The Movie... " A Kestrel with Attitude"

Now I don’t want you to think I’m getting conceited now I’m on 129, but I am finding it difficult to find any reports on web pages that make me think I should be on my bike birding. I am missing some compared with this time last year, but I had a short Heatherlea trip in January 2016, so birds like Red Grouse, Black Grouse, Golden Eagle and Bearded Tit are birds that will not be seen in 2017, unless I go North of the border again.

I do have some birds that I am still hoping to see soon, including Redpoll, Siskin, Yellow Hammer, Whooper Swan, White Front Goose, Jay and Red Legged Partridge.

Friday 10^th July, I had a walk round Allestree Park hoping for Siskin and/or Redpoll, but had to settle for a nice male Bullfinch. However I did have a “must visit specsavers” incident.

On the main lake, I could see some small “ducks” but with exotic colourings. I could see 6 birds, 4 with a light yellow head and an eye stripe and a blue flash near the rump, and the other 2 with a pink heads and light green masks, each about the size of a teal.

I wrote copious notes in my pocket book, and asked a chap who turned out to be the Bailee, what he thought they were. “They are for the fisherman, they distract crows coming down to the water… they are plastic!!!!!!!!”

(I just stopped short of ringing in my “sightings” to Birdguide web site. Pheeeeew! Not the first time someone has made that mistake, including an RSPB leader many years ago who told me a grey plastic bag at Shipley Country park was a Grey Heron.)

Oh, this is a good one that came my way. Check this link for a Kestrel with attitude. Classic!

www.dailymail.co.uk/.../Kestrel-caught-camera-using-motorway-CCTV-mast-perch.html

(I’ve just checked it out, and a Raven has usurped the Kestrels viewpoint. Google some of the key words if the above link does not go straight to it, and if you want the latest situation!!)

I came across this bit of info along the way, and it was also in the DOS monthly bulletin/newsletter. “Inside Out” a BBC TV programme, will feature in a February edition, the impact that the new HS2 line will have in particular on Carr Vale Nature Reserve. For those who have not been there, the reserve is between the M1 and Bolsover castle in Derbyshire. It is well watched by local birders, and has had a considerable number exceptional birds over the years.   I believe the HS2 issue relates to the huge amount of earth moving that will be required for this new rail route.

Here we are on Thursday 16^th July and not only have I not taken my bins out for a walk, but I have been nursing a very sore and inflamed wrist, which Mary has diagnosed as Gout. We did the internet investigation, which did seem to suggest that all her watching of Casualty, Dr Kildare, Emergency Ward 10 etc etc had taught Nurse Bennett some useful knowledge. I said I don’t drink Port, but that didn’t seem to calm the situation.

Now it’s the 17^th, and the 18^th and I’m still confined to barracks.

Anyway, Sunday 19^th February, was a nice dry sunny day for my second Bird watching for Beginners walk at Markeaton Park. 4 people turned up, duly paid their £4 pp to the Friends of Markeaton Park, and we set off for the 90 minute walk.

Only just through the Rose Garden, and we bumped into a large group, one carrying a ladder?? The leader told me they were checking bat boxes, and said that they had at least 8 boxes that they knew had bats, so they were looking to see what species they had. I decided to take a slightly different route around the group, and almost immediately we all saw a Tree Creeper fly across and start moving up a tree. The white chest and curved beak was very clear, and votes were already flooding in for bird of the walk.

Constantly reminding people to bird watch upwards, we then spotted 3 Greylag Geese, followed by a meandering Buzzard. The feeding station was quiet with the usual suspects, but on the lake, 4 Goosanders were spotted.

We walked further down the water’s edge for a better view, and having been buzzed by Long Tailed Tits, we picked up a Grey Heron on one island, then a Little Egret on the other.

Needless to say, Egret and Treecreeper were voted the joint best of the walk!

Not a very newsy week, and having a BCC excision on Thursday, things can only get worse, as I won’t be able to drive for a while!! I’ll see what I can find before Dr Bleiker gets going with the scalpel!

Keep Birding