A late Little Stint - and a thrill for the Beginners!!

Tuesday 29th November 2016, and having aborted a visit to Shipley Park last week, this week, John, Chris and I joined forces in the Ramblers café in Shipley Park for a hot chocolate before setting off for what turned out to be a 4 miles walk round the park. This distance, based on Chris’s step counter, seemed high so we spent a while analysing whether half a mile had been clocked up due to us constantly stamping our feet due to the cold!

An early test of our knowledge was debating whether we were looking at a Redpoll or what. Not much sign of any red feathers, but we still agreed on a Redpoll. A Jay helped the sighting list, plus a number of Redwings.

Mapperley Reservoir had very few birds, but I always enjoy watching Shovellers going round in circles with their  heads under the water. When the ducks go round and round in these circles, they are taking advantage of their buddy in front whose paddling feet are stirring up the little invertebrates and plants from the water. The following duck, head down, just eats, letting the lead duck do the work and so on, around the circle.

Despite being a weekday, Denby Lodge was actually open for refreshments, but it was so crowded we decided to head on to the main centre for our lunch. Osborne pond added some more ducks, a Great Crested Grebe, and a handsome male Mandarin Duck. What has to be described as quite smart, was a young Muscovy Duck with nice clean black and white markings.  

A total of only 22 species, but a pleasant walk, in a good mixed environment.

Sunday 4^th December.

Well, to-day WAS a surprise day. My readers will know that being the first Sunday in the month, it is Bird Watching for Beginners walk day, and to-day 19 people (including 3 newbie birders) decided to join the walk. I managed to get the latest sighting news from one of the regular birders from Carsington Bird Club, so I knew we had the potential for something interesting. They weren’t wrong!

The night before I had been drafting my annual report for these walks, and I was feeling a bit disappointed that 2016 had not shown up much of interest, or at least nothing different. And on top of that, December 4^th and still no sign of the GN Diver.

So it was an early fillip as we reached the causeway to see 18 Dunlin wheeling around over the water, and then settling on the water’s edge. And then with steady telescopes, a Little Stint was identified on watersports Island.   

Now we were smoking!!  Still not having moved on, the new birders were asking how we knew that under the tail and bottom sticking in the air, were a pair of Shelduck…. So it was out with the bird guide. And a quick lesson.

Meanwhile Gary was homing in on a 2/3-year-old Great Black Backed Gull near the watersports pontoon. Talk was already on “What will be the bird of the day?”, so we quietly moved on to the burial mound area, hoping to see a reported Cetti warbler, a rarity for Carsington. Alan G thought he saw one diving into a bush, but we were all homing in on a Ruff on the edge of the water.

Even when we moved on we were still getting some nice additions.  3 or 4 of us saw a Redpoll in the shrubs near the proposed site for the new bird hide. (Unlike the Redpoll above at Shipley, the pink forehead was very clear). Circling the Stones, we picked up a Great Spotted Woodpecker, plus a Song Thrush. Sadly neither Redwing or Fieldfare were in evidence, although the reports were that 

Redwings were in their hundreds in the Sheepwash area.

So the walk gave a cracking count and highest for the year, of 41 species, 7 of which were new for 2016 and 2 “lifers” to add to the 11-year list, now on 123.

A Great way to end the Bird walk year. Me?  I added Little Stint nicely taking me on to 3 in a bed.  And I can now add some good news to my annual review.

(Ed: 3 in a bed....?   One hundred and eighty.)