Two Great Northern Divers [ juvenile and a possible returning adult] were back at Carsington Water yesterday. Joining them were three juvenile Shags. Local wildlife photographer Glyn Sellors grabbed some excellent shots of these birds. To view them, click here to visit the CBC Image Galleries.
JUNE 2011 BIRD NOTES
June Highlights: Black-throated Diver, Little Egret, Common Scoter and Osprey.
Last month’s first summer Black-throated Diver was last seen on 12th, it obviously moved on despite being into its moult. A Little Egret was seen in flight on 22nd, then landed at Paul Stanley Hide, and was still on site near the Wildlife Centre (WLC) on 30th. Great Crested Grebe had 3 broods by the end of the month, each with 1 young and a Mute Swan pair have 6 cygnets, usually seen being displayed to the WLC. Barnacle Geese have again failed breeding and the birds have left site. Mallard added 8 broods this month, taking the total to 17 broods this year, well above an average year. The first Tufted Duck brood appeared at Sheepwash on 25th and another on 29th, although the latter brood seemed parentless at the time of observation. Moorhen showed 2 broods by 11th and Coot 3 broods by 15th, which is low compared with the past few years. Notable counts included 47 Great Crested Grebe on 15th, 7 Heron on 29th, 343 Canada Geese on 20th, a hybrid drake Shelduck/Mallard cross from 20th, a drake Wigeon on 7th, 3 Teal on 29th, 98 Mallard on 15th, a drake Pintail from 3rd to 7th, a pair of Red-crested Pochard from last month to 7th, 2 drake Pochard from 1st to 8th and 171 Tufted Duck and 142 Coot on 15th. Five drake Common Scoter flew in early on 29th and were joined briefly by 2 others in the afternoon.
Raptor records included a Sparrowhawk carrying prey on 11th and on several subsequent days, all into the same woodland area. A Common Buzzard was causing chaos with the breeding Black-headed Gulls and Common Tern on Flat Island on 21st and 5 Buzzard were in the air on 8th and 16th. An Osprey flew southwest over the dam wall at 0828hrs on 1st and a Peregrine was seen on 15th, 22nd and 27th.
Wader breeding so far this year is; only 2 Oystercatcher broods and another pair still sitting, at least 6 broods of Lapwing, which is better than recent years, and 3 broods of Redshank. Other waders recorded include a Ringed Plover on Stones Island on 30th, a Sanderling on Sheepwash Spit on 9th, 9 Dunlin at Sheepwash on 16th, 18 Black-tailed Godwit at the WLC on 28th and another 13 on 30th and 2 Curlew and 2 Common Sandpiper on 29th.
Black-headed Gull nests at the WLC were 7 on the tern raft and at least 3 on HorseshoeIsland. On 29th, 19 chicks were noted in broods of 3+2+2 on the raft and 4+3+2+2 on the island, many of these were from the raft. Three nests at Sheepwash had failed on 1st, most likely by fox predation. The number of nests on Flat Island is not known, but young at one nest could be seen on 15th and 61 Black-headed Gulls roosted there on 3rd. Lesser Black-backed Gull numbers are beginning to build up towards the end of the day, with 10 on 20th and 120 on 29th. A second summer Yellow-legged Gull was on Horseshoe Island on 29th. The pair of Common Terns breeding on Flat Island had probably failed by 20th.
A Collared Dove nest in the Visitor Centre car park had 2 big young in it on 5th and cars parked within feet of it on two sides. A Barn Owl was around Sheepwash on 25th, 200 Swift went through on 5th, a Kingfisher was at Millfields on 16th and 23rd and a Green Woodpecker at Millfields on 13th. Three pairs of Swallow are breeding in the Millfields area and there are 18 House Martin nests around the Visitor Centre. A Grey Wagtail family were on Stones Island on 20th, a Redstart family in WLC Creek also on 20th, a Sedge Warbler singing in the WLC reeds from 7-29th, a pair of Reed Warbler feeding a nest in Hopton Arm reedbed on 26th, a Lesser Whitethroat family in WLC Creek on 30th, 4 Whitethroat pairs reported breeding, 3 Willow tit families noted, the local Raven pair with 2 juveniles successfully in the air on 11th, 6 Raven flew over on 29th and 11 active/used House Sparrow nests were found around the Visitor Centre on 1st.
95 Species this month compared with 87 in June 2010, 93 in 2009, 91 in 2008, 93 in 2007 and 89 in 2006.
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 3rd and, on 7th, the adult was displaying to the immature which fled site. The adult stayed on until 18th, 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 31st. Will it summer moult here like one in 2003? Only 4 Little Grebe on site, so 2 chicks on 23rd were welcome. Great Crested Grebe totalled 41 on 17th 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 23rd. Significant wildfowl counts were 4 Greylag on 9th, 15 Barnacle including wild ‘ADZ’ on 7th, 2 Shelduck on 25th, 2 Mandarin on 13th and 29th, a drake Wigeon from 12th, 4 Gadwall on 31st, 2 Teal on 11th, 66 Mallard, excluding young, on 17th, a pair of Red-crested Pochard from 12th, 2 Pochard on 30th, 80 Tufted Duck on 17th, a female Goosander on 24th and 68 Coot on 17th.
Raptors were active with a Red Kite over Sheepwash on 15th and Ospreys on 5-6th, 9th, 19th and 23rd. The bird on 5th 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 9th, 15th and 16th and 5 Buzzards were in the air on 9th. Hobby was noted on 9th and 23rd and 2 on 26th. A female Peregrine posed in front of Sheepwash Hide on 3rd, others were noted on 15th and 22nd, then, on 24th, 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 25th, 1 Ringed Plover from 15th, 2 Sanderling on 18th, 9 Dunlin on 18th, 1 Ruff on 21st, 2 Snipe on 1st, a Black-tailed Godwit on 3rd, 2 Bar-tailed Godwit on 3-4th, 3 Whimbrel on 17th, 3 Curlew on 10th, a Greenshank on 5th, a Green Sandpiper on 4th, 4 Common Sandpiper on 3rd and 2 Turnstone on 31st.
The Black-headed Gull colony at the Wildlife Centre eventually took over the tern raft on 12th, 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 14th. A flock of 27 Common Terns flew through high north on 15th. The maximum number of Arctic Terns was 6 through east on 1st and a first summer Arctic landed at Sheepwash for a while on 21st, a rare event for this age group to be seen in Derbyshire. A Black Tern went through on 3rd.
The first Swift arrived on 1st, Reed Warbler on 7th and the first Spotted Flycatcher seen was already nest building on 24th. A wintering Waxwing calling for a few minutes from a treetop on 1st 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 12th.
111 Species compared with 106 in May 2010, 108 in 2009, 112 in 2008, 103 in 2007 and 107 in 2006
FEBRUARY 2011 BIRD NOTES
February Highlights: Great Northern Divers, Brent Goose, Egyptian Goose, Smew, Red Kite and Caspian Gull.
A month of mainly grey cloud and mist but it brought in a bit of interest with two geese species and achieved an overall species sum of 90. Some of the breeding waders returned and most of the wintering wildfowl had moved on by the end of the month, all of which is usual. Water levels went up significantly during the last week and all islands now have water around them.
Last month’s 3 juvenile Great Northern Divers were seen together up to 20th at least, 1 was seen flying off northwest on 26th and 2 were still present on 28th. Little Grebe numbers are at a serious low with a maximum of only 3 individuals found. The Yellow-legged Gull with an appetite for Little Grebe must be to blame, hopefully some birds have escaped to other waters. There were 4 Pink-footed Geese with the Canadas on 3rd, a dark bellied Brent Goose on 8th at Sheepwash, and 2 Egyptian Geese turned up at the Wildlife Centre on 10th. Egyptian Geese are now probably resident in the south of the county and have recently bred. Significant counts for February included 31 Great Crested Grebe on 10th, 33 Barnacle Geese on 13th, 3 Shelduck on 17th, 55 Wigeon on 13th, 102 Teal on 13th, 106 Mallard on 13th, 4 Pintail on 11th, 2 Shoveler on 24th, 285 Tufted Duck on 13th, 35 Goldeneye on 2nd, 1 female Smew from 1st to 10th, 2 Goosander on 1st and 171 Coot on 13th.
A Red Kite was seen heading north on 1st and 3 Common Buzzards were in the air on 14th and 24th.
Oystercatchers have been returning and claiming their breeding islands and totalled 7 by 17th and the Sheepwash area bird bearing a bar-code leg ring had returned by 20th. The early morning Lapwing roost in front of the Sailing Club held 308 birds on 20th and 1 Dunlin was seen occasionally from 8th and 2 on 28th. Curlew passage became busy towards the end of the month with 9 northeast on 23rd and 12 on 24th. There were 5 Redshank on site from 8th.
The gull roost has been difficult to count due to poor visibility and birds being widely spread but was estimated at 6000 birds on 16th, safely containing at least 4000 Black-headed Gulls. Other counts were 525 Common Gulls on 28th, 2 Herring Gulls on 16th, an adult Yellow-legged Gull all month, an adult Caspian Gull on 21st and 43 Great Black-backed Gulls at dawn on Sheepwash Spit on 17th.
A Stock Dove was noted on 4th and 14 Collared Dove were around the Ranger Base on 8th. Gull watchers from Sheepwash Hide were treated to a Barn Owl hunting on 11th, 14th and 16th. A Kingfisher was seen on 6th and on other dates at various locations including Millfields, Wildlife Centre and Sheepwash. Other sightings were; 2 Skylark over on 11th and 14th, 50 Redwing on 10th, 4 Mistle Thrush on 25th and 3 singing on 22nd, 4 Willow Tit on the Wildlife Centre feeder on 2nd, 180 Jackdaw on 8th, 40 Rook on the dam fields on 9th, 12 Tree Sparrow and 8 Brambling on the Wildlife Centre feeder on 4th, a Linnet flying over on 9th and 23rd and 5 Lesser Redpoll at Lane End on 3rd.
90 Species this month compared with 87 in Feb 2010, 86 in 2009, 86 in 2008, 88 in 2007, 89 in 2006 and 90 in 2005.
