Following our AGM in March, there has been a changing of the guard on the committee \u2013 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.\u00a0 I\u2019ve made that sound rather final, but we will still see Chris around from time to time on members\u2019 trips and talks; meanwhile, many thanks to him for his committee duties.<\/p>\n
Voted onto the committee at the AGM, with a brief to support the club\u2019s events, is Cath Sinclair, who tells us a little about herself in a short article later in the newsletter.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 She observed that there are sizeable gaps in the calendar (particularly over the summer), with no events planned.\u00a0 Cath hopes that we can fill some of these \u2013 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!).\u00a0<\/p>\n
We plan to stage the first of these at the end of next month (see diary dates below<\/em>).\u00a0 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!<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n A piece of sadder news is the passing of one of our longer standing members, Bill Murray.\u00a0 He lived in Mickleover and, along with his wife Gill, was one of the earliest birding enthusiasts to join CBC in the mid-nineties.\u00a0 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 \u2013 and often gave us additional generous donations.<\/p>\n Gary Atkins<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n DATES FOR YOUR DIARY …<\/strong><\/p>\n 10 May<\/strong> \u2013 Spring Birdsong Walk at Carsington Water, led by Simon Roddis (meet 9am, Visitor Centre)<\/p>\n 30 June<\/strong> \u2013 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\u2019s Arms, Carsington (the talk will not be restricted to bird life!)<\/p>\n 15 September<\/strong> \u2013 though some time off, this is an early reminder that our indoor season will resume on this date, with a talk \u2013 \u2018Birdwatcher\u2019s Photographic Diary\u2019 \u2013 by Tony Slater<\/p>\n STORK AND SKUA HEAD THE EARLY YEAR RARITIES<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve 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\u2019ve seen Cattle Egrets, Spoonbills and Glossy Ibises all call into Carsington \u2013 and even Common Cranes seem to be moving up country.\u00a0 Now, during April, another in the same bracket \u2013 a White Stork \u2013 made a brief appearance on site.<\/p>\n To be fair, this bird was almost certainly not a truly wild bird (there was a known \u2018escape\u2019 of several storks from a collection that had staff from there whizzing around the country attempting to recapture their charges!).\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n This bird, along with an Arctic Skua \u2013 not seen at the reservoir since 2019 \u2013 were among the 126 species noted last month, which represented a record haul for the month of April at Carsington.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Mandarin, Goosander, Shelduck and Shoveler have added variety, and a scarce Red-throated Diver dropped in briefly on 3 May.<\/p>\n Noisy Oystercatchers, chasing around the site in small groups, reached an impressive total of 20 in February.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n More than matching the Oystercatchers for volume, good numbers of Black-headed Gulls have established breeding colonies, notably on Horseshoe Island.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 It\u2019s been good to report that both Barn and Tawny Owls have been recorded each month during late winter and early spring.<\/p>\n Right about now is the exciting time for migrant lovers.\u00a0 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<\/sup>.\u00a0 During April, the migrants arrived thick and fast: chronologically, they were Willow Warbler (4th<\/sup>), Redstart (8th<\/sup>), House Martin and Sedge Warbler (10th<\/sup>), Pied Flycatcher (16th<\/sup>), Whitethroat (19th<\/sup>), Garden and Reed Warblers and Swift (all on the 21st<\/sup>), Lesser Whitethroat (24th<\/sup>) and, into May, Spotted Flycatcher (2nd<\/sup>).<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 Skylark song, a true presage of spring, was heard every month from February, and Siskin and Redpoll have remained present in decent numbers.<\/p>\n On a perimeter walk on the final day of March, top bird was Robin with 177 counted, followed by Blue Tit (135), Wren (124),\u00a0 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. \u00a0Five days earlier, six Willow Tits were also found.<\/p>\n EVENTS ROUND-UP<\/strong><\/p>\n Indoor Meetings<\/strong> — <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n Moving outside<\/strong>\u2026 <\/strong>A very healthy turnout of 16 CBC members made the journey up the M1 on Sunday 7 March to the Old Moor RSPB Reserve<\/strong> for our first members\u2019 trip of the year. \u00a0Leaving 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.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n 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. \u00a0Some members of our party were lucky enough though to see a small number flitting across the tops of the reeds. \u00a0A Marsh Harrier quartering the reedbeds was much easier to follow and a pair of Peregrines were spotted perched on a distant electricity pylon.<\/p>\n 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<\/em><\/p>\n … And moving on<\/strong> — <\/strong>After 10 years on the CBC committee as the Events Coordinator, it\u2019s 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\u2019s not a total goodbye as such!\u00a0 I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n Chris Lamb<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n A NEW FACE ON THE CBC COMMITTEE \u2013 CATH SINCLAIR<\/strong><\/p>\n For those who don\u2019t know me, I thought I\u2019d 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 \u2018Events Support\u2019 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!<\/em><\/p>\n 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. \u00a0My Dad was a zoology lecturer specialising in animal parasites and researching lizard behaviour \u2013 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). <\/em><\/p>\n I studied biology and geography at university and currently work occasionally as a walking group leader. \u00a0Having spent a few years living in Europe for my husband\u2019s job, we\u2019re now settled in a friendly village near Carsington Water. \u00a0\u00a0I took up birding during Covid and consider myself to be at a level between beginner and intermediate. \u00a0\u00a0At the end of March (when writing this) my year list stood at 93 … but I won\u2019t be aiming for 200!<\/em><\/p>\n Apart from my Events brief, I\u2019m also interested in facilitating some more opportunities for social interaction within the Club, for example a monthly evening walk\/pub meet up (<\/em>see the diary dates block on page one for our first one of these \u2013 on the 30th<\/sup> June<\/em>) and a WhatsApp group. \u00a0\u00a0Please do get in touch if you\u2019re interested or if you have any other ideas for expanding our social activities.<\/em><\/p>\n Most memorable bird sighting<\/strong>: first view of Avocets in the Exe Estuary, experienced with my Dad a couple of years ago<\/em><\/p>\n Favourite birding site<\/strong>: WWT Slimbridge<\/em><\/p>\n Favourite nature podcast<\/strong>: <\/em>The Wandering Ecologist<\/em> by Penny Green<\/em><\/p>\n Favourite bird related book<\/strong>: <\/em>A Curlew in the Foreground<\/em> by Philip Coxon<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n