MERRY TWIXMAS

Well it’s nearly New Year’s Eve, so a very happy New Year to you all and may your bird-watching in 2019 be all that you hope for. 

Those of you who keep records, now have your count for 2018, a figure which is now frozen, and off you go for 2019 starting at Zero.  Hopefully you will not only beat your score for 2018, but maybe beat your best and give yourself a new record score. 

Most birders who keep sightings records want to achieve the big 200, so if you are of them…Good Luck!

Meanwhile something to reinvigorate the old grey cells, which will have probably been a bit dormant 

for the past 5 days: -

                                                                             A

                                                              M E R R Y

                                                                  X M A S

                                                            T U R K E Y

Simple Addition -Each letter is represented by the number 0-9. Find the number for the total.

A nice little birdie question…I was playing golf at Allestree and observed that I had just scored a Snowman.  Explain!¬

(Your Answers on my comments page please or wait for next week for my answers!!)

               

As we come to the end of 2018, 30^th December 2018 is the 146^th time in the 3 years I have been writing my blog. Not the full 52*** this year I’m afraid, partly through holidays in Cyprus and Majorca, and a couple of weeks enjoying the services of the NHS at the Derby Royal Hospital.

Without any bird news this week let’s have a bit of a review of the year.

200 Club? It looks as though there are only 2 of my birding colleagues who have made the 200 club this year, Christine and Amanda.  I suspect that once they have made the 200+, they were happy, and anything higher was a bonus. Me, I’m going for it again in 2019.  I did not qualify this year, with the prime-time birding months being unavailable due to *** above.

I managed 3 visits to Frampton Marsh this year and for a change it only took 2 trips before I found the Turtle Dove. That WAS a major highlight this year. I knew the area to look and adopting the approach “I’ll just look a bit further”, I duly heard the evocative Turtle Dove call. And then a bit further another call, - maybe 2? Retracing my steps to the spot where I had the first call, it seemed to come from the other side of a high thick bush. At the end of the hedge trampled grass was a good sign of where to be, and sure enough my perseverance was rewarded.

A new BwB innovation in 2018 was for a group of Carsington BwB birders to have an away day trip  to Frampton Marsh on 27^th May. 7 of us had a very good day, seeing the Glossy Ibis that selfish photographers were trying to flush. Graham arrived at the RSPB reserve the night before, and when we arrived at 10.00am he was telling us what we had missed overnight!!

As we all enjoyed the trip, we did the same thing again! 14^th October we were at Old Moor and Broomhill Flash. Bird of the walk was an elusive Grey Phalarope seen from Wath Ings hide, and although it was very mobile it was due to the birders in the hide calling the changing location that we all managed to get good views.

Although it seems some time ago, most will recall the Hawfinch irruption, and it would have been hard NOT to have seen one somewhere. My first sighting was at Allestree Park on Jan 1, and later in the month at Old Moore there was a single bird in the trees above the car park. Cars going to and frow had no adverse effect.

Highlights for me undoubtedly included the annual pilgrimage on the River Exe in Devon, and the RSPB bird watching cruise up to Topsham.   I’m already booked for February 2019.

And the annual Boston Lincs cruise on the rivers Witham and Welland. This is also already booked for 2019, and I hope to include a night-over so that I can include a visit to Gib Point and/or Frampton Marsh.

I reflected on my sightings for 2018. The Devon and the Exe cruise gave the best year additions of 15, but a total of 66 species on the Boston cruise with 48 hours in Lincs was the most productive.

Just the one lifer in the UK, the Spotted Sandpiper at Holme Pierrepoint.  

It was good to see again some birds that I had not seen for a long time. A Red Breasted Goose - Slimbridge (last seen in 2006); Iceland Gull – Albert Village with Rod Key(1993) {a DOS trip I’m on in January}; Firecrest – Broomhill Flash, Dearne Valley (2007); Montagues Harrier – Blacktoft Sands (2007), and it had been 3 years since I saw a Bittern – well worth going to Old Moore for.

And of course, the other significant event in 2018 was “I quit”, or “I resign”.. No, I’m re

tiring, or as my young grandson once said “Grandpa, I’ve had enough”.

My family of six had Friday in London, dining at Rules the oldest restaurant in London.

I don’t know about Brits going abroad for Xmas, but for sure foreigners come to England. Regent St, Carnaby St and Oxford street were heaving!! And I reckon they will still come despite the Brexit outcome. If I tell you a great proportion had Japanese cameras and phones, slit eyes, and smog masks, you can guess where they have flown from….long journey!!  What a major export our tourism is.

So to end a few memorable photos….the 200 year old Churchill Arms is at Notting Hill and the inside is rife with Churchill era memorabilia… we spent ages looking at the things hanging from the ceiling!

Carnaby Street

Regent Street

Churchill Arms, Notting Hill

That’s it., good bye and for the umpteenth time….Happy New Year.

David

Last posting before Christmas!!!!!

The 2018 Penultimate post!

Who’s the most gullible?  Me, for believing the data that an ex-friend sent about the calendar frequency of there being 5 Saturdays, 5 Sundays and 5 Mondays in a year. (Incidentally not 3 times as I wrongly stated.)  No it’s not once in 723 years, but in fact the next one will be in 2029.   A positive correction from Mrs Bridge, thank you.

I have requested my source to check his/her facts more carefully, so that I am not subjected to claims of tautology by one follower which my spell and grammar check failed to pick up!!

By the way, I notice that I did not show you the 2 legs added to my collection in November, so these are them!

                                            

The first leg is a metal bottle opener in a similar style to a footballer and a golfer that I already have 

in my collection. Not valuable, but still a leg.

The second one is a bronze pipe tamper, dated c 1880, and probably at 2 ins small enough to be used by a lady.

Tuesday 18^th December birding was very much an on-off situation, depending on which weather forecast you read. But determination prevailed and once Chris had cleared the eternal problem of the traffic at 8.30am on the west bound Brian Clough way from Nottingham to Derby we set off for Carsington.

Despite poor visibility, we got to Millfields first so we popped in for a quick gander. Almost immediately we noticed a non-Severn Trent feeding station which I had not seen before. There was plenty of seed and fat and it was being well used by Tits and Finches. In the few minutes we watched, a Nuthatch came down the branches, and a female Great Spotted Woodpecker spent a long time pecking the fat balls.

Thanks to the public spirited people who fill the feeders, and to Roger Carrington and Simon Roddis who carry some food to top up these feeders if needed.   

Next stop was Sheepwash where the best place to be was in the hide. An easterly wind was driving the rain through the windows, so we picked which window to open with some thought!! Nothing really to talk about, so we next went to the Wildlife Centre. Pat and Jill were on duty, and with such inclement weather they were pleased to have 2 visitors. Their sightings Board was up to 38 before we left, with many of the usual suspects, but I added a female Goldeneye to the list, and a smart Song Thrush dropped in. 4 VERY well camouflaged Snipe were on Stones Island, but with no Lapwings they were the only Waders.

As the restaurant was in use for a lunch + music event, we warmed up in the courtyard café, before venturing out on Stones Island to the Janet Ede hide. To start with not much, until I picked up the Great Northern Diver not far offshore, a good reward for our dedicated efforts in crossing the ice cold causeway!

37 for the walk, not bad all considered… oh and the water is now 69.5% full

I hope like me, you are looking forward to the festive season and I hope that you and your family will have a relaxed and happy Christmas. Assuming and hoping that Santa will be calling in, I have 3 landmark dates on the horizon.

The first date is Christmas with different family members dropping in on various days. Ed: Relaxing? in the kitchen? I’ll keep you fortified with G & T, darling.

6 days later is my last day as a Volunteer Ranger, and together with the other kind gifts and cards I have received I have that superb painting of an Osprey. That will soon be reframed and on the wall, and I’ll let you see what it looks like when it is done.

And then, 26 days later I cease to be in my seventies (you work it out if you must). My good birding friend Christine together with her husband John, has given me a birthday voucher for 2 birding cruises with which I have booked the Avocet cruise from Exmouth in February, and the Boston (Lincs) cruise in the Wash in May. Ed: One assumes that it was 2 cruises for 1, and not 1 cruise for 2.

Sunday 23^rd December.  To-day was extremely quiet at Carsington, the only news being that the tide is still coming in, with the Reservoir being nearly 70% full. The rain in the last 24 hours has got to have helped, not so much by the reservoir capturing it, but by the need to relieve the Derwent of the volume that will be flowing down from the hills in the north of the county.

Anyway, and once again, a very Happy Xmas to both my readers!!

PS.  Any Waxwings around??