Wednesday 9 March 2011

Attenborough 8th march

FINALLY a bit of sunshine. its been glorious this week, and thanks to some half days at work i've been able to go appreciate it. I was going to go to Clifton on monday, but a friend was over, so we ended up walking to holme pierrepont instead, seeing a Barn Owl on the way back at dusk.

On tuesday i finished work at 12, got home and had some food and headed to Attenborough. It was still nice and sunny, but a little bit more windy,making it harder going on the bike. It also meant i couldn't hear much while cycling along. I stopped at beeston weir to see if much was about, and was treated to the sight of a couple of grey wagtails, which i dont see all that often.

I continued on to attenborough, not stopping at the delta today. I stopped to view over the main pond where a large flock of gulls were, and in the distance spotted a couple of Goosander flocks, numbering around 25 birds.

After locking my bike up, i walked round tween pond toward the visitor centre. It certainly felt like the transition of winter to spring was underway, as it was still a little fresh (cold) but the sun was shining and the birds were a lot more noisy and active. There was a lot of activity by the green bridge, where various tits and finches were singing loudly, as well as a few dunnock. I walked through the wooded area which leads to the church pond and car park, stopping to photograph birds at the ol' stump again (see last attenborough post). I couldnt take many as yet again it was very busy and people kept disturbing the birds. A glance through the trees resulted in a view of a Goldcrest, its bright yellow crest shining brightly in the sun. It moved through the trees and perched at eye level, and i missed photographing it in perfect light by a millisecond, before it flew off and everntually was lost from view.

I was excited/anxious to get to the tween scrapes and clifton pond, as there have been some good birds spotted around these areas of late. I checked the water around the scrapes and there was a huge colony of Black Headed Gulls. These birds breed in abundance at the reserve, and already there were displaying males and some aggressive behaviour being portrayed. The raucous sounds of these birds dominate the reserve all year round, but particularly in the breeding season. Also seen were a few Herring Gulls, birds which are not often seen here. On the far scrape was a pair of Shelduck, asleep amongst the noisy gulls, probably the pair which return here each spring, although i've not seen them with young. The highlight however, was when i got my scope out to check the teal which were milling about near the lakebank, and came across a Redshank, the first i've seen at the reserve. I was really hoping to see something special, especially a wader, so i was really chuffed to get such a good sighting of this red-legged bird.

I was keen to move on quickly as i wanted to get back before dusk so i could watch for the barn owl near holme pierrepont, so i decided against going to the kingfisher hide, and instead went straight for the tower hide. I spent some time counting wildfowl as usual, and obviously due to the time of year, many had departed. The main species were Shoveler, of which there were aroud 60 birds, closely followed by teal, which numebered around 30. Wigeon were completely absent, which is odd as they have been so abundant over the last few months, but i guess they have decided to depart back to their breeding grounds. I'll look forward to hearing their whistling once again in the colder months.

Otherwise there were yet more gulls, moslty on the islands, where the vegetation has been cut down. This is good for the breeding gulls and terns, but a little sad as the snipe always liked it in there, but it'll be covered again come autumn. There were also a good few goldeneye about, mostly females, but otherwise it was reasonably quiet. I'm looking forward to spring and summer to see what waders start dropping in on the ponds.

Over the other side, there was a male Kestrel in the nest box, for the second year in a row, hopefully the pair will once again raise young successfully. Most exciting however, was news from a fellow birder that there had been a Cetti's Warbler in the brambles in the wheatear field. I studied the area for a while, but all i saw were Long Tailed tits and was fooled by a wren at one point, but didnt hear a peep from the warbler. It wasn't until i was leaving the hide that all of a sudden, the bird exploded into its sudden burst of song, only a few metres from me, but i didnt manage to see it (as usual!)

On my way back, there were a few birds in the trees on the wet marsh path, and i thought i heard a marsh tit-like sound. However i located the bird, and it was another Goldcrest. Good to see that these birds have fared reasonably well through the winter, along with the Cetti's.

So in all a good day, i didnt, unfortunately, see the barn owl again in the evening, but as its only a few minutes ride from my house, i'll have plenty of oppurtunity to see it again hopefully.

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