Following our AGM in March, there has been a changing of the guard on the committee – as we say farewell to Chris Lamb who, as our events coordinator, has for a decade planned and executed an enjoyable array of walks, trips far and near and talks delivered at our indoor meetings over the autumn and winter periods. I’ve made that sound rather final, but we will still see Chris around from time to time on members’ trips and talks; meanwhile, many thanks to him for his committee duties.
Voted onto the committee at the AGM, with a brief to support the club’s events, is Cath Sinclair, who tells us a little about herself in a short article later in the newsletter. Cath will get involved in the same range of activities and has already brought ideas for fresh opportunities for members to get to know each other a little better. She observed that there are sizeable gaps in the calendar (particularly over the summer), with no events planned. Cath hopes that we can fill some of these – initially with some relaxed evening outings comprising a short walk followed by a visit to a local pub, where members can share their experiences and knowledge of birding (though conversational topics can and will, of course, range wherever they go!).
We plan to stage the first of these at the end of next month (see diary dates below). We are approaching the summer hiatus, so feel free to come along armed with binoculars, memories, your latest sightings, year list, questions and a bit of a thirst!
Before that, on 10 May there is a chance to get up to speed with the bird song of migrants and resident species (without the help of the Merlin app!) when Simon Roddis leads the now established spring birdsong walk.
A piece of sadder news is the passing of one of our longer standing members, Bill Murray. He lived in Mickleover and, along with his wife Gill, was one of the earliest birding enthusiasts to join CBC in the mid-nineties. Gill died a few years ago, and Bill had not managed to get along to any events for a while but he was steadfast in both retaining his membership – and often gave us additional generous donations.
Gary Atkins
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY …
10 May – Spring Birdsong Walk at Carsington Water, led by Simon Roddis (meet 9am, Visitor Centre)
30 June – As mentioned above, Cath Sinclair is inviting members to a combined walk/pub chat. We plan to meet at 6pm at Sheepwash car park, then adjourn to the Miner’s Arms, Carsington (the talk will not be restricted to bird life!)
15 September – though some time off, this is an early reminder that our indoor season will resume on this date, with a talk – ‘Birdwatcher’s Photographic Diary’ – by Tony Slater
STORK AND SKUA HEAD THE EARLY YEAR RARITIES
We’ve been watching the steady drift north of heron-like species in recent years: the Little Egret would still have been a bird of wonder 25 years ago, the graceful Great White Egret has become a more regular visitor over the past several years, and since then we’ve seen Cattle Egrets, Spoonbills and Glossy Ibises all call into Carsington – and even Common Cranes seem to be moving up country. Now, during April, another in the same bracket – a White Stork – made a brief appearance on site.
To be fair, this bird was almost certainly not a truly wild bird (there was a known ‘escape’ of several storks from a collection that had staff from there whizzing around the country attempting to recapture their charges!). But Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has also announced a plan to reintroduce this impressive tall bird with a wing span of more than two metres at its Willington Gravel Pits reserve (just 12 miles south of Carsington as the stork flies), and it stands to reason that yet another formerly exclusive continental bird will straddle the English Channel as our climate changes.
This bird, along with an Arctic Skua – not seen at the reservoir since 2019 – were among the 126 species noted last month, which represented a record haul for the month of April at Carsington.
A Ring-necked Duck, only the third for the reservoir (though individuals have been seen regularly at other Derbyshire sites), was among the WeBS count on 19 April, which was nevertheless also memorable for the low number of other duck species: just 70 Mallard, 47 Tufted Duck, 33 Gadwall and 18 Coot; the grand total of 480 water birds compared with 824 last April.
Mandarin, Goosander, Shelduck and Shoveler have added variety, and a scarce Red-throated Diver dropped in briefly on 3 May.
Noisy Oystercatchers, chasing around the site in small groups, reached an impressive total of 20 in February. Other waders seemed to be staying away during the early part of the year, but they made up for it in April when 16 wader species were recorded, including small numbers of Dunlin, Sanderling, Ruff, Greenshank and Common Sandpiper. Bar- and Black-tailed Godwits joined Curlew and Whimbrel, along with a single Turnstone, and a scarce Jack Snipe was found on three dates early in the month.
More than matching the Oystercatchers for volume, good numbers of Black-headed Gulls have established breeding colonies, notably on Horseshoe Island. Among scarcer gulls, there were eight Kittiwakes noted on 7 March, seven Little Gulls in late April and a Caspian Gull has been recorded over a dozen times during March and April.
It’s been rather more of a tern-fest during this period, though, with a magnificent 36 Black Terns around on 24 April, 26 Arctic Terns quartering the reservoir four days later, and smaller numbers of Common, Little and Sandwich Terns also boosting the species list.
Raptors have been relatively quiet, with only one Osprey through on 5 April, and the maximum daily count of four Red Kites being well beaten by the 21 Buzzards aloft on 2 April. It’s been good to report that both Barn and Tawny Owls have been recorded each month during late winter and early spring.
Right about now is the exciting time for migrant lovers. With Chiffchaffs over-wintering, the first true arrival from their winter territories as usual was Sand Martin on 10 March, followed later that month by Swallows and Blackcaps, both first noted on the 26th. During April, the migrants arrived thick and fast: chronologically, they were Willow Warbler (4th), Redstart (8th), House Martin and Sedge Warbler (10th), Pied Flycatcher (16th), Whitethroat (19th), Garden and Reed Warblers and Swift (all on the 21st), Lesser Whitethroat (24th) and, into May, Spotted Flycatcher (2nd).
Meanwhile, April bid farewell to the last Redwings and Fieldfares, and among resident species, a highlight was the first Grey Partridge on site for 15 years. Skylark song, a true presage of spring, was heard every month from February, and Siskin and Redpoll have remained present in decent numbers.
On a perimeter walk on the final day of March, top bird was Robin with 177 counted, followed by Blue Tit (135), Wren (124), Chiffchaff (112), Blackbird (82), Great Tit (65), Dunnock (50), Song Thrush (32), Goldfinch (29) and smaller though still healthy numbers of Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Bullfinch and Treecreeper. Five days earlier, six Willow Tits were also found.
EVENTS ROUND-UP
Indoor Meetings — We finished our 2025/26 programme of indoor meetings in March with a talk by Katie Thorpe, the site manager of the Middleton Lakes RSPB Reserve, describing the conservation work led by the RSPB to bring the Bittern back to this reserve. Always a popular birding location for our members, it was very interesting to hear more about the behind the scenes work which goes on all year round to create such a marvellous wetland habitat for wildlife.
Moving outside… A very healthy turnout of 16 CBC members made the journey up the M1 on Sunday 7 March to the Old Moor RSPB Reserve for our first members’ trip of the year. Leaving the visitor centre we broke up into smaller groups to explore the walking trails which lead to the several hides that overlook reedbeds, various sized pools and scrapes.
By the time of our visit the numbers of wintering ducks had started to decrease, but there were still reasonable counts of Shoveler, Wigeon and Teal on the various pools. A pair of Goosander and a female Goldeneye provided some variety, and three male Common Scoters were a very unexpected bonus for our list. Due to the high water levels, waders were much harder to find. Lapwings were the most numerous, along with a handful of Avocets, Oystercatchers and Black-tailed Godwits and a single Redshank and Dunlin.
Moving on to the reedbed paths our target bird was the Bearded Tit, a species which is often elusive and best picked out by its pinging calls. Some members of our party were lucky enough though to see a small number flitting across the tops of the reeds. A Marsh Harrier quartering the reedbeds was much easier to follow and a pair of Peregrines were spotted perched on a distant electricity pylon.
By the end of the day a very fine total of 55 species had been recorded by the group, comprising: Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Common Scoter, Goldeneye, Goosander, Pheasant, Woodpigeon, Moorhen, Coot, Avocet, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Dunlin, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Peregrine, Kestrel, Magpie, Jay, Carrion Crow, Bearded Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chiffchaff, Cetti’s Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, Reed Bunting
… And moving on — After 10 years on the CBC committee as the Events Coordinator, it’s sadly time for me to step down. Nicole and I have moved house to a village near Leek in Staffordshire to be closer to our family. We will hopefully still be able to make some of the outdoor trips and indoor meetings, so it’s not a total goodbye as such! I’m very pleased that Cath Sinclair who has joined the committee has kindly offered to take on some of the activities of planning both indoor and outdoor events for our members, and I will be helping Cath as much as possible as part of the handover process.
Chris Lamb
A NEW FACE ON THE CBC COMMITTEE – CATH SINCLAIR
For those who don’t know me, I thought I’d write a few words to introduce myself, so here goes: My name is Cath and I have volunteered to join the committee with responsibility for ‘Events Support’ so I will try to help the committee with organising the winter lectures and the day trips … So, if you have any ideas on either topic please get in touch!
I was very fortunate to be brought up in a family which was interested in nature and went walking regularly in the countryside close to where we lived in Bristol. My Dad was a zoology lecturer specialising in animal parasites and researching lizard behaviour – and several childhood holidays were spent camping in Italy so Dad could catch lizards (he had a special permit to import them live to the UK).
I studied biology and geography at university and currently work occasionally as a walking group leader. Having spent a few years living in Europe for my husband’s job, we’re now settled in a friendly village near Carsington Water. I took up birding during Covid and consider myself to be at a level between beginner and intermediate. At the end of March (when writing this) my year list stood at 93 … but I won’t be aiming for 200!
Apart from my Events brief, I’m also interested in facilitating some more opportunities for social interaction within the Club, for example a monthly evening walk/pub meet up (see the diary dates block on page one for our first one of these – on the 30th June) and a WhatsApp group. Please do get in touch if you’re interested or if you have any other ideas for expanding our social activities.
Most memorable bird sighting: first view of Avocets in the Exe Estuary, experienced with my Dad a couple of years ago
Favourite birding site: WWT Slimbridge
Favourite nature podcast: The Wandering Ecologist by Penny Green
Favourite bird related book: A Curlew in the Foreground by Philip Coxon
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KNOW YOUR COMMITTEE – Here are the club officials and their contact details…….. |
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Committee Post |
Name |
Telephone |
Email Address
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Chairman and Publicity |
Gary Atkins |
01335 370773 |
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Treasurer |
John Follett |
01332 834778 |
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Membership secretary |
Dave Horsley |
07900 597230 |
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Recorder |
Rob Chadwick |
07876 338912 |
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Events support |
Cath Sinclair |
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Secretary |
Louise Sykes |
01335 348544 |
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…..and the website address is: https://www.carsingtonbirdclub.co.uk |
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Webmaster |
Richard Pittam |
n/a |
Contact Richard via the website |
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