A shock to see the birds!!

With so many people starting sentences or articles with “so” I am determined that I will not fall into that reprehensible habit, and therefore my first comment this week is to correct my blog of 12^th January, and launch straight into correcting the errors wrongly showing events as dated … October! Don’t ask me why - just a senior moment I suppose in anticipation of my birthday to-day.

My last blog was a good week with an additional 11 species on the year list, and if   my birding was confined to locally it was unlikely to be repeated.  And it wasn’t.

Tuesday January 21^st,  and kicking off with my comfortable score of 72 to date, Chris and I liaised for a trip to Slimbridge, the idea being we would be there for 10.30 and get in a good coverage of the site including lunch, by sundown at c3.30.  Wrong again.  

Sitting in a 3-lane traffic queue 5 minutes down the A38 from home, my in-car satnav tells me that the A38 is closed between 2 junctions east and west of Burton on Trent. .. and 45 minutes later we are passing Willington Gravel Pits, wondering if the large number of parked cars are hoping to see the reported Hen Harrier. Finally reaching Repton and knowing that all the traffic going both ways are trying to by-pass Burton we change to Plan B, we will go the relatively new RSPB reserve at Middleton Green, next to Bodymoor Heath Aston Villas’ training ground.    

Has to be the right decision, and we reach the RSPB car park at 10.30, the time we should have been at Slimbridge.  I’d been to Middleton before, but it was new to Chris, so meaning that we would follow the prescribed somewhat lengthy route around the large number of ponds.

We got a couple of useful tips from some fellow birders, and located a lone Great White Egret standing proudly on his own in the middle of one pond. That was followed by spotting synchronised swimming/dipping by a pair of Pintails, which made our scanning worthwhile.

HOWEVER, in the course of trying to see the Pintails in a telescope, without bothering with setting up the tripod, I rested the scope on a couple of strong looking fence wires. And they were strong for a reason. They were electric. Now that did come as a shock… in more ways than one! Chris was looking the other way and only turned when she heard me yelp. No after effects you will be pleased to know.

As Tuesday was the only day of the week when the Middleton café was not open, and I was getting desperate for a cup of Twining’s, we moved on to Kingsbury Water park to see what we could find.

I managed to find a good jacket potato, and as Chris waited for her curried courgette soup (honest!!) she spotted a pair of Jays by the bird feeder, a species not only that she wanted to see in 2020, but dipped on in 2019.  

The light was quite poor at Kingsbury after lunch and after a quick yomp round the site we headed back to Derby.

And the traffic saga continued. It transpired that Derby had 3 very nasty vehicle and pedestrian issues during the day, and it was only my knowledge of some of the suburbs that avoided us encountering the 3^rd such incident on the way home. You just can’t plan for these sorts of sad events.

Mary and I were invited to a 60th birthday party in Haverfordwest on Saturday 25^th January entailing a 250 mile each-way trip to Pembrokeshire.

We managed to get a short visit to the west coast of Wales at Wooltack Point a headland which overlooks Skomer Island. Despite the continuous rain we were rewarded with views of a pair of Chough on the clifftops, a bird I had not seen for a couple of years, the last time on Anglesey. We could both see the deep red coloured feet and beaks, and there was a bit of noisy chuntering going on between them.

We also had a brief look at The Gann Estuary, at nearby Dale, and despite the low tide, we were rewarded by a large group of Great Black Back Gulls.

And finally, the QI for the week.  

115 years ago today, the world’s largest diamond was mined in Pretoria, The Cullinan…. 3,106 carats. Wow! Some glitz!

Happy Birding           

A rewarding birding week!!!

It’s been an interesting week with a variety of birding locations visited. My birding colleagues had other commitments, and the weather was not the most encouraging. So apart from Tuesday I grabbed a few hours when I could. What was evident throughout was how wet everywhere was indicating that waterproof trousers would be essential. Not only warmer, but also stop getting trousers muddy.

Monday 13^th January I picked the closest birding location to home, Allestree Park. The light was poor and many of the birds high in the canopy were in profile. I’d hoped for small birds like Redpoll, Siskin and an elusive one so far this year, Coal Tit.  The net result was that I just added one, a Goldcrest to the year list.

Going back several years, Allestree used to be a good location for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, but they do seem to be very scarce now, and seldom reported. A fellow birder had spotted a male Mandarin Duck, but I could not find it when I retraced my steps.

A female Goosander was on the lower lake, but otherwise just 11 for a 2-hour walk.

Tuesday 14^th January  I was on my own today, so I did a bit of research on local bird sightings. A couple of years ago, Chris and I kept reading about some good bird on the A52 pit on the A52 east of Nottingham, and near Holme Pierrepoint rowing centre. Birds like Smew and American Wigeon come to mind, but the trouble was that to view the pit from the A52 was difficult and dangerous. There are virtually no laybys and traffic is very fast and close. I did find a field gate with approach space where I could park, providing I approached slowly, but then there was the problem of backing onto a busy road when I wanted to leave.   Also, entry to the field was prohibited.

I was told recently that a small commercial business in the viewing area, had closed and the site had been flattened so it was now possible to get to the water edge. I did this today by parking in the lay-by half a mile further on, and then I had to hurdle the barbed wire fence.

And as Janet Webb said, “It was all worthwhile”. Straight away I spotted a lovely White Nun amongst hundreds of Wigeon. So that was Smew off/on my list. A Long-Tailed Duck had been reported, but it is a huge water area, and as the rain was increasing it was really a time for the more intrepid birders… not me!

Well worth the effort, I decided to try Attenborough again, a) for some lunch, and b) for the Cattle Egrets.

With directions from a birder who had spotted one Cattle Egret with the Little Egrets in the Llama field I set off towards Trent Meadows. The sighting area was a bit of a trek, and the last time I did that walk was a few years agio when A Squacco Heron was found. That got a huge turnout, a lot of aggro twixt birders and photographers, with car tyres being let down and a fishing trolley lobbed in the water.

Today, it was windy, lonely wet and cold… but the field with the Llamas was host to 8 Egrets, and with my scope weathering the rain, I identified 6 Little and 2 Cattle Egrets. 

Believe me!!!

This is a photograph from which you can just see they all had their backs to me. But with patience, and when they turned their heads to look at me I was able to identify 6 black beaks and 2 yellow!!  (No’s 2 and 5)  Believe me.. they ARE real.

Wednesday 15^th January  With a free morning, and £2.40 to pay for the parking!!, I decided to have a couple of hours at Markeaton Park.

22 ticks (coincidentally the same number as I got on January 1!!) with nothing special. But I did add a pair of Song Thrushes to my years list and having added some bird food to the feeding table, my patience was rewarded with a couple of Coal Tits.  

Here again, very wet underfoot wherever you walked, and water was really gushing into overflows and torrents.

Saturday18^th January,  Mary and I decided we would go out SOMEWHERE and after dropping off at Sarah’s with Milk, flowers and words of sympathy (she’s a bit poorly) we headed for Lea and Holloway, more significantly to the wharf at High Peak Junction, intending to go on to Cromford for lunch. 

Birders will recognise that the route is designed to include Hawfinch, Dipper and Grey Wagtail plus possible Redpoll and Siskin. Trouble was, the road was closed at Lea Bridge, so we were limited to a short walk to and from the sewage works and the wharf, and guess what?  Walking close to Lea Brook, I spotted a Jay, and on the way back it had morphed into 2!

And also, on the way back Mary asked what that wagging bird was on a house roof……a lovely Grey Wagtail.   The irony is that I have known this whole High Peak Junction area to be good for Grey Wagtails, and I have actually seen one before on the roof of the same house. Explain that!

After a spot of lunch, we went a circuitous route to Upper Matlock to Screechams Lane and Bumper Castle hoping to see the reported Bramblings. Failed.

Sunday 19^th January  With enthusiasm going full pelt, I decided to end the week with a visit to Willington Gravel Pits. I had not anticipated how cold it would be so defrosting the bird bath (and filling the feeders) was the first task. 

The temperature was Zero at Willington, and the gravel pits were fully iced over apart from the few areas where birds had broken the surface. I picked up a takeaway coffee, and in wellies which had Zero insulation, took to the path to the viewing platforms.

There were a few other birders around, and my first encounter told me that for the 3^rd day running a female Hen Harrier had been seen c8.15am. Return time was a bit more varied, and not whilst I was there.  

It got worse!!  Persistent and well entrenched viewers at platforms 1 and 2 had seen the Bittern, and a few instances of skating Water Rails but not me.

Still, on the bright side, there were ticks for 3 Curlews and a pair of Oystercatchers.

You can see it’s been a productive birding week with the addition of an excellent 11  birds.  Just shows how a bit of planning and patience can pay off.

Year to date?  72…ooh, that’s good.. better than this time last year!

My usual Q.I. item.   100 years ago, from last Thursday 16^th January, prohibition of Alcohol was introduced in the USA.  What a party that must have been on the 15^th!!

…. And a poser. This photograph was taken in the rough parking area at the Pits alongside a fast running stream – not very deep but I have seen Kingfishers fly by in the past. The fence protects a large new housing estate on the site which was once a factory.

What I want to know is why do these fences need  gates??!!!

Happy Birding.

Relieve the strain with an Eagle!!!

Have you heard of Kingsmill Reservoir? (NG17 4PA) Well you have now!!  It’s a reservoir on the A38 near Mansfield, Notts.

Today, Monday 6^th January, I decided to revisit for the first time for a couple of years. The good start was a filled bird feeding station adjacent to the free car park, very active with the usual feeder birds, plenty of Goldfinches, but a few too many rats. The poor start was that the water’s edge café had been closed for a refurb and was not due to reopen until February. Judging by the amount of civil engineering work around the visitor area, that may be ambitious.

The circuit was a good 90 minutes at birders pace!,  (including an adjacent Costa in the NE corner of the site on the Sutton Rd.) 24 species was a reasonable count for this large site and enabled me to add 6 species to my 2020 list.

Many of the birds were understandably tucked in under the trees along the water’s edge, such as Teal, one lonely Grey Heron, and a number of Little Grebes.

All the above are good reasons to give Kingsmill Reservoir a try. I know some people do not like the proximity of busy roads and noisy ambulances, but the birds don’t seem to mind.

Tuesday 7^th January, and it was the first visit to Attenborough in 2020. Chris Gill and I duly arrived at 9.30 and found that fellow birders Paul and Marion had turned up, so it was good to have 5 pairs of eyes for our first 2020 visit.

There were more birders around than normal, and the sightings board told us why.   There had been reports of a Slavonian Grebe for several days, initially viewable from the car park. Whilst not visible straight away we could see the Grebe from the peninsular at the back of the centre, near the Sand Martin bank.  As a bonus, and I missed it, a Water rail was calling in the reeds, and seen by some of my colleagues.

So much excitement… we all just had to have a drink, so the next half hour was spent in the café.  And even that produced dividends!

The Slavonian Grebe, decided to go around to the southern side of the visitor centre, and was then readily seen whilst sitting in the café!!  With views like this………………..

Eventually we felt we ought to do some birding, so drawing our eyes way from the Grebe, we went to the tower hide.    There were a several bird groups around, but it was quiet in the tower hide.  Birds like Water rail or Bittern were not seen, but Goosander, Reed Bunting were in my 9 addition for the year.

We tried a quick look at Cotton flash, but the rain increased in intensity, making us return to the centre, including a quick abortive look in the Kingfisher hide.

A couple of itinerant additions to my list later in the week.  Good to see 2 Peregrines on the Jury hotel in Derby on Friday, and on Saturday on the way to Uttoxeter we passed a very eruptive Rookery!

I had something of an altercation with my good lady this week. Although I know  she enjoys her yoga classes I don’t know what they do for 2 hours. It was therefore revealing on Monday when Mary showed me that this was a posing  exercise…..

 …….my obvious question was “Why?”

Mary “ This is a stretching exercise - think of a catchphrase, think of birds…. Say what you see.”

What could I do? What would YOU do?   Then a brainstorm… “Red backed Shrike?”

An unwelcome look indicated that I was on sticky ground, and I didn’t fare much better when I asked whether it related to the half full (half empty?) wine rack.  

In fear that things could only get worse..” Please Darling, just tell me..I promise not to laugh.”

“It’s a Yoga pose… it’s called the Eagle Pose….. I’m surprised you did not recognise it.”

                                  

Well I must admit there is some similarity.  Apparently it is an aide to relieving shoulder strain.  

Anyway this is why I will not be going to Yoga and Mary will not be birding!!

Ed: Agreed

Just before I sign off a memory tugger for some of us…. And history for others!!!

QI.  35 years ago, yesterday (in 1985) you could buy a car for £399. It was the launch of the C5.   NO?....Clive Sinclair’s electric car!!

Happy Birding 

Lunch Time for the Raptors!!

Ed: I just want to wish you all a very happy 2020 and thank you for maintaining faith with David whilst he went through that 4 months period of rambling and the publishing of un-avian news.

I have now issued a 3-line whip requiring that all future posts are edited by me and will be authorised for publication by a conspicuous endorsement by me!!

2020… here we go!!!  Thank you for all your good wishes for the new year, and from a comment-ator on my last blog of 2019!!

So, 1^st January 2020 and Christine and I duly set off at 8.30am, neither of us apparently hung over from celebrating Hogmanay!

Our first stop per custom, was Markeaton Park. It was a bit chilly, but so quiet and few dog walkers. With the sun so low, spotting birds in the trees was not easy so by our standards, 25 was not very good. The only bird of note was the Little Egret that we (accidentally) flushed from the edge of the lake.

The Mackworth area and the journey to Cromford, produced nothing of note, although a (couple of?) Great Spotted Woodpeckers was a reward for our patience.

And Cromford? Absence of birders on the bridge over the Derwent, the Rugby club grounds, the church grounds and Willersley Hall, was a fair warning that Hawfinches were absent. And the walk along the river to the A6 disclosed a dearth of Dippers and Grey Wagtails. Not surprising really because the river was in full flow, and perching rocks were few and far between.

What was evident was how high up the waters-edge trees was the evidence of the December very high water, and the rubbish that had got caught up in the branches. We could envisage that that tide mark would be evident for many months, as we could not see what would bring down the rubbish – high wind and rain perhaps.

After lunch it was on to Carsington, and with the Sheepwash car park being full, on to the main centre and down to the Wildlife centre. Good decision as the number of scopes toters evidenced! I had read that apart from 2 Great Northern Divers, there had been reports of a Red Necked Grebe and Jack Snipe.     It was the Jack Snipe on Horseshoe Island that was attracting attention, and with a lot of patience we finally both spotted a very inactive bird amongst the brash. It was a while before I got a sighting, and only the broad bright yellow on its rump confirmed the Jack. Not that I saw it happening, but the frequent call was “It’s bobbing!!”  

3 Willow Tits on the feeders were nice, and we then headed to the point at Stones Island to successfully find what we deduced was the junior Great Northern Diver.

A group of us where tracking the Diver as it headed towards the dam wall, counting c45 seconds when the bird was down, up for a breather and then another 45 below. Then it decided to turn around and come back!!

Over the latter part of 2019 I have heard of frequent sightings of Chiffchaff over-wintering in different areas of the site, so it was a real thrill to have one in the scrub, right by the spot where we stood, such that we could id the bird even without bins.

36 was a satisfactory count for the first day of 2020 – onwards and upwards as they say.

And so it was Sunday January 5^th, and I joined 24 other people on Amanda’s first BwB walk of the year . Fortunately, she had 6 leaders, so everyone got any help they needed.

Stones Island did not have a lot to offer, but I was pleased to be the first to spot the Juvenile Great Northern Diver near the dam wall. The 6 pairs of Telescopes proved very useful, albeit patience was needed to wait for the bird to briefly surface.

The wildlife centre gave the group a good number of walk additions, to give a total of 34. Additions not seen elsewhere on the walk were Snipe, Willow Tit, Barnacle Goose, Redshank, Pochard (many..and mostly male), and I added 10 for my own list.

On the way home it was brilliant to spot a couple of raptors out for lunch! Well it was 12.30pm.  The first was a single Red Kite meandering around above the road searching for food. It is known that a pair bred at Kedleston Hall last year, so they should become even more familiar in 2020.

And as I was scanning a field near Weston Underwood, a Kestrel flew through with food dangling from its claws. Too quick to see what was on the menu, as the road had to be my priority!!

Being a bit self-indulgent, it is great to get back to having some Avian stories to tell you, so I hope this will continue.

Not to forget the old favourites snippet (of mine!)…. One of the best known of historical dates is 1066, and it was to-day in 1066 that Edward the Confessor died.. 954 years ago.

Happy Birding

Authorised