I've not been out much in the past few weeks since returning from portugal, largely owing to being exceptionally busy and the weather being awful. There's actually been a great deal of stuff being reported across the county, but i've not been able to get out there properly and have a look.
Reports of some interesting birds early in the month led me to Attenborough on the 13th of april. I had an excellent day there as usual, seeing over 50 species, including some good ticks! I was hoping for the migration to have kicked in properly, as around the same time last year i had visited the reserve to be greeted by a whole host of warblers. Unfortunately migration seems to be quite slow this year and there weren't a great deal of migrants about, aside from a handful of Sand Martins and Swallows near the nature centre, and several Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warber, all early migrants anyway. I did however see my first Common Sandpiper and Common Tern of the year, nice to see, though the terns have been here for a while now. I also saw the 3 Ruff which have now (as of 26/4) been at the reserve for over 3 weeks! It was great to see these so close up (viewed from the screens overlooking tween pond), although they weren't up to much, apart from one bird that got up from time to time, to jump up and catch midges from the air. Not typical wader feeding behaviour!
On Clifton pond, there were still some winter ducks about, including some Shoveler, 2 Wigeon and even a Goldeneye. 2 Snipe were sleeping on one of the islands, 2 Oystercatcher flew through and several White Wagtail were noted. Elsewhere on the reserve there were loads of birds singing, including a couple of Cetti's warbler, but the bird of the day certainly went to the Marsh Harrier, an area first for me and the first i've seen in a couple of years. It passed overhead very briefly and instantly looked different (to a buzzard!), longer winged, dark wing tips, long tail - so I thought of a harrier right away. I wasn't sure on species until i heard reports later on, so happy to have it IDd, albeit by someone else!
I've been to Clifton a couple of times too, where Ring Ouzels have literally been wandering about the place asking to be twitched! So obviously I went, on a soggy thursday evening last week, to have a look. As usual with ring ouzels (and many other birds at clifton), i didn't see any, and got very wet, but still had a great time. Along with the long-staying Cetti's thats been at holme pit (lets hope they breed and thus expand their empire from attenborough!), there was a calling Water Rail from the reedbeds. Loads of willow warbler, chiffchaff and blackcap were noted, and while looking for ouzels, a possible Raven was seen flying off, and later heard calling. I'm not 100% confident, but it sounded like one even if i didn't get a proper look. While looking for wheatear and wagtail (unsuccessfully) on ploughed field near Branshill Wood, i did spot 3 Red-legged Partridge, and several Lapwing. A Roe Deer was also seen running across Branshill Moor before disappearing into some brambles near the ponds. The highlight of that day was certainly however being face to face with a Chiffchaff. I heard its 'hueet' call (that i'd recently learned from this) and looked up to see a little chiffchaff no more than 2 metres away. I stood and watched while it flitted from branches to brambles right in front of me, sometimes coming within less than a metre. It was amazing, especially to get a masterclass in chiffchaff ID, and at one point a rival male came and perched next to him, before alighting nearby and fiercely singing. Not to mention it being REALLY CUTE.
Other than that i've not been out a lot, apart from little bits here and there. I've been out with the Wildlife Trust a lot working on their reserves, but nothing exceptional has been seen apart from a Cuckoo calling while working at Ploughman Wood near Lowdham on the 3rd of April, which i very early for me!
Migration is still a bit slow i think, from what i've seen from recent reports, though there's bits here and there. I still haven't seen 6 out of the 10 common warblers, and normally that figure is normally 2 out of 10, those being garden warbler and lesser whitethroat, which i don't see much at all. Other migrants such as House Martin, Little Ringed Plover and Hobby are all still yet to be seen, but swifts are not quite expected yet! Not long though.
I'm hoping to get out a bit more in the next month, hopefully the weather will improve and the birding will resume. I may go to Netherfield Lagoons tomorrow which i haven't been to since last summer, as its usually a good spot for LRPs and warblers... lets see!
No comments:
Post a Comment