March 13th 2011 – Blithfield Reservoir, Staffordshire. My second attempt for the Great White Egret, eventually paid off. Seen in flight briefly before disappearing from view in dense willow scrub. Also my first spring migrant for 2011- 2 parties of Sand Martin – 1 off 11 birds and 1 of 6 birds. Nice to see […]
A morning on Cannock Chase was well worth while. The first returning Woodlarks were seen & heard, along with Green Woodpecker & Jay as year ticks. Plenty of common birds at a variety of different feeding stations. Unfortunately no sign of the Great Grey Shrike and no sign of the great White Egret at Blithfield
We decided to throw caution to the wind and drive down to Rainham on the off-chance & look for the Slaty-backed Gull that had been frequenting the Veolia Landfill site, since middle of January. We arrived at Rainham on a very dull, cloudy & wet morning. Bugger, I hate rain and it was chucking it
The first opportunity for the masses to twitch the 1st winter Oriental Turtle Dove (race orientalis) that was re-discovered over wintering in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, turned out to be a total embarrassment for anyone who considers themselves to be a “Birder”. I’ve never seen such pathetic and selfish behaviour from what appeared to be a
I need Bewick’s Swan for a year tick, so thankfully a small herd of 16 adults turned up within 10 minutes drive of home. Got the birds yesterday 17th Feb, so decided to try and get a record shot of them to-day. Two Mute Swans with them. Year List currently on 139
The morning started at Willington Gravel Pits to catch-up on the Black-throated Diver that was discovered by RMRJ on 1st February. This was the first in the county since 2005. Little else here other than 3 Goldeneye, “Redhead” Goosander & a singing Willow Tit. We then decided to head-off for Cannock Chase and hopefully a
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
A very poor day for photography so no new bird pictures I’m afraid. Instead a day out year ticking some of the local species around my county at this time of year. Cromford Wharf is now the traditional site for Hawfinch and eventually 5 birds gave themselves up. On the River Derwent Dipper was singing
