Black Tern – Carsington Bird Club

May 2011 Bird Notes

MAY 2011 BIRD NOTES

May Highlights: Black-throated and Great Northern Divers, Red Kite, Osprey, Hobby, Sanderling, Ruff, Turnstone, first summer Arctic Tern, Black Tern and Waxwing.

The month started with an adult Great Northern Diver in summer plumage (check out photos on website!) and 2 first summer GND, only the adult and 1 immature on 3^rd and, on 7^th, the adult was displaying to the immature which fled site. The adult stayed on until 18^th, the day a first summer Black-throated Diver arrived. A photo of the BTD revealed a few moulted flight feathers and it was still present on 31^st. Will it summer moult here like one in 2003? Only 4 Little Grebe on site, so 2 chicks on 23^rd were welcome. Great Crested Grebe totalled 41 on 17^th but breeding success will be limited by falling water levels leaving nests high, dry and likely to fail at egg stage. There was a further brood of Mallard, taking the total to 9 and the first Coot brood, of 2, was noted on 23^rd. Significant wildfowl counts were 4 Greylag on 9^th, 15 Barnacle including wild ‘ADZ’ on 7^th, 2 Shelduck on 25^th, 2 Mandarin on 13^th and 29^th, a drake Wigeon from 12^th, 4 Gadwall on 31^st, 2 Teal on 11^th, 66 Mallard, excluding young, on 17^th, a pair of Red-crested Pochard from 12^th, 2 Pochard on 30^th, 80 Tufted Duck on 17^th, a female Goosander on 24^th and 68 Coot on 17^th.

Raptors were active with a Red Kite over Sheepwash on 15^th and Ospreys on 5-6^th, 9^th, 19^th and 23^rd. The bird on 5^th landed on the new Osprey platforms, where it consumed a fish and roosted overnight. Photographs of this Osprey on the perch featured in several local newspapers, but subsequent tracing of its ring identification showed it to be a Scottish bird just passing through northbound. Sparrowhawk were noted carrying prey on 9^th, 15^th and 16^th and 5 Buzzards were in the air on 9^th. Hobby was noted on 9^th and 23^rd and 2 on 26^th. A female Peregrine posed in front of Sheepwash Hide on 3^rd, others were noted on 15^th and 22^nd, then, on 24^th, one took a Common Tern which was peacefully perched with its mate in front of Sheepwash Hide.

Wader breeding so far is 2 broods from Oystercatchers, 3 from Lapwing and 2 from Redshank. A good selection of passage waders included 7 Little Ringed Plover on 25^th, 1 Ringed Plover from 15^th, 2 Sanderling on 18^th, 9 Dunlin on 18^th, 1 Ruff on 21^st, 2 Snipe on 1^st, a Black-tailed Godwit on 3^rd, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit on 3-4^th, 3 Whimbrel on 17^th, 3 Curlew on 10^th, a Greenshank on 5^th, a Green Sandpiper on 4^th, 4 Common Sandpiper on 3^rd and 2 Turnstone on 31^st.

The Black-headed Gull colony at the Wildlife Centre eventually took over the tern raft on 12^th, following them abandoning it, leaving a dead gull there last month. Some started nesting in front of Sheepwash and on Flat Island. The local breeding pair of Common Tern were mating, then took up residence on Flat Island on 14^th. A flock of 27 Common Terns flew through high north on 15^th. The maximum number of Arctic Terns was 6 through east on 1^st and a first summer Arctic landed at Sheepwash for a while on 21^st, a rare event for this age group to be seen in Derbyshire. A Black Tern went through on 3^rd.

The first Swift arrived on 1^st, Reed Warbler on 7^th and the first Spotted Flycatcher seen was already nest building on 24^th. A wintering Waxwing calling for a few minutes from a treetop on 1^st was a late surprise and a Marsh Tit in Tail Bay is the first since July 2008. There were a welcome number of records of common breeding birds including 10 nests of Tree Sparrow all being fed in a multi-nest box on 12^th.

111 Species compared with 106 in May 2010, 108 in 2009, 112 in 2008, 103 in 2007 and 107 in 2006

May 2010 Bird Notes

MAY 2010 BIRD NOTES

May Highlights: Great Northern Diver, Red Kite, Osprey, Hobby, Sanderling, Turnstone, Mediterranean Gull, Black Tern, Cuckoo and Pied Flycatcher.

The long staying adult Great Northern Diver was last seen flying around in full summer plumage on 8^th. There are no broods of Grebe, Swan, Barnacle Geese, Moorhen or Coot yet but, hopefully, this is only due to the late Spring, and June will be catch-up time. There was only 1 further brood of Mallard to add to last month’s total of 4 broods, probably another indicator of delayed breeding for these water birds. Significant wildfowl counts were all from the WeBS survey on 16^th and included 16 Little Grebe, 40 Great Crested Grebe, 40 Mallard, 147 Tufted Duck and 57 Coot. Additionally, there was a Shelduck on 8^th, 10^th and 17^th and a female Scaup, present from April, was last seen on 7^th.

A Red Kite drifted over Sheepwash on 2^nd and an Osprey perched on a buoy for an hour consuming a fish before flying up Fishtail Creek on 26^th. The first Hobby was noted on 2^nd and a Peregrine flew over on 1^st. There has been little Buzzard activity recorded and there are no signs of breeding, which is not surprising following the well publicised local find of 6 dead buzzards, suspected of being poisoned.

At least 6 pairs of Oystercatchers have so far only produced 1 brood of 3, first noted on 5^th on Millfields Island. Last month’s Lapwing brood on Big Island showed 2 well grown young on 17^th and there were further broods of 4 on 16^th and 3 on 26^th, both on Horseshoe Island. A pair of Redshank with 2 young were on Big Island on 12^th. Passage waders included a Ringed Plover on 12^th and 20^th, 2 Sanderling on 12^th, a Dunlin on 1^st and following days, 3 Black-tailed Godwit on 5^th, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit on 21^st, 15 Whimbrel on 8^th, 2 Curlew on 10^th, a Greenshank flying through on 10^th, 3 Common Sandpiper on 7^th and a Turnstone from 7^th to 11^th.

A first summer Mediterranean Gull on HorseshoeIslandon 1^st obviously stayed over from 30^th May and an adult Little Gull was also on the island on 22^nd. The Black-headed Gull colony at the Wildlife Centre took over the tern raft again, forcing off a nesting Moorhen. These gulls seem to have squeezed what looks like 8 nests onto the raft and 2 young were noted on 29^th. A pair also have a nest on Horseshoe Island and another pair have bred on the raft at Paul Stanley Hide, showing 3 young on 31^st. Three Common Terns were noted from 1^st and a pair have settled on Flat Island again this year. The maximum number of Arctic Terns was 6 feeding off Stones Island on 7^th and a Black Tern was present on 27-28^th.

Three Stock Doves were feeding on spilled seed in Sheepwash car park on 13^th, a Cuckoo was noted near Middle Wood on 19^th, and a Barn Owl on 15^th and a Tawny Owl on 16^th were both around Sheepwash. The first Grey Wagtail since early January was recorded on 2^nd. A Redstart was singing near the Wildlife Centre on 1^st and there was a male Whinchat on the dam wall on 5^th. A Greenland race female Wheatear, a Sedge and a Reed Warbler were all seen on 1^stand 13 Garden Warblers plus 42 Blackcaps plus 29 Willow Warblers were counted on a circular walk on 17^th. A Spotted Flycatcher was noted from 23^rd, 2 singing Pied Flycatchers on 13^th, a pair of Raven with 3 young on 20^th, 4 Linnet on 2^nd and a Bullfinch was heard singing on the Club Dawn Chorus Walk on 8^th.

106 Species recorded compared with 108 in May 2009, 112 in 2008, 103 in 2007, 107 in 2006, 107 in 2005, 114 in 2004 and 110 in 2003.