Carsington Bird Club – Page 2 – Carsington Bird Club

For Sale

Swarovski CT Travel carbon fibre tripod c/w head; well used but perfect working order. £75
Cley Spy ‘Scopac’ – free with above or £15 if not.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ200 Bridge camera plus charger, 2No. batteries. £75

Nikon Coolpix 4500 camera plus charger/2No. batteries. £40

Canon EOS40D DSLR body only plus 2No. chargers and 4 no batteries plus Tamrac case. £50

Canon EOS 1300D DSLR body only plus 2 chargers/2 batteries. £100

Canon EFS 60mm f2.8 macro USM lens, good condition. £150.

Carson universal smartphone optics adapter IS-100 for digi-scoping. As new. £15

Any reasonable offer considered on any of above.

Contact: Richard Lowe – Mob. 07800511970.

Carsington Bird Club

Yesterday (1 October), we heard the sad news that long-time recorder at Carsington Water Eddie Walker had passed away the previous day at his home in Belper, surrounded by his nieces and sister Brenda.

Eddie, who was 79 and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year, leaves behind a considerable legacy to Carsington Bird Club and to birding in general – in Derbyshire and beyond. He was one of the founder members of CBC shortly after the opening of the reservoir (his original membership number was 007!), and was on the club’s first committee in 1992 with responsibility as Recorder, a position he held for very many years before handing over to Roger Carrington after deciding to move to Spain.

A number of “firsts” on site and the detailed records over those first dozen years or so of the reservoir’s existence were largely down to Eddie and his recording team of the day.

He lived in Spain for around 20 years, in the small town of Rafal on the Costa Blanca, but came back for extended breaks in the UK – usually to escape the extreme heat experienced during the Spanish summer. We therefore saw plenty of him during those trips back ‘home’and Carsington remained a cherished spot for him throughout those final 20 years, though he enjoyed going to other sites like Wyver Lane, Ogston, Willington, Old Moor and Blacktoft Sands on a regular basis. Several months ago he sold up in Spain and moved back to England for good.

For those wishing to attend his funeral, we will post the time and date on the website.

Roger Remembered as New Hide Formally Opens..

As part of a formal opening of the new Sheepwash hide at Severn Trent’s Carsington Water, Roger Carrington was honoured for his huge contribution to birding on site and to consistent recording of birdlife at the large reservoir. Roger, who passed away in 2022, was Carsington Bird Club’s Recorder for more than a decade.

A very old picture of Roger with what now, would be called an ‘ancient’ scope…

He spent many happy hours at the previous hide, binoculars and ‘scope at the ready, and on 23 July a ribbon-cutting for its replacement was undertaken by Roger’s widow, Lilian, accompanied by daughter Helen. They were able not only to read the plaque on the door of the hide, describing Roger’s key role, but also enjoy the nearby bench that has been dedicated to Roger’s memory.

When it became clear the old hide had had its day, plans were put in place to design and build a new hide. Though Roger never saw these plans come to fruition, he would have been very happy with the successor – reckoned by birders to be located in the optimum position for scanning much of the reservoir.

Roger served as a core member of the Carsington Bird Club committee, advising on all aspects of birding including breeding surveys, bird boxes and where to locate them, habitat improvements – often working hand-in-glove with the Severn Trent – and editing and producing many of the detailed annual reports that serve as a permanent bird-related history across three decades at what is one of Derbyshire’s top wildlife and public engagement sites.

Many people learned a great deal from Roger, whose calm personality and quiet demeanour encouraged them to ask questions (even obvious ones!) and take on board a little of his large fund of knowledge.

Carsington Bird Club

Bird Notes May 2023

May 2023 BIRD NOTES

HIGHLIGHTS: Great Northern Diver, Osprey, Bar-tailed Godwit, Wood Sandpiper, Turnstone, Cuckoo, Spotted Flycatcher and Pied Flycatcher.

Water bird maxima were from the WeBS count on 21^st unless dated otherwise. 1 Great Northern Diver reported every day until it was last seen on 12^th, 1 Little Grebe 21^st, 29^th and 30^th, 47 Great Crested Grebe, 17 Cormorant 3^rd, 2 Little Egret 16^th, 2 Grey Heron reported on 8 dates this month, 6 Mute Swan 1^st, 25^th, 29^th and 30^th, 38 Greylag Goose, 182 Canada Goose, 4 Barnacle Goose 26^th, 3 Shelduck 8^th, 1 Mandarin 10^th and 11^th, 1 Wigeon 1^st and 12^th, 17 Gadwall, 2 Teal 30^th, 51 Mallard, 2 Shoveler 24^th, 52 Tufted Duck 23^rd, 2 Goldeneye 1^st, 1 Goosander 26^th, 4 Moorhen 7^th, 23 Coot, 1 Kingfisher 20^th.

Raptor sightings included 2 Red Kite reported on 6 dates this month, 1 Sparrowhawk on 11 dates, 14 Buzzards 3^rd,1 Osprey 5^th and 13^th with a possible 2 on 12^th, 2 Kestrel reported on 7 dates, 1 Hobby 4^th, 13^th and 19^th, 1 Peregrine 3^rd, 12^th, 17^th and 31^st.

Sixteen species of waders through this month with 13 Oystercatcher 4^th, 1 Avocet 9^th and 28^th, 2 Ringed Plover 23^rd, 1 Grey Plover 4^th, 3 Lapwing 19^th, 25^th and 26^th, 1 Sanderling 12^th and 27^th, 2 Dunlin 4^th, 5^th and 8^th, 1 Snipe 1^st and 8^th, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit 11 dates this month, 5 Whimbrel 5^th, 2 Curlew 14^th, 4 Redshank 5^th, 6^th, 10^th and 30^th, 1 Greenshank 15^th, 2 Wood Sandpiper 5^th, 2 Common Sandpiper 5^th, 1 Turnstone 26^th and 28^th.

Maximum Gull numbers were 1 Little Gull 19^th, 250 Black-headed Gull 20^th and 21^st, 3 Common Gull 19^th, 74 Lesser Black-backed Gulls 30^th, 2 Great black-backed Gull 19^th.

18 Common Tern 31^st, 6 Arctic Tern 10^th, 3 Black Tern 31^st.

Along with the other species were 1 Cuckoo 4^th and 13^th, 1 Tawny Owl 20^th and 23^rd, 50 Swift 13^th, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker reported on 6 dates this month, 100 Sand Martin 2^nd and 13^th, 100 Swallow 13^th, 50 House Martin 13^th and 31^st, 1 Yellow Wagtail 6^th and 7^th, 2 Grey Wagtails 10^th, 11^th, 20^th, 23^rd and 26^th, 123 Wren 20^th (from a perimeter count), 104 Robin 20^th, 6 Redstart 20^th, 1 Cetti’s Warbler 29^th, 14 Sedge Warbler 20^th, 5 Reed Warbler 9^th, 2 Lesser Whitethroat 20^th, 1 Whitethroat 2^nd, 10^th, 17^th and 20^th, 22 Garden Warbler 20^th, 60 Blackcap 20^th, 72 Chiffchaff 20^th, 26 Willow Warbler 20^th, 2 Spotted Flycatcher 20^th, 2 Pied Flycatcher 7^th, 9^th and 13^th, 1 Marsh Tit 14^th, 5 Willow Tit 26^th, 150 Jackdaw 6^th, 7 Raven 6^th, 11^th and 23^rd, 2 Tree Sparrow 7^th and 11^th, 3 Greenfinch 20^th, 27 Lesser Redpoll 4^th, 15 Bullfinch 20^th, 4 Reed Bunting 20^th,

The total 115 species noted compares to 113 in 2022, 111 in 2021, 87 in 2020, 108 in 2019, 104 in 2018.