A group of seven CBC members made the relatively short journey to the Attenborough Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust Reserve on Sunday 21^st January for our first outing of the year. It literally was a case of the calm before the storm, as we enjoyed a dry and bright morning before the strong winds and heavy rain of Storm Isha swept across the country later in the day.

Given the recent rainfall, it was no surprise that all the lakes were very full, though some still had ice around the edges from the cold snap of the previous week. Ducks, geese and swans were naturally seen in numbers, including Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Tufted Ducks and a couple of male Pochards. At least 10 Goosanders were noted during the morning, some affording very good views close to the paths, and several Goldeneyes were also seen.

Our collective gull identification skills were put to the test as we tried to pick out the adult Caspian Gull (successfully we think), which had been present on the reserve for a while. In among the large numbers of Black-headed Gulls a handful of Common Gulls were identified, and from the Tower hide, Herring Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a Yellow-legged Gull were also found.

Waders were in short supply given the water levels, with just a handful of Lapwing present and later in the morning a single Curlew flew over the path by the river. A couple of Grey Herons were spotted in the distance on the edges of the lakes, but perhaps surprisingly no egrets were seen.

Apart from the ubiquitous Blue and Great Tits, it seemed to be a relatively quiet morning for passerines, though a pair of Reed Buntings did show well near one of the feeding tables. A couple of Redwings perched obligingly on the tree tops, and a lone Fieldfare was seen later on the cricket pitch in Attenborough village. Still in the village, a Goldcrest and a flock of Long-tailed Tits were observed in the churchyard towards the end of our walk.

By the end of the morning a good total of 45 species had been recorded by the group, namely: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Egyptian Goose, Mallard, Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Coot, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Lapwing, Curlew, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Caspian Gull, Herring Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Redwing, Fieldfare, Robin, Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Goldcrest, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting

We stayed quite close to home for our first outing of the autumn, with a walk at Carsington Water on Sunday, 24 September. The monthly Birdwatching for Beginners walks, which are attended on a regular basis by some of our members, traditionally follow a route around Stones Island and on to the Wildlife Centre, so we thought we would start this walk by exploring a different end of the reservoir to see what we could find there.

Setting off from the Sheepwash car park on a wet, murky morning, we followed the path along the northern edge of the reservoir. Not surprisingly, various species of ducks made up most of the birds we initially saw, with good numbers of Mallard, Gadwall and Tufted Duck. A single Heron was observed patrolling the shoreline surrounded by a multitude of Coots. A colourful male Mandarin Duck was found in Brownale Bay by two members of the group.

Coming back to the Paul Stanley hide to shelter from the increasing drizzle, we added Great Crested and Little Grebes to our list, along with a handful of Cormorants, Mute Swans and Canada Geese.  The sizeable flock of gulls on Flat Island were mostly identified as Black-headed or Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

As we continued our walk past the Bombing Tower towards the Lane End hide, a section of trees and bushes next to the path proved particularly productive with a variety of birds flitting between the branches, including a Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Great and Blue Tits, as well as a party of Long-tailed Tits and a Goldcrest.

The Lane End hide didn’t really offer up anything new, so after a while for most of us it was time to call it a day.  Two members of the group did carry on to the Wildlife Centre though, where they were rewarded with more birds for our collective list for the morning, including Red-crested Pochard, Lapwing, Oystercatcher and great views of a Willow Tit.

In all, the 45 species that follow were recorded by the group, which was a pretty good total considering the somewhat damp weather:  Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard, Gadwall, Mandarin Duck, Teal, Tufted Duck, Common Pochard, Red-crested Pochard, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Coot, Moorhen, Cormorant, Heron, Pheasant, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Willow Tit, Swallow, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch.

Chris Lamb.