Rod's Birding: May 2012

Thursday 17 May 2012

A day’s birding in Staffordshire & Derbyshire - May 16, 2012

Roger and I set off for the Seven Springs car park at Cannock Chase where we were hoping to see Wood Warbler and Redstart.

We arrived in the car park and were soon exploring the woodland close by. We had two Treecreeper and a Garden Warbler and Cuckoo, Willow Warbler and Blackcap were all heard but there was no sign of either Wood Warbler or Redstart. We continued searching and found a Nuthatch when we both thought we might have heard a Wood Warbler some distance away. As we started to climb the hill side a Redstart sang and saw it perched on a dead stump but it flew before Roger got onto it. It continued singing and we soon found it again and eventually had some reasonable views. As we searched the top of the hill I had brief views of a Spotted Flycatcher but there was still no sign of Wood Warbler. We returned to footpath at the bottom of the hill were we watched two more Spotted Flycatchers and a Nuthatch. Roger then called me over and he had found a Wood Warbler, which proceeded to perform quite well but there was still no song. Perhaps it was a female and others are yet to arrive.

Wood Warbler

Nuthatch

We left Seven Springs and headed for Swallow Moss. When we arrived it felt colder here and despite hearing a couple of Red Grouse call I failed to see any. There were plenty of Meadow Pipits and we did locate five Buzzards, a single Whitethroat and Wheatear and a Cuckoo and Raven were heard calling.

From Swallow Moss we drove the short distance to the Manifold Valley parking at Wetton Mill and walking north along the road. We had a female Grey Wagtail close to Wetton Mill and male Redstart not too far from where we had parked. At least six House Martins were flying over Wetton Mill and six Swift were observed over the valley. We located at least five Spotted Flycatchers and we found a pair of Mandarin and Goosander on the river. We also found a Dipper on a rock and a

second back at Wetton Mill and a Tawny Owl called just as we were getting ready to depart.

Tuesday 15 May 2012

A day’s birding Rutland Water, Rutland - May 14, 2012

There had been two Temminck’s Stints present yesterday evening on lagoon four but the news was no sign today. Roger and I still decided to go to lagoon four where we found six Avocets, a Little Ringed Plover, twelve Ringed Plovers, four Sanderling, thirteen Dunlin, a Curlew and two Redshanks. There was also thirty-six Common Terns on the lagoon. A Red Kite flew over the lagoon with the Avocets and Lapwings making sure it continued heading south. There was a report that the first brood of Avocets had hatched but we could not see them although the longest sitting bird appeared to be quite restless.

Oystercatchers over lagoon four

Red Kite over lagoon four

Cormorant over lagoon four

We returned to the car park for lunch before having a quick look on lagoon one where there was a single Ringed Plover and Dunlin. We then went to shoveler hide on lagoon three where there were at forty Common Terns feeding over the water. We also saw three Red Kite higher overhead and a forth over lagoon four and a Short-eared Owl was observed over lagoon four before appearing to head off to the west.

A walk to lapwing hide but there was very little either on or over the water and crake hide produced some good views of a pair of Great Crested Grebes and at least two Reed Warbler could be heard singing but were not seen. A single Buzzard was observed over lagoon three as we began to walk back to the car park.

Drake Shelduck on lagoon three

Greylag Goose on lagoon three

Pair of Gadwall on lagoon three (note male already going into eclipse)

Great Crested Grebe from crake hide

Cormorant from crake hide

Swifts from crake hide

A day’s birding in Leicestershire and Rutland - May 12, 2012

I set off to Eye Brook Reservoir on my own today as Dave was unwell and we were meeting Roger at Rutland Water later in the day.

A Buzzard was the only bird of note on route to Eye Brook Reservoir and the reservoir was relatively quiet and now on top water. There were c.300 House Martins present and about fifty Sand Martins but only five Swallows were observed. There was also circa thirty Swifts present and at least four Common Terns.

At Rutland Water I went to the Old Hall and walked to Hambleton Wood where I met Roger walking back to his car. He walked back with me to the wood were we had reasonable views of a Nightingale and probably the only male present this year. A Garden Warbler also provided good views briefly as it fed in the lower vegetation.

Swallow and Sand Martin near the Old Hall

House Martin near the Old Hall

We went to the north arm next but it was fairly quiet and there was no sign of the fourteen Turnstone present yesterday evening. There was a Little Egret, an Oystercatcher and a drake Goldeneye present and a Red Kite and two Buzzard were observed over Burley Wood.

Swift over the north arm

After signing in at the Bird Watching Centre we walked to lagoon four were we located six Avocet, with three sitting on nests, two Little Ringed Plovers, twelve Ringed Plovers, eight Dunlin, four Redshank and a Turnstone. I also counted thirty-eight Common Terns resting on one of the islands.

There was a winter plumage Black-tailed Godwit on lagoon three and at least fifty Common Terns feeding over the water and I had a Turtle Dove flying at the back of the lagoon. Ken had now joined us and we returned to sandpiper hide on lagoon four where we located a Common Sandpiper before returning to the car park for lunch.

Common Tern over lagoon three

After lunch we spent some time in the Bird Watching Centre overlooking lagoon one where there was a Little Egret and five Oystercatchers.

Ken and I then walked around to fieldfare hide calling at snipe hide on route where we saw another three Little Egrets on the wet meadow, an Osprey and a distant Hobby over the lagoons. We continued on to fieldfare and had excellent views of a photogenic Sedge Warbler and an Osprey overhead on route. At fieldfare we found a female Pintail and a Mallard with a brood of nine.

Sedge Warbler close to harrier hide

Osprey over fieldfare hide

Harrier hide on lagoon one provided some excellent views of a Short-eared Owl as it perched on a cross pole in bright sunlight before providing some excellent views in flight.

Short-eared Owl from harrier hide

Oystercatcher harassing the Short-eared Owl

When we got back to the car park I decided to walk back to lagoon four and was rewarded with a Grey Plover and Curlew and further views of the Turnstone. I then called at shoveler hide on lagoon three and saw two Reed Warblers and a Kingfisher flying over the lagoon.

I saw little else on my return to the car park but it had been a good day with eight-eight species recorded at Rutland Water.

A week’s holiday at Lamper Head near Cornworthy, Devon - May 4 to 11, 2012

This was a family holiday and so most of my birding was done from the decking at Lamper Head or by walking the narrow lanes close to the house, although I did get a couple of hours at Berry Head on the 8^th.

The decking overlooks the garden, the immediate countryside which includes a good section of the River Dart. I recorded fifty-three species during the week at Lamper Head and my total after several visits stands at seventy-five, which is not bad for a garden list during just four weeks.

One of the best birds is Cirl Bunting and I saw a male and female on three occasions during the week and one occasion they were feeding in the garden for about fifteen minutes. Other good birds included a Sparrowhawks on several days, a Hobby, two Peregrines, a Dunlin, A Tawny Owl, several Swift, a Green Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat and four Wheatears. Buzzards are frequent visitors and can provide some excellent views.

At Berry Head I located eight Wheatears, a pair of Stonechat and a Lesser Whitethroat and there were quite a few Whitethroats present as well. The cliffs held several hundred Guillemots and a few Kittiwakes and there was at least one Fulmar and three Gannets were seen out at sea.