To-morrow? A blank page and let's go birding ....again!

……….. and so to number 99.

I must confess to seriously considering whether after 100 posts, next week should be the end of this 2-year project.

I do enjoy writing my “column” although I don’t get a lot of feed-back. Therefore, I cannot say whether I have a) avid followers; b) occasional readers; c) how many people get a mail shot when I print; d) why my site has more pageviews in 2 years from Russia (1,548), than the 704 from the USA. 

Oh well, I suppose 8,046 in 2 years is not exactly viral, but someone is looking, albeit it may be mainly Russian Robots. (I don’t kid myself of my popularity!)  

My Managing Editor thought that, whilst I appeared a bit on the wane in the last 2 months, I am at my best at the start of the year. When we had clarified what she was implying and to what she was alluding, I decided I would start another year, and continue to satisfy my reader, so here we go for 2018, starting from to-morrow.

Nevertheless, it was a chance today to reflect on 2017, with the highs and lows.

I ticked off 24 species in the year 2017 that I did not see in 2016, so that obviously boosted my like-for -like list.

8 lifers were added to my UK list, starting on 3^rd January with the Dusky Thrush that had obligingly stayed over the 2016 year end at Beeley. Within a 14-day period a Bonaparte’s Gull on the Avocet cruise in the Devon River Exe, and a Glaucous Gull at Rutland were 2 gulls added to the list. I don’t do well with Gulls, but when I have skilled birders to point out the differences from other gulls, then I can get some enthusiasm.

A Hooded Merganser at Radipole Lake Dorset, was a bit tongue in cheek, but Mary and I both seeing a Yellow Browed Warbler at dusk at Topsham, Devon was a real buzz. Understanding directions from a Devonian with a broad accent added to the fun.

June/July was a time when many birders made a pilgrimage to see the European Bee-Eaters at East Leeke. I had seen them several times in Majorca, but it was good to add them to my UK list on July 2. I reported earlier how well they had done, and been received, although sadly their breeding attempts failed.

It was a super surprise just after Xmas to receive a gift from Chris and John, of a mug with a Bee-eater picture.

The other 2 lifers? I’ve seen Cattle Egrets many times in Majorca, but to add one (two actually) to my UK list whilst birding solo in Norfolk was very satisfying. But for me the bird of 2017 had to be the Cirl Buntings seen just North of Torquay at the RSPB site at Labrador Bay on the A379.  I found it, I saw it and I ticked it…Magic! (OK, someone did tell me they were there!)

Current news?

You can’t have missed the news about the 2017 influx of Hawfinches, so I am undecided whether tomorrow to go to Allestree Park, Cromford, or Darley Dale, but one will be on my list by this time tomorrow.

I had an anonymous comment on my blog last week, telling me about the Allestree Park Hawfinch sightings, so I expect the park will be busy to-morrow.

Lorna saw Hawfinches over the Xmas period, giving her a belated addition to her 2017 list, ending the year with her first 200, an excellent 209. I came close to adding Jack Snipe this morning, when Sparky Mike, a full-time ranger at Carsington told me he had flushed one on Stones Island in front of the new Janet Ede hide at 8.30am this morning.

The full 200 club results will be in next week’s post.

I have an early start planned for Monday Jan1, and Wednesday 3rd will be at Attenborough.

The next Carsington BWB is Sunday 7^th January…….. but it’s full!

On Sunday 14^th January I go to Attenborough and invite any fellow birders to join me if they wish. No booking no reserving. Just be in the main visitor centre car park at 9.30 for a 3 hour walk and pray for the Bittern and Water Rail.

Good luck for 2018.

Xmas Cornucopia

This is the 98^th weekly entry that I have published since my first publication, coincidentally also on the 24^th December.

And with my activities this week more or less confined to non-birding activities, it’s a struggle to decide what to include in this cornucopia of happenings.

Sunday 17^th December was a wet walk, with just 2 people braving the elements. Pick of the (small-) bunch was a group of about 7 Greenfinches, and once again several frantically foraging Goldcrests. The latter always get a good scan, as I still look for a Firecrest, only ever having seen one once before, that time at Old Moor.

Greenfinches still seem to be suffering from trichomonosis, the infection that damages the throat such that the birds cannot swallow, and thus starve to death, so to see even a small flock is very satisfying. 

I do recall the days when they were quite common on my garden feeders. Keeping the feeders and the area as clean as possible does help them.  I remember Old Moor changing the feeders and feeding areas for just that reason.

On the walk, as promised we did find another of the house carvings on a dead tree stump, this one near the old tennis courts sight.

This was the last walk of 2017 for the new Bird Watching for Beginners at Markeaton Park. The 11 walks took 43 bookings, and were enjoyed by 25 different people. 49 species were logged for the first year, with the Markeaton BOD going to a wide range of species, but Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker, 

Tree Creeper, Little Egret and Goldcrest got the most votes.

Having read a brief report in Bird Watching, there is a relatively new phone app that may be of interest to beginners. It is called Merlin, and from a photo taken on your phone plus a couple of bits of related information, the app will come up with suggestions for what the bird might be. My information, including from a birder who has the app, is that the first suggestion offered is quite often the correct one, but obviously it depends on the quality of the picture.

Thinking back to my earlier birding days, id’ing a wader was an issue, like Dunlin? Knot? Grey Plover? Sanderling,  or Redshank? Spotted Redshank. Think how useful this app would have been, not only to get the answer, but getting it at the time I needed the answer, a great way to learn.   When there is any doubt, this is a very useful tool to have to hand and with an answer, to be able to look closely at plumage etc knowing that you now know what the bird is, this really helps imprint the knowledge in your brain.

My good friend in Portugal has done a test, and the word “brilliant” came to mind very quickly. Partly why…… the app free!!

I had a tip a couple of weeks ago that a strange dark, thrush like bird had been seen in the Mickleover area of Derby. No one seemed to know what the bird was, but the few people who had seen it said it was bigger than a Thrush or a Fieldfare (which is not dark anyway) but they also said the beak was quite big.    Nothing on any websites, so that will be one that got away, whatever it was.

Samantha Herbert is a wildlife expert who has the occasional short column on the back page of the Daily Telegraph, in fact almost the very last news item in the paper. But she does cover Fauna.

An article this week, was about returning Bewick Swans at Slimbridge, from the Russian arctic. The article referred to a 26 year old Swan who had raised 29 cygnets, but returned (so far) without his mate.

But what tickled me, were the names. The WWT give names to new Cygnets, and the article referred to a couple called Croupier (the cob) and Dealer (pen). Croupiers grandfather was Nijinsky, and his mother was Casino. I know there is one named Derek after a very dedicated volunteer, and I don’t doubt that there are many more interesting stories and explanations that could be told.

So,…………………… no I didn’t say it, but my grumble last week did bring one very supportive e-mail, suggesting the word “so” is the modern alternative to “ahem”, in other words time to think before the answer. Well it’s a theory!!

Ergo?...No!    … anyway I’m ending to-day with a photo of 3 generations of the Bennett clan, all joining together and sending you all their best wishes for a very happy Xmas, and a happy and successful bird watching 2018.

That’s Julian (on camera remote control) with Sarah, Sharon with Michael, the Matriarch and Patriarch, and our  Grandson Leo, 11 years old, and taller than the 2 Grandparents!!.

C’es la vie

Count down to 2018

I did mention Brian Wood retiring in my blog last week, but I have only just received this photo of Brian with his wife Elaine…

…………… and a close up of the montage.

  

Wednesday December 13^th.

When I start writing my blog, sometimes my mind goes off in a direction that I think is interesting or amusing, and will be well worth developing for your enjoyment, and sometimes, it goes pear shaped.  That was the case to-day- it went pear shaped, and must be best described as a Senior Moment.

So (oh gawd, I DO try and not start a sentence with “so”.. have you noticed how often interviewees do start with that awful word. Take the Apprentice..Alan S. “How did you decide who would be the project leader?” Reply” so we asked for volunteers…..”. Who chose the item to sell? “So we got together….” Da de da.)

So I stand to be corrected. But I think the use of so in my blog is very, very rare.

Anyway, quick burst on the delete and back space buttons, and I’m on last Wednesday with a Billy No Mates visit to Attenborough. Still with a Bittern in the cross hairs of my scope for 2017, it’s down to the Kingfisher hide for the first searching session.  I chatted to a couple of birders “on tour” from Shipley, one of them never having seen a Bittern, but he did spot a Kingfisher heading across wheatear Field.

Nottingham WT have done some good work clearing back the area in front of the Kingfisher hide, leaving some mud and a few reeds, and I was able to point out to people in the hide, a Water Rail probing for food in a small clump of reeds. Suddenly it came out of the reeds, with a fish in it’s beak which it dropped on to the bank, and set about eating it. First time I’ve ever seen a Water Rail having lunch!

A visit to the tower hide followed, and apart from displaying Goldeneyes nothing special to a report.

After a quick role call (Ed; Slim Bridge will notice the correction!!), of 41 species, it was off to the visitor centre for a large Jacket potato with Tuna.

One final notable spot was as I was walking back down the ramp, the Shipley visitors were panning anticlockwise round and behind the visitor centre, tracking a Kingfisher which I locked on to as it vanished in the same area I reported last week, opposite the rear of the Kingfisher hide. The hide name seems very apt.

Other news – Lorna has moved on to 208 for the year (so far!) by braving the weather and the terrain at Upper Derwent Valley, and added Parrot Crossbill to her list, to take her on to 208. Well done.

Bit disappointed when I popped into the London Camera Exchange (LCE) to see what they had in in the way of moderate priced scopes, the sort of thing beginners would want, or even s/h ones. Very sorry to see that the approach was to say that they could get anything, but stock to view was virtually Nil. I was told it was because birders were more inclined to go to birding locations with Optics shops, like Slimbridge, Carsington, Rutland, where they could see a greater range, and try them out in the field.  LCE is now very much a camera centre, with some binoculars, but to be able demonstrate a range of scopes, would cost and tie up a lot of money.

But they do give a good service, and they do part exchange if you are upgrading, which is very useful.

I'll end this week blog with a picture to remind you of very dried out Carsington, as hopefully some pumping will start soon, and you do not have to see Carsington-on-Mud!

2018     and dates for your diary/phone!    

Looking forward, the first Carsington Beginners walk in 2018 will be on the 7^th January, at 10.00am, 

and the blog that I post on that date will be a memorable 100^th post…Why?   Time will tell, but finding bird news for the next 2 weeks will be fun!!

Also, the following Sunday, 14^th January will be my one-off morning walk away from Carsington, again at Attenborough from 9.30 > 12.30, meeting at the visitor centre car park. Bittern and Water Rail are on the menu agenda.

Also, the first Markeaton walk will be (as always-) on the third Sunday, 21^st January 2018, when we also plan to make some nest boxes and bird feeders

No sign of Waxwings yet?? Well not in numbers.  1 in East Sussex yesterday!!!

OK… Next Blog Xmas Eve!!!

David

The Forecasters got it right - Snow stopped Play

Tuesday December 5^th.

Once again………NO… not this time… not Attenborough!!!  

Chris and I decided to go to another of our favourite birding locations – RSPB Old Moor, near Barnsley.  This is normally Amanda’s patch where she and Noel volunteer. Amanda helps the public with bird identification, whilst Noel gets his hands dirty!   However, as they were both still on holiday in the Far East, we had to do our own spotting!

We started off with a visit to the Garganey Trust bird hide overlooking Broomhill Flash. Nothing outstanding, although there were c25 Shovellers. A local birder told us that agreement had been reached for the Garganey Trust to extend the site by the addition of a large adjacent field, combined with a path enabling visitors to get further in to and round the site.

Old Moor was busy with a good number of bird-watchers, including a group from N Derbyshire. Water level was at a good level for waders, the main spot being 3 Green Sandpipers.  Although surprisingly we found no Great Crested Grebes nor Goldeneye, we added Redshank, Snipe and 1 male and 4 females Goosanders.

After a good lunch, and in view of the news that a Bittern had been seen at 12.30, we staked out the Bittern Hide for an hour…..abortively!   However, as a consolation the local Peregrine Falcon was circling The Mere, returning to a perch on some sticks immediately in front of the Wader Scrape Hide. Even from the Bittern Hide, we had a good view of this superb raptor.

                                              

Not the best of photographs, but you get the idea! 41 species was a good count for a cold day!

Saturday December 9^th

Started off the day with an e-mail from Volunteer Lorna, who asked me to add Parrot Crossbill to her 200 club list. I knew this would have meant that she had been to the Upper Derwent Valley where they have been reported.

Lorna tells me that people park at the lay-by with a blue 7km marker on the last bend before The Kings, then climb up North West to The Ronksley South Plantation. She says that it was quite a climb up on to the moors. If you decide to go no doubt the centre will have the latest information.

I’m just hoping the snow may vanish to give me a chance. As my daughter has just rung to say that they are snow-bound in Oxon, what chance up on the Derbyshire/Yorkshire Moors!!

This is not specifically about our wildlife, (well it could be!) but a volunteering colleague at Carsington.

To-day 20 volunteers sat down for our annual Xmas lunch at the restaurant at Carsington. It was an excellent meal, and I put a festive quiz sheet on each of the 2 tables, for anyone to fill in if they felt inclined. No prizes, just fun.

But before the meal we met in the Henmore Room, for a presentation to Brian Woods, and his wife, for the 20 years he had been a Volunteer at Carsington.

Dan Taberner (the Big white chief at Carsington) did the eulogy, sorry tribute, to Brian and after giving some flowers to Elaine, he gave Brian a large picture with 9 memorable photographs commemorating and remembering some of his days as a Volunteer. The main picture, of Brian and Jim lying on a pile of hay, was a very apt centrepiece.

Sunday December 10^th  One look out of the window, and that was enough to see that Volunteers were unlikely to be at Carsington, let alone the public. So I decided that was it for today, and I’ll leave you with our plastic robin with a white coat. Albino?

Happy Birding.   

Spring? Winter nest and feeder cleaning time

Tuesday November 28^th. Suffering from withdrawal symptoms, Chris and I decided to have a spell at Attenborough GP, and in a very relaxed mood, met for coffee at 10.00am.

It was cold and quiet, but the light was good, albeit that the sun was very low so the South East view from the Tower hide was straight into the sun. Using a bit of strategy we decided to try the North East facing Kingfisher hide first.

A Bittern would have been nice but no such luck, but we did pick up the Black Necked Grebe, which had been at Attenborough for 3 weeks. Be nice if it is still there on Jan 1. Goldeneye are back, both female and male, and we amassed a respectable total of 40 species. No waders, but we saw one Kestrel, and a hungry Robin who did not know I had left the bird seed in the car.

 Walking towards the river, just before the barrier, there is a private access road to the right to some old waterside homes and I regularly check the area by the bridge. A stream runs through a good area of unmaintained trees and bushes which, now that leaves have fallen, are good for Passerines. Just as we reached the gate before the bridge, a Kingfisher flew through, stopping briefly on a dead tree branch. The stream (which flows right to left, and on into the Trent) flows from a low fast flowing low waterfall which should be OK for Grey Wagtails, so I always check the area.  

The hot soup in the visitor centre was most welcome, followed by a bird roll call - we were surprised to find we had logged 41 species just for the morning.

Wednesday, realising if I was cold and needed some protection from the cold, birds would want the same, it was time to do the Winter/Spring clean and make sure everything was ready for our feathered friends.

I started with a visit to Taylors Corn Stores at South Wingfield (Near Alfreton), which is the best local place I know for bird seed. They do every sort of bird food you can want, like peanuts, fat balls etc. The basic mixed seed comes in 20k bags, starting at £11.95, and I know several organisations that buy from this good value source, both to use for feed, and to sell for fund raising.

I gave the two old nest boxes a good clean, with plenty of hot soapy water to wash out all the cr*p, and they duly went back on the fence, which, together with the new nest box I bought at Honiton, makes 3 boxes within sight of the lounge.

The plastic bird seed feeding tube was next for a thorough clean, and a fill, and later in the day a Robin had already found the seed. Finally, the essential bird bath got a good scrub and some clean water. (File Note:  must buy a table tennis ball to stop the ice forming.)

Sunday December 3rd     Today was my final Beginners Walk at Carsington for 2017, and 15 people joined the walk round Stones Island and the visitor centre area.  We started with a short talk on Whooper Swans, which produced the usual argument as to whether the bird is pronounced Hooper, or a Wooper.  Google only adds further debate.

My view is that as the bird whoops, the W is sounded = Whooper.  It does not Hoop, and I can find no references to a hoop having any reference to voice, noise or body sounds. (Oops – maybe!)

Despite something of a paucity of birds we ticked off 33 species, including a distant Great Northern Diver, a pair of Goldeneyes flying past, and a couple of Siskin near the Wildlife Centre. The Siskin turned out to be the BOD, partly because it was the first sighting for 2017. Oh and Redshank and Snipe fly-over on the wader front.

Telescopes were brought to bear to watch the muddy life-saving activities of Mike and Phil. These 2 full time rangers were battling on large wooden sheets, to extricate a sheep which had got stuck in the muddy foreshore at Shiningford Creek.  30 minutes later, and Phil was still hosing down all the gear and clothes they used to do the rescue. Great work guys.

I have 3 reports to write for 2017 to include the bird walks.   1. A review of the year for the participants. 2 A review for the Volunteers annual review newsletter; 3, A review of Carsington Volunteer activities for the Bird Club annual report, so with my blog, there will be quite a bit of writing in December.

Then of course Jan 1 is put the counter back to Zero, and start again. 200 Club….heard that Lorna Lomas (Carsington Volunteer) has moved on to 207, same number as me!!

Happy Birding