Wheatears? What Wheatears?

Fair do’s, last week you could have been forgiven for coming to the conclusion that my bird watching achievements were not up to my required  objectives. True, but oh boy, I’ve made up for it this week, in spades.

Tuesday 25^th April a sunny but chilly morning, and Gill, Chris and I are on the ramp up to the visitor centre at Attenborough, listening to and looking at a Reed Warbler singing it’s heart out in the reeds.   Good start.

There doesn’t seem to be any hurry this morning, and as we are loitering near the Kingfisher hide listening to Cettis, Sedge Warblers and Blackcaps, we pick up the fishing reel whir of a Grasshopper Warbler. As we watch, it flies right past us into the bushes next to the hide, continuing to sing as it gets there.  

We have walked no distance, but subterranean rumblings indicate that it is time for lunch. With a quick check of the flash across the Trent we head for the Centre. Almost immediately we get a good view of a handsome Whitethroat. I check the call on my phone app, and compare it with Lesser (I’m not very good on song and calls…), and as we get to know the difference, so does a Lesser Whitethroat!!  So we have both species in the same stretch of bushes.

After lunch, Chris and I have a stroll round Trent Meadows (which is Derbyshire by the way) and having added House Martin to the list, we drive to Carsington Water for the annual 6pm Yellow Wagtail walk. The event, which I organise, has been running for a number of years and was led by Carsington Bird Club experts, Simon Roddis and Jon Bradley.

27 people turned up and were rewarded with one Yellow Wagtail. White Wagtails were also seen, together with Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Redshank and one Godwit, a nice collection of waders at dusk.

Phil Lemon, the longest full time Severn Trent Ranger at Carsington, was astride his favourite JCB finalising the site area for the new hide, which will be adjacent to the outdoor classroom, and he left us with the comment -”Next week, there will be a new hide there!         

         Thursday 27 April, I’m off early’ish to see a (fairly-) hi tide on the Wirral, which from past experiences has been great for Raptors. But today, the 25 – 30 people in the Bath House car park at Parkgate were to be disappointed, (apart from one Wheatear on the marsh) so as I had booked a stay on Anglesey, I pounded off along the A55 to the Trearddur Bay Hotel where I spent the night.     

Trearddur has a small rocky bay just 10 minutes short of South Stack. Good hotel, a good dinner at sensible prices, and a full English, eh, Welsh breakfast. A scramble over the rocks pre-dinner was rewarded by seeing 5 Wheatears. 

The only drawback was the power failure during the night, which put the radio/alarm clock into re-boot mood, and I got up an hour late.

My first site was just 3 miles to South Stack, but as it was only 8.45, still chilly and few people around, I stopped en route at a barren headland, part of the South Stack site, known as The Range, and walked down to the cliff edge.  Linnets, Stonechat, 4 more Wheatears and a Whinchat were nice rewards for my efforts.

With the road bereft of traffic, as I slowly drove the last mile to South Stack, a field of corvids on the left caught my eye, JACKPOT!!  13 Chough, mostly in pairs, probing for worms, a bird I had missed whilst on Anglesey last month. At South Stack itself, a warden told me that the previous day, the major influx of Guillemots and Razorbills had arrived on the cliffs and as always it was dramatic to observe. 

The reported 5 Puffins were hard to find, but I was quite happy with spotting Billy No mates bobbing alone on the waves, from the Ellin’s Tower.

After a well-earned coffee, next stop was off Holyhead to the Inland Sea for a Black Necked Grebe, but to no avail. Then to Cemlyn Bay, well known for Terns, where a walk round the headland produced Sandwich Tern, Whimbrel and some striking Grey Plovers in breeding plumage.  Oh and 3 more Wheatears.

So, a cracking week. 11 additions for the year, making 171…I HAVE persevered!

I must persevere; I must persevere; I must persevere !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it’s been a funny old week. A right mix of events, with only 2 birds added to my 2017 list. Mind you I can’t complain, because I am on 160 (or 80% which sounds better), and that’s the highest I’ve ever been by the 30^th April.   And I’ve still got 7 days left in April with some ambitious plans afoot.

Right, that’s the statistics but I’ve got another matter that is causing me some angst…. I’m getting messages which suggest that I need to clarify misunderstandings by my “dedicated followers of fashion” who need to be put on the right track.

I am a Microtibialist.    A Microtibialist is a Small-leg collector.  I am NOT a Small Leg-collector. 
(I might be, but that is coincidental.) 

By the way, if you google Microtibialist, I’m currently getting top billing!!

Tuesday 14^th April. Did my research and drove down to Cossington Meadows in Leicestershire, hopefully to see a Glossy Ibis which had been hanging round for a while. Being a new site, and quite rambling, I did not know where the wet bit was, until I was put on the right path by a helpful local birder. But alas no sign. Tried (to find) another field where it had been sighted, but still no luck.

I got home in time to welcome a couple of Welsh relatives (Alex and her husband Colin) who were staying for 3 nights. Alex IS keen on birds, and having just learnt Welsh (which she did not use on us fortunately) wanted to learn more about birds, so we told them to sleep well, because Wednesday would be a day at Attenborough gravel pits.

Wednesday 19^th April.  Having enjoyed a 7am cup of tea whilst dwelling on what happened 11 months ago to the day, followed by the full English (our guests declined the Welsh option!) we duly set off for Attenborough. 

Alex told me about the time the children at her school in Pembrokeshire found a Little Auk in her primary school playground in St Ishmaels. The children all saw the rare bird, but sadly it died before anything further could be done.

                                     

The Little Auk, but in a sad state.

The 4 of us had a nice walk around Attenborough and saw 44 different species. I added Common Tern on the Trent, but Alex was able to enjoy good views of the following, many new to her: -

Blackcaps (male only), Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs, Nuthatch, Gadwall (a name she will remember!), the handsome male Red Crested Pochard, Jay, all the birds popping on to the feeding table at the Delta area after I had added some seed, 2 young Herons on a nest near Tween pond, Egyptian Geese who had taken over an owl nest box which last week had a pair of Kestrels, Sand Martins whizzing in and out of the Sand Martin bank, not even touching the side, and a Little Ringed Plover on the Wheatear field…how’s that for a good and varied day!

Wednesday 19^th April And now for something completely different, an early start and we went to the Upper Derwent Valley. The best that can be said is that it was dry, a bit cooler than Wednesday, and superb scenery, Birding? No Goshawk or Grouse, although they spotted a Dipper near Slippery Stones.

The bad news (for me) was that we were having a snack at the Fairholmes Visitor Centre, near the bike wash tap, only for a young birder to come and show me his photograph of a Pied Flycatcher that had been BEHIND ME on a very close nest box as we stood there. That’s birding for you, but all credit to the young (14 yrs?) birder. Got my own back. Played the song on my phone, and the lad did not know where to look!!!

Sunday 23rd April Carsington was very busy with a dog show and visitors, so I sneaked off to the quiet of Stones Island to be serenaded by a choir of wrens, ticked off a nice pair of Bullfinches, then Blackcaps, Dunlin, L R Plover and to make it all worthwhile Common Sandpiper.

The remaining April days include Tuesday at Attenborough with Chris, and in the evening at 6pm, our annual Yellow Wagtail walk at Carsington (29 booked so far!) and then on Thursday and Friday I’m off for 48 hours, to include a high tide at The Wirral, South Stack and anything else reported along the North Wales Coast. Should be fun.

Next Sunday should (I hope) be a good blog entry.

Here come the Ospreys!!!

Tuesday 11^th April and having to see Solicitors to sign some docs, I had to curtail the planned walk with Chris to try and See Ring Ouzels plus a lonely Glossy Ibis, both in Leicestershire.   

Instead, we had the morning at Attenborough, which being only 20 minutes from home for me, I met up with Chris at 9.00am.    Being there early, and with Schools closed for the Easter holidays and the consequential absence of loud juvenile exuberance, we could readily hear birds in the bushes.

Foliage is now growing very quickly, and it took patience to see what we could hear. I was lucky. No sooner did I get out of the car, but there was a lovely male Blackcap in the car park, clearly heard and visible.

So we did little more than  mosey down to the tower hide and see what we could find. The furrows in Wheatear field did not yield much, until we were coming back. But Chris and a fellow birder were picking up a Sedge Warbler, and after it came out of the bush it was on my 2017 list too. The Owl box appears to be occupied by the Kestrels once again, unless they get usurped..again.

Cetti’s were singing their hearts out and thus readily identifiable, but we fell into a dispute with some fellow birders as to whether what we saw on the furrows were Ringed or Little Ringed Plovers. As we watched and debated, Mike MacDonald, a wildlife centre volunteer from Carsington joined us, and we all benefited from his scope. Sorted ! Yellow Eye-ring and dark beak = Little Ringed!

Cometh 11.30 and cometh the children on holiday, so goeth David and Chris!!

A revealing article in the Daily Telegraph this week. A survey by Twirlywoos, a pre-school TV programme, revealed that in a survey of 2,000 people, over 50% could not identify a Sparrow, and 33% could not tell the difference between a Goldfinch and a Greenfinch.   The survey was commissioned in conjunction with the online awards scheme, “Wild Challenge this Easter” organised by the RSPB, which is designed to encourage children to get closer to nature.

I am all in favour of encouraging children to appreciate birds and wildlife, and I believe that where this can be tailored via and in conjunction with computers, this is the media that children understand (better than me!). Be it research, data recording or communication, or computerisation of bird sightings, they all get children into knowing birds and names and is a step towards recognising them.

Tell me, what was special about Friday April 14^th, Saturday April 15^th, and Sunday April 16^th? 

On each of those day, an Osprey was reported at Carsington water with to-days bird being seen by anyone in the wildlife centre at 1pm!!   But not me. Apparently there were signs that 2 of the birds either tried, or looked as if they were going to try, to catch some lunch. One was abortive, and another was hassled away by Gulls. What good news all round.,

Sunday April 16 was my third Bird Watching for Beginners at Markeaton Park, and whilst Osprey was not on the hit list, the eight people new to birding were thrilled to see and hear a Chiffchaff very close by. 

Yet another birder on my course went away happily understanding the id clue of knowing a (bald as a..) Coot. 

The chance to see close up birds helped them sort out Greylag and Canada, Blue Great and Coal, and Mistle and Song. 

But the piece de resistance was not one, but two Tree Creepers climbing adjacent trees in what looked like formation. A thrill for us all.

Keep birding

Cavorting Corvids!!

Friday 31^st March and that’s the first quarter of the year over. I’m pleased to be on 152, because that’s the highest I’ve ever reached in the first quarter of the year, in fact 10 higher than any previous year. 

All bodes well for the 2017 objective.

Sunday 2^nd April was my BWB day, and 25 people enjoyed a lovely morning, sunny and bright but with a bit of a chill until 11’ish. 

8 of the group were new to the walk, and within the first 20 minutes they were en-raptored!! Starting with a Buzzard this was soon followed by a Sparrowhawk, and then brilliant views of a Peregrine Falcon flying North. Admittedly it was not doing its potential 200mph, but it was at one hell of a lick!  Not surprising that it was the bird of the morning walk.

Whilst Carsington was not yet heavy with migrants, there were good views of singing Chiffchaffs, and fortunately a Willow Warbler. A few people saw a Blackcap, but it quickly buried itself in the bushes. More will follow as the months pass.

Tuesday 4^th April together with Gill and Chris I went to the Upper Derwent Valley, up to Kings Corner and on to Slippery Stones. Goshawk and/or Grouse were the targets, but low cloud meant that nothing was seen above us, nor where the skylines visible, so we returned empty handed.

We drove to Tittesworth (via Buxton and ticking off a couple of Muscovy Ducks), and checked out one of the 2 hides. Goosander, Willow Tit, Oystercatcher were seen, so all in all a quiet day. That’s birding for you.

Sunday 9^th April

Another nice fine and warm day, and Carsington was pulling in the crowds big time. For all the parking spaces and the overflow field, on a nice weekend, the place fills very quickly, and children were enjoying the Treasure Hunt. (No Cadbury Easter Eggs here!)

16 people turned up for the bonus Birdwatching for Beginners walk in the hope of seeing an Osprey. Statistics show April is the best month to see them at Carsington, and one had been seen two days ago on Friday, on its way through, but the only raptor today was a distant Buzzard.

We had the same 3 warblers as on the 2^nd, with this time a few more Willow Warblers on Stones Island, both very vocal and visible. Only Keith spotted the Swallow racing through, but I did spot a Swallow at a traditional farm location on the way home at Weston Underwood.

Some of the group latched on to a Little Ringed Plover jizzing about near the Sailing Club, but BOD went to the 2 Ravens on water Sports Island, clearly seen through 3 telescopes, setting about increasing the Carsington Raven population!!!

We did manage 39 species, but by 11.00am there were more people on the water edge than birds. A good Number of Barnacle Geese safely way in the fields was a good ending to the walk.

A couple of dates for your diaries – well 3 actually!   

Next Sunday (Easter Sunday,) the 90 minute BWB walk at Markeaton Park in Derby takes place at 10.00am. NOTE – NO walk in May

***And the next BWB at Carsington is Sunday 7^th May, which should be a good Warbler day, even if the foliage is getting denser.

            ***And the Annual evening search for Yellow Wagtails (at Carsington) is 6pm on Tuesday 25^th April. We will have some of the Carsington Bird Club experts with us, and they don’t miss much!!

   

*** Ensure you book for these events.

Happy Osprey finding…..KEEP LOOKING UP!

The Mini-Dorset Tour..and Parakeets at the Cemetery!

Did you miss me?  (How many said No?)  Well I did hint in my 19^th March post, that there would be a sort of “break in transmission”, and my laptop and I duly parted company for 10 days, so this is going to be an undiluted and concentrated account of my avian adventures, starting on…

Sorry, a quick bit of excitement…Osprey seen at Carsington on Monday 20^th 

March by Simon Roddis – 6 days earlier in 2017 than ever reported before.

Tuesday 21st March. Chris and I met up at the Sherwood Forest visitors centre, a new venue for me, and a spot where Chris had recently seen Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (LSW for simplicity). It’s a devil to find, but we went for hopefully another sighting…wrong, no sign at all, but with our late start and school parties and a volunteer work day, we suspect the LSW had retreated. 

So, we headed north into the adjacent Budby Common area.

After a circuitous walk and with the prospect of a meal in the centre, as we walked down a tree lined path with less wind than we had been encountering, Chris heard the call of a Jay, which we both saw, and as we waited for another sighting, high up in the canopy we spotted foraging  Siskin.  

Now with more of a spring in our steps, we approached a remote feeding table scattered with seeds, and our stealthy approach enabled us to get good views of Marsh Tit.  The absence of any pale flight feathers, and a thicker neck than a Willow Tit, gave us a good tick for a bird that can be hard to find.

Now we felt we had earned our lunch!  Mind you, my jacket spud was bad in the middle, so I had the last ½ tater for ½ price. Suited my appetite!

Being not far away and with good reports of raptors, we headed off to Welbeck raptor point, to find the tree with the raptor picture, then to settle down and wait.  No luck to-day, but we were rewarded by the sudden flurry of a brace of Grey Partridges breaking cover, before heading home.

Friday March 24^th, Mary and I set off for Newmarket for a Saturday wedding, Sunday to Epsom downs (get the horse racing theme?), and arrived in Bournemouth (incidentally via a cemetery in Leatherhead, Surrey for my guaranteed Ring Necked Parakeet!) on…

Monday 27^th March. With one addition for the journey so far we start 4 nights in Dorset, before returning home on Friday 31^st March. Came back via Stow on the Wold for the Blue Rock Thrush. Another wrong decision, although we have both seen this lovely bird in Majorca, but not in the UK.

Tuesday 28^th March Having decided we cannot tolerate the terrible rattle from the exhaust any longer, we have an early breakfast and drop into the National Tyre and Autocare centre, who tell me it’s a loose baffle board, correct it and charge me nothing, all done by 9.15. Bit different from the Derby garage who had told me it would be a new exhaust at £186.

With that sorted its Plan B, and we drive to Weymouth. Nothing at Lodmoor, so we go on to Radipole Lake to see a Lifer, a Hooded Merganser.

                                                   

Not the best of pictures – check the web to see what a beauty this Merganser is.

The RSPB volunteer tells us that it originates from the USA, and he has been around for about 8 years. He can be regularly seen making advances to Tufted Ducks, which if successful could produce an interesting Tufted Merganser.

Battling through road diversions, I have a quick look at the Fleet, before lunching at Mary’s favourite Crab sandwich outlet on Portland Bill, after which we find a kind couple sitting in the quarry next to the Portland Bill bird observatory, who point out two Little Owls well disguised amongst the rocks.

Wednesday 29^th March We head for the Isle of Purbeck (our house is called Purbeck), with intention of walking round Arne, and hopefully finding Dartford Warbler. Wrong again, although we do spot a handsome speeding Hen Harrier. A heavy shower aborts a walk at Middlebere very quickly, but too late to avoid getting soaked! 

Day abandoned, after a good lunch at Wareham Quay – Lobster Bisque *****.

Thursday 30^th March was a day to max out our pensioner’s discount cards, including a 60-minute bus ride to Swanage (including a cruise on the Poole – Studland ferry), and back, all for free.  We visited Pevril Point, and Mary spotted the flash of what turned out to be a lovely Wheatear.

In view of the Osprey already seen at Carsington this year (20^th March) may bode well for something on my extra Beginners walk on Sunday 9^th April….BOOK NOW!!! (No guarantees)

Good Birding (Oh and I'm on 152!!)