Holmebrook Valley Park 12/02/18

From last Saturday night through to Monday it snowed a bit in Chesterfield, so when I woke up I found out that my school was closed due to the snow. This gave me chance to get down to Holmebrook Valley to see if there was anything about.

I walked round the lake for about an hour and 25 minutes. On the lake there was a big flock of gulls with at least 100 birds present. I had a quick scan through the Black-Headed Gulls and managed to find 2 Common Gulls and a juvenile Black-Headed Gull with a metal ring on it. The ringed bird was to far out on a raft to reed the ring so unfortunately I don't know where it has come from.

A few on the gulls including the ringed Black-Headed Gull (2nd from the right on the raft) and the common gull (Just left of the middle Cormorant)

Other birds present on the lake where, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Tufted Ducks, 3 Cormorants, all 3 Mute Swans and a Grey Heron which was fishing. A bird that I thought had gone was the Greylag Goose, but it was back on the lake so it may have been hiding somewhere. If it was there the day before, then I don't know how I missed it.

                                                                  The Greylag Goose

                                 Black-Headed Gulls on the boardwalk. Unfortunately no rings!
Around the lake there was a Sparrowhawk, a Kestrel, a couple of Bullfinch, a Greenfinch calling at the top end of the lake, which is a nice Holmebrook Valley record as I don't see them much there, and this very friendly and tame Robin in his/her normal location by the boardwalk. I have not seen this Robin for at least a month so it was nice to see it back and in the snow I got some nice photos.

                                                    I tried to hide the seed in the snow!

                                                                 The lake in the snow

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.