Feeling loads more refreshed after last weekends festivities, and i have been out on my bike a few times too, as well as having a great day volunteering with the wildlife trust on friday (even though it was only Balsam Bashing!)
Earlier in the week i visited Clifton, for the first proper birding trip i've had there in a few weeks. It was all in all pretty quiet unfortunately, but that is to be expected at this time of year, especially with it being so warm. One thing i noticed is that the lush green vegetation that dominated the landscape earlier in the year has faded as the weeks have gone by. Most of the spring blooms have gone over and set seed and the smaller plants have been overtaken by tall grasses. High summer truly seems to have settled in.
There was very little going on around the fields as we walked around, not even many small passerines, obviously the breeding season is over and most birds will be resting up for a while. A group of swallows were seeing feeding just above the wheat crop on the weir field, and there seemed to be a good number of swifts feeding in the skies above. Aside from the odd chiffchaff and the calls of a number of wrens, even the woodland was pretty dead. The only places where there was any activity was near the water. The river had plenty of common terns and gulls flying up and down, and Holme Pit was busy with a family of coots, which seemed to have raised a second brood, chasing off the remaining two juveniles which had almost fully grown. Elsewhere on the pond were a few swans, a scattering of ducks, and lots of singing reed buntings and the scratchy sound of reed warblers was also obvious. A common tern quartered the reeds while we sat enjoying the sunshine, and it was great to see it diving spontaneously into the lake every now and again to attempt to pick off some prey from the surface of the water.
The highlight of the day however was spending an hour (in two sessions) down by the river, at a location where i have noted Kingfishers a few weeks back. Me and Fred sat there quietly, watching a pair of these wonderful birds flying to and fro catching fish and taking them back to where their nest must be. They were sticking to our side of the river, and were only a few metres away, an absolutely fantastic experience, and they would often cross the river to fish over the other side. We were careful not to disturb them and they seemed unfazed by our presence, coming in and out repeatedly. An amazing experience. Some very good photos can be found on Rob Hoare's website, as he went down following my 'tip-off' a few days later and spent a few hours watching them. http://cliftongrovebirds.co.uk/latest_sightings.html
On saturday evening i was perusing the local bird sightings and came upon a report of some Black Tailed Godwits arriving at Netherfield Lagoons. It was pretty late by that time but i decided it would be a nice evening for a bike ride. The godwits had been present in the morning so i wasn't too sure of whether they'd be there when i arrived, and sure enough they weren't.
I spent around half an hour enjoying the balmy evening, despite getting eaten alive by midges, scanning the slurry lagoon with my scope. There were loads of birds on the lagoon, although it was difficult to view due to the sunlight right in my eyes. There were loads of loafing gulls, mainly black headed and LBBGs, there may well have been a med there as one had been reported but i couldnt see one in there! A few lapwings made up the only waders on the lagoon, and otherwise it was mainly ducks and coots. A little egret and grey heron were also seen in clsoe proximity to each other, the first little egret i've seen in notts for a while!
will probably go back again this week, as there seems to be quite a bit being reported. might even go to attenborough too! who knows?
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