News – Page 2 – Carsington Bird Club

CBC Members Trip to Frampton Marsh RSPB Reserve – 3rd October 2021

A group of 9 members made the journey to the Frampton Marsh RSPB Reserve on the Lincolnshire coast on Sunday 3rd October.

This is always a popular destination and we went with the anticipation that anything can turn up at this time of year.

On the way into the reserve a couple of our group were treated to a Tawny Owl perched on a gate post, and a single Marsh Harrier was seen from the car park by some. Continuing the birds of prey theme, 2-3 Kestrels were observed and a hunting Peregrine was an exciting addition to our list towards the end of the day.

As expected the numbers of wintering ducks and geese were starting to build up, with large counts of Wigeon and Teal, supported by smaller numbers of Shelduck, Shoveler and Gadwall. Dark-bellied Brent Geese, recently arrived from their breeding grounds in the Arctic regions of northern Scandinavia and Siberia, numbered well into the hundreds.

A variety of waders were recorded, including large numbers of Lapwing, 20-30 Black-tailed Godwits, a handful of Dunlin and Redshank and a couple of Ruff. A single Snipe put in a brief appearance before disappearing back into the reed-beds in typical fashion.

A group of 6 Spotted Redshank was a good find and this elegant wader provided us with a useful comparison of its shape and size with a nearby (Common) Redshank. Later on in the afternoon a pair of Avocets obligingly appeared in front of the visitor centre.

Common Redshank [rear], with Spotted Redshank in foreground

The weather was pretty kind to us, being mostly sunny though quite blustery, and we enjoyed a good day with a total of 40 species seen by the group:

Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Brent Goose, Mute Swan, Shelduck, Shoveler, Mallard, Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal, Moorhen, Little Grebe, Cormorant, Heron, Little Egret, Avocet, Lapwing, Dunlin, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Tawny Owl, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Starling, Skylark, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet

Brent Geese selection – from a flock of 200+ birds.

Carsington Bird Club CBC Newsletters News

No 1 / February/March 2020

Welcome to the first Bird Club newsletter of 2020. The dawn of the new decade has certainly not been without incident, with Britain battered by the weather, and now the world watching anxiously to see how the threat of Corona virus will affect us in terms of health, travel, economy and, in the short term at least, societal changes.

Thankfully, the birds are going about their business in blissful ignorance of such human concerns, and the following pages include the usual reservoir report – though the site itself has been adversely affected by the wind and rain of recent weeks – together with a report of what the club has been up to in recent months, and a quick look ahead at the calendar of events.

Before all that, though, I would like to pass on three important messages to members, as follows:

Firstly, it’s time to renew your annual memberships if you have not already done so. The fees are the same as they have been for many years – £7.50 for single and £10 for family memberships – and you can renew by sending a cheque for the appropriate amount to our treasurer, John Follett, at 8 Buckminster Close, Oakwood, Derby DE21 2EA. If you’ve any queries, the committee members’ (including John’s) telephone/e-mail contact details are included the back of the newsletter.

Secondly, if you have not already heard, the parking arrangements at Carsington were changed on 25 February to a system of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), whereby vehicles’ registration numbers are filmed on entry and exit and charged the relevant amount. People can pay at machines before they leave or online within 24 hours.

The Visitor Centre Car Park charge is £3 for 2 hours, £5 all day or £49 for an annual ticket (with those registration numbers automatically logged by the system). Millfields Car Park is £2.50 for 2 hours or £4 all day, again by ANPR. The only exception is Sheepwash Car Park, which has no facilities and remains a pay and display system, with drivers paying £1.50 for 2 hours or £3 all day. Blue Badge parking is free, but drivers must still initially register onto the system. If you’ve any doubts, please visit Severn Trent’s own website: https://www.stwater.co.uk/wonderful-on-tap/our-visitor-sites/come-visit-us/carsington-water/parking-at-carsington/

And finally, we have two future events to tell you about … A warbler walk is taking place at Carsington Water on Sunday, 17 May (9am, meet outside the Visitor Centre), led by Roger Carrington and Simon Roddis, who will help you find as many of our summer visitors as possible – by sight and sound!

Two weeks later, on the 31^st, a members outing will set off to Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust’s reserve at Far Ings, situated close to the southern end of the Humber Bridge. This reserve includes a number of different habitats, including reed-beds, wetlands and woodland, so should give us a good variety of birds. Time permitting we will also visit Alkborough Flats, a wetland where the Trent and Ouse meet to form the Humber. We will meet up in the Far Ings Visitor Centre car park at 10.15am (the address is Far Ings Road, Barton-upon-Humber, DN18 5RG). The centre has toilets and refreshments. If anyone would like to share a lift, please contact Chris Lamb by email at cflamb@yahoo.co.uk or on 01629 820890.

CBC COMMITTEE ADDS A NEW MEMBER … BUT MORE ALWAYS WELCOME!

Preceding the talk at February’s indoor meeting, we held our Annual General Meeting where we were able to announce a new member of the committee. Peter Fletcher had attended a meeting last year as an observer and agreed, in principle, to join the committee as club secretary but had to wait until the AGM to be formally voted on. At the same time, we announced that ex-officio member of some years Jon Bradley had decided to stand down, leaving six people on the committee (see panel at end of newsletter). This means we are still thinly spread organisationally and more help in future would be welcome.

Carsington Bird Club Events News Severn Trent Water

New Parking Arrangements at Carsington Water

Please read the link below to see how a new system of charging for parking at Carsington is being put in place … but please also note that parking for CBC evening indoor meetings/talks will be free so long as registration numbers of those attending the talks is supplied to the reception desk. Just add your name to a list we’ll place alongside the cash tin, so you can add your number plate at the same time as paying the entry fee to the meeting.

https://www.stwater.co.uk/wonderful-on-tap/our-visitor-sites/come-visit-us/carsington-water/parking-at-carsington/

Carsington Bird Club Events Member Reports News

29th September – Club Trip – RSPB Burton Mere

An intrepid group of 7 CBC members braved a very gloomy weather forecast and headed north west for our latest outing to the Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB Reserve on the Wirral on Sunday 29th September. With a welcome hot drink on arrival, we settled down in the comfort of the roomy Visitor Centre looking out over the reserve pools, which contained an expectedly large numbers of ducks, including Shoveler, Teal, Mallard and Tufted Duck. Waders were present in moderate numbers, mostly Black-tailed Godwit and Lapwing, together with a few Ruff and Dunlin that were found with some careful scanning of the mud edges. Soon we were treated to a Kingfisher flying low over the water, then a Sparrowhawk rather obligingly perched on top of a bush right in front of the Visitor Centre for several minutes.

Walking along the trail to the first of the site’s two hides, a number of common woodland birds were seen or heard, including Chiffchaff (still singing perhaps surprisingly at this time of year), Wren, Robin, Nuthatch, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Goldcrest, and at least one Cetti’s Warbler announced its presence in the reeds, but true to form remained hidden from view! Reaching the Inner Marsh Farm Hide at the far end of the reserve, the promised rain did start to fall, but this did not prevent us from enjoying more ducks and waders out over the water.

Shelduck and Gadwall were added to the list, along with 3-4 Snipe, including one which seemed to be swimming as it waded across the water! A Water Rail was briefly seen scuttling across a path between two reed beds but wasn’t seen again, and a Hobby flashed past being mobbed by 2 Lapwings. The 2 Spoonbills which had been noted earlier by the reserve staff re-appeared giving us good views and that other increasingly common sighting, a Great White Egret, was spotted in a distant field.

Moving back to the Visitor Centre towards the end of the day, our raptor species count was boosted to five as we enjoyed good views of a Marsh Harrier, Peregrine and Kestrel, accompanied of course by another warming drink! In total, 55 species were noted collectively by our group on an enjoyable day (and we didn’t get too wet, despite the dire weather forecast!).

Burton Mere Visitor Centre (l-r Rob Chadwick, Jane Chadwick, Fay Follett, Chris and Nicole Lamb, Gary Atkins, scope and John Follett)

The full list of sightings are as follows: Teal, Moorhen, Coot, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Shoveler, Mallard, Ruff, Dunlin, Kingfisher, Carrion Crow, Sparrowhawk, Pheasant, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Gt Black-backed Gull, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Little Grebe, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Starling, Goldfinch, Wren, Chiffchaff, Gt Spotted Woodpecker, Robin, Goldcrest, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Cetti’s Warbler, Gadwall, Water Rail, Hobby, Spoonbill, Snipe, Dunnock, Swallow, Gt White Egret, Redshank, Jackdaw, Jay, Magpie, Long-tailed Tit, Black-headed Gull, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine and Kestrel.