I had a day of on the 28th, and was going to bike to hoveringham to see if i could pick up on any of the rarities which have been around recently (more on that later...). However due to problems in the morning, i didnt leave til late, so decided just to go to Netherfield Lagoons instead, as i haven't been for a while.
It was pretty cold, and while biking through Colwick park on the way, i almost turned back as it was VERY cold in the wind. However i pressed on after checking the gulls on the main lake in colwick and after seeing around 15 Pochard near the island to the east of the lake.
On the way down the trent to the lagoons, i noticed a bird of prey sitting atop a shrub by the river, and at first i thought it was a merlin as it seemed quite small and the colouring looked right, but after studying some photos it was quite obvious it was a female Kestrel. Great views though!!!
I walked down the lower path at the lagoons, which is a tree lined path with lots of scrub and some wet areas. There were loads of small birds about, mainly blue tits, long tailed tits and goldfinch. The highlight though was hearing two Willow tit, and eventually seeing one of them moving purposefully through the trees. There were a lot of redwings and blackbirds around too.
A Fox was seen on the slurry behind the reedbedsThe lagoons themselves were relatively quiet, apart from a large Black Headed Gull flock on the deep pit, and a good number of Herring and black-backed gulls on the slurry lagoon. As well as this were small numbers of Shoveler and Pochard, and a lone male Shelduck. Also of note were around 60 Teal.
On the way back there were over 250 Canada Geese feeding on the fields over the trent.
On monday after a long weekend at work, i got up early and prepared for a bike-ride to Hoveringham. 30 seconds outside the house and i realised it was far too cold for the 15 mile bikeride, so i hopped on a train instead. It was actually a really nice day despite the coldness, and there were plenty of people about, and with good reason, there were local rarities about!!!
I biked to the railway pit, through the lovely country roads in the area, seeing a Little Egret on the way, along with around 200 wigeon on the trent. As soon as i got to the railway pit, another Little Egret was spotted, but this wasn't what i'd come for, although i did get some amazing views of this lovely recent colonist. No, aside from the 2 Little Egrets on the far bank, what i had come to see was also over there, a Great White Egret!!! It was seen to fly in, and then spent some time feeding in the shallows, but the views were pretty distant. I decided to go round the lake for a better view, but not before taking in the view of 11 Pink Footed Geese, which were feeding under a pylon along with a lot of other geese. I got great views of these lovely birds, which was nice as its rare to see them in nottinghamshire, except when they're flying high in skeins en route to elsewhere.
On the way i saw a big flock of redwings and fieldfares, along with 2 Brown Hares. I totally overshot my estimation of where the egret was, going to the north side of the pit, and realising once i'd got there that the intended place was on a peninsula half way along this massive lake! I walked down the other side of the lake intending to get a better view, but a fellow birder told me that the light was impossible so i walked back down with him the way i'd come. On the way round i'd noticed a flock of geese in a field, so i went back to check it out. I set my scope on a large flock of greylags, and it didnt take long to train it on another species (and lifer!) that i'd come to see, Greater White Fronted Geese! I counted 9 of these interesting birds, with their strangely barred bellies and conspicuous white markings near their bills. I really think they are wonderful geese, probably my favourite now! The pinkfeet had also moved on to this field and were feeding amongst their fellow Anseriformes.
And to top it all off, about 50 yards further into the field was.... THE GREAT EGRET!!! I got astounding views of the bird as it stood and preened, clearly showing its yellow bill and very long black legs, every now and again stalking around the field in that classic heron-like way. I would have loved to have stayed but i was bloody freezing and the 13.12 from thurgaton was fast approaching, so cold and satisfied i decided to call it a day and go home.
what a day!!!!
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