Well 2020 has been a mighty strange year to say the least. The COVID Pandemic has caused chaos across the world and may have changed our lives. I’m not so sure things will ever be the same again.
I managed a trip to Mongolia in March, to finalise my Snow Leopard Quest but I paid the price and got entangled with COVID 19. The story is on the website.
My last few photos of 2020. I hope 2021 proves to be a better year and I’m sure we are all looking forward to receiving our vaccine.
Whilst counting the waterbirds on Staunton Harold Reservoir, I came across a gull roosting on one of the buoys. I paid little attention to it as I was distracted by the Great Northern Diver out in the middle of the reservoir.
The diver disappeared so I went back to the gull and immediately discovered it was an adult Caspian Gull. A pleasant surprise on Christmas Day and I managed to get some reasonable video of it.
Adult Caspian Gull – Staunton Harold Reservoir – 25/12/2020
I videoed the Great Northern Diver, that I found on 15th December, on Saturday 19th December and it looked decidedly unwell. It was later caught by Seven Trent Wardens and found to have fishing tackle wrapped around its neck and bill. It was released but wasn’t seen again until 23rd December and, thankfully, looking in good condition.
I watched it on the afternoon of the 24th December and then had a good close encounter with it on the morning of the 25th December 2020. It was looking very well and obviously recovered from its ordeal with the fishing tackle.
Whilst looking for the Great Northern Diver at Staunton Harold Reservoir on Thursday 17th December, I received a phone call from Rob Hutchinson, around mid day, to say he may have found a Ring-necked Duck, but only had binoculars. I said I would be with him in 10 minutes with a scope. On my arrival and through the scope we were soon looking at a very smart immature drake Ring-necked Duck, a new bird for Staunton Harold Reservoir. A great find and a thrill to see on on my local patch.
Immature drake Ring-necked Duck – Staunton Harold Reservoir 17th December 2020
In these strange times of COVID19 lock-downs and Tier Systems in place, it is difficult for me to venture out of my comfort zone. In other-words, travel farther afield than ones home patch.
I am very fortunate to live in a rural area and have plenty of places on my local doorstep to go birding. There are several good feeding stations at the moment. One in particular is very active and has given me a chance to test out the camera skills on small birds and in varying lighting conditions. Trialling my new Canon R6 against my Canon 5DmkIV. Both cameras by the way are amazing.
Here are some results from yesterdays session with the 5DmkIV.
2 local Cattle Egrets were found in amongst a flock of Mute Swans feeding in a field between Willington and Repton early afternoon ( 21st Nov). Quite a rare bird for my area so worth paying them a visit. There was also a male Peregrine briefly over the area. This morning 2 Yellow-legged Gulls at Staunton Harold Res and a Little Egret at Foremark Res.
In recent weeks the local Red Deer Stags at NT Calke Park, South Derbyshire have been very vocal. Their bellowing calls can be heard at great distance. Autumn is the time of year when the Stags engage in elaborate displays of dominance including roaring, parallel walks, and fighting. This behaviour is called The Rut, it is the Red Deer’s mating season.
Any inland Diver is a rare find and usually one that is associated with the winter period. With Black-throated Diver now a very rare visitor to Derbyshire, last recorded in 2011 and Great Northern Diver now an annual visitor to my county, the Red-throated Diver in recent times seems to have gained second place status. There were at least two birds recorded in 2019.
The discovery of one at St. Chad’s Water yesterday afternoon and still present today, (10th November 2020) was too good to miss. Although, due to a variety of work issues, I couldn’t get to see it until late this afternoon, by which time the light was fading fast. Disappointingly it was hugging the centre of the lake and so some distance away for a decent photograph. I only managed a few record shots in the gloom, but happy I saw the bird and got a few snaps. My new Canon R6 Mirrorless Camera is quite amazing, performing well even in very low light conditions. However, it would have been interesting to see its performance in the low light, had the bird been a lot closer.
Red-throated Diver – St. Chad’s Water, Derbyshire – 10th November 2020
A Grey Phalarope, a small wader species that breeds in the high arctic and winters at sea, was discovered on the River Wye in the middle of Bakewell, Derbyshire, of all places on the late morning of the 25th October 2020. Just goes to show that rare birds can be found anywhere, along with an element of luck.
This bird was a first winter, so this years youngster. The young birds often get blown off course and turn-up inland, usually on a reservoir. They can be very confiding, as was the case with this bird. Totally oblivious to the presence of humans, it may never have seen any before.
It was frantically feeding, in typical phalarope fashion, on small insect life on the surface of the water. Like a small clock-work toy, it came within a few feet of the admiring public and the few birders that were present. The bird must have departed overnight as there was no sign of it on the morning of the 26th October 2020.
Also a female type Goosander and a fantastic fight between two Coot that was extremely distracting from the Grey Phalarope and lasted several minutes.
A Rufous Bush Chat or Rufous Bush Robin, take your pick, was discovered at Stiffkey, in North Norfolk, during the early morning of Saturday 17th October 2020. It was the first time one had been seen in Britain for 40 years, so most modern day birders would want to see it.
Needless to say the discovery of this bird got the twitching fraternity on the move and very soon the site at Stiffkey was overwhelmed, according to Social Media updates. I decided I would wait until the beginning of the following week before venturing over to see it. Anyway an opportunity presented itself and I went for the bird on Sunday morning 18th October, arriving on site around mid-day.
The bird was showing reasonably well out on the salt marsh and in amongst the sueda scrub and tidal vegetation. It was a new bird for Britain for me, but I’ve managed to see quite a few in Greece and Turkey over the years. This individual was rather scruffy and certainly looked a little bedraggled.
I also managed to see seven Red Kites soaring over the Stiffkey Marshes and two Red-flanked Bluetails at nearby Holme, before making the long journey home. Once upon a time Red-flanked Blue-tail held mythical status. Now they are turning up with evermore regularity each autumn. Nevertheless, still a cracking bird to see and one that i’ll never get tired of seeing, thats for sure.
Rufous Bush ChatRufous Bush ChatRecord shot of one of the two Red-flanked Blue-tails at HolmeOne of the seven Red Kites that soared over Stiffkey Marshes
