Sorry no photos to show you, but my Mojo has certainly been reactivated and whilst I’m not quite twitching, I have been to locations with specific objectives and target birds
14th December, enjoyed a
stroll with Chris at Attenborough, the first there for must be 18 months, so we
found quite a few changes, like vehicle recognition parking in the car park,
and free parking areas along the access road all blocked up.
After a reunion drink!!, we did a leisurely circuit, and ticked
off 39 species without any real effort. A somewhat precocious but enthusiastic young
boy, aspiring to birding, asked if we had seen the Smew!! Which resulted in us
visiting the Kingfisher hide and seeing a nice Redhead off to the right. And
then whilst we were in the hide, a Water Rail emerged from the reeds!! At first
we thought there were 2, but it’s partner turned out to be a Moorhen…not a
surprising temporary mistake – they are both from the Rail genus.
30th December, I went to RSPB Old Moor via Broomhill Flash.
Looking back on my records, the last time I was there was 28th
January 2020, virtually 2 years ago. In the 2 years they have done a lot of good
work on the site assisted by a large lottery grant. The car park is no longer gravel and looking
much more welcoming. Entry to the reserve is no longer through the shop and
when I visited the volunteers were manning an information gazebo to help
visitors. The Family hide is now quite different but the distant hides where
birders go only differs by the addition of some plastic partitioning so that
birders are separated.
Bird wise, the Sparrow Farm (which has no Tree sparrows since
the major flood last year) gave me good views of Bullfinch and Reed Bunting, and
after some id difficulty (I’m rusty!) I identified a Green Sandpiper from the
Wader Scrape hide. And finished with an excellent sight of a disruptive
Peregrine Falcon island-hopping in front of the Family Hide.
2nd January 2022 started
with the BwB walk with Amanda, and 2
Gull species plus a pair of Barnacle Geese (I called them!!) took me to 95.
After my lengthy hibernation, getting back up to speed on identification has
been slow, but 95 in the first 2 months is quite satisfactory.
Thursday 13th January despite yet another very frosty start, I went to Carsington and saw the
red Necked Grebe near the draw-off tower.
Not being inclined to go Diver hunting I opted to go on to Cromford,
obviously hoping for a Hawfinch (failed!) but trying again to add Dipper to my
list.
With a welcoming take-away hot
chocolate, I took up position by the little fisherman chapel near the Derwent bridge,
and despite the high water level I quite quickly saw a Dipper fly out from under
the bridge and land on a branch overhanging the water. When it flew to the
other side of the Derwent, a second Dipper joined it and landed nearby. For
over a quarter of an hour I watched them dipping in and out for food, and at
one point displaying to each other. The male (I assumed) was acting like a Jack
Snipe, bobbing up and down rhythmically whilst the other stood very erect.
What an enjoyable tick for the day!
20th January to end my birding for the month, this week we again visited Attenborough,
Chris Gill and myself. Again a leisurely walk ticked 35 species. We could have
hoped to see Bittern, Stonechat, Woodpecker or Kingfisher, but had to settle
for a Song Thrush and 2 Chiffchaffs. The Chiffchaffs were seen on a path alongside
the railway towards the sailing club. I
have ticked them here some years ago, and whilst Chiffchaffs are Warblers that
now over-winter it is always nice to see them as early as possible in the
birding year.. and before they can get confused with Willow Warblers!!
This is my second bi-monthly Birding
blog, so with 104 YTD the end of March should show a small increase but the
summer migrants will be just round the corner.
Happy birding and a Happy 2022 to both of you!!!
The Twitcher/Microtibialist!!
