This week (march 21st-27th)

The weather this week has been absolutely fantastic, meaning that i've been able to get out and about on my bike, even wearing shorts and t shirts!

On monday, i went to wollaton with a few friends, but didn't really do a lot of wildlife watching, but i did bump into a wildlife photographer named Wolf (www.wolf-photography.com) who had spent the last few days down there photographing the local wildlife. He was most interested in photographing aggressive coot behaviour and i have seen some excellent results of his patience. We spent some time watching herons in their nests too. Otherwise there was still a few Gadwall on the lake, and lots of noisy geese, but little else was noted.

I left early(ish) on tuesday morning for a bike ride to Attenborough, the sun was shining and i had a great day. On the way down i heard my first Chiffchaffs of the year, probably counting around ten throughout the whole day. Also of note were a grey wagtail at Beeston weir, and over the river i could see lapwings displaying over the farmers fields.

I was going to spend some time in the Delta Hide today, but the padlock has been changed so i had to press on. I parked up my bike after glancing over to the main pond, counting a few Goldeneye and Goosander amongst the gulls. Walking round, it was clear spring was in the air as lots of birds were singing loudly and there was quite a lot of activity on the water. I got som swan photos that i'm pretty happy with, of an obliging bird near the path. Nesting herons were everywhere in their massive treetop nests, and there were lots of singing finches tits and thrushes.

I walked through the little wooded area next to the village green, where there were once again plenty of passerines, and it was here that i layed eyes on my first visible Chiffchaff of the year, it was flitting about restlessly on top of a willow tree, and was lovley to watch.

Moving on, i looked over the tween scrapes to see if there was anything of interest. There were handful of Lapwing and a few teal amongst a throng of gulls, as well as the trusty pair of Shelduck, and once again, feeding in the same place as last time, a Redshank. I then moved on to the kingfisher hide, where lots of birds were using the feeders, although no Tree Sparrows this time. A couple of Oystercatcher also passed through over towards the island on clifton pond, but were lost from view shortly after.

There were still a few ducks about when i sat watching out of the tower hide, mostly Shoveler and a few Gadwall, as well as a couple of Goldeneye. There were also plenty of Lapwing about amongst the masses of gulls. The highlight however came when i left the hide and heard the loud tell-tale call of a Cetti's Warbler, my first of the year, ringing out clearly from the brambles on the wheatear field, i heard another one too on my way through the wet marsh and back home.

On the way back i decided i'd go and have a look at the Lapwings displaying over the river at clifton. En route i heard even more Chiffchaffs singing in the sunshine, and even chanced upon 8 Goosander and 4 Goldeneye, clinging on near clifton bridge. The lapwings didnt disappoint, and i saw around 20 birds on the field, although viewing them was quite difficult. The farmer was ploughing the field so hopefully this has been done early enough not to deter them from breeding. While there, i did see a few birds in display, and even a few mobbing corvids, so this is encouraging behaviour. A small flock of Linnet passed overhead when i was there too.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent volunteering with the Wildlife Trust, on two absolutely stunning days in the sun. It felt almost like midsummer! Birding wise, i didnt get much done, but there were once again a lot of Chiffchaffs singing loudly, and on the thursday at fardon, 3 Buzzards were seen displaying in the morning, and then at dinner time we were treated to a displaying sparrowhawk, the first i've actually seen doing this. It was after this that we went to ploughmans wood, to see the toads breeding away.

Bristol Trip

Almost exactly to the day, i visited bristol a year ago. I went again for a long weekend, and have just come back. Socialising was the main point of going, but whenever we go down there, i always manage to get a little bit of birding done too.

On the friday i went to Clevedon with my friend as he works in a tattoo shop there. We had a wander down to the seafront to have a look for some coastal birds. The first thing i saw was a collection of gulls on the sea wall, with 3 Oystercatchers, my first of the year. Shortly after i had a scan of the rocks below the sea wall, where i found 7 Turnstone, a bird that is very much a bird of the shoreline, so not recorded very often in landlocked nottinghamshire! I also got myself a lifer down there, looking cross the rocks, i heard a pipit, and there standing on a large boulder was my first ever Rock Pipit. A wonderful little bird, and i saw another one a little later too.

I returned to the seafront when the tide had gone out, exposing the large mudflats. Wehad a good viewpoint across the mud, and there were a few birds about, including 2 Curlew, another year tick, and a bird i still haven't chanced upon back home.

Later in the weekend, we took the dog out for a walk at the National Trust's Leigh Woods reserve on the edge of avon gorge on the outskirts of Bristol. It was a beautiful day and the woodland was one of the best i've ever visited, with a good diversity of mature trees, and evidence of excellent forestry management, with a brilliant understorey dominated by coppiced hazel. The woods are known for ravens and peregrines, and while the former remained absent, a peregrine was seen to fly overhead at one point. 3 Buzzards were also seen riding the thermals above the gorge, looking wonderful as they turned in the sunshine. The commoner woodland birds were evident everywhere as well, singing away happily in the early spring sunshine. Found some delicious wild garlic too!

Apparently some spring migrants have already arrived in nottinghamshire including chiffchaff, swallow and sand martin, so i will be out and about later in the week, expect more to come!!!

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.

Not Much Birding!

I've been so busy with work and volunteering of late, mixed in with some days of really cold windy weather, which has meant that i've struggled to get out and properly go birdwatching. Been to netherfield a couple of times but compared to a few months ago, i've barely been out at all, how annoying.

I had a failed trip to clifton last week, owing to the rain, i thought it'd be ok, and the ride down wasnt too bad, however the gloomy weather brought the mood with it, and while at holme pit, the weather turned for the worse and looking across the fields, visibility was very poor and it would have been almost impossible to see many birds, so i turned back.

A fine saturday evening led me to get on my bike and go to netherfield again, but the wind picked up when i got there, and it was particularly blustery, making views across the lagoons very difficult and the chances of seeing any interesting fly overs or a barn own very slim! i did see 4 Bullfinch which was nice, and there seemed to be plenty of Teal about too, their voices carrying on the wind from the other side of the reserve. After sitting cold on the bench overlooking the farmland to the north for about half an hour i decided it was not in my best interests and turned back to go home. The last thing i saw was a small group of around 20 Pied Wagtails flying home to roost somewhere from the river.

This week, after hearing of some interesting birds down at clifton, i was going to pop down. however the weather on monday was terrible, and then work on tuesday and thursday and volunteering on wednesday and friday has meant so far no joy! Hopefully i will be able to get out by saturday - if the weather holds out - and if so i will probably do clifton and attenborough all in one day. On another note, i did see a nice great spotted woodpecker while volunteering up at faith marriott, so at least thats something!!!

Netherfield Lagoons, 22nd feb

After finishing work at an early 1pm, i felt i ought to do something productive with my day, so despite the poor weather (again!) i hopped on my bike and headed for netherfield lagoons.

I'd been here around 10 days ago to see the Barn Owl pair which has taken to hunting in the area of late, but i didn't have it in mind today, unless i stayed until dusk.

On the way i go through colwick park, sometimes seeing something of interest. However today not much was about, apart from a large flock of gulls on the main lake, which mainly consisted of Black Headed gulls, with a few lesser black backs and commons mixed in. There were a couple of juveniles to, which looked interesting but they were too distant to properly study.

I moved on to netherfield, where en route along the trent, a male Sparrowhawk dashed out in front of me and quickly fled into some riverside trees.

I walked down the lower path, where there wasn't too much activity, just a few blue tits and great tits, along with a greenfinch and various gulls and corvids flying overhead. Normally its a lot busier down here, but it could have been due to the poor conditions. I walked up to the slurry lagoon path rather than going through the 'willow walk' path, although there were a notable number of singing Great tits down there.

On the slurry path, which was very muddy, due to recent contract work being done down here, i flushed my first confirmed Green Woodpecker of the year. Little else was about, which seemed the norm for today, until i had the pleasure of spotting a Little Egret flying overhead from the direction of the agricultural land. I got some great views before it flew across the treeline towards holme pierrepont. Its always a bit odd seeing these birds, they don't look too out of place in summer, but on a dull grey day in winter they look a little lost, i usually assosciate them with sunny days spent birding in spain!

As i walked towards the deep pit, a large bird flew down the bank towards the setaside land at the bottom, and i wondered if it were a raptor or something similar as it looked this way. I sat and waited for a while, but after seeing nothing but a song thrush and a few great tits, i decided it may have just been the pheasant that i eventually saw sneaking through the undergrowth. Darn!

I got the scope out and had a look over the Slurry Lagoon, where a Male shelduck was busily feeding away, along with a handful of Pochard, round 5o Shoveler, and hidden amongst the reeds, a large group of Teal. A couple of Water Rail were also heard calling from amongst the reeds.

Over on the Deep Pit, there were loads of Coot and Gulls, along with around 12 Gadwall, and 5 Goldeneye. I went back over for another look at the slurry lagoon, and several more Shoveler had arrived, along with a few Gulls. One looked particularly interesting, looking like a 2nd winter bird. I am terrible at Gull ID, so not sure what i was looking at, i took notes, but on getting home i was no closer to the identity of this bird. It was larger than a Common gull, had mottled grey/black wings, a very dark bill and eyes and black wing tips. Hmmm.... maybe it will be there next time.

A largely productive day on the lagoons, if a little bleak, no photos this time either. It was nice to see an egret and a Green woody, and the lagoons were nice and busy. Roll on spring though!

Attenborough 8th Feb

Not been to attenborough much recently, in comparison to last summer/autumn, where i was going at least once a week. Its been good down there, but i guess i got a bit tired of doing the rounds, and some days it seemed that seeing the same old birds was boring, even though i actually enjoyed seeing them.

Beeston Weir en route to Attenborough

Today though i returned, and it was an excellent day. The sun was shining brightly and it actually felt quite warm when in the direct light, although there was a ground frost which stuck round most of the day in shady areas. It was nice to bike down the trent, especially in the scrub by clifton bridge, where loads of birds were singing loudly, making it seem like a spring day , most notable were Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Song Thrush. Song thrushes were singing loudly and clearly down the whole river actually, sounding especially nice echoing around the trees in clifton grove. Spring is round the corner!

A Magpie near Clifton Bridge, look at that blue sky!

The reserve itself was a bustle of activity too. I stopped off in the delta hide first, hoping to see a Bittern, and after half an hour i managed to glimpse one, albeit for only a few seconds. In the meantime it was lovely to sit watching the wildfowl feeding in the sunshine, with the resplendent plumage of Wigeon Gadwall and Tufted duck looking all the better in the morning light. I could sit and watch wildfowl for ages, they are so entertaining in their social and feeding habits, as well as the noises they make. Lots of reed buntings were in the reeds opposite the hide too and most of the males were back in breeding plumage and were very active and starting to sing.

A sunny reflection at Attenborough

I left the hide happily at around 11 o clock and made my way around the reserve, taking the route round the tween pond towards the visitor centre. There were Grey herons nesting in abundance, and i counted 21 across the reserve today. I also stopped off on the path to take pictures of the main pond, and later again to photograph birds feeding on seeds placed on an old coppice stool - however there were lots of people about so it was difficult, i might go back on an early morning later in the year.

Over near the main entrance bridge were plenty of singing dunnocks, making it truly feel like spring. I went to look at the scrapes on the tween pond and found there to be a lot of black headed gulls there, along with 4 Teal and a Shelduck. Work has pretty much finished on the new wheatear field wet meadow/reedbeds, and now its just bare, but it will be interesting to see what happens over the course of the year here.

I went to the kingfisher hide, not really expecting much, but as soon as i went in, someone shouted 'Bittern!' and i rushed to the window to see my second of the day, landing in the reedbed closest to the hide. Despite sticking around for a while, it didnt reappear, but it was nice looking at the usual residents of the seed feeders, the tree sparrows and great tits being the star attractions.

Over at the tower hide, 4 Buzzards were the highlight, riding high on the thermals, as well as around 100 Lapwing wheeling over the reserve in a tight flock. It was very peaceful and it was nice to sit and count the wildfowl, although they were in lower numbers than usual. Another Shelduck was seen feeding near the island, as well as a few Goldeneye scattered about. The bittern didnt show itself again, and there was no sign of any snipe, but it was nice anyway. A herring gull provided a laugh or two, as it dived in to catch as crayfish, and while flying away its victim locked its claws on the gull's breast feathers. It refused to let go, despite multiple dives by the gull into the lake. Eventually it dropped off and was despatched of quickly, before being devoured - what a fighter though!

Eventually a group of canada and greylag geese flew into the pond, destroying what peace there was. I had a scan through to see if there were any wild geese there, but to no avail. Satisified i packed up, and walked back to my bike, getting some good views of a few more Goosander and Pochard along the way.

Good day!!!

Netherfield and Hoveringham, end of jan

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!!!!