Welbeck

As my dad had a few days off work, we'd planned a morning's birding at Welbeck, where an Osprey had been reported frequently over the past two weeks, along with a Honey Buzzard and a Hobby. Arriving at my place just after 5:30am, we set off to get to Welbeck about 50 minutes later. The main birding spot is known as the Raptor Watchpoint, but we weren't exactly sure where that was. Previously, my parent's had been parked up at a layby here where feeding cups adorn the fence posts, attracting plenty of finches, tits, and the occasional Nuthatch. The layby was our obvious guess, as it's the closest you can get to the lake, but it's quite low down and didn't really fit our idea of a "watchpoint".

As we pulled up the mist was clearing over the lake, and dad had seen something that looked a bit like a large gull flying over the water to the right. As it doubled back I grabbed our bins in a hurry - it was the Osprey! We both got onto the bird in time before it disappeared to the western edge of the lake, but our best views were without the bins when it flew right past us. We waited for it to come back for the next 30 minutes or so, but without any luck. A Grey Heron landed in the nearby field with a large fish, which it downed in one, and we watched the odd Great Crested Grebe amongst the more numerous waterfowl, but there was still no sign of the Osprey.

After looking at the map, we decided to have a drive to the western side of the lake, and give our legs a stretch. The road twisted and turned past several old fashioned lodges and a war memorial, up hill, and into a village. The war memorial had been mentioned in one of the recent reports, so it was our turn to double back and check it out. Just before we got there, we had a brief glimpse of a probable Hobby flying through in front of us - everything looked good in terms of size, shape, and behaviour, but it was the briefest of views and no plumage detail was seen. The area where it was was full of hirundines passing through the trees, and parking up at the memorial, we got out in the hope of sighting it again. No sign of a Hobby - whatever it was, was long gone, but I did get onto my second lifer of the day. A Spotted Flycatcher was in a large tree next to the memorial, and repeatedly looping in flight from a favoured perch, hunting its prey.

Moving on to our walk, we passed someone setting up their scope at the side of the road further up the hill - something to note for later. The walk was one my dad had done previously - not very long, but covering a few types of habitat. First off was some farmland, which produced a pair of Red-legged Partridge, a Lesser Whitethroat, and plenty of Linnet. As we entered the woodland, a juvenile buzzard was calling from somewhere, and walking around to the far side of the lake, dad got onto it, calling from an exposed perched in an old tree. Before it took off, we'd confirmed it as a Common Buzzard, so no joy with the honey!

Heading back I noted an odd looking duck in the lake. Its plumage was like that of a female tufty, but it had an overly long neck - I've since put it down as probable Mallard in moult (seems likely for the time of year) or a yuck duck. At the gates to the Welbeck estate, I had a Nuthatch up in one tree, whilst we heard increasingly-closer calls from a buzzard. We had a bit of fun with the security guy, who insisted on telling us we were on private land, when we were clearly on the footpath side of the gate - it must be a dull job. Anyway, the buzzard carried on calling ovehead as we walked back, but we didn't connect with it again for a while. As we did it was to our enjoyment that there were two, and the both passed right over us, giving good enough views through the clearings to confirm two juvenile Common Buzzard. Heading back over the farmland also produced a Common Whitethroat - the first I've seen in over a month!

We drove back to see that another birder had now joined the one we'd seen previously, so we pulled up to ask what was going on. It turned out that this spot was the infamous "Raptor Watchpoint", so thanks to the two guys from South Yorkshire for clearing that up for us. They'd had the Osprey too, and we all saw a few more Common Buzzard, but no sign of the honey. We didn't have time to stick around, and it was pretty clear that we'd struggle from this spot without a scope of our own, so we thanked them and moved on back to the layby, where a local birding couple were looking out from their car. We had no further joy with the Osprey, and they'd not seen it either, but we had a nice chat with them and added a pair of Marsh Tit (on the nearby feeder cups) to the day list. That was our rather productive morning at Welbeck done, before heading on to my local patch for a late morning walk.

Another Tern

Today, at work, a single Common Tern was over the main lake at lunchtime [seen from the office window].

Nightjar Walk at Budby Common

Despite the awful weather, my dad and I went along to the Nightjar walk at Budby Common, which was organized by Notts Birders. The weather had been awful throughout most of the day with thunderstorms in the afternoon and serious flooding in nearby counties. This had put most birders off, and only four cars turned up - including the guide's! We ended up a group of 7, considerably less than last year's 50+! At least three of us had not seen a Nighjar previously, hence our determination. As we set off, the weather was beginning to clear, and even some blue sky appeared.

Along the first trail we had a Jay and a couple of Willow Warbler; one of which was swiftly taken by the Jay. A Yellowhammer was singing in the adjacent field, and moths began to emerge, which was a good sign for the Nightjar. Further along the trail to Hanger Hill, we saw more Willow Warbler, several Tree Pipit and Linnet, and heard a Blackcap and juvenile woodpecker.

We went over a gate onto the MOD land in the search for Wood Lark, and saw a few at the tops of trees, and a singing male. More Tree Pipit were around, with a pair on adjacent fence posts, and a male Kestrel was hunting over the heathland. A Red-legged Partridge was crossing the cattle grid at the far end of our path before we headed into the woodland. We heard a bird calling that sounded like a 'squeaky gate', which the guide told us was a juvenile Long-eared Owl, and that if we we quiet, we might locate it further along the track. We continued down the track until we were approximately parallel with the bird, which was still calling. After a minute or so, my dad was the one to locate the bird on the branch of a tree about 70 meters from the path. It was a great moment for me, because I've not had much luck with owls; my third ever owl sighting being this one. We got everyone on to the bird and watched it for a few more minutes before heading back down towards the Nightjars, which should have been starting to appear.

The pine forest adjacent to the path had been scalloped for the purpose of attracting species such as Nightjar, and one of the clearings was a known site. As we approached I glimpsed a small wader silohette flying over us and calling, which the guide told us was a Woodcock (my first definite sighting of the species) and it would be back around again in a few minutes! We were told by the guide that the Nightjar would appear any time soon and fly about before landing in a birch tree in the centre - quite a precise prediction really! One of the more-experienced birders in our party located the bird on a branch of a pine tree close to the birch, which was pretty remarkable considering the failing light and the fact it looked like a small grey branch amongst all the others. No sooner had I got onto the Nightjar, it took off and displayed for a couple of minutes before disappearing behind the trees. Although I'd seen and read of the white wing patches before, it never dawned on me how obvious they'd actually be until I saw it in person - really impressive. Whilst waiting, a pair of Woodcock flew over calling, apparently displaying, and were then seen repeated right up until we left.

The Nightjar reappeared a few minutes later, but it wasn't long before it descended into the scrub showing the probable location of its nest. The guide, who worked for Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, was monitoring the Nightjars and therefore went to locate and examine the nest. Unfortunately nothing was found, and he informed us later that there was a good chance that the nearby Tawny Owl had taken any young. (We could hear at least one juvenile Tawny Owl calling from the trees at the edge of the clearing.) After that the Nightjar had settled in a tree and began to 'churr' or 'reel', which was extremely impressive. This lasted for a couple of minutes, (apparently it can go on for much longer), before it flew off to forage in the woods. Walking back to the car we heard another male beginning to 'reel' further away, but it was getting late. We thanked our guide for the excellent evening and talked with some of the other birders before setting off back home. A brilliant trip for both my dad and myself, with a few great life ticks for both of us.

Combs Wood and Oxton Bogs

Had a nice afternoon walk around an area called Combs Wood north of Oxton with my dad this afternoon. The area seems to hold the typical farmland/countryside birds with plenty of birds heard, but not so many seen. The more notable sightings started with a Skylark in a farmer's field, and a female Blackcap in a hedgerow along the edge of the wood. We followed the path along hearing at least one Chiffchaff and some other warbler, that we didn't know. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling sporadically, and feeding at the top of a tall tree, and a Green Woodpecker was laughing nearby.

Heading down the steeper part of the track towards the main road produced a family of Great Tit, with the parents dashing back and forth bringing food back to a hole in a tree. Another Chiffchaff was calling from a sea of green leaves above, with little hope of being found.

Out on the main road, the Green Woodpecker was still calling, and soon located sitting proudly at the top of a large oak tree. I picked up my first Red-legged Partridge, sat in the middle of a fallow field in plain view, and a few more were further up the road where we'd parked.

On the way back, we had a quick look at the seemingly non-private part of Oxton Bogs, which was pretty overgrown and hidden away. The only birds of note were a couple of Treecreeper, which stood out in the dark closed-in woods around the ford.

An Interesting Morning at Work

Arriving at work this morning, I was pretty sure I heard a Grasshopper Warbler 'reeling' in the trees behind the reeds at the north end of the campus, but I've had no recent experience of them to go on.

On my way home through the city I decided to have a look for the Peregrine Falcon on the Newton Building and, sure enough, one was up there perched on a high ledge. I watched it for about twenty minutes hoping it would take flight in pursuit of a pigeon, but the best I got was a stretch of the wings and a little stroll along the ledge.

Distant Peregrine on the Newton Building

Tythe Barn and Arnocott, near Bicester, Oxfordshire

I spent most of the weekend in Oxfordshire, at my cousin's wedding. The drive down there produced a group of Common Buzzard circling a wood by the M1 south of Leicestershire, several Mallard in flight and a ploughed field of five or more possible Golden Plover. In the grounds of Tythe Barn, where the wedding was held, I had my first Mistle Thrush of the year. It was flying quite frequently between a large oak tree in the grounds and some nearby fields.

The following morning, in the grounds of the nearby hotel we were staying at, produced my first Barn Swallow of the year as two flew over to the north-west. Dad put me onto a Red Kite flying over a nearby field to the north, but by the time I got onto it, it was too far away for me to make out any distinguishing features - certainly not tickable (it would be a lifer for me!). Also of note, were several small groups of Pied Wagtail moving through.

Top Valley, Nottingham, Notts

A single Waxwing has been seen a few times over the past week feeding on the berries in the trees around the Tesco supermarket at Top Valley, a suburb of Nottingham. It's only five minutes from where we live so I popped along today as we needed a few bits of shopping anyway.

I was a little surprised to see a couple of birders around when we got there, mainly since it was a Saturday afternoon and the shop was busy. No sign of the bird when I arrived, so I had a quick walk about and having seen nothing except a Song Thrush, I walked back to the car park. One of the other birders was signalling to me that it was back, so I went over for a look.

Apparently the Waxwing had flown in with a flock of Starling, conveniently perching at the top of a tree for all to see. It didn't seem to mind all the shoppers around, so we were able to get close for some good views.

Waxwing conveniently perched at the top of a tree

When I left the store it had moved on to the patch of trees where I'd seen the Song Thrush (opposite the golf course) and a group of birders from Yorkshire had their scopes on it.

East Coast, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

I spent the day being shown various good sites on the east coast of Aberdeenshire by Ken - a local birder with good knowledge of the area that I met through BirdForum. He was kind enough to pick me up and drive me around all day, answering my many questions and pointing out many good birds for me.

We started at Newburgh (NK004256) as it was the closest and is a good site at low tide, which it was at 10:30 in the morning. We stopped off a various points of the area on our way north, beginning with the Burnmouth Scalp area, then at a few of the lay-bys and finally near the hide at the north end. The area had plenty of Oystercatcher, Eider, Mallard, Curlew, Redshank and Lapwing. Ken pointed out a small group of Golden Plover to me and a couple of Red-breasted Merganser. A few Grey Heron were also about, as were various gulls. The patches of rain prevented us staying too long, so we pressed on north. At the stop by the hide we located the geese that could be heard, and on the drive down there a Common Buzzard was perched on a fence post. Ken pointed out that one or two Barnacle Goose were mixed in with the Canada Goose, and the pale-brown one was a Pink Footed Goose. Using his scope he identified a distant group of waders as Dunlin. The nearby Meikle Loch (NK032305) had good numbers of Shelduck. Also present were a few Goldeneye, a single Pochard, some Eider and more of what we'd already seen, like the common waders.

Peterhead was decided as the next stop and the drive there showed a female Pheasant running across the road and a single Kestrel. The harbour was checked for gulls, but very few were around at that time. I picked up Common Gull, Herring Gull and Black-headed Gull, having already seen a Great Black-backed Gull from one of the lab-bys at Newburgh. A few Common Seal were very close to us in the harbour and a small group of Eider had one bird in eclipse plumage.

Further up the road we pulled in to a stop by the sea wall for a quick look for a King Eider, which is often reported from that spot. No luck with that, but it did show a Red-throated Diver, which Ken pointed out to me - my first life tick of the day. A few Shag were on a rock along with some Cormorant.

A little further we pulled into a car park at the side of a river by a golf course to see a popular local attraction. A drake Mandarin Duck that had been there for some time was mixed in with the Mallard and Mute Swan. Several relatively tame Turnstone were also running about, allowing me good footage of both.

Drake Mandarin Duck and Turnstone

For the afternoon we headed further north to the Loch of Strathbeg - a nice RSPB site with a visitor centre and quite a few hides. As we pulled up in the car park there were Chaffinch, Great Tit and Blue Tit on the feeders with a few Tree Sparrow. After a quick toilet stop we had lunch in the visitor centre overlooking one part of the loch. Nobody else was around so we had the place to ourselves, which meant lunch was on the viewing platform complete with RSPB binoculars and scope.

The most obvious thing around was a group of Curlew right in front of us, but during our lunch we picked out lots of geese in the fields behind the loch, a couple of Whooper Swan flew over, as did a couple of Pink-footed Goose. The logbook had shown a couple of recent sightings of two ringtail Hen Harrier, which we kept a lookout for.

From the right hand window I caught a brief glimpse of a large raptor scattering the ducks and waders in the distance, but it had gone before we could pin it down. In the same direction, but closer a Fox had come down to the water to scavenge a bird carcass at the water's edge. This attracted the attention of a Common Buzzard, which perched itself in a nearby tree. Whilst watching this, Ken spotted another disturbance in the background, which turned out to be one of the two ringtail Hen Harrier.

Common Buzzard [Camcorder+RSPB Scope!]

After lunch was done and we'd packed up we spent a few minutes watching the Tree Sparrow on the feeders. Ken took a few photos and I got a little video footage. A couple of Great Spotted Woodpecker were in the nearby tree. I briefly thought I spotted a Brambling amongst the finches, but it was just an oddly lit Chaffinch.

Tree Sparrow

We drove on to some of the other hides which involved passing through a security gate, requiring one of us to make a phone call at the gate - very secretive! As we pulled up to the hide, another birder was just leaving and said that it was mainly just Wigeon. He was pretty much right. About 100+ Wigeon with one Teal and a couple of Goldeneye in the distance, which I mistook for Tufties at first! I caught sight of two birds which I couldn't ID and Ken didn't get onto in time. One was a very small bird in the reeds right by the hide - just a brief glimpse of something small like a Wren. The other was just before leaving the hide. A small raptor which might have been a Merlin flew low over the reeds just by the hide and into the marsh behind us. The sun was low and all I saw for colour was a sandy colour. In that light, it might have been any falcon to me!

The last hide we visited was much further from the water, making it more difficult for me to pick out anything of interest. It was really just more of what we'd already seen, with a pair of Red-breasted Merganser, a Grey Heron, some Cormorant and some Tufted Duck (as well as some more Goldeneye!). It was time to head back.

Red-breasted Merganser [Honestly!]

On the way back Ken thought a quick stop at Rattray Head might show some Long-tailed Duck for me and avoid some of the traffic at the same time, so we drove down a few country lanes towards the coast. Plenty of Common Buzzard on fence posts here - one of which let us get very close for some nice footage. In the fields around the farm on the way we saw a finch flock which could have been Goldfinch of Twite. I had my bins on them which Ken drove slowly along the track. Enough to pick out a single pale wing bar and totally discount Goldfinch, which I'm quite familiar with in flocks on my local patch. I've recorded them as almost certainly Twite, but I'll probably have to let this one go, as it'd be a life tick for me.

Common Buzzard

We pulled up at the rather boggy "car park" at the dunes to see plenty of Curlew in the adjoining fields. Walking through the dunes to the sea showed a practically deserted beach with not much sign of anything on the sea except some Eider and the odd Cormorant flying over the water. Several gulls were around, but nothing seemed interesting. Whilst I looked at blank waves and the odd Cormorant, Ken had his scope out checking all the little dots in the waves that my bins couldn't hope to ID. I did pick up on a couple of Red-breasted Merganser after Ken mentioned them, but the Razorbill he found was just a black dot through my bins and I didn't get to the scope in time to find it - another life tick I'll probably have to let go!

The journey home was mainly dark, but at dusk a falcon flew from a fence post and close to the car... possibly a Peregrine to end the day's birding, but could be sure. I asked Ken lots of questions on the drive home and we talked about some of our earlier birding experiences, like the Northumbrian coast and the Farne Islands. Ken dropped me off at around 4:30pm and I thanked him for, what was for me, a great day's birding. Including those lifers I'm hanging on to by a thread, I had 52 species throughout the day, which is my greatest day total since I began actively birding.

Girdleness and River Dee, Aberdeen, Scotland

I got dropped off at the lighthouse on Girdle Ness at around 11am. The area was quite quiet, but that was probably due to the strong winds that nearly blew me over a few times. Heading down to the rocks a Curlew saw me before I saw it, and the first glimpse I got was it flying off. After sorting my kit out I checked the sea for the first views of Eider, which were present in several small groups, and the odd Cormorant.

Male Eider

Not much else was in view from this sheltered spot, so I headed back up the path to the road. From here I had good views of the rocks below, which showed good numbers of Oystercatcher [circa 50] and small grey waders, which were later identified as Knot (at least, some were). Several Redshank and Turnstone were present, as were a few more Curlew.

Knot

A large movement of birds and alarm calls came from the golf course behind me and turning around I caught sight of a greyish falcon sp. heading into a flock. It took a small wader (probably a Knot) in flight and knocked it down into the sea. The wader was almost certainly killed on impact and the falcon, which turned out to be a Peregrine, dived down to the surface to retrieve it and fly off.

Various commoner gulls were around, including Common Gull, Herring Gull and a few Great Black-backed Gull. I spent more time trying to pick up footage of the waders down in the rocks, but it proved quite difficult with the strong winds trying to push me of the path and down to the rocks myself. Plenty of Eider were on the sea and I think I picked out a couple of Purple Sandpiper on the rocks, but wasn't convinced of the ID until it was confirmed from the footage by a local birder.

Purple Sandpiper

Heading around to the harbour entrance showed more gulls and Eider in the sea with a single first winter Mute Swan. The harbour walls were covered with large groups of Redshank [circa 70] and more small grey waders (Knot/Dunlin?). On the road back towards the town between the golf course and the harbour was a single Pied Wagtail and a flock of Starling [circa 80] were on the golf course and nearby allotments.

First winter Mute Swan and flock of Redshank

After crossing the Queen Mary Bridge the walk along the riverbank showed a small group of Mallard followed by several Goldeneye [1 male + 3 female] and Goosander [3 male and 2 female] spaced reasonably evenly along the the river to the next bridge. Lots of gulls were around the small island here and a single Grey Heron was on the island at the far side of the bridge.

One of the male Goosander

The male Goldeneye and one of the females

The walk home via Allenvale Cemetery showed just a single Dunnock and several Woodpigeon. However a great morning produced 25 species, including two new birds for me [Purple Sandpiper and Goldeneye] and eight more that were new to my active birding life list, not to mention all those year ticks!