Willington – Page 2 – tonydavisonphotography.com

Staffs 2 – Derby 0 – 8th April 2012

2012, Birds, Year No Responses »

Apr 082012

A second weekend birding in Staffordshire. This time for a Common Crane that had arrived last week frequenting water meadows just outside the town of Stafford. A smart adult bird but just too distant for my camera. The area where the bird was feeding is quiet large and certainly the bird appeared to be well settled and undisturbed. A quick visit to Blithfield Reservoir, whilst in the area, is always worthwhile. On arrival the weather began to deteriorate and we had distant views of 3 Little Ringed Plover and a single Swallow with Sand Martin. Still a few Goldeneye about. […]

Dances with Grebes – Sunday, 27 March 2011

2011, Birds, Birds of 2011, Year No Responses »

Mar 272011

Dances with Grebes - Sunday, 27 March 2011

Local birding in South Derbyshire. A very dull grey spring morning was brightened up by the courtship dances of the Great Crested Grebe. This pair were really putting on a show at Foremark Reservoir. A pity they were just a little distant for my camera lens. No luck with Lesser Pecker this morning but did manage several Grey Partridge. At least 6 singing Chiffchaff and several singing Yellowhammer. Once common birds locally, Grey Partridge & Yellowhammer are now getting exceedingly difficult to find. The woodlands around Ticknall were also unproductive for Lesser Pecker, another species that is very difficult and very […]

Wintery Willington – Sunday 30th January 2011

2011, Birds, Birds of 2011, Year No Responses »

Jan 302011

Wintery Willington - Sunday 30th January 2011

A real dull and cold wintery morning at the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust reserve at Willington Gravel Pits. Still I did get my expected year tick – Willow Tit – also one of the Bitterns showed well but very briefly. Otherwise 16 Shoveler; 4 Shelduck; 5 Goldeneye and a calling Water Rail were the highlights. At Albert Village Lake the day-time gull roost produced none of the local rare species. Year list now on 133. A few Black-headed Gull photos to follow –

Redpolls arrive on my Local Patch – 2nd January 2011

2011, Birds, Birds of 2011, Year No Responses »

Jan 022011

Redpolls arrive on my Local Patch - 2nd January 2011

At Staunton Harold Reservoir this morning I found a superb flock of Redpolls and after carefully checking through the flock of around 80 birds, I discovered at least 30 Mealy Redpolls mixed in. At least 2 birds appeared to be colour ringed. Unfortunately I was not able to determine the colours and sequence of the rings. Nevertheless a great local find. A classic Mealy Redpoll, large size, grey appearance, heavier looking than Lesser, bold white wing bar and short stubby looking yellow bill are all good indicators to help with the ID process. In Derby along […]

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