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Bird Watching 2019

January 2019: RUFFORD COUNTRY PARK
This month it is difficult to pick out a highlight of our day bird-watching. The weather was wonderful-
having a coffee outside Rufford Mill with the sun on your face, you could believe spring was around
the corner- and the variety of woodland birds and ducks and gulls on the lakeside was rich and
diverse.
We started our visit with some good sightings of some colourful Jays, followed by both male and
female Bullfinch with their richly coloured breasts. Also in the woodland were Nuthatches,
Treecreepers, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Goldcrests and even some Green Finches, and between us
we saw plenty of Great Tits, Long-tailed and Blue Tits. For some of us, it was the first time we had
seen a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, quite spectacular, although he frustratingly kept hiding behind
some branches.
There were Dunnocks, Robins and Jackdaws. The quirky Mandarin Duck with its fantastical colours
and tufts and upstanding side wings entertained us for some time, and it was good to take a long look
at the beauty of the feathers on the Canada Geese, Greylag Geese and Muscovy Ducks, which are
all very keen to come close in the hope of food-which they definitely do not need.
We saw about half a dozen Goosander (male and female) sailing majestically across the lake, lots of
Black-headed Gulls, which confusingly do not have black heads in the winter, some Common Gulls.
Some of us even spotted a Kestrel perched on a fencepost on the way to Rufford and there was a
possible sighting of a Sparrowhawk, difficult to confirm because of the glare of the sun (in January!).
With twelve pairs of eyes, good binoculars and patience, it is surprising just how many species you
can see.

                            Greater Spotted Woodpecker (library photo)

March 2019: POTTERIC CARR NATURE RESERVE
We had a full minibus of 15 keen bird watchers plus 2 more who used their own transport for our visit
to this excellent Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Reserve, near Doncaster. Although a rather cold day, the
rain held off until we were returning home and the birds did not seem to be put off by the occasional
gusts of wind.
The kingfishers which had been seen there recently remained elusive, but between us we managed
to see and identify more than 30 species. Some lucky individuals were able to spot a snipe, a green
woodpecker and a cetti’s warbler. The sightings were nicely spaced throughout the day, with
excellent spots of a jay, some siskins and reed buntings in the last half hour of the day.
On the lakes we saw a lot of teal, shelducks, shovellers, along with some of our favourites: the great
crested grebe and the little grebe. There were black headed gulls and common gulls visible without
even having to leave the café, and we also saw examples of the great black-backed gull and the
lesser of the species. The feeders set up by the centre provided many goldfinch, some greenfinch,
chaffinch and bullfinch with easy pickings.
An extra treat were the roe deer which appeared during the afternoon, visible in the woods, and
sometimes very close.
To finish off the day, we had a time to enjoy the excellent café and to browse around the tempting
shop.
A big thank you to Geoff Smith, our minibus driver, who was able to enjoy a walk around the reserve
while we were busy spotting birds!

                                        Siskin (library photo)

April 2019: GIBRALTAR POINT NATURE RESERVE
Just down the road from the seaside attractions of Skegness, you can find a different world in the
sand dunes and mudflats of Gibraltar Point with views across to Norfolk on the other side of the
Wash.
It’s difficult to choose the best part of the day as there was something for everyone: we were blessed
with good weather, refreshing sea breezes and we saw a good variety of fascinating birds on the
lagoons and in the sand dunes. There were plenty of avocets, oystercatchers and shelducks, which
we are all getting good at identifying.
The curlews and godwit required more debate and there were sightings of several birds of prey:
sparrow hawk, buzzard and even a merlin. A thrush posed obligingly for us, with a mouth full of
worms and for many it was the first time we had seen a meadow pipit. A highlight has to be the sight
and beautiful song of the skylark on the way back to the excellent visitor’s centre. We also saw
lapwings, pink legged geese, cormorants, shovellers, little grebe and teal.
This is a beautiful reserve, which covers a vast expanse, so it really is a chance to get away from it
all.

        Shelducks

         Avocets

May 2019: SHERWOOD FOREST RSPB NATURE RESERVE
A visit to this Nature Reserve is worth the trip just to enjoy the brand new Visitor’s Centre, where you
can hire binoculars if necessary, pick up all sorts of information about local wildlife and also enjoy a
coffee with views into the forest. The day we went, 16 people, almost a full complement of members-
the weather was calm, which is good for bird-watching, but heavy rain was forecast, which is not so
good for the bird-watchers!
We were lucky in that the rain held off till we got back to our cars and we had a real treat in the first
few minutes of our walk as the previous night’s rain had left big puddles in which a male and female
chaffinch were enjoying a good splash around. The trails are well marked with feeders at almost
every junction. It was a bit disappointing that the feeders were just open tables, so of course the
squirrels gobbled up everything before the birds had a chance, so remember to bring some seed with
you if you go, so you can tempt more birds down.
The highlights of the day were good sightings of a willow tit and willow warbler, a very obliging thrush
that stayed still in a prominent position for a long time and which we decided was a song thrush. We
also heard and some people saw a chiff-chaff, willow warbler, black cap, tree creeper, greater
spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, dunnock, marsh tit and pied wagtail. It was an additional pleasure to
wander through the lush woodland and of course to see that old favourite, The Major Oak, still
looking good after more than 800 years.
Nuala Leyden

Black cap

The Major Oak

June 2019: RUTLAND WATER
This day out in the minibus proved to be a rewarding way to end our bird-watching season (We start
our meetings again in September).
At the end of the wettest week imaginable and with black clouds following us all the way, the draw of
seeing ospreys with their young brought out our members, fully kitted out in wet weather gear. We
certainly did get wet at times throughout the day, but were also complaining about being too hot when
the sun came out in the afternoon. With the webcam focussed on the nest, we were able to see the
four osprey chicks with their mother Maya sheltering them from the rain, and with the help of the
scopes and excellent spotting ability of Severn Trent staff and members of our group we could
identify the male osprey perched in a nearby tree.
We were delighted to spend a long time looking at a barn owl which posed on a nearby fence, but
perhaps the best sighting of the day for some was the hobby which came out to enjoy the sunshine in
the afternoon and stayed close, enabling photos to be taken. Before we even left the visitor’s centre,
we saw a yellowhammer and red legged partridge and later on the same feeders attracted a greater
spotted woodpecker and song thrush.
Other sightings were swift, swallows and house martins, white and pied wagtails, ringed plovers,
Egyptian geese, a buzzard, oystercatcher, lapwing, common tern, reed bunting, reed warbler, sedge
warbler, dunlin, heron, egrets, and cormorants.
Some people enjoyed watching a swallow feeding its young and Geoff followed a hare on his walk
around the nature reserve. We explored only a small area of the vast reserve and a return visit will
definitely happen.

Reed Bunting   Hobby