I managed to get a record shot of the lingering near adult Yellow-legged Gull that has been present on and off at Staunton Harold & Foremark Reservoirs for the past few months. Not a great deal else at the local patch this morning. Tufted Duck numbers are building as I count around 260 this morning. Also 2 female Shoveler, 1 female Teal and 24 Mute Swan. Also 1 adult Great Black-backed Gull and a hundred plus Black-headed Gull. Obviously a gull roost now building up. Adult Yellow-legged Gull Coot Coot Mute […]
I decide to take a walk round Staunton Harold Reservoir this morning, my “Local Patch”. It proved to be a good move as no sooner on site I discovered two female Common Scoter. The birds were sat in the middle of the reservoir at the dam end and the first record here for a number of years. These sea-duck seem to be regularly encountered on inland waters during July. They were very distant & I could only manage a heavily cropped record shot. Also nearby on one of the marker buoys the regular near adult Yellow-legged Gull, was […]
I only need to see two more species of regular breeding British Butterfly – Lulworth Skipper & Swallowtail. I also only need to photograph 7 species and now 6 having managed to get Essex Skipper this morning at Foremark Reservoir in Derbyshire, a few miles from my home. Essex Skipper is a very tricky species to confidently identify. You practically need to crawl around on your hands and knees to check the underside of the antennae. These should be black, appearing as though they have been dipped in ink. It is also possible to see the slightly more pointed […]
The first bird for 2011 was a Wood Pigeon, rapidly followed by Collard Dove, House Sparrow, Black-headed Gull, Starling and Blackbird all in the garden and so the new years Bird List began. Throughout the day a total of 67 species was seen. Highlights included – Yellow-legged Gull; Caspian Gull, Goldeneye and Yellowhammer all at Staunton Harold Reservoir. White-fronted Goose & Little Owl at Ambaston. Kingfisher, Water Rail and Peregrine at Willington. Redhead Smew, Curlew, Goosander and Dunlin at Foremark Reservoir.