I had an evening walk in the hazy warm sunshine on the saturday, but couldn't stay too long, as i had to get a train to my parents house. It was a pleasant walk however.
I started off by walking down the river a little bit, a direction i don't usually take. There wasn;'t much to be seen bird-wise, but the trees were mostly in leaf and there was plenty of plantlife on the ground, as well as a lot of invertebrates. There were a good amount of butterflies by the path, including Orange-tips and my first Comma of the year, but they wouldn't stay still for photos except this Peacock.
I made my way back to the woods, where there was plenty of birdsong, and i saw my first Blackcap of the area, as well as the other usual woodland birds, including a calling Greater Spotted Woodpecker. The woods looked amazing with all the vegetation cover so i stopped to get a few shots.
Holme Pit was reasonably quiet, which is usual for this time of year, as most of the waterfowl have moved on, but there was a pair of Coots with 5 chicks, and a pair of Canada Geese guarding their nest on the island. I sat by the lakes for a while and managed to see a few Reed Bunting and there were lots of singing Reed Warblers.
I moved on from holme pit with only about half an hour to make my way back to the bus into town, so i had to rush a little. I saw the years first Wheatear, perched atop a telegraph pole, giving very good views and across the field there was a hunting Kestrel. I then wandered across the middle of the weir field, rather than round it, which was a nice route, where i managed to get great views of singing Skylarks, of which there were many, and plenty of displaying Lapwing. I saw a large flock of tiny little birds, but unfortunately had no idea what they were...
Walking back round i had good views of a Common Whitethroat singing in the brambles by the trent, and while i'd have loved to have stayed, i really had to go!
I couldn't keep away however, and returned on monday morning at 10AM. I took the route down round the weir field first. Blackcaps were once again present in the wood, making the 'chack-chack' alarm call, and there were plenty of Whitethroats singing in the same area as i'd seen them on saturday, along with some Long-tailed Tits and a Dunnock. I stayed on this side of the weir for well over an hour, as there was so many warblers to see. Whitethroats certainly dominated, but there were also Sedge Warblers in abundance too, as well as a reeling Grasshopper Warbler. I saw some that i couldn't identify, which looked finch-like, but they remained elusive!
The invertebrate life was interesting around the fields too, and i saw plenty of butterflies, including a Green-veined White, as well as some interesting beetles, including these mating Gastrophysa viridula on a dock leaf.
Plant life was interesting too, and i was surprised to see some sort of Inckcap mushroom, although the habitat was good, a big pile of manure.
The weir was busy with birdlife, with plenty of Black headed Gulls and Cormorant about, but the highlights were Sand Martins and Common Terns, both of which were abundant. The weir field was as usual dominated by Skylarks and Lapwings, and i also saw a Grey Heron laying very low in the field, when i scoped it i was wondering what it was, as could just see its head, and was very surprised when it stood up and stretched its wings. There were more Whitethroat singing away in the brambles behind the riverside villas. While scoping, a strangely coloured Pied Shieldbug landed in my tripod, so i got a shot of it too.
I wandered across the fields towards the woods again, not really seeing much of interest, but someone drove by letting me know that there were Buzzards about over the trees. I got to the rough wood and while looking for warblers in the trees, looked up, and right above my head was a Buzzard, which for a short while was accompanied by a Peregrine, but the latter soon flew away.
I walked down the hedgerow towards branshill wood, where there were plenty of birds in the bushes. One hawthorn bush held Greenfinch, Blackcap, Whitethroat and Long tailed tits. I heard plenty of Lesser Whitethroat and was rewarded by the views of two of these birds fighting around the end of the hedgerow. Song thrushes were in full song too.
I stopped for a while at branshill ponds, but there was little to see aside from yet more Whitethroats! Ring ouzel and Redstart have been seen around this area of late but i was unable to locate any. I made my way to cottages flash, where i have not been before and it took some finding but i eventually got there. There wasn't a lot there, but there were a pair of Little Ringed Plover, as well as the Ross's Goose that i'd seen at attenborough last week, along with a herd of inquisitive cattle.
On the way back i noticed a piled of feathers in the middle of the path in Branshill wood, and as i got closer there was a very distressed woodpigeon which had a terrible wound on its back, near the base of its wing. Obviously the victim of a Sparrowhawk attack, and not a very nice sight. The thought of euthanising it did cross my mind, but i thought i'd let nature take its course, i'm sure the sprawk wasn't very far away, waiting to finish the job.
I stopped off at holme pit before leaving, just to observe the Reed Buntings and Reed Warblers again which was nice, and i did notice that the Coot family had lost one of its chicks.
I spent 7 hours there today, a very long session, but it was a great walk and i managed to see loads, looking forward to going back.
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