Spring is almost here...

This weekend's birding began on Friday afternoon with a quick patch visit; things there were much the same as they have been recently, with the 3 redhead Smew still present and correct on Ferry Lane Lake. 11 Whoopers in the field west of the Trent were the only other thing of note.

Saturday and I was up at half 5 to make the journey down to Stow-on-the-Wolds for the Blue Rock Thrush. I've been putting this off (for various reasons, including the doubts over the birds' origins), but with Spring rapidly approaching, now was the time to get it (for insurance purposes...). I soon found it perched up on a roof on Fisher Close, but after returning to my car for my camera, it had gone, and didn't reappear over the following 40 minutes. By then I had had enough of loitering in a housing estate with bins and camera and headed home, via the patch, where I had my first singing Chiffchaff of the year - always a joyous event.

Today, and my WeBS count at Girton produced at female Scaup on the A1133 Pit (which is looking increasingly like some sort of prison camp with the hideous fencing that now encircles the pit), and no fewer than 6 singing Chiffchaffs. A third check of Collingham for the weekend once again failed to produce any Sand Martins. 

Scaup

The Raven

Raven has been a long-expected addition to my Collingham list; I've seen them in Newark town centre this year, and encountered a pair behaving like they were breeding not a million miles away. They've been seen at Langford recently, and at Girton. Therefore, it wasn't a huge surprise when I heard one kronking when I was at Mons Pool on friday; I soon located it sat up in the tops of the trees on the island. It hung around for a while with a few other corvids, before heading south. A Water Rail again on the Silt Lagoon and an adult YLG in the small gull roost on Ferry Lane Lake were the only other birds of note. 

Another visit on Saturday produced another Water Rail on Mons Pool, with a Cetti's Warbler calling there as well, and 7 Whoopers still in the fields north of Meering Marsh. My WeBS count at Girton was fairly unspectacular, not helped by lots of disturbance (shooting and illegal fishing), but two female Common Scoter were on Spalford Pit, where they've been for a while now. 

Ternless

There was no sign of Friday night's Garganey on Saturday morning, and the best patch bird was a Spotted Flycatcher along Northcroft Lane. Aside from this, there were two Dunlin present on Mons Pool in the morning, increasing to 3 in the afternoon, when they were joined by a Ringed Plover. The same day, my WeBS count at Girton was uneventful (no scarce terns).

Sunday, and I failed to find a Black Tern on the patch; unfortunately I was busy in the afternoon/evening when big numbers built up at Lound and Holme Pierrepont, which was a bit frustrating. Cuckoo and Hobby were both in evidence though, and I counted a total of 54 active Cormorant nests on Mons Pool island. 

Today saw me on a site inspection in Netherfield in the morning, allowing a quick visit to Netherfield Lagoons. The Great Reed Warbler found there this morning struck up its mechanical song a couple of times whilst I was present, but refused to show - indeed, it sounded like it hadn't shown for anyone at that point. 

Rather than going back to Netherfield after work, another patch visit was in order. There were 4 Greenshanks on the pools on the west side of Ferry Lane Lake - hopefully a Wood Sand or Temminck's Stint will take a fancy to this area at some point soon! I also located a Kingfisher nest, and topped things of with the first returning Turtle Dove of the year - always a relief when they're back.

Away from the birds, I had a look for Grizzled Skippers on Saturday afternoon, in seemingly ideal conditions; I guess it was still slightly early in the season, as I could find none on the disused railway south of Cotham, but did locate one at Staunton Quarry. Others were seen on the verges by the Sustrans route at Cotham Landfill and at Flawborough Footpath. 

RNP, no GBT

Earlier in the week, I enjoyed the Red-necked Phalarope at Langford Lowfields - my second for Notts after the one at Kilvington Lakes a few back. The following day, I was tantalised by the Gull-billed Tern at Lound, but it seemingly did a flit before I left work, which I supposed saved my chasing round the site trying to pin it down in the evening. 

This weekend, most of yesterday was spent playing hockey in the rain, but a late afternoon patch visit produced the thick end of not much at all, and much of today was doing stuff in the house, with a trip up to Girton to do my WeBS count; there were several hundred House Martins and Swallows feeding on chironomid midges along Trent Lane, swooping past at head height - maybe 300 of the former and 150 of the latter, but difficult to say. A 1st summer male Goldeneye was the the pick of the wildfowl; I wish I'd gone a-twitching to Norfolk for the two Acro's on Blakeney Point - both would-be ticks...

Scaup at Collingham

Saturday, and I didn't get up quite as early as planned, so my visit to Collingham was a bit rushed, before an 11am meet for hockey. Mons Pool was looking good, with the 2 Avocets still present, plus my first patch Dunlin (3) of the year; at least 3 Chiffchaffs were also in song. 

I'd envisaged giving Ferry Lane Lake a cursory look on my way out of the site, but noticed a sleeping duck with a grey mantle; it looked like a Greater Scaup (which it proved to be), but due to the distance and windy conditions (scope wobble), I had to dash down the track to get a bit closer to double-check it wasn't a Lesser... I managed to get to my hockey meet only a few minutes late.

Today I did my WeBS count at Girton Pits - late as ever. Wildfowl numbers were low, as expected, but there were at least 3 Green Sands around the site. Most annoyingly, I had been specifically checking for Kittiwakes, including at Spalford Pit - only to be rang up by Graham Gamidge (once I was at Sunday lunch with the in-laws) to be told that he and John Ellis had just found one, at Spalford Pit! My only consolation as that a) it flew off so presumably wasn't twitched by any yearlisting rivals, and b) it wasn't at Collingham. Collingham was much the same as yesterday, except the Scaup was nowhere to be seen. 

A WeBS Smew

It was a perfect morning for doing a WeBS count at Girton Pits this morning - crisp, blue skies, and barely a breathe of wind. Unfortunately, a bit of activity on the Sailing Lake was disturbing the wildfowl, but I nevertheless located a redhead Smew - my first here for several years; it subsequently moved to the A1133 Pit. It seems to be a relatively good winter for this species in Notts.

Redhead Smew

Overall duck numbers were good, if unspectacular, with 464 Tufted Ducks taking top billing; next best were 210 Wigeon, 195 Coot and a notable 107 Gadwall, the latter beating the Mallard count of 105. Single Snipe and Redshank provided a little wader interest, and there was a single Shelduck on Spalford Pit. 7 Bullfinches and a Grey Wag were the only notable passerines. 

Cetti's challenge met

After 2 months of it being present, I finally bagged the Cetti's Warbler at Collingham Pits this morning; having had another unsuccessful listen/look for it from the hide at Mons Pool, I went to the viewing screens a couple of hundred yards further along the south side of the lake. A squealing Water Rail and 2 Kingfishers were nice, but there wasn't much else, so I checked my Twitter feed to see what was going on elsewhere. Lucky I did, as a few minutes later I heard the Cetti's calling from the edge of the water. Clambering up onto the side of the viewing screen (don't tell anyone), I had decent views of the bird. A patch tick, and two points for Patchwork Challenge!

Other bits and pieces around the patch included 1 Merlin, 1 Little Owl, 5 Snipe, 4 Redshank, 2 Curlew, 1 Little Egret, 40 Golden Plover (over), c.10 Tree Sparrows, at least 7 Bullfinches, and moderate numbers of Fieldfares and Redwings. Just off-site, 2 Whooper Swans were with 14 Mutes to the west of the River Trent at Cromwell, viewed from the conveyor outfall on the river next to the Silt Lagoon. The only thing of note at Meering was a Redshank.

It just wouldn't be winter without some awful photos of Whooper Swans...

Onwards to Girton, to do my WeBS count (a day early, rather than a week late, for a change). Best were 40 Pink-feet which flew over west; otherwise, the more notable totals included 248 Tufted Duck, 261 Coot, 353 Wigeon and a whopping 144 Gadwall, as well as 28 Pochard, 29 Goldeneye, 5 Shoveler and 42 Teal, plus a single Redshank. 

Wildfowl wonders of the Trent Valley

Having missed my WeBS count last week because of the BTO/Notts Birders conference, I headed out to Girton Pits this morning to do it. There were plenty of Tufties (421, mainly on the A1133 Pit), plus 114 Gadwall (a good total for this site) and 19 Goldeneye, as well as unspectacular numbers of other wildfowl and a single Green Sand. 

I knew things were bad when I started scrutinising a Canada Goose on North Pit; marginally smaller than the other 5 Canada's it was with (and perhaps also proportionately shorter necked?), it had a darker, buffish breast (contrasting with the bright off-white breasts of the other 5) and an apparently slightly narrower and duskier cheek patch. It lacked any other notable features such as white at the base of the neck sock or black throat line. I'm under no illusions that it was anything other than a feral Canada, but it was quite interesting (in a slightly desperate kind of a way); having done some googling tonight though, I'm not much clearer about what it actually was in terms of its racial origins. 

Canada Goose of interest - front right

Showing differences in breast colour and cheek patch shape/colour

Smaller, and perhaps shorter necked on the water

I finished my WeBS count as always at Spalford Pit where I bumped into Carl C, who was just packing up and heading off to check out the pig fields at Spalford village. I decided instead to go to Collingham, having not been for a week. This was probably a mistake, as Carl had an adult Med Gull and 1, if not 2 Twite at the pig fields; the best I could muster at Collingham was 2 Redshank on the Silt Lagoon and at least 15 (maybe up to 30) Tree Sparrows in a wild bird strip (no Brambling/Little Bunting/Pine Bunting). 

This afternoon, we then had a walk at Budby Heath - we'd just arrived when Carl called to say he was back at Spalford Pit and had what looked like a female/immature Ring-necked Duck! I made do with 40-50 Lesser Redpolls and a few Brambling. 

Carl's pics above; the bird was apparently browner in real life. I'd like to see the head shape better, and there is always the spectre of a hybrid to consider, but on balance I think it looks good as a RND. Unfortunately, Carl was beaten by poor light and wont be able to look for it again until Tuesday at the earliest, and I'm going to struggle to get out there before next Saturday, so if you're passing, go have a look. 

Belated WeBS

After a lie-in this morning, a visit to Girton Pits was necessary to do the WeBS count which I failed to do last weekend. There was nothing unexpected; single Goldeneye and Red-crested Pochard (a female on Spalford Pit) were the wildfowl highlights, although I also spent some time watching a bathing Sparrowhawk. 

Bathing Sparrowhawk (digi-binned)

Red-crested Pochard

A visit to Collingham then produced 368 Wigeon, 164 Pochard, 2 Pintail, 2 Egyptian Geese and a Common Sand on Ferry Lane Lake, along with a Redshank on the Silt Lagoon. After lunch, a session picking sloes at Meering produced a Merlin, but little else.