In the pink

One of the tasks I do each year at work is to count the Deptford Pinks at a private site near Widmerpool in the south of the county. The site is on a section of active railway and there is no public access, so it is a privilege to be able to see this plant at what is it's only Nottinghamshire site (and indeed, one of only about 30 sites country-wide). 

This year's total was 431 flowering plants, a very slight increase on last year (when there were 420). The non-flowering plants (i.e. those not yet flowering) are very difficult to spot, so this is probably a slight underestimate, as we'd hit them a bit early this year and there were clearly lots still to flower. There's more o on this species in a Notts context on the Notts BAG website, in a 'Species Action Plan' (which I wrote a while back).

Deptford Pink

Back to birds, Ferry Lane Lake at Collingham Pits is still looking good for waders, but held only single Greenshank and Common Sandpiper tonight, and there was no sign of the Red-crested Pochard which Carl had there two nights ago, which is a shame. No Yellow-legged Gulls either tonight. 

Collingham wader scrape