Only been out a couple of times since the last post. I had a bit of a busy week, helping Michelle move house and going to Bristol. I wish I'd been down south a bit longer as I might have been able to go see the Pie-billed Grebe at Ham Wall, but there simply wasn't enough time!
On the Sunday before going away, I had another wander round the A52 site at Holme Pierrepont. It was another good trip with 33 species seen in just over an hour. A drake and female Smew were seen on the small lake on the site, a regular occurrence this winter it seems. They have been regularly seen by others around the area too. Once again a Cetti was heard singing, though from a slightly different location this time. Blott's pit was quieter than usual, aside from good numbers of Tufted Duck and Gulls, but 12 displaying Goldeneye was nice to see. Other ducks were present in extremely small numbers and the absence of big flocks of Wigeon was notable, as only 4 birds were seen. A flock of 40 or so Lapwing were seen wheeling above the pit. Elsewhere were lots of non-water birds, including several Goldcrest, several singing Song Thrush and a small flock of 15 Redwing feeding in some scrub to the south of the site.
Last Sunday while driving round West Bridgford, 15 Waxwing were seen feeding on some cotoneaster on the corner of Devonshire Road. The 1st flock I've seen since before Christmas.
On Tuesday, despite drizzly cold conditions, I headed to Attenborough on my bike. There had been some good birds reported including Raven, Red-breasted Merg and Pintail, all of which would be new for me for this site, as well as several reports of some Bittern, a bird which has eluded me at the reserve since February 2011!
I started of at the delta hide which was very quiet aside from small numbers of Gadwall, Wigeon and Shoveler. From here I cycled round to the Delta Gate to check out the bird table. This was very productive and included a Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding in the willows, and on the table a couple of Nuthatch and a marsh tit. Bullfinch, Jay and hordes of tits and finches were also present. A fellow birder told me of 40 snipe on the works pond so I headed there next. When I first arrived there, a flock of 20 or so flew up and disappeared from sight, definitely the most I've seen in one go. I started scanning the mud for any others but couldn't pick any up, just gulls and several Teal. I got my scope set up anyway and scanned the reeds and scrubby vegetation. Very soon I had spotted 6 Snipe all huddled together in the reeds and a little later a larger group of 8 were stood together in a patch of dead vegetation. Well over 30 snipe in the same location is a record for me and as far as I know, quite uncommon on the reserve.
Clifton Pond was relatively quiet, aside from several Goldeneye and a flock of around 60 Wigeon, however this is where the Bittern had been seen this week so I sat in the Tower hide to stake out and wait for the bird to show up. I was there for 5 minutes, just wondering if luck would be on my side, before out of the blue, a Bittern exploded from out of the central reedbed, and briefly flew across the water before disappearing into another thick patch of reed. Despite searching and waiting for it to reappear, it stayed put, but I was extremely pleased nonetheless to see this wonderful bird if for only a few seconds.
The path to the Tween scrapes and kingfisher hide were closed so after seeing a beautiful Little Egret in the wet meadow on wheatear field, I turned back and rode home. A very successful trip with 50 species seen, excellent for this time of year.
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