Rufford CP 28/01/18

This afternoon I went to Rufford CP in Nottinghamshire. My main focus was to try see the Hawfinches that have been feeding around the main carpark over the winter as they would be a "lifer" for me. When we arrived I managed to spot one straight away at the top of a tall tree in the carpark, but by the time we had parked and got out it had disappeared. I waited for about 5 minutes with a group of birders and we managed to find a couple at the tops of the trees. There were at least 5 when I was there but there had been up to 20 the day before. I managed some record shots but they were hard to photograph amongst the branches and were very high up in the trees. That was my first "lifer" of the year.

                                                                   Male Hawfinch

                                             Female Hawfinch compared to Greenfinch

After seeing the Hawfinches we went for a walk round the lake. On the lake there were 6 Goosander, 1 Little Grebe, 7 Mute Swans, lots of Canada Geese, a few Greylag Geese, 150+ Black-Headed Gulls, 20+ Common Gulls and 1 Kingfisher that was heard and then seen flying under the bridge on the island in the middle of the lake. There were quiet a lot of Tufted Ducks but unfortunately no Potchard.

                           Greylag x Canada Goose Hybrid                    Common Gull

                             Female Tufted Duck                      Greylag Geese scaring of the Canada's

It was interesting to see the cygnet Mute Swans as they had a lot more adult feathers on them then the birds at Holmebrook Valley. I guess that they were born earlier. Also one of the birds (bottom left photo) had a weird shaped bill that went of to the side. It obviously hasn't affected it as it is still alive. Possibly next time I may find it in full adult plumage?

Another bird I was hoping to see was Marsh Tit as I was told by a friend that they had seen one there the week before. Last year I didn't manage to see either Marsh or Willow Tit so I was eager to find one and tick it off the year list. It didn't take long as on the first bridge round the lake I found one coming to seed quiet regularly. I waited but it was quick and I only managed a record shot.

                                                                         Marsh Tit

One last bird that I saw was one I wasn't expecting to find today. We were driving home through a town called Nether Langwith which is on the border of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire when I saw a Little Egret on the stream. We stopped and went back to look for it. By this time it had been spooked up into the trees by some runners who told me that it had been on the river there for a few months. Luckily it was just in Derbyshire by 10m. Little Egrets are not that common in Derbyshire and I have only seen them here whilst on the train to Derby from Chesterfield and once flying over Bakewell so it was a nice Derbyshire record for me and was also a year tick.

Holmebrook Valley Park 28/01/18

I went down to Holmebrook Valley from 09:40 to 10:20 this morning just to check if there was anything new on the lake. It was sunny, which was good for photos but very windy which made it quiet cold. On the lake there was the female Goosander still from yesterday but it flew off at 09:54. All 3 of the Tufted Ducks were still on the lake and there were still good numbers of Coots, which were fighting each other. Apart from that it was just a normal day with the long stay Greylag Goose, about 40 Black-Headed Gulls and a Lesser Black Backed Gull. One other bird that I heard today was the Kingfisher. It was calling a few times at the north end of the lake when I first got there but I couldn't locate it. Its nice to get the Kingfisher back as I haven't had it there for a few weeks.

 Here's a couple of photos of the Mute Swans from this morning. The low sun made some good light for photos.

                                              The female Goosander before it flew off
One last bird that I saw today was a Buzzard which glided over whilst being mobbed by a group of about 20 Rooks and Jackdaws.

Holmebrook Valley Park 27/01/18

It was not very nice weather today with it being quiet windy and overcast but I still went down to Holmebrook Valley today for about 40 minutes from 11:51 to 12:30. The lake was pretty quiet but I did find one female Goosander. Over this winter I have seen quiet a few Goosanders at Holmebrook with up to 4 at a time but still it was nice to see.

                                                                Goosander record shot

Apart from that there were 3 Tufted Ducks (2 males and 1 Female), 2 Cormorants, 60+ Black-Headed Gulls, 2 Lesser Black Backed Gulls, all 3 Mute Swans and the Greylag goose was still there as well. I also managed to count 16 Coots which is good compared to Linacre where there were only 3 this morning. There could have been more around the lake which were hiding.

                                                            One of the 3 Tufted Ducks

                                                                     The Cygnet swan

                                                                       Greylag Goose

Unfortunately the Kingfisher wasn't seen and the Canada Goose from two weeks ago had gone.

London 20/01/18 - 21/01/18

I was in London this weekend with family and friends so I didn't get to go down to Holmebrook Valley but whilst visiting all the tourist sights I managed to see a few birds and get some year ticks.

The first place we went to was Westminster to see Big Ben although it was covered in scaffolding so we couldn't see it very well. Every time I go there I always have a look on the roof of the boat station on the River Thames, for ringed Black Headed Gulls but every time it has been without success. This time there were about 20 on the roof and I scanned through them all and managed to get a bird with a metal ring, but unfortunately it was too far away to read.

                                                         Ringed Black Headed Gull
Apart from that, it was very wet and there was nothing else about so we headed of to see Buckingham Palace and on the way we went through St James Park. On the lake there were many captive ducks and geese but I also managed to find two Little Grebes and two Great Crested Grebes which were both year ticks. Walking down the lake I noticed two colour ringed Coots. I only managed to get the ring code of one as they were fast and it was chucking it down.

                                              Ringed Coot. White with black writing HAN

*Update* The Coot was ringed 5 days before in the same location. My record was the first since then.

Other birds seen round the lake were two Grey Herons, lots of Black Headed Gulls, one Common gull, a few Herring Gulls and Ring Necked Parakeets (Year tick) which were heard and seen everywhere.

                                                         One of the two Grey Herons

                                                               Three captive Pelicans

The next day we spent most of the day in the Natural History Museum but on the journey from Deptford Bridge, where we stayed, we stopped of at Canary Wharf to swap from the DLR to the Underground Jubilee line. I had a look on Heron Quay just round the corner and found two Great Crested Grebes, two Cormorants and two Shags.

                                                   One of the two Great Crested Grebes

One last bird I saw was a Common Gull that was on the River Thames by the Cutty Sark ship in Greenwich whilst it was snowing.

Holmebrook Valley Park 14/01/18

I went down to the lake at Holmebrook Valley for about 45 minutes yesterday. There were certainly a few more gulls that the day before with about 70 to 80 Black Headed Gulls on the water. I had a quick scan through the flock and found a Common Gull, 1 adult Lesser Black Backed Gull and 2 young gulls. I am not very good at identifying young gulls but I presume that they were either Lesser Black Backed or Herring Gull. I would prefer Herring Gull as they are not very common on the lake. As luck would have it, an adult Herring Gull landed on the lake at 12:15. That means I got 4 species of gull in one day which is good for Holmebrook Valley.

Here's one of the young gulls which is either Herring or Lesser Black Backed. Any suggestions are welcomed.

Apart from the gulls there was now a new Canada Goose on the lake. The bird was very shy and wouldn't come to seed like the local swans. There were also two male and a female Tufted Ducks today instead of just a female. The Greylag Goose and the Mute Swans were still there as normal and one of the Kingfishers was back on the lake after not being seen for a few days, although it was not being very photogenic and was flying away regularly.

                                            All three Tufted Ducks and the Canada Goose.

On my last post I mentioned that there seemed to be a lot of Bullfinches about and today there was even more and I managed to count at least 20 in two flocks.

One last photo for today. This is one of the cygnets from last years brood that survived, looking all grown up with adult feathers come through on its wings.

Holmebrook Valley Park 13/01/2018

I went down Holmebrook from about 10:20 to 10:50 on Saturday. I am glad I did because there were two Gadwall (Male and female) on the lake. Although they are widespread across central Britain they are still a rarity for Holmebrook Valley and this is only my 2nd record for them here. My previous record was from February 2017 when there was two on the lake in the evening. Although the lake at Holmebrook Valley is not that big, they were still hard to photograph because they swam away from me every time I got close. The dark light didn't help either so here's my record shot.

Apart from that there was just the normal water birds like the Mallards, all 3 Mute Swans and the Greylag Goose that has been here since the 28th of December. There was also still a female Tufted Duck. Gull wise, there wasn't much with only about 30 Black Headed Gulls and 1 Lesser Black Blacked Gull. There also seemed to be quiet a lot of Bullfinches about and I counted at least 7 together at one time. Apart from birds there was also 3 Rats including 2 very confident animals that came within about 20cm of my camera. They were very quick though and were hard to photograph.

Welcome to my blog.

Hello and welcome to my new blog. This blog is going to mainly be about wildlife and birds around Holmebrook Valley Park in Chesterfield, Derbyshire but will also post about any other wildlife that I see around Britain and abroad.