Greenshank and roe deer

 

Arrived at North Duffield Carrs just before 11am. An adult mute swan and 4 cygnets on the left hand side of the scrape. Lots of crows, rooks and jackdaws about. These roe deer walked into view.

About mid-day Alan Whitehead arrived (duffbirder) and we chatted as we looked out for birds.

Alan spotted a whitethroat close to the hide and then he saw a marsh harrier hunting over the fields where the sheep were grazing. Then we heard a "tew-tew" as a greenshank flew in.

A red kite was mobbed by a rook as it glided over the reserve.

A pleasant 4 hours.

 

Grey heron and grass snake

 My view from Marshland hide before manning reception on Saturday morning.

Avocet

Black-tailed godwit

Ruff and spotted redshank

the large number of lapwings were disturbed by the appearance of 2 roe deer

A grey heron spent a long time near the ditch outside the reception hide.

was it hoping to catch this grass snake?

Hobby and ruddy shelduck.

 After watching the release of the corncrake chicks Stu and I headed for North Cave Wetland.

We walked down the lane to the viewing screen overlooking West Holm. Lots of geese and ducks.

We could just see the heads of the 3 ruddy shelducks. From the Dennis Wood hide we added ruff and dunlin to our day list. As we were walking along the path by the side of the Far Lake a volunteer told us about a hobby hunting over the Reedbed lake. The bird was hunting low over the water and then returned to a tree.

After watching it for a while we walked around to the turret hide. We added more waders to our list. Greenshank, green sandpiper, common sandpiper and spotted redshank.

Then a ruddy shelduck flew in.

A pleasant few hours with a list of 37 birds including 2 year ticks. Stu went home and I called in at North Duffield on my way home and had a chat with Alan Whitehead. I did not see any birds on the scrape.

Corncrakes

 I was present at the release of the last corncrake chicks in the Lower Derwent Valley this morning. 

After medical checks and ringing the birds were released. They will spend a few days in the local area before starting their long journey to Africa. Will they return to the valley next year?

Autumn at North Duffield

A leisurely afternoon at North Duffield Carrs on the 1st of September. The work on the scrape has improved things. A mute swan family was happily feeding.

Muddy work.

Will the exposed mud attract any waders?

Lots of food in the hedgerows.

 

Grey heron and a fish.

 

Started at North Cave Wetlands at 0845. It had rained as I drove to the reserve but luckily it was dry on my arrival and for the whole of my visit. This was my view from South hide. Not far from the hide, a mute swan was sitting on the grass.

Greylag geese, mute swans, mallard and a single greenshank were on Eastholm. I walked back along the west hedge and saw very few birds.

lots of little grebes in front of the "Farm "hide.

a cormorant drying its wings

The Turret hide was my last stop. Spotted redshanks

ruff

curlew

green sandpiper

When I left the reserve at 11am the car park was fairly full, so the introduction of parking charges had not stopped people visiting. I drove to North Duffield Carrs, where I joined Alan Whitehead  (duffbirder)in the hide. Work has been done on one side of the scrape. Elaine joined us for a short while.

Two diggers were still on the reserve, as they work on the drainage ditches. 3 grey herons were on the newly revealed part of the scrape.

One of them caught a large fish.

The heron had quite a tussle with the fish, dropping it at one point before managing to swallow it.

I left about 1pm and headed for Bank Island. I wanted to have a look at the newly opened building and the new roof top viewing platform. Good views from the top, just need some water to fill up the ponds.

15 different waders at RSPB Blacktoft Sands.

 

I was on duty in reception at RSPB Blacktoft Sands on Friday and this was my view from Marshland Hide about 8am. Lots of teal, over 100 lapwing, at least 8 ringed plovers flying about, several ruff, 2 spotted redshanks.

I joined Pete, the site manager in Reedling hide.

In frot of the hide were about 50 dunlin plus curlew sandpiper and little stint.

Ist hide had spotted redshanks and green sandpiper, while Townend hide at ruff at the back.

My friend Chris Downes (chrisdownes birds) arrived and he was able to see both the little stint and curlew sandpiper.

After reception closed I went back to Marshland to look at the waders but there were not many there so I went to Reedling. The curlew sandpiper was with some ruff

A grey heron was trying to land on top of a marker post

It failed so started looking for food, I am not sure what this is.

It started to rain and a couple of greenshanks dropped in, bringing the total of waders for the day to 15.

Stu turned up and we visited Marshland and Reedling hide to see the little stint and curlew sandpiper.