Turned out to be a nice month, May 2022 so here goes.
Friday 29th, I went to a village near Repton, ostensibly to see Yellow Hammers. Wrong!!...BUT, as I walked across a grassed field, Yipeee A lovely Skylark took to the sky singing joyfully. After it landed, another one did the same. All worth while!
Despite being not properly dressed in a weekend break in Palma, Majorca (no bins!!) I ticked off a couple of world wide birds during our stay. Swifts, of course, but great to see a nice Eleonora’s Falcon loafing above as we sat outside a bar by the Cathedral and you can't miss Audouin's Gulls, even the one drinking from the pool next to which we were having a liquid lunch!!
May 15, during a 15,000 paces walk in Allestree, close to our
old house in West Bank Rd, we were
buzzed by a pair of Swifts, as they explored houses near No 68!
May has actually been quite a good month for ticking off
birds here or there and I have added 10 in this way.
During the BwB walk on 1st May, which Keith and I covered whilst Amanda was still away, and Garry was in a Bird club walk, Garden
warbler was found on Stones Island. Whilst on the tip of Stones, Simon Roddis,
the Carsington expert called Arctic Tern and most of the group were able to see
a pair flying south down the reservoir.
I decided to have a day at Old Moor on the 2nd May
and was surprised to see all the changes that have been made to the site with the
Lottery grant. Bird wise it was disappointing, but just before I left, from the
Bittern Hide I caught site of a lovely male Garganey.
I went again a fortnight later, and met up with Amanda on
duty. We had good views of a Marsh Harrier, seen from the Wader Scrape hide.
After lunch I popped into the tower hide at Broomhill Flash and managed to pick
up the Black Necked Grebes, lurking amongst the reeds.
Sunday May 22nd was the 30th
anniversary of the Queen opening Carsington Reservoir, so there were a lot of
activities going on and a lot of people. Based on a tip, again from Simon, I
went to Millfelds and with my scope picked up the Mediterranean Gull on
Millfields island.
I had a nice couple of additions on a wet trip to Padley Gorge,
starting from the top, going down the gorge and then a circuitous route back to
the car…. Where and when IT RAINED.
I was wondering what I was going to find in the gorge, but my
slow walking finally spotted a lovely male Pied Flycatcher (and another). Talking to a couple of fellow birders, they
pointed to a derelict ice building not far away, telling me that they had the very
clear song from a Wood Warbler. I went
to the brick shelter and not being sure of the song, played it on my phone. In
seconds, the Warbler was jumping round the branches above my head (looking for
the mate??). I turned the sound off quickly and could see the lovely yellow
chest of the little bird, together with it’s trembling as it sang it’s
shivering trill, and which I now recognise.
Only two for the trip, but cracking birds.
Just got in a final birding trip on May 31 with a visit to Bempton.
A Black-browed albatross had been around for a few days, but despite visiting
the cliffs end to end, sadly by 2pm no sightings had been reported.
Corn Bunting was another dip, but all 6 of the regular cliff
birds were there, proving very popular for the large attendance. These are two photographs I took at
the southern end of the cliffs, where the nesting birds are nearest to the footpath. Superb
And so end-of-May YTD is 149. I’m thinking 51 more for the year is a huge target, but we’ll see. Majorca will not count…or??
Happy Birding
David
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