTO birdtrack.

So, i will start from here, although when i get home i'll do a little highlight post, as i have seen some good birds and taken some good photos over the weeks. I'll try and keep it up (my brother does a music blog EVERY day - too much time on his hands haha!)

So today i went out for a brief visit to Netherfield Lagoons, it would have been nice to stay longer, but against the theme of the last few weeks of lovely warm sunny weather, it turned out to be very windy and cold. In my shorts i didnt last long, so just did a recce of the reserve, concentrating on the slurry lagoon, before heading off.

The reason i visited today was the fact that there had been a drake Garganey sighted over the weekend, so i rushed down after seeing a report at 8 30am that it was still present. I got to the slurry lagoon and set my scope up on a fencing post and scanned the water. Lots of gulls, a scattering of Gadwall and a mix of coots and mallards... hmm...

I moved further down the path and scanned again, and then noticed a small group of Teal nestling in the reeds, out of the wind. Having only recently discovered that Garganey are of a similar size, i scrutinized the patch of reeds, and was rewarded finally with a little duck, chestnut brown, with a pale midriff and that tell-tale white eyestripe. Well... sort of. It all added up eventually, but as the bird was so far away, asleep and tucked in the reeds, it was difficult to match up all these features in one, but once i had confirmed it, it was obvious and my first ever sighting of this rare visitor to our shores.

Elsewhere was a bit of birdlife but the wind made viewing difficult, though there were lots of hirundines about. In their conspecific flocks were Swallows, mainly swooping low over the deep pit and over the trees by the lower path, Sand Martins, sticking closer to the river, and high over the Slurry Lagoon were my first House Martins of the year - easily recognised from sand martins by their more forked tail, lack of neck band and white rump (it would have been difficult to tell from the colour as they were against a grey sky.

I actually went on saturday to the lagoons, so i wasnt too bothered about sticking around, as i had seen plenty then, and it was lovely and sunny that day. The highlight of that day was definately my first Hobby of the year which appeared over the scrubland as i sat on the bench overlooking the gravel pits. It quartered the area for a while, allowing me some excellent views, before dropping into some trees not to be seen again. 2 reeling Grasshopper Warblers and a massive amount of Sedge and Reed Warblers also made the day special, as well as seeing a kingfisher fly downriver while watching the hirundines under the railway bridge.

What a great reserve!

Toads!

2011-03-28T05:26:00.001-07:00

After volunteering with the Wildlife Trust last thursday at Farndon Willow Holt, we stopped off at Ploughman's wood near Lambley on the way back. It was wonderful walking through the wood with lots of Wood Anenomes and other woodland flowers carpeting the ground. We checked out the small pond on the southern edge of the wood on our way out, and was greeted with a huge congregation of mating toads. There must have been hundreds of toads in the pond making a massive racket and fighting against each other to attatch themselves to the females. It was a true spectacle to behold, with the toads allowing us to get ridiculously close to observe them.

The next day i finished work early so got on my bike and cycled to the reserve again with my camera, stopping off at another reserve in Lambley to see if there were any more amphibians there, but there weren't that many... At Ploughman's however, there were still many toads about and although the light was failing, i still managed to get plenty of shots.

Here's a selection of the best images.

This week (march 21st-27th)

2011-03-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

The weather this week has been absolutely fantastic, meaning that i've been able to get out and about on my bike, even wearing shorts and t shirts!

On monday, i went to wollaton with a few friends, but didn't really do a lot of wildlife watching, but i did bump into a wildlife photographer named Wolf (www.wolf-photography.com) who had spent the last few days down there photographing the local wildlife. He was most interested in photographing aggressive coot behaviour and i have seen some excellent results of his patience. We spent some time watching herons in their nests too. Otherwise there was still a few Gadwall on the lake, and lots of noisy geese, but little else was noted.

I left early(ish) on tuesday morning for a bike ride to Attenborough, the sun was shining and i had a great day. On the way down i heard my first Chiffchaffs of the year, probably counting around ten throughout the whole day. Also of note were a grey wagtail at Beeston weir, and over the river i could see lapwings displaying over the farmers fields.

I was going to spend some time in the Delta Hide today, but the padlock has been changed so i had to press on. I parked up my bike after glancing over to the main pond, counting a few Goldeneye and Goosander amongst the gulls. Walking round, it was clear spring was in the air as lots of birds were singing loudly and there was quite a lot of activity on the water. I got som swan photos that i'm pretty happy with, of an obliging bird near the path. Nesting herons were everywhere in their massive treetop nests, and there were lots of singing finches tits and thrushes.

I walked through the little wooded area next to the village green, where there were once again plenty of passerines, and it was here that i layed eyes on my first visible Chiffchaff of the year, it was flitting about restlessly on top of a willow tree, and was lovley to watch.

Moving on, i looked over the tween scrapes to see if there was anything of interest. There were handful of Lapwing and a few teal amongst a throng of gulls, as well as the trusty pair of Shelduck, and once again, feeding in the same place as last time, a Redshank. I then moved on to the kingfisher hide, where lots of birds were using the feeders, although no Tree Sparrows this time. A couple of Oystercatcher also passed through over towards the island on clifton pond, but were lost from view shortly after.

There were still a few ducks about when i sat watching out of the tower hide, mostly Shoveler and a few Gadwall, as well as a couple of Goldeneye. There were also plenty of Lapwing about amongst the masses of gulls. The highlight however came when i left the hide and heard the loud tell-tale call of a Cetti's Warbler, my first of the year, ringing out clearly from the brambles on the wheatear field, i heard another one too on my way through the wet marsh and back home.

On the way back i decided i'd go and have a look at the Lapwings displaying over the river at clifton. En route i heard even more Chiffchaffs singing in the sunshine, and even chanced upon 8 Goosander and 4 Goldeneye, clinging on near clifton bridge. The lapwings didnt disappoint, and i saw around 20 birds on the field, although viewing them was quite difficult. The farmer was ploughing the field so hopefully this has been done early enough not to deter them from breeding. While there, i did see a few birds in display, and even a few mobbing corvids, so this is encouraging behaviour. A small flock of Linnet passed overhead when i was there too.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent volunteering with the Wildlife Trust, on two absolutely stunning days in the sun. It felt almost like midsummer! Birding wise, i didnt get much done, but there were once again a lot of Chiffchaffs singing loudly, and on the thursday at fardon, 3 Buzzards were seen displaying in the morning, and then at dinner time we were treated to a displaying sparrowhawk, the first i've actually seen doing this. It was after this that we went to ploughmans wood, to see the toads breeding away.

Bristol Trip

2011-03-15T04:37:00.000-07:00

Almost exactly to the day, i visited bristol a year ago. I went again for a long weekend, and have just come back. Socialising was the main point of going, but whenever we go down there, i always manage to get a little bit of birding done too.

On the friday i went to Clevedon with my friend as he works in a tattoo shop there. We had a wander down to the seafront to have a look for some coastal birds. The first thing i saw was a collection of gulls on the sea wall, with 3 Oystercatchers, my first of the year. Shortly after i had a scan of the rocks below the sea wall, where i found 7 Turnstone, a bird that is very much a bird of the shoreline, so not recorded very often in landlocked nottinghamshire! I also got myself a lifer down there, looking cross the rocks, i heard a pipit, and there standing on a large boulder was my first ever Rock Pipit. A wonderful little bird, and i saw another one a little later too.

I returned to the seafront when the tide had gone out, exposing the large mudflats. Wehad a good viewpoint across the mud, and there were a few birds about, including 2 Curlew, another year tick, and a bird i still haven't chanced upon back home.

Later in the weekend, we took the dog out for a walk at the National Trust's Leigh Woods reserve on the edge of avon gorge on the outskirts of Bristol. It was a beautiful day and the woodland was one of the best i've ever visited, with a good diversity of mature trees, and evidence of excellent forestry management, with a brilliant understorey dominated by coppiced hazel. The woods are known for ravens and peregrines, and while the former remained absent, a peregrine was seen to fly overhead at one point. 3 Buzzards were also seen riding the thermals above the gorge, looking wonderful as they turned in the sunshine. The commoner woodland birds were evident everywhere as well, singing away happily in the early spring sunshine. Found some delicious wild garlic too!

Apparently some spring migrants have already arrived in nottinghamshire including chiffchaff, swallow and sand martin, so i will be out and about later in the week, expect more to come!!!

Attenborough 8th march

2011-03-09T12:22:00.001-08:00

FINALLY a bit of sunshine. its been glorious this week, and thanks to some half days at work i've been able to go appreciate it. I was going to go to Clifton on monday, but a friend was over, so we ended up walking to holme pierrepont instead, seeing a Barn Owl on the way back at dusk.

On tuesday i finished work at 12, got home and had some food and headed to Attenborough. It was still nice and sunny, but a little bit more windy,making it harder going on the bike. It also meant i couldn't hear much while cycling along. I stopped at beeston weir to see if much was about, and was treated to the sight of a couple of grey wagtails, which i dont see all that often.

I continued on to attenborough, not stopping at the delta today. I stopped to view over the main pond where a large flock of gulls were, and in the distance spotted a couple of Goosander flocks, numbering around 25 birds.

After locking my bike up, i walked round tween pond toward the visitor centre. It certainly felt like the transition of winter to spring was underway, as it was still a little fresh (cold) but the sun was shining and the birds were a lot more noisy and active. There was a lot of activity by the green bridge, where various tits and finches were singing loudly, as well as a few dunnock. I walked through the wooded area which leads to the church pond and car park, stopping to photograph birds at the ol' stump again (see last attenborough post). I couldnt take many as yet again it was very busy and people kept disturbing the birds. A glance through the trees resulted in a view of a Goldcrest, its bright yellow crest shining brightly in the sun. It moved through the trees and perched at eye level, and i missed photographing it in perfect light by a millisecond, before it flew off and everntually was lost from view.

I was excited/anxious to get to the tween scrapes and clifton pond, as there have been some good birds spotted around these areas of late. I checked the water around the scrapes and there was a huge colony of Black Headed Gulls. These birds breed in abundance at the reserve, and already there were displaying males and some aggressive behaviour being portrayed. The raucous sounds of these birds dominate the reserve all year round, but particularly in the breeding season. Also seen were a few Herring Gulls, birds which are not often seen here. On the far scrape was a pair of Shelduck, asleep amongst the noisy gulls, probably the pair which return here each spring, although i've not seen them with young. The highlight however, was when i got my scope out to check the teal which were milling about near the lakebank, and came across a Redshank, the first i've seen at the reserve. I was really hoping to see something special, especially a wader, so i was really chuffed to get such a good sighting of this red-legged bird.

I was keen to move on quickly as i wanted to get back before dusk so i could watch for the barn owl near holme pierrepont, so i decided against going to the kingfisher hide, and instead went straight for the tower hide. I spent some time counting wildfowl as usual, and obviously due to the time of year, many had departed. The main species were Shoveler, of which there were aroud 60 birds, closely followed by teal, which numebered around 30. Wigeon were completely absent, which is odd as they have been so abundant over the last few months, but i guess they have decided to depart back to their breeding grounds. I'll look forward to hearing their whistling once again in the colder months.

Otherwise there were yet more gulls, moslty on the islands, where the vegetation has been cut down. This is good for the breeding gulls and terns, but a little sad as the snipe always liked it in there, but it'll be covered again come autumn. There were also a good few goldeneye about, mostly females, but otherwise it was reasonably quiet. I'm looking forward to spring and summer to see what waders start dropping in on the ponds.

Over the other side, there was a male Kestrel in the nest box, for the second year in a row, hopefully the pair will once again raise young successfully. Most exciting however, was news from a fellow birder that there had been a Cetti's Warbler in the brambles in the wheatear field. I studied the area for a while, but all i saw were Long Tailed tits and was fooled by a wren at one point, but didnt hear a peep from the warbler. It wasn't until i was leaving the hide that all of a sudden, the bird exploded into its sudden burst of song, only a few metres from me, but i didnt manage to see it (as usual!)

On my way back, there were a few birds in the trees on the wet marsh path, and i thought i heard a marsh tit-like sound. However i located the bird, and it was another Goldcrest. Good to see that these birds have fared reasonably well through the winter, along with the Cetti's.

So in all a good day, i didnt, unfortunately, see the barn owl again in the evening, but as its only a few minutes ride from my house, i'll have plenty of oppurtunity to see it again hopefully.

Not Much Birding!

2011-03-03T02:04:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy with work and volunteering of late, mixed in with some days of really cold windy weather, which has meant that i've struggled to get out and properly go birdwatching. Been to netherfield a couple of times but compared to a few months ago, i've barely been out at all, how annoying.

I had a failed trip to clifton last week, owing to the rain, i thought it'd be ok, and the ride down wasnt too bad, however the gloomy weather brought the mood with it, and while at holme pit, the weather turned for the worse and looking across the fields, visibility was very poor and it would have been almost impossible to see many birds, so i turned back.

A fine saturday evening led me to get on my bike and go to netherfield again, but the wind picked up when i got there, and it was particularly blustery, making views across the lagoons very difficult and the chances of seeing any interesting fly overs or a barn own very slim! i did see 4 Bullfinch which was nice, and there seemed to be plenty of Teal about too, their voices carrying on the wind from the other side of the reserve. After sitting cold on the bench overlooking the farmland to the north for about half an hour i decided it was not in my best interests and turned back to go home. The last thing i saw was a small group of around 20 Pied Wagtails flying home to roost somewhere from the river.

This week, after hearing of some interesting birds down at clifton, i was going to pop down. however the weather on monday was terrible, and then work on tuesday and thursday and volunteering on wednesday and friday has meant so far no joy! Hopefully i will be able to get out by saturday - if the weather holds out - and if so i will probably do clifton and attenborough all in one day. On another note, i did see a nice great spotted woodpecker while volunteering up at faith marriott, so at least thats something!!!

Netherfield Lagoons, 22nd feb

2011-02-23T03:52:00.000-08:00

After finishing work at an early 1pm, i felt i ought to do something productive with my day, so despite the poor weather (again!) i hopped on my bike and headed for netherfield lagoons.

I'd been here around 10 days ago to see the Barn Owl pair which has taken to hunting in the area of late, but i didn't have it in mind today, unless i stayed until dusk.

On the way i go through colwick park, sometimes seeing something of interest. However today not much was about, apart from a large flock of gulls on the main lake, which mainly consisted of Black Headed gulls, with a few lesser black backs and commons mixed in. There were a couple of juveniles to, which looked interesting but they were too distant to properly study.

I moved on to netherfield, where en route along the trent, a male Sparrowhawk dashed out in front of me and quickly fled into some riverside trees.

I walked down the lower path, where there wasn't too much activity, just a few blue tits and great tits, along with a greenfinch and various gulls and corvids flying overhead. Normally its a lot busier down here, but it could have been due to the poor conditions. I walked up to the slurry lagoon path rather than going through the 'willow walk' path, although there were a notable number of singing Great tits down there.

On the slurry path, which was very muddy, due to recent contract work being done down here, i flushed my first confirmed Green Woodpecker of the year. Little else was about, which seemed the norm for today, until i had the pleasure of spotting a Little Egret flying overhead from the direction of the agricultural land. I got some great views before it flew across the treeline towards holme pierrepont. Its always a bit odd seeing these birds, they don't look too out of place in summer, but on a dull grey day in winter they look a little lost, i usually assosciate them with sunny days spent birding in spain!

As i walked towards the deep pit, a large bird flew down the bank towards the setaside land at the bottom, and i wondered if it were a raptor or something similar as it looked this way. I sat and waited for a while, but after seeing nothing but a song thrush and a few great tits, i decided it may have just been the pheasant that i eventually saw sneaking through the undergrowth. Darn!

I got the scope out and had a look over the Slurry Lagoon, where a Male shelduck was busily feeding away, along with a handful of Pochard, round 5o Shoveler, and hidden amongst the reeds, a large group of Teal. A couple of Water Rail were also heard calling from amongst the reeds.

Over on the Deep Pit, there were loads of Coot and Gulls, along with around 12 Gadwall, and 5 Goldeneye. I went back over for another look at the slurry lagoon, and several more Shoveler had arrived, along with a few Gulls. One looked particularly interesting, looking like a 2nd winter bird. I am terrible at Gull ID, so not sure what i was looking at, i took notes, but on getting home i was no closer to the identity of this bird. It was larger than a Common gull, had mottled grey/black wings, a very dark bill and eyes and black wing tips. Hmmm.... maybe it will be there next time.

A largely productive day on the lagoons, if a little bleak, no photos this time either. It was nice to see an egret and a Green woody, and the lagoons were nice and busy. Roll on spring though!

Attenborough 8th Feb

2011-02-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

Not been to attenborough much recently, in comparison to last summer/autumn, where i was going at least once a week. Its been good down there, but i guess i got a bit tired of doing the rounds, and some days it seemed that seeing the same old birds was boring, even though i actually enjoyed seeing them.

Beeston Weir en route to Attenborough

Today though i returned, and it was an excellent day. The sun was shining brightly and it actually felt quite warm when in the direct light, although there was a ground frost which stuck round most of the day in shady areas. It was nice to bike down the trent, especially in the scrub by clifton bridge, where loads of birds were singing loudly, making it seem like a spring day , most notable were Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Song Thrush. Song thrushes were singing loudly and clearly down the whole river actually, sounding especially nice echoing around the trees in clifton grove. Spring is round the corner!

A Magpie near Clifton Bridge, look at that blue sky!

The reserve itself was a bustle of activity too. I stopped off in the delta hide first, hoping to see a Bittern, and after half an hour i managed to glimpse one, albeit for only a few seconds. In the meantime it was lovely to sit watching the wildfowl feeding in the sunshine, with the resplendent plumage of Wigeon Gadwall and Tufted duck looking all the better in the morning light. I could sit and watch wildfowl for ages, they are so entertaining in their social and feeding habits, as well as the noises they make. Lots of reed buntings were in the reeds opposite the hide too and most of the males were back in breeding plumage and were very active and starting to sing.

A sunny reflection at Attenborough

I left the hide happily at around 11 o clock and made my way around the reserve, taking the route round the tween pond towards the visitor centre. There were Grey herons nesting in abundance, and i counted 21 across the reserve today. I also stopped off on the path to take pictures of the main pond, and later again to photograph birds feeding on seeds placed on an old coppice stool - however there were lots of people about so it was difficult, i might go back on an early morning later in the year.

Over near the main entrance bridge were plenty of singing dunnocks, making it truly feel like spring. I went to look at the scrapes on the tween pond and found there to be a lot of black headed gulls there, along with 4 Teal and a Shelduck. Work has pretty much finished on the new wheatear field wet meadow/reedbeds, and now its just bare, but it will be interesting to see what happens over the course of the year here.

I went to the kingfisher hide, not really expecting much, but as soon as i went in, someone shouted 'Bittern!' and i rushed to the window to see my second of the day, landing in the reedbed closest to the hide. Despite sticking around for a while, it didnt reappear, but it was nice looking at the usual residents of the seed feeders, the tree sparrows and great tits being the star attractions.

Over at the tower hide, 4 Buzzards were the highlight, riding high on the thermals, as well as around 100 Lapwing wheeling over the reserve in a tight flock. It was very peaceful and it was nice to sit and count the wildfowl, although they were in lower numbers than usual. Another Shelduck was seen feeding near the island, as well as a few Goldeneye scattered about. The bittern didnt show itself again, and there was no sign of any snipe, but it was nice anyway. A herring gull provided a laugh or two, as it dived in to catch as crayfish, and while flying away its victim locked its claws on the gull's breast feathers. It refused to let go, despite multiple dives by the gull into the lake. Eventually it dropped off and was despatched of quickly, before being devoured - what a fighter though!

Eventually a group of canada and greylag geese flew into the pond, destroying what peace there was. I had a scan through to see if there were any wild geese there, but to no avail. Satisified i packed up, and walked back to my bike, getting some good views of a few more Goosander and Pochard along the way.

Good day!!!

Netherfield and Hoveringham, end of jan

2011-02-03T09:53:00.000-08:00

I had a day of on the 28th, and was going to bike to hoveringham to see if i could pick up on any of the rarities which have been around recently (more on that later...). However due to problems in the morning, i didnt leave til late, so decided just to go to Netherfield Lagoons instead, as i haven't been for a while.

It was pretty cold, and while biking through Colwick park on the way, i almost turned back as it was VERY cold in the wind. However i pressed on after checking the gulls on the main lake in colwick and after seeing around 15 Pochard near the island to the east of the lake.

On the way down the trent to the lagoons, i noticed a bird of prey sitting atop a shrub by the river, and at first i thought it was a merlin as it seemed quite small and the colouring looked right, but after studying some photos it was quite obvious it was a female Kestrel. Great views though!!!

I walked down the lower path at the lagoons, which is a tree lined path with lots of scrub and some wet areas. There were loads of small birds about, mainly blue tits, long tailed tits and goldfinch. The highlight though was hearing two Willow tit, and eventually seeing one of them moving purposefully through the trees. There were a lot of redwings and blackbirds around too.

A Fox was seen on the slurry behind the reedbedsThe lagoons themselves were relatively quiet, apart from a large Black Headed Gull flock on the deep pit, and a good number of Herring and black-backed gulls on the slurry lagoon. As well as this were small numbers of Shoveler and Pochard, and a lone male Shelduck. Also of note were around 60 Teal.

On the way back there were over 250 Canada Geese feeding on the fields over the trent.

On monday after a long weekend at work, i got up early and prepared for a bike-ride to Hoveringham. 30 seconds outside the house and i realised it was far too cold for the 15 mile bikeride, so i hopped on a train instead. It was actually a really nice day despite the coldness, and there were plenty of people about, and with good reason, there were local rarities about!!!

I biked to the railway pit, through the lovely country roads in the area, seeing a Little Egret on the way, along with around 200 wigeon on the trent. As soon as i got to the railway pit, another Little Egret was spotted, but this wasn't what i'd come for, although i did get some amazing views of this lovely recent colonist. No, aside from the 2 Little Egrets on the far bank, what i had come to see was also over there, a Great White Egret!!! It was seen to fly in, and then spent some time feeding in the shallows, but the views were pretty distant. I decided to go round the lake for a better view, but not before taking in the view of 11 Pink Footed Geese, which were feeding under a pylon along with a lot of other geese. I got great views of these lovely birds, which was nice as its rare to see them in nottinghamshire, except when they're flying high in skeins en route to elsewhere.

On the way i saw a big flock of redwings and fieldfares, along with 2 Brown Hares. I totally overshot my estimation of where the egret was, going to the north side of the pit, and realising once i'd got there that the intended place was on a peninsula half way along this massive lake! I walked down the other side of the lake intending to get a better view, but a fellow birder told me that the light was impossible so i walked back down with him the way i'd come. On the way round i'd noticed a flock of geese in a field, so i went back to check it out. I set my scope on a large flock of greylags, and it didnt take long to train it on another species (and lifer!) that i'd come to see, Greater White Fronted Geese! I counted 9 of these interesting birds, with their strangely barred bellies and conspicuous white markings near their bills. I really think they are wonderful geese, probably my favourite now! The pinkfeet had also moved on to this field and were feeding amongst their fellow Anseriformes.

And to top it all off, about 50 yards further into the field was.... THE GREAT EGRET!!! I got astounding views of the bird as it stood and preened, clearly showing its yellow bill and very long black legs, every now and again stalking around the field in that classic heron-like way. I would have loved to have stayed but i was bloody freezing and the 13.12 from thurgaton was fast approaching, so cold and satisfied i decided to call it a day and go home.

what a day!!!!

Clifton, 25th Jan

2011-01-26T09:31:00.000-08:00

I thought it was about time to get down to clifton for the first time this year, and was going to ride there, stopping off to see the Bewick's swans near Barton, but the bike got a flat tyre so i had to get a bus AGAIN.

The weather was pretty bleak throughout, although the sun did shine for a bit, but i got stuck in a heavy shower while at Holme Pit. Despite this i actually had one of the best days birding i've had in a while.

All was reasonably quiet in Clifton Woods on the path down to Holme Pit, although a few Goldcrest were noted, giving themselves away with their high pitched call, amongst flocks of Long-Tailed Tits (of which there were loads today). A couple of Jay were heard calling loudly too.

Holme pit was quiet, with only a few Tufties, Mallards and Coots along with a single Mute Swan. I stayed for a while, hoping for a sight of a Bittern, but wasn't in luck, although i saw a few Reed Buntings within the Reeds, which was good.

I then turned my attention to the flock of Greylags which had been reported to have contained a Pink-footed goose, but as they kept distant, in an inaccessable field, i couldn't pick it out, although the local feral Ross's Goose was present. Not seen him for a while! While watching, a group of around 40 Skylarks passed overhead, my first of the year.

I decided to go down to Branshill when the Geese flew off towards Attenborough, and on the way was treated to seeing 5 Bullfinch in the hedgerow, along with a few Greenfinch starting to sing (sort of). Over branshill moor all was quiet, except when a Kestrel flew along the woodland edge, causing alarm calls to ring from the local tit flocks. Shortly after a Mistle Thrush began singing for around 10 minutes, its voice echoing over the fields, starkly loud over the relative silence, beautiful.

I went to see what was on the riverside fields, and was pleased to find upwards of 500 birds feeding in the grass, comprising mostly of Startlings and Fieldfares, with the rest made up of around 100 Redwing. I watched and counted these for a while as they restlessly fed, making a lot of noise in the process.

Little else was noted on the way back, other than a Green Woodpecker, and over the Weir field, a flock of around 50 Linnet, sitting on a lonely gnarled hawthorn in the middle of the fields. They soon chattered off as i approached, but i managed to get good views of them through my scope.

I think on Birdtrack, it listed 42 species seen today, which is really good. Very happy with today, although the weather was awful!

Waxwings, 21st Jan

2011-01-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

On friday, i had a couple of choices. I could either go to clifton and try to see a bittern, as well as get an easy year tick in the form of the Bewick's Swans which are still there, or i could go to carrington in the city to see if i could catch up with a group of waxwings that had been there for a while.

I thought i'd try both initially, but as i was without a bike and had to rely on public transport, it didn't work out in the end. I messed around for a bit, and then the bus didn't turn up for ages, so i decided to abandon the clifton plan altogether and just have a more relaxed affair with the Waxwings.

I'm glad i did. I got off the bus and the first thing i saw was a flock of the birds overhead. I walked up hucknall road, and couldnt find them, just loads of Mistle Thrush! However, as i walked back down the road i saw some birds going down one of the side-streets, and then i heard them. There in a large plane tree were around 150 Waxwings, making the biggest racket. In groups of only a few birds, they flew back and forth to collect berries from the smallest of Rowan trees, before spooking and flying away when either traffic went by or a Mistle Thrush bullied them away.

There were loads of redwings too, but the Waxwings looked lovely in the clear winter sunshine. I got some shots of them in the trees, and managed a few of them feeding. I've cropped them as i had to take them from across the road.

Satisfied, i hopped on another bus to check out Arnot Hill Park, as sometimes its quite entertaining when there are lots of passerines about. However it was pretty quiet today, so i had to make do with looking at the waterfowl collection. To my surprise they'd added a few Pintail to the collection, which was a nice oppurtunity to get a close look at these handsome ducks.

Also got a couple of shots of this captive Shoveler

A couple of trips this week

2011-01-20T09:35:00.000-08:00

Monday i went on a bikeride on my usual local route to Holme Pierrepont. Not a great deal was about, as the lakes had thawed, so most birds will have gone elsewhere. However i did see a number of wildfowl on the other lakes surrounding the rowing course, they were just a bit more spread out. There were quite a lot of gadwall about today, i counted over 30, as well as the usual wildfowl, mostly tufted ducks. A good number of Goldeneye were about too today, but i couldnt get great views of them, as they kept swimming away,now the ice has thawed (d'oh!). I spotted a bird on the ski-tow lake that looked interesting, it was a lot smaller than the other ducks, but it was in a really awkward position on the other side of the lake and the sun was in my eyes. I went over the other side to try and get another view but it had moved. However, a female goldeneye feeding nearby led me to think it was just her, rather than anything rarer! ( i still love goldeneye though!)

On Tuesday, the sun was shining bright so i hopped on my bike and rode to attenborough for the first time in ages. It was a lovely morning, if a little cold, and there were plenty of small birds hopping about the bushes all the way there. I didnt have a brilliant day at the reserve, it was pretty quiet in all.

I sat at the delta hide waiting to see a bittern (or anything else exciting) and as it was the first time i've been there since it thawed, it was nice to see plenty of birds about on this lovely quiet sanctuary. There were a lot of Wigeon and Gadwall feeding on the lake, which looked lovely in the sunshine, along with a handful of Pochard and Shoveler. A falcon of some sort, possibly peregrine, flew from the trees just before i left.... no Bittern though!

I biked past the main pond, stopping periodically to survey the birds, and there were quite a few Goosander about, around 16.

I wandered round the rest of the reserve, hoping to see something good. There were a lot of passerines about today, especially Robins and roving tit-flocks. Despite looking quite a lot, i didnt see anything out of the ordinary in any of them, but it was lovely to see the reserve such a hive of activity. I went to see if there was much of interest at the Kingfisher hide, but there wasn't much about as a cat was there, terrorising a squirrel, these are becoming a nuisance at the reserve and i can't imagine the damage they'll do in nesting season.

It was pretty quiet at the tower hide too, there were some groups of wildfowl here and there, including quite a few Teal on the central island, as well as all the other common ducks. Several goldeneye were also dotted about, as well as a large flock of Black Headed gulls to the left of the lake. Some of these birds were already getting their breeding plumage. On the otherside, over on the Tween Pond, there were around 90 Lapwing, the best count i've had here for a while. The highlight of the day however was seeing a couple of snipe in their usual spot on the spit on the end of the reedbeds.

So not a bad day, all the passerines and brightly coloured ducks looked nice in the sunshine, but i feel it could have been a better day bird-wise.

Smew - Holme Pierrepont

2011-01-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

Had a visit to holme pierrepont on my bike on wednesday, as i only had half a day working with the wildlife trust. It was a pretty grim day but there was still a lot to be seen. There was a lot of low lying fog which was especially evident over the water, which made viewing difficult but looked very cool.

On the ride down to the watersports centre, there wasn't much to see apart from common wildfowl and gulls, though i did pick up on a few Common Gulls. I rode over the slalom course to have a look at the lock, and as expected there was a group of lapwings sat on the moorings. I counted around 65 birds, and it was quite nice to see them relatively close up. Not much else was about however, other than a good number of Cormorants.

I then rode across to the Rowing Course to see what wildfowl was about. It was around 70% frozen, with the rest of the ice very thin, so pretty much thawed. This also meant that the birds were a lot more widely distributed. A lot of commoner birds were about, but there were some hidden gems. Highlights included Goldeneye, of which i counted 14 birds, and they don't seem too shy here, quite content with watching you from not too far away, but any sudden movement and down they go. There were also around 25 Gadwall dotted about, as well as a couple of Pochard, but the jewel in the crown had to be a female SMEW which was about as far away as it could have been from me, but i still got some good views. This is my first 'lifer' of the year so i watched for a while, but aside from standing up on the ice to flap its wings, it didnt really do much but just sit there. Still, i got to appreciate it and compare it to my previous experience of other female sawbills. Very similar, but a LOT smaller.

Otherwise there wasn't too much about, i got a final count of around 12 Common Gull, including a nice 1st winter bird, as well as a couple of Greater Black Backs flying over while i was eating a sandwich at the Skylarks reedbed. I also saw a few wagtails including my first Grey Wagtail of the year.

Attenborough - 7th Jan

2011-01-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

Had my first visit to Attenborough for the year today. I got up early as i had an appointment this afternoon, so i aimed to be there for around 9ish. However, heavy snow and sleet kept me indoors until around 11, so i didnt get there til gone 12. This proved to be annoying, as it meant i only spent around an hour at the reserve!!! Not enough time at all!

I had a quick scan around the industrial estates when i got off the bus for Waxwings, but there were none about, so i walked down barton lane towards the reserve. In the paddocks next to the road were a flock of Redwing, but it was hard to see how many, but i estimated around 30.

Walking onto the reserve (though from this direction it is more like a building site), i scanned Church pond, which was about80% frozen. In the thawed bits though were loads of Coot, Mute Swan and Mallard, along with a count of 27 Gadwall, and 2 RED-CRESTED POCHARD. I then wandered towards the visitor centre and on the path was a small tit flock. I heard a high pitched noise which i recognised as a Goldcrest, and sure enough, i encountered one flitting between the branches. At one point it was hovering like a hummingbird, which i've never seen before, and it was feeding within a metre of me at times. (Didnt take my camera though as it was so dull - balls!)

I visited the 'willow peninsula' behind the visitor centre today, as a couple of willow tits have been recently recorded there. Unfortunately today i was unlucky and didn't see it, but a good mix of familiar 'garden' birds were present, as well as a couple of Tree Sparrow and a pair of Egyptian Geese.

Over the footbridge i went, noting down a pair of Goosander, one of which was seen at very close quarters (didnt realise they were so big!). I recorded a few more of these and a handful of Goldeneye later on on Coneries too. In the trees on the path through the ponds was a large mobile tit flock, and surprisingly i stumbled upon 2 Treecreepers (new for me at the reserve). Again, one fed within a metre from me, and again i kicked myself for not having my camera, NOT an easy species to photograph and what a missed opportunity!!!

My next mission was to see some Bitterns, as they have recently been seen on the stream behind the fields that runs out onto the trent. However they were absent today, but 4 Grey Heron were fishing there, along with...bizarrely... 2 Pusscats. I moved onto the river path from here to see if i could see the 1st w male Smew, but again was unlucky. However, a group of c100 Wigeon were seen feeding over at cottages flash, and 3 very noisy Fieldfare flew low overhead.

Not much else was noted, and it began to rain. Feeling a bit wet and deflated, i decided it was time to go, especially as i had that appointment. A flock of around 100 Goldfinch sitting atop a few trees were the last thing i saw in the reserve. I was 15 minutes late for my appointment.

Hoveringham 4th Jan

2011-01-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

Another day, another birdwatch! i couldnt resist getting a train to Lowdham today with my bike so i could bike to Caythorpe and Hoveringham to look for the Great White Egret and Whooper Swans which were reported on rarebirdalert.

I set of on my bike from lowdham, and found the spot where i thought i had to be. No egret, no whoopers. I did find a small group of Mute Swans in a field, so got the scope out, but couldnt see any whoopers. Feeling dejected, i got on my bike again and went down to hoveringham.

On the river, i heard the sound of Wigeon, and sure enough, there were about 200 of them on the river, and a few feeding on the banks. On the opposite side there was a group of around 300 Canada Goose too.

Moving on towards the Hoveringham gravels, i saw a large flock of Fieldfare feeding in some stubble, possibly around 100 birds. Later on my way back, these had been joined by more and the final flock numbered around 300! I've not seen many around my usual patches, so the farmland around here must be a lot more suited to their needs.

Approaching the gravel pits i soon noticed they were frozen over. I had a quick glance through my bins and noticed that there were a few birds congregated over towards the middle of the Railway pit, so i decided seeing as i'd come all this way, that i might as well walk round and have a look. I got my scope out when i got down there, as there was an area of open water which was crammed with birds. There were several gulls about, mostly black headed, but there were also 6 Herring Gull, 16 Great Black Backed and a handful of Common Gulls too. There were also a few hundred ducks, including around 150 Mallard, and over 100 Teal. On one of the islands, there was also a Grey heron, and on the grassy banks in front of me were several Pied Wagtails and a single Meadow Pipit.

Not bad then, i thought, although it was a bit annoying that i'd gone all that way for not that much of interest! However, on the way back i was scanning the fields as i rode, and noticed in the distance a small group of white things.... They looked a bit like sheep at first, but i decided to get my scope out, and was rewarded with the sight of 9 Whooper Swans!!! Amazing!!! I only saw these for the first time on new years eve, when i saw 2 feeding in a group of Mute swans, along with 4 Bewick's. To see 9 was great, especially in notts, as they are not frequently seen. Made my day.

On the way back to the train station, i noticed a white blob in one of the fields, and closer inspection resulted in me seeing a Little Egret! My first winter record of this species, and also the first i've seen in ages. Not quite a Great white, but an excellent sighting nonetheless.

So it was all worth it in the end... not to mention a beautiful day in picturesque rural nottinghamshire :)

Colwick Park, 3rd January

2011-01-03T12:08:00.000-08:00

Another update on the day i went out - i wonder how long this will last...

Not much to say unfortunately though.

Watched a Song Thrush feeding in my garden, which was nice to see. I've been putting oats and bread and the odd apple out over the last few weeks, with only a bit of interest from a robin and some blackbirds, i need to get some hanging feeders for all the Tits that are constantly about. The thrush was happily pecking away at the last of the breadcrumbs, so when it had finished i went out and topped it up.

I then went out to Colwick Park, as i haven't been for ages, to see if there were some interesting wildfowl out there, but the lakes had completely frozen over, so all there was was a few black headed and common gulls. The woodland was reasonably busy though with all the common birds about, but the highlight was a couple of Goldcrest feeding amongst a large tit flock.

When i got home i did some washing up, and noticed a group of around 10 Redwing in next doors tree, 9 flew off leaving one which sat for quite a while, before following the rest when it realised it was alone.

First trip out 2011

2011-01-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a bit of a write off as i was at work most of the day, i did however see a flock of c30 Redwing, which were my first birds of 2011. By the end of the day i had 5 species on my year list!!!

Today though that number has shot up to 40. boosted in the morning when i was greeted with 7 species in my back garden, including the resident Coal Tit, which is always great to see. I topped up the food rations out there and then hopped on my bike for quite a cold ride to Holme Pierrepont.

I was hoping to see a smew or two, but unfortunately i was unsuccessful. I did however have a nice ride down there, and managed to see a nice set of species. On the moorings near the canoe course, there were 30 Lapwing, which i sort of knew were going to be there, but the expected Redshanks were absent. However, once i'd gone around the regatta, one flew overhead calling loudly as it went. Thats a good start to the year list, i didnt get Redshank until october in 2010!!!!

I thought i'd go and increase my list by visiting the reedbeds which i had been working on a few weeks back with the Wildlife Trust at their Skylarks reserve. I hoped to hear a water rail and even maybe see a Bittern (ha!) but i was unsucessful, however i did manage my first Greater Spotted Woodpecker of the year, and a handsome Common Buzzard which was sat in a tree. It may have been a juvenile or maybe just typically variable, as it had pale streaking on its chest, not unlike a female hen harrier. When i flew off i also made my exit, and went to check out the wildfowl and gulls on the regatta.

There were no smew, which was disappointing, but it was made better by the 2 drake and 8 female Goldeneye which showed well, amongst a host of other ducks, including 4 teal, 2 gadwall and several Pochard. The gulls were mostly black headed, but there were a few Commons inclusing a large 1st winter bird which had me guessing.

I'm currently at work, and i got one last tick of the day as i was walking in, the peregrine which roosts in town, lovley.

2010 IS OVER

2011-01-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

I have got hopelessly behind on my blog for 2010, so i am going to give it up and start fresh for the new year. I will however do a little round up of the year.

2010 was my first year PROPERLY birdwatching, in that I recorded pretty much everything i saw, wrote a blog, and generally watched birds a lot more seriously and often. I've made some friends and contacts along the way, learned a LOT about birds and the local area, and travelled to places that i otherwise would not have visited. It has also provided me with a source of regular exercise, in the form of my bicycle, without which i wouldn't do much birding at all (or it would cost me an arm and a leg). So in all i think its a pretty good hobby.

As i haven't recorded stuff properly before, this year gave me a whole host of lifers and year ticks, and a lot of birds which now seem familiar were new ones for me, even though i've more than likely set eyes on them before, just without taking an interest. Species as common as Whitethroat, Stock Dove and Hobby were all lifers for me this year, along with many others. Even birds like swifts and swallows now seem a lot more common to me, as although i had seen them before, i never noticed them quite as much as i do now. The same goes for birdsong, learning the calls of birds has switched me on and now it is something i notice every time i leave the house, even hearing pied wagtails on the rooftops in the city centre. Its made me a lot more perceptive!!!

So 2010 was a great year, with a grand total of 147 species on my year list, which although it contains a few dodgy escapees (ross's goose, white cheeked pintail, etc), Isn't a bad number at all, but not quite my 150 target!!!!

Highlight birds for me are

Bittern - Saw loads early in the year at various sites, and then have seen them return in the autumn at Attenborough and Holme Pit
Wildfowl - I regularly counted the wildfowl at Attenborough NR and a few other sites and will continue to do so, also seeing Goldeneyes and Sawbills (including a Red Breasted Merganser!!!) were particularly special.
Red Kite - A distant flyby at Attenborough, but a contender for bird of the year
Waders - Attenborough provided a good list of waders throughout the year for me, a group of birds i haven't really seen before, particular highlights were Greenshank, Little Ringed Plovers, Snipe and Common Sandpipers. the flock of lapwing at attenborough deserves a mention too - sometimes numbering 350 birds.
Brent Geese - I saw around 1200 of these at Frampton Marsh in October
Wild Swans - on NYE i managed to see my first Bewick's and Whooper Swans
WAXWINGS - After weeks of searching treetops, i finally connected with a small group (8) of these amazing birds in december. There's loads about so i'm hoping to see more.
Black Tern - A juvenile bird stayed for over a week at Attenborough this autumn, providing good photo oppurtunities. Also a couple of little terns earlier in the summer were great.
Raptors - i saw numerous Hobbies this year, which are incredible little birds, as well as nottinghamshires first recorded Breeding marsh harriers, Incredible. Peregrines kestrels buzzards and merlins all require a mention too, not to mention the Sparrowhawks i've seen.... thats nearly all of the common ones hahah!!!

theres loads more to mention and i can't pick a best, but its been a great year for me. I'm looking forward to what i'll see this year, especially as i am now a much more experienced birdwatcher and know where they might turn up.

i'll DEFINATELY get 150 this year!!!

Autumn Fungi

2010-11-28T14:29:00.001-08:00

I haven't been out fungi-hunting all that much this year, i think i overdid it last year so was a bit more laid back about it this time round. May have been down to the amount of birdwatching i've been doing too!

Anyway, i've collected together the best shots i took of fungi this autumn and put them all here.

Some sort of inkcap species, Coprinus, Skylarks NR

Tricholoma fulvum, Skylarks NR

Fairy-ring Champignons, Marasmius oreades, Holme Pierrepont

Horse Mushrooms, Agaricus arvensis, Holme Pierrepont

Russula sp., Skylarks NR

Russula sp., Skylarks NR

Yellow Stagshorn, Calocera viscosa, Clifton Woods

Clouded Funnel, Clitocybe nebularis, Wollaton. These are particularly big specimens!!!

Dead Man's Fingers, Xylaria polymorpha, Wollaton Park

Scalycap species , Pholiotia, Wollaton Park

Dessicated specimens of Psilocybe semilanceata, South Yorkshire

Unknown species, South Yorks

One found while volunteering at Besthorpe, Inocybe geophylla var. lilacana

Starling Roost, 20th October

2010-11-28T14:26:00.000-08:00

I decided visit the starling roost again a few days after seeing them first on the 15th. The light was a lot better so i could take some photos. Unfortunately it was also very very cold, and i had to sit for a long time in the arctic northwinds which had brought the temperature down a lot that week.
At around half past four, the first flocks began to come in and gather on the pylons. but it was very quiet for a while... i thought i was going to miss it this time around. However, as dusk was closing in, large flocks began moving in from all directions, and some starlings haad alrady begun their flocking ritual. It took a while, and was very cold, but eventually the starlings started 'whoosing' overhead and i managed to get some good in-flight shots. The mass cloud of starlings was as awesome as before, and i didnt mind too much that it felt like my fingers and toes would drop off, and this time there were more birds, perhaps around 4000, small in comparison to some flocks around the country! Again they twisted and turned before, just after 5 o clock the flock got sucked into the reeds and all fell quiet. Amazing!!!

Here's a few photos of the experience.

Starlings begin to arrive...

Gathering on the pylons...

Take off!

Flying over to flock

The final product (part of...)

...and into the reeds for the night!

October II

2010-11-27T05:42:00.000-08:00

Right, i'm just going to go through the last few weeks briefly, as i've fallen behind somewhat. Then hopefully i'll be able to update more regularly!!!

Went to attenborough on the 12th of october, sat in the delta hide for a bit, but didnt see the bittern again! Did however glimpse what was apparently a Merlin but didn't class it as an actual sighting as i would have put it down as a sparrowhawk if i wasnt told otherwise! Little else was about, but elsewhere i saw a pair of Marsh Tits, 6 sand martins (very late!), 6 skylark overhead (100th species for my attenborough list!) and a couple of Cetti's Warblers.

A poor record shot of the Marsh Tit, Attenborough

Next, i went to Netherfield Lagoons, where i saw 3 Golden Plovers, a first for the winter, several linnets, and lots of birds on 'vis mig', mainly common finches, but a Yellowhammer did pass through.

As the evening drew in i noticed a lot of starlings beginning to gather on the pylons, and took some photos, and went on my way. However, what i didn't know was that i was about to witness a wildlife spectacle! I noticed a few groups of starlings flying across towards the reedbeds, while more and more flocks were joining the roost on the pylon, coming from all directions. I clocked on that i might be about to see starlings flocking before coming to roost, and i was right. The birds gathered on the pylons, before in their own groups slowly joining the birds over the reedbeds. The sound of each flock flying overhead was amazing, and slowly their numbers began increasing. Eventually there was a large flock of around 3000 birds, ebbing and flowing into a miasma of shapes, flying high over the lagoons before flying low over the water. This lasted til darkness began to fall, and i watched them for around half an hour, before completely out of the blue, all of the starlings dived into the reedbed to roost for the night. It was as if someone had pulled a plug out of a sink and the starlings were sucked in. The noise and movement ceased entirely, leaving me with a cold dark bikeride home.

Gathering Starlings

Starting to flock

The flock almost in its full glory

A count here of around 1800 birds

The photos are a bit crap due to low light, but i went back a few days later, i'll post it next time.

I also visited Gedling Pit Top this month, where i was really looking for fungi, but i was pleasantly suprised with the bird-life here, as well as the incredible warm weather i was blessed with! The most obvious species at the pit were Skylarks, at first i just heard several singing, probably counting around 7 or 8, but on moving on to the north end of the tip, there was a large meadow which was crawling with them, probably around 50 birds in total, some allowing me to get some OK in-flight photos.

Skylarks in Flight

Also nice to see was a flock of Meadow Pipits which were noisily feeding on the ground and were easily spooked. I tried not to disturb them too much, but did manage to get a couple of stealthily taken shots. Several kestrels and green woodpeckers were also present, along with many goldfinches.

Meadow Pipits

The same day, i visited Wollaton Park, as i still had a couple of hours before work. There were lots of wildfowl on the lake, including an incredible 55 Gadwall, along with a handful of Wigeon, Pochard and Shoveler, as well as 3 Red Crested Pochard. I also got myself a big bag of sweet chestnuts, getting a spine from the casing under my fingernail in the process, not a nice feeling!!!

A late october visit to Clifton, after a hard days volunteering in the woods, was rewarded with a sighting of a couple of Stonechat, which were very hard to approach, along with 3 Marsh Tits, which is excellent as they haven't been recorded in the area for several years! Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were also noted feeding in a stubble field near Branshill wood.

Stonechat. Clifton

My final outing of the month was on a wonderful day on the 30th of october. The weather was beautiful and i had my first saturday off in ages, so i got on my bike for a 15 mile ride down the trent to Hoveringham. There were loads of birds to be seen on the way, the highlight definately being my first Fieldfares of the winter, with loads being seen in a field by the road near hoveringham village. At the gravel pits themselves there were large numbers of Gulls on the lake, mainly black-headed gulls, but there were also around 100 Common Gulls, and around 50 a-piece of Greater and Lesser Black-backed Gulls too. The highlight here however was thee huge group of around 200 Wigeon on the far side of the railway pit, along with a mix of other ducks, mostly consisting of Mallards and Tufties, but also with a few Pochard and a couple of Shelduck. Another fieldfare was seen atop a large tree, and there were lots of finches about too, mostly goldfinch, but also a few chaffinch and greenfinch. The small stands of reed were home to a few Reed Bunting too. It was a great day and what a good bike-ride, definately one to do again (especially if a Great Northern Diver appears here again like last year!!!)

A late Common Darter (30th oct)

Little Grebe, Colwick Park

October Update I

2010-10-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hello - its the end of october, and i'm only just writing up my notes of whats gone on this month - terrible. I went to bristol at the start of the month, went to cheddar briefly and managed to see a few meadow pipits and skylarks, but not much else. On coming back i had a trip to attenborough, i've decided to start visiting the delta hide more often now, as i've missed out on some great birds and photographic oppurtunities down there over the summer apparently.

We were sat watching the reedbed, with Cetti's warblers singing and reed buntings dipping in and out, when a large bird flew over the hide and into the trees behind the reedbed. Amazingly it was a tawny owl, being very bulky and too large for a sparrowhawk, which it was orginally thought to be. Good sighting. While waiting to see if it would return a Greater Spotted woodpecker was being very vocal in the trees, showing briefly.

Otherwise there were the usual birds about, including 3 snipe (these are a regular sighting nowadays!), a yellow legged gull on the pond near the visitors centre, and i also did my usual wildfowl count - 41 Gadwall, 40 Shoveler, 50 Teal, 61 Wigeon and 8 Common Pochard.

On the 10th of october i was at my parents house and as it was a nice day we decided (i decided!) to go to the RSPB reserve, Frampton Marsh. I'd read about this site and it has been consistently attracting excellent birds, many of which i'd not have the chance to see in Notts. It was very windy on the reserve which meant that there wasn't a lot of birds out in the open, but on walking round the marsh, i saw plenty of species.

We started at the visitor centre, where they have several scopes lined up, but the in-progress reedbed and freshwater pool habitat was a little quiet, with only a few mallards and other wildfowl about, although i did see what i'd anticipated seeing on the reserve, a few dark bellied (siberian) Brent Geese.

We wandered up to the wash, where a large embankment surrounds the reserve with the freshwater habitats on the left and on the right a huge landscape of saltmarsh and big skies. A small number of Redhank were heard flying over the saltmarshes but little else could be seen, as the sun was directly over the marsh.

Walking back to the reserve, more Redshank flew over calling loudly, and as the saltmarsh retreated into coastal grassland, more birds were seen. Around 40 Little egret were seen in the distance, but the real spectacle was the huge flock of Brent Geese, feeding in the grass, moving slowly to the east. There must have been over 1500 birds, and peppered inbetween, in the small pools around about were several small groups of Redshank. It was nice to see these waders, as they only occur very rarely in notts, but here they were abundant.

We went down to the series of hides around the freshwater marsh and reedbed, and there was a huge variety of birds around here. A few brent geese flew overhead, and there were groups of lapwings and lots of Teal and Shoveler from the first hide. Wandering over to the other hides, a greater diversity was seen, there were a lot of Black-tailed Godwits around feeding in the shallow water, as well as lots of wildfowl, redshank, shelduck, more egrets and lapwings.

On the ground just in front of the hide were a few cryptically plumaged birds - very hard to spot, my mum had to point them out to me. A few meadow pipits were there, enjoying a mud-bath, but there was another bird which was causing some id problems, not just with us but with other birders too. I thought it was a bunting of some sort, and when i got home the nearest i got was a juvenile Lapland Bunting. Unfortunately my camera had run out of battery so i couldnt get a 100% positive id, more like 99%!!! Elsewhere there were a number of linnets and goldfinches feeding on seedheads by the paths.

On the way back i had one last look in the visitor centre, where i managed to get a reasonably good look at a reasonably lazy duck - a sleeping Pintail.

Not a bad day then - 35 species, 2 lifers (brent, pintail), 1 possible lifer (lapland) and plenty of other good birds, definately a reserve i'll return too, hopefully with a fully charged camera next time!!!

Good news/Bad news

2010-10-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

The end of september really produced some amazing sightings/hearings of birds.

On the 21st i had a routine visit to attenborough, and i had a pretty good day, the wildfowl were still steadily increasing, with numbers of teal exceeding 80 birds, and shoveler and wigeon reaching around 50 individuals. There were 2 little egrets feeding in the clifton pond reedbeds too, as well as 6 red-crested Pochards throughout the reserve.

A surprise Toad at Attenborough

However the really amazing sighting of the day was my first ever Red Kite. I was walking towards the tower hide and had a quick look over the wheatear field, when i saw a large bird of prey. I originally thought it was a buzzard, but a look through my binoculars resulted in a view of the characteristic narrow wings, forked tail and wing patterns of Milvus milvus. A bird i've wanted to see for a long time, especially after writing about them for an assignment at uni, what a pleasure it was to randomly bump into such a majestic creature, albeit briefly, as it slowly glided away out of my vision and over the horizon. Its all very good seeing a new species when you know its going to be there - but to see it at your regular patch compeletely out of the blue is a different feeling - amazing!!!

The Attenborough Red Kite

Reports of a black tern at the reserve brought me back the next week, and on the way i noticed a field had been recently ploughed near the university of nottinghams sports fields in beeston. I decided to have a quick scan across the field to see if any buzzards were about, and was surprised to see a Peregrine sat in the mud. It remained almost motionless while i watched it and took a few distant photos, and i eventually left it, losing patience before it did. There were a few Bullfinch calling from the hedgerows too.

The cold weather had obviously made the wildfowl move on a bit, as there were not as many about, it was a rather grim misty cold day, and numbers were down. However i did see a few decent birds, including my first Common Gulls of the winter, with two birds nestled amongst a flock of black-heads. I went for a cigarette outside the tower hide and looked over the reedbed, when i saw something chasing a kingfisher. The kingfisher managed to get away, and i grabbed my bins and managed to clock onto what was chasing it - a lovely male Sparrowhawk. The bird landed on a post in the reedbed and i got a great view of it - i've only ever seen females properly and this was the best i'd seen of a male, showing his blue and orangey tones off well. He chased another kingfisher and missed again and alighted on another post further out, where i could still watch him when i pleased.

I moved onto the kingfisher hide to see what was on the feeders and was pleasantly surprised when from out of nowhere, the black tern 'terned up' (sorry). It repeatedly flew by the hide very quickly, making photographic oppurtunities difficult, although i did get a few shots before it flew off to the other side of the reedbed, before coming back around again. What a bird!

The best Black tern photo of Monday

I decided the next morning that i couldnt miss an oppurtunity to get some better shots of this bird, as i thought the weather was going to be better. It was marginally better, but still not ideal, but i did manage to get some good shots of this scarce migrant. In fact, as soon as i got to the clifton reedbed from the wet marsh path, i connected with the tern, flying right by me. It came past the little 'headland' over and over, sometimes flying within 10 metres, and even diving very close for food. What added to the experience was a Cetti's Warbler singing loudly from the reedbed, confirming my suspisions of hearing one a few weeks back.

Some (marginally) better shots of the Black Tern

Other highlights of the day were a shelduck, a snipe on the wing while watching the black tern, and a count of over 350 lapwing, what may well be a site record for me!

The bad news in the title relates to what i saw on the way back that day. From the beeston side of the river, i spotted something on the far bank of the trent in the clifton grove area. I thought at first that it might be a sparrowhawk or something resting by the river, but on closer inspection it turned out to be a dead bird of prey. I couldnt really make it out with a photo or my binoculars as the light was very poor, so i decided i'd go back the next day on the other side of the river.

Hard to make out (heavily cropped)

I rode down to clifton grove and quickly located where i had seen the bird, scrambling through some thick understorey in the trees. I then managed to find the bird easily, and it turned out to be a tawny owl. This was not a particularly nice experience, in fact it was rather upsetting, as the bird had clearly caught its wing in a large quantity of fishing line, and had struggled to break free. Becoming exhausted, the poor animal had obviously given up and it had no option but to drown in the water of the Trent, as its weight beared it down on the branch of the tree.

A sad end....

This shows the worst of what can happen when people discard fishing tackle or litter in the countryside, and although it isnt that common a sighting, i have heard of other birds being caught in the same situation. Apparently this image is going to be used on a Wildlife Trust poster to warn anglers of the consequences of discarding tackle, but whether it will make any difference i dont know.

And there we have it, that wraps up september, not exactly on a good note. The year list stands at 131, or 132 if i count hearing a cetti's - but i won't count it properly until i finally lay eyes upon one!!!

September II

2010-10-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

On coming back from Bristol, i decided to go to Attenborough on my bike on the friday. It was pretty uneventful although the wildfowl numbers had risen again, with good numbers of teal (c60), Shoveler (30), Gadwall and a small number of Gadwall and Pochard. Also saw a Yellow-legged Gull and a Shelduck, and over 200 Lapwing were present. On the way down by the trent there was a few birds about including a Kestrel and a Kingfisher at Beeston weir, along with several swallows, Whitethroat and even 2 Jays.

What followed after the weekend was a very 'cliftony' week. I had a busy weekend at work so on sunday evening after work, i had a ride down to clifton. There had been reports of various 'good' birds around the area, so i wanted to pick up on some of these, notably whinchat, redstart and hobby. The nights however are drawing nearer, so i didnt get much time to have a proper look around, although i did connect with several hobbies over the meadow between the rough wood and branshill, as well as a chiffchaff and a flock of over 4o House martins around the same location.

A hobby at Dusk

I was volunteering at clifton woods on wednesday so i decided to go and look for the Whinchats again, covering all the relevant habitats, but once again they remained elusive to me!!! It was quiet in the area, without much flying about, although in the stubble field opposite branshill i did flush 2 Red-legged Partridge and a flock of around 30 Skylark. There were plenty of raptors about too, including four of the resident Buzzard, as well as a couple of Kestrel and 3 Hobbies in various locations.

Buzzard

Somehow it ended up being thursday and once again i was on my way to clifton, this time with a couple of friends who had decided they wanted to go for a walk down there. We had a good day out, seeing loads of buzzards (must have been over 6 birds, many were spotted in several locations but could have been 'repeats'). We also saw 2 kestrel, one hunting low over a field, the other sitting on a telephone wire, being dwarfed by the woodpigeon it sat alongside. The Skylark were feeding in the stubble field again, this time in slightly greater numbers - around 50 birds. A huge flock of geese were seen to rise from the trent and presumably fly towards attenborough or Long eaton gravels, but there were an estimated 800 birds in the flock, awesome to see and hear!

One of Thursday's many Buzzards

Woodpigeon dwarfing a Kestrel.

September Update I

2010-09-28T02:52:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this on the 28th of september, showing exactly how far behind i am with updating this blog as usual. September has been another good month, although signs of migration have slowed somewhat, with not much of interest appearing at my usual patch. However i have seen some good birds, along with plenty of other wildlife.

Coot, Colwick Park

Cormorants, Tufted Ducks and Coot, Colwick Park

The first week of september follows on from my previous week of birding, and i went down to Netherfield Lagoons, as it is now reasonably close for me to bike to. Last time i went i was a bit unimpressed as i didnt see much against the sun shining on the surface of the lake, but this time i went a little earlier on and so the sun was behind me, allowing me to get excellent views of the lagoon. I was hoping to see something out of the ordinary as there has been an almost consistent range of interesting passage waders dropping in over the last few weeks, but i didnt actually see anything like that. It was still good to sit in the sunshine on a bench, with my scope at perfect height overlooking the best part of the lagoon (a well placed bench indeed).

Colour-ringed Racing Pigeon, Colwick Lock

There was a lot of wildfowl on the lake along with many lapwings, so i decided to attempt a count of the wildfowl there. There were around 20 Gadwall, 22 Shoveler, 23 Teal and only 2 Pochard. The shovelers were still in eclipse plumage so i had to pretty much go on bill shape, but this was easy enough in the light. I also counted over 180 Lapwing - a good number - between here and attenborough it provides nottingham with a good population of these red list birds - i wonder where else there might be good flocks.

Otherwise there were loads of Black Headed Gulls, around 10 Lesser Black Backs with a couple of 1st winter birds, and 6 Little Grebe. Away from the lagoon there was plenty of Swallows and House martins, which roost under the railway bridge and hunt low over the trent, and a Kingfisher was heard on the river too.

Swallows, Netherfield Lagoons

I headed back round the 'deep lagoon' to make my way home, and on the way heard a green woodpecker, and a scan of the scrubland to the south produced several Blackcap and Whitethroat. A buzzard was seen circling in the distance as well as a Sparrowhawk, hunting low over the scrub.

After this trip i didnt go birding for a while, and then at the weekend i went down to visit some friends in Bristol. I always get excited at going to different parts of the country though, as it means i might get the chance to see some new birds (haha!). We did actually go down to Portishead on the Bristol Channel, and had a walk down the 'beach'. To my joy, i found that the beach was host to loads of waders! Living in Nottingham, waders are few and far between so this was to be a great oppurtunity.

Portishead 'beach'.

The first thing i noticed was a large wader down at the shoreline, it was far away but after looking for a while and zooming in on a distant photograph, i was able to confirm it as my first ever Curlew (although i have heard them before). Walking along the beach, i was actually able to see a lot more of these birds both feeding on the shore and a few in flight, and i even got to hear their awesome noises too.

A distant Curlew

Further down the beach we disturbed a group of small waders, which turned out to be Turnstone, another lifer and a bird i've been wanting to see for a while (these were the most numerous waders there), and there were a few Little Egrets flying about too. Further along still and there were loads of birds at the end of the beach. More Curlews, lots of Turnstones and a load of Gulls, as well as my years first Redshanks, and a lot more small waders which were just too far away to ID.

Turnstones

Very pleased with how the day went with a load of excellent birds, and a bloody good laugh too (even with a hangover), and the trip away was topped off by a trip to Bristol Zoo where i got some great pics of Little Egrets, Redshank and Inca Terns.

Captive Little Egret, Bristol Zoo

Captive Redshank, Bristol Zoo

Inca Tern, Bristol Zoo

Chiloe Wigeon, Bristol Zoo

Last August Update + Ticklist

2010-09-24T02:18:00.000-07:00

After spending a quiet weekend on my own while everyone i knew was away, i took a trip to holme pierrepont on the 30th, to go and collect more fruit from the trees, although i had just made 6 jars of jams and jellies that weekend. Holme pierrepont is a strange one, it has brought a good amount of rarities into the area but whenever i go it doesnt seem great. I guess its because a lot of the 'wilder' areas are more difficult to get to so you cant really see anything. However the 'finger ponds' at the end are reasonably good and there is a lot of scrub there which attracts a lot of warblers and tits. Today there were plenty of Chiffchaffs, Blue tits and Long Tailed Tits. A couple of Gadwall were sitting on the lake and as i looked across the lakes a Kingfisher swiftly zoomed away in the opposite direction. I collected lots of berries and was just making my way back when in a clearing i caught glimpse of a raptor cutting through the air. It turned out to be a Hobby and i got amazing views of it for a short while as it was hunting the numerous dragonflies that frequent the area. I truly believe the Wildlife Trust should buy this area as it has the potential to become an excellent nature reserve.

Hobby - Holme Pierrepont

On the last day of august i had another routine trip to Attenborough. It seemed a lot quieter than usual today but as always i kept patient and ended up getting a good list, and i spent some time with some very friendly birders and we saw some good stuff. A group of 5 Buzzards were circling over branshill wood in the distance, and closer to home, the reedbeds in clifton pond were also teeming with birdlife. A lot of geese dominated again, along with a count of around 200 Lapwing. Winter duck numbers were still quite low, with only a handful of shoveler and Teal on the lake, but there were over 20 Gadwall dotted around, along with a couple of Pochard.

As has been the case over the last few weeks, the kingfishers were very active, feeding from the fenceposts around the reeds and chasing each other down the channels. 4 different individuals were counted. There were a few herons dotted around, with a couple of juveniles feeding in the channels, hunting crayfish. This has been a common sight over the last few weeks. One Little Egret was still present, its bright white feathers gleaming in contrast to the dark water. Also of note were the 2 Snipe which were seen poking their long needle like bills into the soft mud, searching for any invertebrate unfortunate enough to get in the way.

There were still a few migrants about today, including quite a few common terns. This would be the last time i'd see thesee birds until next year. There were a small number of swallows too. One of the guys i was with commented that a couple of the terns that flew in were very small, so we located them on an island very far away and pondered over them for a while. The general consensus was that these two birds were Little Terns!!! Compared to a common tern they were about half the size, and although it was difficult at such a distance, we agreed that they indeed had yellow bills. Amazing, a lifer and a pretty rare migrant for notts!!!

So thats august wrapped up! What a month! New birds for the 2010 list for august include

Barn Owl
Little Tern
Black Tern
Snipe
Greenshank
Garden Warbler

5 out of 6 of them are lifers. And the barn owl is particularly special too. A good months birding - the list stands at 127 - only 23 to go til my target!!!

August Update 3

2010-09-20T04:36:00.001-07:00

After the excellent day at attenborough i went to Boomtown Fair festival so no birding for a few days and then the week i got back, i didnt feel too great so didnt do too much birding, although i went foraging a bit instead. Went to colwick park, but didnt really see anything spectacular, and visited holme pierrepont a couple of times but again didnt really see anything worth noting. Did get plenty of blackberries though!!!

That weekend i went back to lincolnshire, and went to my parents house. Went for a drive on the sunday evening with my dad in the open top sports car, which was very nice and we had the pleasure of seeing a Barn Owl close to one of the country roads we were driving down. Over the sunday and monday at my parents house i spent a lot of time in the garden, seeing quite a few birds in the process. There were a lot of House Martins flying over the house over the 2 days often being very vocal, along with a few swallows. At one point a Hobby flew over, presumably attracted by these hirundines. also of note were good numbers of house sparrows and collared doves, and at a single sparrowhawk flew over the house at one point, being mobbed by the martins. A nice birdy stay at the parents!!!

House Sparrow in Sleaford

Collared Doves in Sleaford

Now my bike was fixed it meant i could finally get out and about again so that tuesday i took a ride down to attenborough for the first time since i've moved. It was ridiculously windy and at one point i thought about turning back as i was riding headlong into winds around 20mph! The wind meant that there was not much to see in the air or out in the open, but i still managed to get 39 species that day.

Grey Heron, Attenborough

The main thing that i noticed when i got to the tower hide was that there was a lot more wildfowl about and summer migrants were starting to disappear. There were a few common terns about, as well as my first confirmed Black Tern. There were loads of geese, about 400 greylag and nearly as many Canadas, plus one ross's goose. Duck numbers were building too, with around 50 gadwall, 2 wigeon, about 10 shoveler and about 7 teal. There was also around 350 lapwing, 2 kingfisher and 4 snipe!

The usual mix of tame wildfowl were around the visitor centre, but interestingly there was a tame female shelduck, taking advantage of the free seed dropped by the visitors.

Egyptian Goose and Female Shelduck, Attenborough Visitor Centre

The next day was a lot less windy and i made my way down the other side of the trent to clifton grove. I managed to get 46 species today. On the weir field there were lots of passerines in the brambles, mainly chaffinch whitethroat and goldfinch, but there was also a notable number of linnet about too. A look down over the trent produced a sighting of a kingfisher, and then a bird was seen flying quickly up towards the weir. I quickly made my way up to the weir and was surprised to see it was a green sandpiper - only the 3rd to be sighted in the area. I waited around to see if it would reappear but it must have gone into hiding as i failed to relocate the bird. While waiting however i did see a couple of Sedge Warblers in some reeds next to the river.

I made my way across to the woods, and took a walk down to branshill moor to see if i could find a hobby. En route i took a look in the hedgerows between branshill and the rough wood, which is a top quality bit of habitat, often attracting a good mix of species. It proved itself as usual, as in one oak tree which overhangs the hedgerow i was able to see 7 species, chiffchaff, blackcap, whitethroat, long tailed tit, blue tit, chaffinch and most interesting of all, my first treecreeper of the area. After this i walked onto the moor and almost instantly spooked a Hobby, which flew away over the fields. I wandered over the moor to try and relocate it, and saw it once again as i got closer to the ponds. It was flying up and down the ponds on the edge of the wood very low, presumably hawking dragonflies. A juvenile buzzard in a dead tree seemed to be watching it with me.

Whitethroat, Clifton

After this there wasnt much else to see so i wandered back down to my bike, stopping off at holme pit where the only thing of note was several reed warblers at the cow-drink end of the lake.

Chaffinch, Clifton

August Update, Part 2!

2010-09-02T03:33:00.000-07:00

After a stressful moving house episode, i had a day to myself. No bike this time as on my birthday i got a puncture and havent had the time or money to buy a new inner tube as the other one was shredded!!

I got on the bus instead and went to my fave patch, attenborough. i actually had an amazing day there, probably the best days birding i've had in months!

It actually started quite badly, i got off the bus and what had been a recently nice day turned nasty as i heard the rumbling of thunder in the distance. I pressed on and had a wander over to the visitor centre, but there wasn't much about. I made my way over the main bridge and headed down to take a look at the tween pond scrape. There were the usual collection of lapwing, geese and cormorants. I caught a glimpse of an odd looking tern sat amongst the lapwings and initially thought it was a Black tern but on looking in my book, i saw that it was just a common tern going into winter plumage, this was confirmed later when i saw some similar birds from the tower hide. However i did get a view of a couple of Shelduck, my first for a while, and a bird i always like to see.

Then the rain came down, it threw it down for about 10 minutes and then it stopped for a bit, so i wandered out from my cover, had a short look across the wheatear field, before it PROPERLY threw it down, the heaviest rain i've been in for a while! I stood under a few willow trees which provided a little cover and waited for it to pass. It eventually did, and i continued my walk. On route to the Kingfisher hide, a glance through my bins resulted in me seeing a group of reed bunting flitting about with some Long tailed tits in a group of trees near the path.

At the kingfisher hide i saw the usual collection of small passerines at the feeder, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Blue tit, Great tit and about 8 Tree Sparrows. Nothing much was seen across the lake, but in the reedbeds opposite i did see an odd wader, which i thought might have been a greenshank, but it then disappeared, only to be replaced by a Green Sandpiper, cracking views!!!

I then made my way over to the tower hide, where i spent about 2 hours looking out over thee reedbeds. At first it was a bit quiet, with a few Little egrets showing well, feeding in the soft mud, and a few very vocal kingfishers making themselves known! A lad next to me pointed out a snipe to me, which is a bird i've been after for ages - a bit of a 'bogey' for me - so i was very excited to see this wonderful little bird, even though it was mostly just sat around sleeping. The same lad said he saw a greenshank, but i looked through my scope and it proved to be another Green Sandpiper.

Then the rain came again! It threw it down for about 15 minutes, moving the snipe on, and making it hard to see anything, although the large flock of canada and greylag geese (with the escaped ross's) seemed to enjoy a shower. However, after the rain, everything suddenly woke up. The egrets fed frantically, and i saw 8 out all together at once, which was excellent. The snipe made a reappearance in the next channel along, this time feeding in full view. The green sandpiper also reappeared, feeding in the same spot as before, but best of all, i finally got my first confirmed sighting of the Greenshank which i thought i'd seen earlier on. It fed for well over 20 minutes out in the open in the channel to the right of the hide, swallowing crayfish whole and giving excellent views.

At one point, i had my scope lined up so in a horizontal 180 degree arc i could move it along and get a view of a couple of egrets, then a kingfisher, then the snipe, then the sandpiper, finishing off on the greenshank. Best 180 degrees i've ever had in that scope!!! The kingfishers remained vocal and i counted 3 seperate birds across the reedbeds.

I soon grew hungry and fancied getting out of my wet clothes, so i decided to leave before the rain started again. On the way back i got my first ever view of a Garden Warbler, feeding in a hawthorn bush with a willow warbler.

What a Day!!!

August update, part 1

2010-09-02T02:42:00.000-07:00

As i haven't updated for the whole of august, i'll be doing a month update in seperate parts, as there's quite a lot! here goes then, part one!

My first trip out this month was to clifton grove on the 3rd of august. Had a good bike ride down the trent to get there, and i stopped about half way for a rest next to the river. As i was sat by the river, something caught my eye, a female sparrowhawk. I got my best ever views of one of these birds, as she hovered and dipped over the river, obviously trying to catch something, before landing on the opposite bank briefly, only to be chased off by a group of common terns. I got some shots, but as she was so quick i had to use manual focus and they didnt turn out very well... this is the best one (cropped and tweaked!)

At the patch itself there was a fair bit to see. In the brambles and on the seedheads of all the summers flowers, there were plenty of passerines, most notably whitethroats and reed buntings. On the crops (potatoes i think) which now cover the weir field there was a single juvenile yellow wagtail, which was making a racket, and again this is the best view of this species that i've had.

There were lots of birds in the hedges near the riverside chalets, mostly finches and sparrows, and as i walked round the field, there was a large group (50+) of swallows feeding over the field and coming to rest on the telephone wires. Also on this lane were a charm of goldfinches, feeding on the fluffy seedheads of the thistles on the verges. There must have been close to a hundred.

Walking on towards the woods again, i heard the unmistakeable caw of a Buzzard, and a large adult bird was located in the middle of a field on a hawthorn bush, calling loudly. I soon found out why, as there were 3 juveniles in the area, and another adult was seen on the ground amidst some long grass, presumably hunting for worms. I got great views of one of the juveniles flying above me, and experienced for the first time an odd contact call which sounded not dissimilar to a gull.

The next day was my birthday! I decided as everyone was at work to go on another bike ride, so i went to attenborough in hope of spotting some more passage migrants. I havent actually got much of a record of what i saw today so will have to try and remember. The highlight of the day was probably coming across a common tern on the overflow bridge which had decided to alight there to get out of the rain. it stayed put long enough for me to get a couple of decent shots, despite it tipping it down.

All was reasonably quiet down at the tower hide (apart from unruly kids closing all the windows and a very laissez-faire nana, who wouldnt tell them to calm down). After these left however i managed to get some peace and quiet and managed to finally get some decent views of a green sandpiper! There were also several little egrets about, and also a juvenile heron which has been seen on every visit recently, feeding on crayfish in the shallow water. There must be thousands of these as everytime i go down the egrets herons and gulls seem to be gorging themselves on these invasive crustaceans.

After my birthday i didnt go birding for over a week as there was celebrating to be done (mine and my friends birthday) and then i was moving house, very very stressful!!! Part 2 coming up!!!

JULY UPDATE

2010-08-25T00:11:00.000-07:00

yes a july update at the end of august. yet again i''ve been a bit lazy with the old blog (been very busy moving house and festival-ing though).

July was the month of the bike, which allowed me to get out and about more often, without having to pay for buses, with the added bonus of being able to go a little further afield. This has resulted in me going on many excursions, but i've found i've been doing less general birding and just looking for rarities at certain hides, etc, as i've just been riding past a lot of areas.

However it has been an excellent month and i have seen a fair few new species, including some 'lifers'.

Here's the new ones:

Corn Bunting - a special sighting for me as i've known about the location of these birds for ages but never been able to get there. Listening to their song reminded me of when i first saw these in spain (in great numbers), good to see this declining bird in notts
Grey Partridge - As i was in the same bit of farmland that supported the corn buntings, i spooked off a covey of these birds, around 9 in total. good to see as this is another red list species
Black Tailed Godwit - I've only seen one of these before, back in october at attenborough. A look on the reserves website told of several of these amongst little egrets so i popped down. Got stunning views of this bird just coming out of summer plumage. Pretty much marks the start of autumn migration too :)
Marsh Harrier - The first of 3 new birds i saw in one day at the outstanding Langford Lowfields reserve. A guided walk to see Nottinghamshires first ever breeding pair was successful in giving us the chance to see these majestic birds, patrolling the extensive reedbeds in search of prey to feed their young. Excellent lifer!
Hobby - Again at Langford, we saw a couple of these birds, including one which gave excellent views as it hawked dragonflies from around the reedbeds. I've now seen a number of these amazing little raptors.
Yellow Wagtail - the last of the 'Langford 3'. Only got very fleeting views of this species, around 4 or 5 juveniles hopping around in a shrub over one of the waterways at the reserve. Made up for these poor views by seeing one at close (ish) range at clifton a couple of weeks later.
Yellow Legged Gull - Only seen this species once back in spain and i've always been on the lookout here in england as they often turn up here and there. Reports have increased of late and while out at Attenborough i got a very distant view of one sitting atop the dead tree in the tween pond while sitting in the tower hide
Green Sandpiper - Been out looking for these for a while but always came back having only seen common sands (which isnt a problem!), while at attenborough with a host of other birders however, i was allowed a view of one in a scope. However it was very far away and i had to take the mans word for it. I've seen several since however and they are really excellent little waders!

So thats it then, the list stands at the end of july at 121 birds so far this year. Not too shabby and getting very close to the target of 150 - i've already got a few new ones for august... watch this space!!!

Other highlights included

- Watching a Hobby attack hirundines near Netherfield Lagoons

- The Buzzards raising a new family at Clifton

- Hundreds of Lapwing at Attenborough, counts of over 200

- A trip to Clumber, really need to go back - excellent spot

- Lots of Little Egrets and Common Sandpipers at Attenborough

- A female Sparrowhawk hunting over the Trent near beeston

And probably much more.........

Netherfield lagoons, 31st July

2010-08-04T02:53:00.000-07:00

On saturday i decided the best hangover cure was to get on my bike and go to netherfield lagoons, i didn't know when i left that it was an 18-mile round trip! It was worth it though as i passed through colwick park on the way so saw plenty of wildlife.

I stopped at the marina at colwick for a breather and was rewarded with the sight of a Kingfisher flying past only a few metres away. There was also a pair of Great Crested Grebes with one juvenile, i hoped to get a picture of the little one but it wouldn't come out far enough so i just made do with the adults!

At the sluice there were quite a lot of Sand Martins and a few Swallows that i watched for a while. On the main lake near the bund were plenty of gulls and i also got a few shots of a Moorhen feeding her young.

I moved on to Netherfield Lagoons, which is a good site which throws up a few county rarities quite often and recently there has been an influx of passage migrants which i'd hoped to see including redshanks and greenshanks. Unfortunately my telescope isn't quite good enough to get clear views of the main area of interest at the lagoons as it is quite far from the path, as once you zoom past 20x magnification things get a bit blurry - i guess you get what you pay for!!! The sun glistening off the water didn't really help either. I did get views of lots of Lapwing, a good number of Gulls, mainly black-headed but a few Lesser blackbacks too, and there was also a Pochard sitting amongst the mallards too. There may have been something else in there of interest but i couldnt see it!

Other birds of note were a Willow Warbler which was singing near the path, a Green Woodpecker and a few Blackcaps. The highlight of the day however was watching hundreds of Swallows and House Martins feeding over the trent near the railway bridge. All of a sudden they flocked together and started screeching, the cause being a Hobby coming in to hunt, i watched it for a while but it kept disappeearing from view, and eventually it must have flown off. Very good to see though! A flock of Canada Geese also flew through.

There was also a lot of Teasel in flower, which had attracted a lot of 6-spot Burnet moths, a few Common Blue butterflies, and loads of Bees, including this very large one, not sure what it is but it was over an inch long!

A better day!

2010-07-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

Decided that the best time to see these birds at Attenborough is probably in the morning, so i got back on my bike at 7.30am and got to attenborough about 8.30. I went straight to the tower hide and ended up spending about an hour and a half in there.

Just as i was getting to the hide, i heard the unmistakeable trill off a Grasshopper Warbler, so i cupped my ears trying to locate the bird, but as they are such good 'ventriloquists' it was difficult, but then i spotted a couple of blokes down the path with a scope and ventured over. I was rewarded with excellent (45x) views of the 'gropper' in full song, brilliant!

Back to the hide and i wanted to get some sights of some of the interesting birds which have been about. Going up the steps i saw an interesting gull on top of the dead tree in the middle of the tween pond scrape, so in the hide i got my scope out and laid eyes on my first UK sighting of a Yellow legged gull! One down!

the hide soon filled up and i was restricted to one side looking over the wheatear field, while everyone else was pointing out interesting birds that i couldn't get views of the other side! I bided my time though, and in the meantime got excellent views of a couple of kestrels, both females, perhaps juveniles. Also of note were loads of Lapwing (as is the norm at the moment!), several whitethroat still active amongst the brambles, and the gropper was still going crazy.

Once a space opened up the other side, i moved across and scanned the reedbed and clifton pond. There were a good number of Little Egrets to be seen, 6 being the most in view at one time. A female Sparrowhawk sped past the hide with prey in talons, spooking a few Lapwing. I also got a distant view of my first Green Sandpiper, and one came in closer later on. Another nicee surprise was a solitary Wigeon which was milling about near the main island, the first of the season! A common sandpiper was also seen.

Much better today then! I wish i could have stayed a bit longer as there was meant to be a weather system moving in which could have brought in a few migrants, but i guess i can go back any time really!

Wasn't to be...

2010-07-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well just got back from attenborough and didnt see much! the hides were just being shut when i got there.... 4pm seems early in the summer.

I saw 2 common sandpipers, which i wasnt sure of as i knew there were greens about, but i think in all honesty it was commons, as they were quite light in colour... not sure though!!! One little egret was present tonight, a kingfisher was seen near the trent and there were around 200 lapwings about. As for the yellow-legged gull... not sure i took a picture and i'll get some second opinions but its probably just a lesser black backed!

A couple of 'dips'

2010-07-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

After getting home after whisby, i checked the notts birdwatchers website and came across a few interesting sightings...

Clumber Park - GREAT WHITE EGRET
- this i had to see, but alas no money til friday so this would have to wait, so instead i looked closer to home

Attenborough NR - DUNLIN, GREEN SANDPIPER, REDSHANK
- the first two i've never seen and i dipped on seeing a dunlin in may this year at the same site, the redshank i've only ever seen abroad

So the next morning i hopped on my bike and made my way to attenborough, however it wasn't to be, and none of the aforementioned birds were there. it wasn't a fruitless trip though, as i got excellent views of 2 Little Egrets, over 200 Lapwing, a reeling grasshopper warbler, and a male kestrel which was causing some ID problems in the hide due to its positioning and the wind ruffling up its feathers. I was disappointed not to see the waders, but it was nice to go.

With wages in my pocket, and the Great White Egret having been spotted again on thursday, i got up early friday morning and got a train to worksop, from where i had a gruelling bikeride to clumber park to see this bird. I had trouble deciding which bridge was the 'ornamental' one which was in the description of the birds location, and ended up circling the entire lake before realising that it was in fact Clumber Bridge, which is where i'd started anyway, as there were a group looking down telescopes for the bird. Unfortunately, despite looking for nearly two hours, the closest i got to a Great White Egret was a Grey heron.... Typical.

It was nice to visit the park though and i'll be returning soon as its a hotspot for birds, and on this trip i did see some nice species, such as Yellowhammers, Treecreepers, Nuthatch, Linnet, Kestrel, buzzard and on the farmland at the far end of the park were many birds in the hedgerows, mostly made up of greenfinch, goldfinch, house sparrow and linnet, with a few yellowhammers singing away too. The reedbeds in the 'wetland' was home to many Reed warblers and Buntings too.

Now as i write i'm about to go to attenborough again, as i've seen that the following birds are present

- Little ringed plover
-little egret
-black tailed godwit
-common sandpiper

and more interestingly (for me)
-KNOT
-GREEN SANDPIPER
-RUFF(!)
-SNIPE
-DUNLIN
-YELLOW LEGGED GULL

lets hope i see at least one!

Mid July Update

2010-07-22T04:09:00.000-07:00

Not really done a lot of birding lately, as its quieter at the moment, so i've been looking at butterflies and dragonflies a bit more. However the birding i have done has been pretty good.

I've been fishing a bit which has allowed me to see a fair bit of wildlife, and while i was at the trent last week, i saw 3 Kingfishers going up and down the river and perching in some overhanging branches on the far bank. There was also a Common Sandpiper that kept popping up every now and again. Black Headed gulls and Common Terns were also in abundance.

On Sunday the 18th i had the chance to go to a developing RSPB reserve called Langford Lowfields, about 6 miles out of newark, so i hopped on the train with my bike and went down. The reserve isn't open to the public for another 7 years (!) and the RSPB have been managing it since 1998, so the only way to go round is via a guided walk with the warden. The theme of the walk revolved around the Marsh Harriers which have been breeding there this year (a first for nottinghamshire), and we got incredible views of these handsome raptors, both male and female out hunting and flying together over the extensive reedbeds. We didn't get to see a food-pass though, which was a little disappointing but they nearly did it!

One of the developments at Langford Lowfields

Along with the harriers, i also got another 2 lifers, 3 Hobby, one of which gave excellent views as it was hunting near the marsh harriers, and a small group of juvenile Yellow Wagtails which were flitting about over one of the waterways. To top it off we also saw a Buzzard, heard a turtle dove and had sightings of 3 Oystercatcher and a Little Egret (3rd time i've seen them now this year!!!) In all it was a great day and it will be great to see the reserve when it opens, as it is still a working quarry for the most part, but eventually the RSPB will take over the whole place and it will form the largest reedbed habitat in the midlands, i look forward to it very much and feel lucky to have seen it in its early stages of development.

The Marsh Harrier Reedbed

I visited some friends in lincoln on tuesday night and the next day i hopped over to Whisby Nature Park, a Wildlife Trust reserve on the outskirts of lincoln, as i've wanted to visit for a while. It was largely quiet across most of the reserve, away from the main lakes, and aside from a few warblers (Reed, Willow, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Blackcap) there wasn;t much birdlife. However in the main lakes the tern and gull colonies were making themselves heard, and i got some quality views of both juvenile Common terns and Black Headed Gulls.

Also seen were around 40 Lapwing flying over the 'Grebe Lake' and coming to land amongst the terns, and i saw 2 Oystercatcher on the reserve too. There were a lot of butterflies about, but more on that next post :)

New bike = More birds!!!

2010-07-12T03:28:00.000-07:00

Picked up a new bike last monday, and have been out on it nearly every day since. Its great as i need not spend money getting to all my patches now on the bus and can also travel a little further afield.

Wildflower meadow at Branshill Moor

For example on tuesday i biked down to Clifton, but managed to explore other areas of the patch, such as the farmland to the south of the village. This was rewarded by my first ever UK sightings of Corn Buntings, which are very rare in nottinghamshire and barton lane is one of the best areas to see these birds. It was lovely to hear them again after last hearing them in southern spain in 2009. I also saw my first Grey Partridges of 2010, flushing around 10 of them from the corn in one of the fields.

Comma Butterfly at Clifton Woods

I also spent a little bit of time in my usual patch at clifton, seeing several Buzzards, the Red Tailed Hawk over Branshill Wood, and Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings at holme pit, along with the family of Swans which were still going strong.

On wednesday i biked down the beeston canal to Attenborough, after hearing reports of a Little Egret that had taken up residence there. I didn't see the bird until i was leaving, as it was feeding in the reeds on Clifton Pond, but i got good views of this rare visitor to notts. I also saw a Black-tailed Godwit in the same area, and got some cracking views of it, the first i've seen since last october when a bird was resident in the wet marsh at the same reserve. Also saw a couple of Oystercatchers over beeston lock.

Thursday i biked to holme pierrepont, just for the ride really, but did manage to get a few shots of the Greylags which were feeding with their young there. There were also plenty of Swallows, Blackcaps and Common Terns about, and i briefly saw a Buzza rd too.

And heres a Wasp drinking from my parents bird bath, presumably to help make a nest

Arnot hill park

2010-07-08T03:13:00.000-07:00

Had a quick visit to arnot hill park the other day, while having a bit of a day out with me mate. The pond was busy with waterfowl, and i saw a few dowdy-looking Red Crested Pochards, lots of coots and moorhens, lots of tufted duck with little cute ducklings, and a surprise sighting of an eclipse-plumaged Shoveler.

Juvenile Coot

Eclipse-plumage Shoveler Male

Tufted Duck(ling)

New Camera!

2010-07-08T02:57:00.000-07:00

I've just finished uni with a 2.2 in Wildlife Conservation, and my lovely parents have given me a new camera!! Its a Canon 40d, heaps better than my old one, which has served me well indeed. I took it out for a spin in the farmland around their house, where i saw Yellowhammers, Whitethroats and Linnets, among other things. Here's a few photos i managed to get.

Common tern, Attenborough

2010-07-08T02:46:00.000-07:00

I shared with two policemen cracking views of a Common Tern fishing only metres away from the bridge we were on when i was at Attenborough on the 25th of June. I didn't really get the photo i was aiming for, but it was good practice nonetheless, not to mention a great sight. The policemen enjoyed it too!

June Photos

2010-07-07T04:00:00.001-07:00

Grey Heron, Attenborough

Collared Dove, Rainham Marshes

Juvenile Pied Wagtail, Rainham Marshes

Marsh Frog, Rainham Marshes

Herring Gull, Camden Lock

Juvenile Blue Tit, Colwick Park

Chaffinch, Colwick Park

Juvenile Robin, Colwick Park

Moorhen Juveniles, Colwick Park

Great Crested Grebe, Colwick Park

Stock Dove, Attenborough

Woodpigeon in my garden

Swan and cygnets, Holme Pit

JUNE update

2010-07-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

So i've lost a lot of notes, not been very organised and now i wish i had been, as i can't properly see what i've observed over june. Oh well, i'll just have to be more vigilant in july!

The ticklist hasn't really increased ever so much, but this is to be expected at this time of year, however it has increased by 5 species, some of which i was very happy to see.

Linnet - i've seen a few of these now, always paired up in farmland habitat! Typical! Nice too as its the first time i've seen them in the UK
Red-legged partridge - seen at clifton on the weir field and down south near bristol. UK firsts too
Little egret - Loads of these white herons at RSPB rainham marshes in essex - very happy to see these, another UK first, but special to me as i've wanted to see one for ages
Ring necked parakeet - A lifer for me, quite odd to see these in britain, but they seem very happy and established in the trees at hampstead heath, where i saw them
Red Tailed Hawk - this vagrant bird has been at clifton for ages but has always eluded me, i have finally seen it now, but it was while i was at attenborough nature reserve where i scoped it from the tower hide.

So now the list stands at 113 species! not too bad, although 9 are vagrants/escapees.

Can't quite remember much about what else i saw this month, but i went to clifton and attenborough a few times, as well as colwick park. I've gone out on a lot of 'non-birding' walks this month, hence all the invertebrate photos, but i've been out looking at flowers too. i also had a good couple of days birding in london and rainham marshes.

Most of the trips out have been dominated by sightings of juvenile birds, especially swans geese and ducks, but i have also seen plenty of other birds. here's some highlights

Kingfisher at colwick park
4 kingfishers, lots of common tern, 49 lapwing and over 100 sand martins at attenborough
Lots of warblers, great spotted woodpecker, red legged partridge and lots of lapwings and reed buntings at clifton
Reed buntings, herons and egrets at rainham marshes (as well as marsh frogs and lizards!)
Yellowhammers, Linnets, House Martins, Swallows, a Skylark and a Buzzard on the farmland near my parents house

I also compiled a list of birds that i saw in the london city area (including hampstead heath) and it numbered around 40 species, a nice list for the capital - highlights included:

House sparrows (due to their decline in the city)
Whitethroat
Pied wagtail
Parakeets
Swifts
Great spotted woodpecker

I'll post some pics in the next post.... probably tomorrow now!!! This blogging business is harder than i thought!

A creepy crawly update

2010-07-03T01:56:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated in ages (again!), as i've been rather busy, but have also managed to get out and take plenty of photos. i'll do a june birds update soon (if i can find all my field notes), but in the meantime i'll just share some of the invertebrate life that i've encountered over the past month.

Garden Chafer - there were hundreds of these at Kings Meadow, Notts, getting frisky and foamy!

Burnet Moth Caterpillar

Scorpion Fly

Peacock Caterpillar

Carpet Moth sp.

Wasp Beetle

Red-headed Cardinal Beetle

Wolf Spider sp. with egg sac

Greenbottle Fly

Some sort of 'tephritid' fly

Common Blue Butterfly on Southern Marsh Orchid

Honeybee

An 'empidid' fly

Mating Damselflies

Hoverfly sp.

May Ticklist Update!!!!

2010-06-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

How on earth its got to june already i don't know but there you go, time flies!

After the influx of migrants during april, everything sort of slowed down during may. Everything was still busy due to the fact that the breeding season was in full swing, and lots of species were seen, but during this month, the year list only got 3 more additions

Lesser spotted woodpecker - a lifer for me - a pair nesting in a treehole at wollaton park
House Martin - the last hirundine to appear (for me anyway) with several birds seen over the main lake at Colwick Park
Turtle Dove - a UK first for me, having seen them in spain before, a turtle dove was seen around my friends house in linconshire on the 29th of may, purring away. This was a very special sighting for me, lovely and now very rare bird in britain.

So now the list stands at 108. I'm hoping to get a few more over the summer, as hopefully i'll be travelling to a few places around the country to see some different species, starting with bristol and london in a few weeks time (hoping to go to the London Wetland Centre, Hampstead Heath and WWT Slimbridge!)

Colwick park, May 27th

2010-06-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

This was my last trip of may, and the first since finishing university. I didn't have very long as i left quite late and had to be back by 4 for work, but still had a good day.

Colwick is always a good place to go birding, as it has a good mix of woodland and lakes which encourage a reasonably good diversity of birds, but it also has some good areas with wildflowers and shrubs which attract a range of invertebrate species too. It can be very busy, but if you catch it on a quiet day, lots can be seen.

At the bridge near the entrance was the usual collection of common wildfowl, mostly mallards, but with a few moorhens and coots thrown in too. There were some juvenile coots on the edge of the water which i managed to get a couple of pictures, and a couple of male mallards presented a photo oppurtunity too.

At the carpark there is always a large number of waterfowl, usually Canada and Greylag Geese, and today there were plenty about, with a lot of Goslings too. A Mandarin duck and a Muscovy have been present here for a few months too.

There were lots of Swifts flying over the lake today too, there must have been nearly 100 of them, and i tried in vain to get a good photo of them flying, as they were very fast and it was only really possible to get them in the distance, i'll give it another go soon though, its a nice challenge!

Walking through to the other side of the lake, i went onto the peninsula with an area of scrubby trees and bramble, where it was alive with the sound of birds. Some elusive Blackcaps were singing loudly but i couldn't locate them, and there were also several Chiffchaffs about. Most abundant however were Long Tailed Tits, and there were many juveniles, flitting about catching insects. They remained in the branches though so it was difficult to get a good shot.

This Canada Goose family came to the bank to feed too.

At the end of the peninsula i scanned the lake for hirundines and found many birds catching insects over the water, there were mostly Sand Martins, but there were also small numbers of Swallow and my first House Martins of the year too! There were also several Common Terns feeding in the distance too.

I had a good look around for invertebrates in the hedges and ditches too and was rewarded by a few species, some of which provided good photo oppurtunities. Here's a few.

This is a Soldier Beetle species

Female banded demoiselle

Small tortoiseshell caterpillars

Ladybird sp.

Near the marina on the trent, there were a few more birds, a few Reed Buntings were scared off as i walked past, as they were feeding on the riverbank. A few Pied Wagtails and Starlings were feeding on the grassy banks. A look at the lock resulted in a few Cormorants, more Blackcaps and a Song Thrush, and as i walked back to the entrance, there were several House Sparrows in the hedgerows.

35 species of bird seen, 1 year tick :)

Bestwood 22nd may

2010-06-06T05:32:00.000-07:00

Continuing the heatwave weekend, i went to Bestwood country park for the first time since i saw a firecrest there in february. it was pretty busy today so a lot of the birds were heard but not seen but i still had a good day.

started off at the butlers hill tram stop and walked up to leen pastures - saw around 20 house sparrows in the bushes and there were several singing blackcap. not much in the woods aside from a few singing chiffchaff and willow warbler as well as a jay feeding in the copse near the feeding station. saw my first damselfly of the year too, think its a common blue.

mill lakes was very busy but managed to see a bit. more blackcaps were singing, and a willow warbler was seen feeding in the trees on one of the islands. watched a coot brutally pecking a fish to death, surrounded by its blood too! grisly. no sign of the pink footed goose (would have been a lifer) but the mandarin was there, thinking it was a gosling, its pretty much the same size as them now. several swifts over the lake too.

walking through to the pit tip, there were more willow warblers, and 3 whitethroats were seen too. up on the pit tip there were lots of willow warblers (!) in the plantations, 3 stock dove drinking at the puddle. lots of starlings over the pit tip, around 10 meadow pipit, and 2 skylark. saw a small heath butterfly too, a new one for me.

a good day in all, it was nice to be back at the park and will definately be back, maybe on a quieter day though.

Brackenhurst 21st May

2010-05-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend was an actual heatwave, early may had weather that was more suited to march, with wind and little sunshine making it almost chilly at times, but for about a week, temperatures doubled (right round my exams!) and highs of 30 degrees were experienced.

On friday i had an exam that finished at half 3 (wrote it to the sound of yellowhammers and skylarks in the field opposite, what a distraction!), and afterwards i decided to go and enjoy the sunshine while looking for wildlife.

The weather was quite hot and along with the time of day, it meant that there weren't a huge amount of birds around. The walk down to sheepwalks from the campus which usually results in a lot of birds was actually reasonably quiet, with only a few Crows and Chaffinches of note. There were however lots of flowers about which made the walk quite bearable and there were also various butterflies about.

Sheepwalks however provided a better experience, as there were plenty of birds, as well as some interesting invertebrate life too. A Common Whitethroat was noisily singing on top of a tree in a hedge, and there were lots of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers singing too. The field was awash with dandelion 'clocks' and there was also swathes of Common Vetch, adding a splash of pink to the landscape.

There were several interesting insects noted, including these Sawflys Tenthredo spp.

Buttercups held large concentrations of these pollen beetles

There were also these weevils on some nettles, possibly Phyllobius pomaceus

This is a Drinker Moth caterpillar

And this is a Nursery Web spider which was ambushing prey on a cow parsley plant

I moved onto the pond, where there were loads of Yellowhammers singing, as well as another noisy Whitethroat. Also present was a coot with young, Tufted Ducks, Canada Geese and Mallards. On the other side of the lake several Reed Buntings were spotted and a Reed Warbler kept singing but kept hidden. Lots of swallows were skimming the surface for insects, but when a kestrel flew over, most of them turned to mobbing this, and chased it off into the distance!

A first for this area was a Stock Dove, which was sighted in the owl nestbox, and also nearby Skylarks were heard singing. I then proceeded round the fields, where i heard two Tawny Owls making a racket in a large oak tree, possibly with young. A female sparrowhawk was also seen flying over. The fields looked nice in the sun so i got a shot looking west (a bit edited though!)

The ringing area was closed as the footpath was being redone, so i had to go back a different way. there were lots more yellowhammers noted on the walk back, as well as several Orang-tip butterflies. Back at the campus there were a number of Swallows feeding around the animal unit and i managed to get reasonably close to one atop a lightpost.

Wollaton Park, 15th May

2010-05-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

Had another walk down to wollaton to check out the progress of the Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. Not much had changed with them, but they were still busy getting food for their chicks. actually managed to digiscope a couple of pictures of the birds this time, both the male and female.

I've lost my field nots but will try to remember everything i saw.

Did my usual route, going down to the football pitch wood, but today it was quiet and now the trees are in full leaf it was very difficult to actually see anything, although the usual common tits and finches were there. It did look very nice in the morning sunshine though.

Walked across the deer park, where the Fallow Deer flock were chilling in the sun, managed to get a couple of shots. There were a lot of Jackdaw feeding in the grass too, and lots of Song Thrush heard singing. Swifts were noted flying over too,

The woodland looked nice in the sun but there was little action birdwise apart from the usual Carrion Crows and a feeding Mistle Thrush. The other woodland was busy with Great and Blue Tits, and a number of Stock Doves were seen too.

The lake was busy, but there were lots of birds, although nothing really of note. There were some canada Goslings, some young coots and moorhens, a family of Mute Swans with 7 Cygnets, and there were 6 juvenile Herons on the island. Also a partially-leucistic Crow

Finally i made my way to the gardens, where i hoped to see Nuthatches and Jays, and wasn't disappionted as a visit to this area almost guarantees seeing these species. There were lots of other passerines zipping about in the tops of the mature pines. Also saw a very tame squirrel which literally came to my feet!

Wollaton and Attenborough Sunday 9th May

2010-05-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

These first pics are from Wollaton, a dryads saddle fungus and a doe Red Deer

After failing to locate them on friday night after a tip-off, i was taken to wollaton by Neil Glenn to view some nesting Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. It was amazing to see them for the first time in my life, and had great views through neil's excellent telescope, with both the male and female popping in and out of the nest, clearly feeding their young. Here is a (poorly digiscoped) photo of the nest hole. There were also plenty of other birds about, including singing Nutchatch, several Swifts being mobbed by a Jackdaw and a Green Woodpecker calling.

We then made our way to Attenborough for the 'sunflower sunday' theme day with Notts Birdwatchers manning the hides.

There were plenty of birds to be seen, including some Blackcaps singing in the carpark and some Swifts flying over. At the visitor centre, the Coot brood had hatched, and there were some Reed Warblers singing in the reeds. Plenty of Swallows and Common Tern were flying over the lake too.

The path over the bridge held a few Whitethroats and a couple of Sedge Warblers, which were singing loudly, as we made our way to the Tower Hide. The main attraction here today was the wheatear field, which was heaving with warblers. It was mainly Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers, although there was a singing Grasshopper Warbler there too. Strangely, there were lots of Starlings around the field too, which i've not really seen there before, so it was good to see. Got a good sighting of a kingfisher in the distance sitting in the reeds on the small pond, which looked great in the sunshine.

Over the other side of the hide, the escaped Ross's goose was still there, seemingly pairing up with a greylag and there were a lot of reed warblers singing. Several ruddy duck were around the reedbeds too. Just in front of the hide, a blue tit was feeding and i managed to get a couple of shots.

On the tween pond there were a couple of Little Ringed Plover, as well as a Common Sandpiper, but little else of interest. Apparently a Dunlin had been on the island on the main pond but i dipped on that one!

Finally i made my way to the Kingfisher Hide, which was reasonably busy, but some good birds were about. A reed bunting was sat swaying in the reeds, and at the feeding station there were Tree Sparrows, Chaffinches and a couple of Stock Doves. A whitethroat was seen dipping in and out of the nettles too. I managed to spot a lesser whitethroat in a tree behind the kingfisher hide too, a first for this area.

I located Neil for my lift home, and on our way back spotted two Common Buzzards circling overhead. One was particularly pale, causing some speculation that it may have been a honey buzzard, but it was agreed it was just a pale common.

Had another great day at attenborough with a good 40+ species seen, and i met some nice folks too. Cheers! Have a Blackbird.

Hoveringham Gravel Pits

2010-05-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to go to this place for a long time, as it is on the way to uni, but for some reason i only visited for the first time today. It is known for local rarities popping up there, as well as national rarities too. Species of note recently have been Little Egrets, Great Northern Diver and a host of Waders.

I only managed to get round the railway lake today, although it is massive, and took 3 hours to walk around, including stops!

The first thing i saw was a Kestrel hunting over Thurgarton railway station, and i got some cracking views before it flew off towards the village. I then made my way into the reservem where there were Willow Warblers singing loudly, along with other passerines. There was a small wet-meadow with cuckooflower growing in abundance.

At the lake, i got the scope out and scanned the water and the banks, not much happening, except a couple of Great Crested Grebes displaying to each other, and some Tufted Ducks sitting around as usual. A wander round to the next bank however produced a better view and there were a lot of Common Terns calling and feeding over the lakes, as well as plenty of other waterfowl. I also spotted an Oystercatcher, restlessly probing around on the far bank, as well as spooking a couple of herons, which scared the shit out of me by flying out of the reeds honking as they went. There were also plenty of Reed Warblers singing in the.... REEDS!

Further around the lake there were a few islands which looked promising, along with some muddy banks. There were a lot of Swallows feeding over the water, and the islands were mainly in use by Canada and Greylag Geese and Grebes, some of which were nesting. A sweep around with my scope revealed a Common Sandpiper, as well as 4 more oystercatchers, 2 of which looked like they were getting readu for nesting. There were also plenty of Pied Wagtails feeding on the banks.

In the middle of the railway path, there is a patch of woodland which was nice to walk through, where there were plenty of wildflowers as well as a sighting of a Whitethroat. Another Oystercatcher was seen through the trees. Past the woodland was more islands and banks which looked promising once again, but surprisingly there wasn't anything apart from a Little Ringed Plover, which was a nice - and tricky to spot - sighting!

Everthing quietened down as i walked round to the other side of the lake, but as i walked along the southern path, i saw a displaying Lapwing, making a lot of noise. Another lot of noise was a group of about 15 swifts, screaming as they went. More Swallows were seen over a field on the way back to the road, and there was a very loud chaffinch making its one-note call repeatedly. I also saw some spring mushrooms which was a surprise - which have been confirmed by the very knowledgeable Chris Yeates as Agrocybe praecox.

i saw around 40 species here today which was good, and its worth keeping an eye on due to its rarities. it was good to see LR plovers and common sandpipers again too.

April ticklist update

2010-05-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

Before starting on may, i'll summarise what april had to offer.

The end of march had given plenty of signs of spring, and in april they really started appearing in earnest. Invertebrates and wildflowers were appearing everywhere, trees were coming into leaf and most importantly, the spring migrants were appearing. As i write, i have seen most of the common spring migrants now, and most of the trees are now in full leaf, bar a small proportion.

At the end of march the year list stood at 84, not bad for 3 months, but thanks to the influx of migrants, and a lot of visits, the list now stands at 105 - thats 21 new birds this month!

Here are the april newcomers, spring migrants marked with and M, lifer marked with an L-

Muscovy Duck (escape), White Wagtail (L), Swallow (M) and Sand Martin at colwick park on the 1st
Oystercatchers (L) and ruddy ducks at Attenborough on the 4th
Willow Warbler at Sherwood on the 11th (M) - these have been noted at most locations now, probably my most frequently heard warbler, apart from perhaps chiffchaff
Blackcaps at Brackenhurst on the 16th (M)
Osprey (M L) and Shelduck x Ruddy Shelduck at Rutland on the 21st
Warblers galore at Attenborough on the 22nd - Whithroat (M L), Reed Warbler (M), Sedge Warbler (M), Grasshopper Warbler (M L), as well as Ross's Goose (Escape L), Little Ringed Plover, Swift (M) Common Tern (M) and Common Sandpiper (L)
Lesser Whitethroat (M L) and Wheatear (M) at Clifton on the 26th and 24th respectively

So not bad at all then! Especially as it includes 8 Lifers!!! it helps being a novice really! The highlight was certainly attenborough on the 22nd but there have been loads of other great days, especially

Buzzards displaying at Brack
Migrants galore
Multiple wader sightings

May will be a good one, hopefully with plenty of visible migration, but the influx of migrants onto my list has probably finished now, so they'll probably just start dribbling back on again!

Double Clifton

2010-05-06T00:52:00.000-07:00

Went for a couple of walks round clifton on the 24th april and the 26th. The website for the area had reported some interesting birdlife and i was keen to have a look for myself

I had an evening walk in the hazy warm sunshine on the saturday, but couldn't stay too long, as i had to get a train to my parents house. It was a pleasant walk however.

I started off by walking down the river a little bit, a direction i don't usually take. There wasn;'t much to be seen bird-wise, but the trees were mostly in leaf and there was plenty of plantlife on the ground, as well as a lot of invertebrates. There were a good amount of butterflies by the path, including Orange-tips and my first Comma of the year, but they wouldn't stay still for photos except this Peacock.

I made my way back to the woods, where there was plenty of birdsong, and i saw my first Blackcap of the area, as well as the other usual woodland birds, including a calling Greater Spotted Woodpecker. The woods looked amazing with all the vegetation cover so i stopped to get a few shots.

Holme Pit was reasonably quiet, which is usual for this time of year, as most of the waterfowl have moved on, but there was a pair of Coots with 5 chicks, and a pair of Canada Geese guarding their nest on the island. I sat by the lakes for a while and managed to see a few Reed Bunting and there were lots of singing Reed Warblers.

I moved on from holme pit with only about half an hour to make my way back to the bus into town, so i had to rush a little. I saw the years first Wheatear, perched atop a telegraph pole, giving very good views and across the field there was a hunting Kestrel. I then wandered across the middle of the weir field, rather than round it, which was a nice route, where i managed to get great views of singing Skylarks, of which there were many, and plenty of displaying Lapwing. I saw a large flock of tiny little birds, but unfortunately had no idea what they were...

Walking back round i had good views of a Common Whitethroat singing in the brambles by the trent, and while i'd have loved to have stayed, i really had to go!

I couldn't keep away however, and returned on monday morning at 10AM. I took the route down round the weir field first. Blackcaps were once again present in the wood, making the 'chack-chack' alarm call, and there were plenty of Whitethroats singing in the same area as i'd seen them on saturday, along with some Long-tailed Tits and a Dunnock. I stayed on this side of the weir for well over an hour, as there was so many warblers to see. Whitethroats certainly dominated, but there were also Sedge Warblers in abundance too, as well as a reeling Grasshopper Warbler. I saw some that i couldn't identify, which looked finch-like, but they remained elusive!

The invertebrate life was interesting around the fields too, and i saw plenty of butterflies, including a Green-veined White, as well as some interesting beetles, including these mating Gastrophysa viridula on a dock leaf.

Plant life was interesting too, and i was surprised to see some sort of Inckcap mushroom, although the habitat was good, a big pile of manure.

The weir was busy with birdlife, with plenty of Black headed Gulls and Cormorant about, but the highlights were Sand Martins and Common Terns, both of which were abundant. The weir field was as usual dominated by Skylarks and Lapwings, and i also saw a Grey Heron laying very low in the field, when i scoped it i was wondering what it was, as could just see its head, and was very surprised when it stood up and stretched its wings. There were more Whitethroat singing away in the brambles behind the riverside villas. While scoping, a strangely coloured Pied Shieldbug landed in my tripod, so i got a shot of it too.

I wandered across the fields towards the woods again, not really seeing much of interest, but someone drove by letting me know that there were Buzzards about over the trees. I got to the rough wood and while looking for warblers in the trees, looked up, and right above my head was a Buzzard, which for a short while was accompanied by a Peregrine, but the latter soon flew away.

I walked down the hedgerow towards branshill wood, where there were plenty of birds in the bushes. One hawthorn bush held Greenfinch, Blackcap, Whitethroat and Long tailed tits. I heard plenty of Lesser Whitethroat and was rewarded by the views of two of these birds fighting around the end of the hedgerow. Song thrushes were in full song too.

I stopped for a while at branshill ponds, but there was little to see aside from yet more Whitethroats! Ring ouzel and Redstart have been seen around this area of late but i was unable to locate any. I made my way to cottages flash, where i have not been before and it took some finding but i eventually got there. There wasn't a lot there, but there were a pair of Little Ringed Plover, as well as the Ross's Goose that i'd seen at attenborough last week, along with a herd of inquisitive cattle.

On the way back i noticed a piled of feathers in the middle of the path in Branshill wood, and as i got closer there was a very distressed woodpigeon which had a terrible wound on its back, near the base of its wing. Obviously the victim of a Sparrowhawk attack, and not a very nice sight. The thought of euthanising it did cross my mind, but i thought i'd let nature take its course, i'm sure the sprawk wasn't very far away, waiting to finish the job.

I stopped off at holme pit before leaving, just to observe the Reed Buntings and Reed Warblers again which was nice, and i did notice that the Coot family had lost one of its chicks.

I spent 7 hours there today, a very long session, but it was a great walk and i managed to see loads, looking forward to going back.