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An errand for work took me to Collingham village this afternoon, which fortuitously allowed a couple of hours on patch this evening without the ordeal of having to get around/out of Newark in peak traffic. As I approached Collingham, the first of several windy, sleety squalls blew through, the second of which hit whilst I was at Mons Pool. I decided to check the sprayed-off field immediately north of Mons, next to the Trent, as I have been doing over the last couple of weeks. Today I hit it lucky, with first a super little male Whinchat, and then 2 Wheatears. Both new species for the year on patch, presumably downed by the weather, given that I have seen the sum total of zero in this field prior to today.

Whinchat

Wheatears

There were also hundreds and hundreds of hirundines at Collingham most feeding low over Ferry Lane Lake. I always struggle to estimate numbers in this sort of situation, but I'd guess there were at least 500 individuals, mainly Sand Martins, but also reasonable numbers of House Martins and Swallows. Two Yellow Wags continued a theme of this species being thin on the ground locally so far this spring. 

Back to the weekend, and the highlight was a Ring Ouzel that Mark D found in the sheep field at the northern end of Langford Lowfields - the same field that has also held Redstart and Cattle Egret so far this spring! The most interesting thing in my sheep field at Collingham (south of Ferry Lane Lake, and actually part of the same holding) is a deceased sheep. Mark also tracked the aforementioned Cattle Egret down at Girton Pits, in the sheep field at North Pit, which necessitated a second off-patch foray on Saturday!

Ring Ouzel

Cattle Egret

Collingham failed to produce any Ouzels or Redstarts, but 2 reeling Groppers were new for the year (with another this evening reeling from the opposite bank of the Trent at Mons), as were 3 Reed Warblers. 

Lets have a chat

After a week away in the Netherlands, it was time to get back onto the patch. Unfortunately, by the time I managed to get to Collingham yesterday the Osprey that had been seen earlier had departed, via Langford Lowfields. Added to the Little Stint which was present whilst I was away, this amounted to two missed species for Patchwork Challenge...

However, better was to come today. I went out with two species in mind. I failed to find a Redstart, despite much scrub-bashing, but a Whinchat was present at Meering, in the rough grassland around the Eon Lagoon, favoured by this species in previous years. This is one of my favourite things about patching - knowing what to look for, when, and where. 

Shortly after the Whinchat, my first Tree Sparrows of the year appeared, with two birds flying west. I then headed for Ferry Lane Lake for a late lunch, where I came across a juvenile Black Tern, which rounded off a decent day on the patch. 

Southern flava

Just for a change, I headed over to the patch this evening. I met John Ellis coming off site, who informed me that Mark Dawson was also around, and that Mons Pool was quiet; hopes of finding a decent wader evaporated, so I checked the bare potato fields south of Ferry Lane Lake, as I have been doing for the last couple of weeks.

There were around 16 Yellow Wags present, one of which had a blue head. I gave it a quick once over, and whilst it superficially looked like a Blue-headed Wagtail, thoughts of Channel Wagtail quickly came to mind. I called Mark, who soon joined me, and we spent the next 45 minutes watching the bird. Lighting conditions were difficult, with a low evening sun, and it was difficult to assess the head colour and pattern, especially as the bird would hardly sit still!

Overall, the head looked relatively dark, although this changed depending on which way the bird was facing and how far away it was... however, it certainly wasn't the powder blue of a 'classic' Channel Wag. But other features didn't sit quite right for a pure Blue-head either; the supercilium struck me as being quite broad and 'flaring', the white subocular patch was quite large, and there was quite a lot of white on the chin and upper throat. So probably a Channel - but nice to have a bird of southern origins on the patch nonetheless. 

Spring creeping in

Despite the bitterly cold conditions, there were a few hints of spring on the patch today; 2 singing Chiffchaffs, a White Wagtail and an LRP. I'd logged the LRP last night on a brief after-work visit, and only saw it for a few minutes today before it started calling and then headed high north. The White Wag was with a very notable 95 Pied Wags feeding on the short horse-grazed turf on the western side of Ferry Lane Lake; the pools here look ideal for a Water Pipit, but not today.

LRP

White Wag

White Wag

Others things on Ferry Lane Lake included a redhead Smew (which as Mark Dawson pointed out when he arrived, looked like it was a 2cy male, as it was showing silvery feathering in the crown and on the mantle), the juv GND again (on my second look at the lake), and 3 Whoopers which flew in from the direction of Langford. One of these had a slightly washed-out yellow colouration to the bill, coupled with distinctive black spotting, more so on the right side than the left. 

Whooper (left side of bill)

Whooper (right side of bill)

I then went to Langford for a walk round, as the Rock Pipit that Andy Hall had had at Cromwell Wier earlier had relocated to Phase 3. I had it calling in flight, plus 2 LRPs which had dropped in earlier in the morning. 

So a good day out all in all. 

A rubbish time at the tip

I hate that my gulling sessions are largely restricted to weekends; a visit to Cotham Landfill this morning was fairly typical for a Saturday, with few gulls on the tip and others loafing out of sight. Some interest came in the form of what was probably 3W Caspian Gull, but it was on view too briefly to confirm, and didn't reappear.

So off to the patch it was; after a brief visit on Thursday night (my first after-work visit of the year) where I added Little Grebe to my Patchwork Challenge yearlist, I added two more species today - Lesser Black-backed Gull and Oystercatcher. The latter was a hint at Spring, as was a Skylark singing briefly. The only other species of note was a redhead Smew on Ferry Lane Lake. After failing to get this species at Collingham in the last 3 years, I've now seen two (or the same one twice) this year... 

Finally, a spin round Girton proved that the Great Northern Diver was still present, on the A1133 Pit. No wild swans though; there were lost of Mutes moving around today, and several flooded areas held birds, but there were no Whoopers anywhere to be found. 

Birds like buses

A wet morning on the patch this morning didn't produce much; I went actively searching for a Stonechat in various places, and with four at Langford earlier in the week I thought I had a good chance, but no. There were decent numbers of Fieldfare around, at least 300 but it was difficult to be precise as they moved around the area in several flocks. The only waders were single Green Sand and Redshank, and 6 Golden Plover. I finished the morning at Meering, were there was little of note.

After a frustrating hockey match (awful does not even begin to describe the quality of the umpiring...), I headed back to Collingham to do the gull roost, and was very pleased that the first bird I saw at Ferry Lane Lake was a Stonechat - success! My first Patchwork Challenge addition since 13 September, and my first patch Stonechat since 31 January 2012 - they have become very scarce in Notts in the last few years. This was quickly followed by 6 fly-over Tree Sparrows - another PWC addition for 2014; sometimes PWC ticks are like buses. 

The gulls themselves were disappointing, with few big gulls, and of those, there were just 2 Yellow-legs (an adult and a 1cy). 

Stonechat

Let's have a chat

Yesterday's patch visit was pretty uneventful; water levels on Mons were up, and there were very few waders around (one Common Sand). However, rounding the corner at the Silt Lagoon, a juvenile Cuckoo was sat in the track - I got some rubbish photos through the windscreen. It didn't seem too bothered by my presence, and flapped around after invertebrates. I'd like to think this bird was raised locally, but who knows. Onward to Meering, and after pulling some Himalayan balsam, I was pleased to find a female Gadwall with a brood of 4 half-grown young. 

Juv Cuckoo - digi-binned through my car windscreen

Today, and things were much the same; nothing much of note at Collingham/Besthorpe, more balsam pulling, and then a look at Meering. Tonight's star bird was a super little Whinchat lurking in the ruderal vegetation in the northeast corner of the Eon Lagoon. 

Spring has sprung!

Wow. After a bit of a chilly start, it actually felt like spring today, with no wind an temperatures into (low) double-figures! 

Things began at Collingham, with 2 Ringed Plovers, a Redshank and a Green Sandpiper on Northcroft Pond; nearby, Mons Pool held 3 LRPs, a Redshank and a Little Egret. I found out later that Robin Brace had a White Wagtail here too. But no Chiffchaffs or Sand Martins... I rounded things off with a quick and uneventful visit to Girton - hopefully I'll give this site more of a grilling tomorrow.

I then dragged Amy up to Idle Valley NR (with the promise of lunch out) to see the female Long-tailed Duck which has been camped out on Neatholme Pit since mid January; I've been meaning to make the effort to see this bird for ages, as it's a Notts tick for me! Temperatures were positively warm by now, and the general springlike feel in the air was topped off by at least 3 singing Chiffchaffs along Neatholme Lane - my first of the year, at last.

Female Long-tailed Duck at IVNR

After lunch, a walk round Eaton Wood, and part of Gamston Wood, yielded two singing Marsh Tits (one in each wood) got me off the mark with the Notts Birders survey. 

Whinchat at the Flash

News came via Birdnet of a Whinchat at Cotham Flash this morning; I'd packed my scope in the car for some birding on the way home after work, so I decided to see if it was still present this evening. It was, and as expected was on the posts along the southern boundary of the Flash (where I had a fine male a couple of springs ago). This bird was a female - has it already given up for the summer, and is heading south?

Whinchat at Cotham Flash

Nearby, on the field pool, there were three LRPs - an adult and a full grown youngster. The male Ringed Plover was also present, and it sounded like the female was calling from within the wheat crop - there were several crows hanging around so maybe she's taken some new chicks in there to hide...? I'll be back to check soon.

Lunchtime at Budby

I stopped briefly for my lunch at Budby Heath on the way back into the office from a site meeting today; this proved the be a good call, as the Ring Ouzel reported there yesterday was still present; a smart male in the sheep field on the south-east side of the heath. I managed some particularly awful pictures of it (handheld through my bins).

Ring Ouzel at Budby Heath

Also there, my first Tree Pipit of the year, and a Chiffchaff with an abnormal song. I pointed my Remembird in its direction - the resultant spectrogram is produced below, and roughly equates to "chiff chiff chiff chaff chaff cheef chaf cheef cheeef cheeef cheeef" (or something like that!). Not an Iberian unfortunately (it looked like a standard Collybita as well), but I'm always interested by Chiffies with odd songs. I wonder if they manage to attract a mate?

Spectrogram of singing Chiffchaff at Budby Heath

Gosh-hawk

After a slightly longer than planned lie-in this morning, I visited Welbeck, parking in the pull off under the lime trees next to Corunna Hill Plantation. It was a bit misty, making viewing a bit difficult, but there were plenty of Buzzards up and displaying. The mist slowly lifted, and after about an hour I picked up a big, heavy chested female Goshawk briefly over the eastern end of Cat Hills Plantation. Nice!

There wasn't much on the flash at Budby Pumping Station, although there were three Mandarins (2 drakes and a female) on the river east of the bridge, and a Chiffchaff was singing. Budby Heath was more productive: I started by looking for the Firecrest that has been seen there recently in the north-east corner, but it was a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, and needles to say, I was unsuccessful. However, there were a pair of Crossbills here, the male perching up and singing briefly. Wandering a bit further produced a singing Woodlark, 2 singing Stonechats, and 2 more singing Chiffchaffs.

Stonechat on Budby Heath

After lunch, I had a spin round Collingham Pits. The water levels were up on the Main Pit (presumably because Tarmac have stopped pumping down), but the 2 LRPs were still present, along with a Ringed Plover, a Curlew, and 2 singing Chiffchaffs, whilst the Silt Lagoon hosted 2 Oystercatchers. Nearby, Mons Pool was looking good for waders but there were only 10 Redshank, plus 2 Little Egrets and another singing Chiffchaff.

I finished the day at Langford Lowfields, where there were two singing Chiffchaffs, bring the day's total to eight. I then bumped into Michael Copplestone, the site manager (who had given a good talk about the site at the Notts Birdwatchers AGM on wednesday). Michael has been overseeing a huge amount of work at the site recently, and it has changed massively since I last properly visited; it should look amazing in a few years time once the reeds are established. As we stood chatting, we had 5 Sand Martins appear at about 6pm - shortly after there were six, and then seven, chattering away as dusk fell. 60 Fieldfares dropped in to roost, but the hoped-for Bittern fly-past failed to materialise. However, 1, possibly 2 singing Cetti's Warblers on the Silt Lagoons finished what had been a pretty good day.

Sunset at Langford Lowfields

A chat over lunch

I called into the Main Pit at Collingham briefly at lunchtime, en route to a site meeting at South Clifton. Other than 4 Goldeneye there was very little on the pit itself, but a small passerine perched in the ruderal vegetation between the grassland and the water could only be one thing - a Stonechat. Stonechats were very thin on the ground the last couple of winters (e.g. just nine recorded at five sites across the whole county in January and February 2010), so it was nice to find this bird - a female, which showed quite pronounced orangey fringes to the secondaries (just about discernable in the picture below).



Stonechat at Collingham Pits