Water rail at North Duffield Carrs

 

I arrived at 1630 when it was a little cooler and had the place to myself. Not a lot of action when I first arrived. No birds to be seen on the scrape, just a water rail screeching.

The whitethroats appeared and had food for the young in the nest.

A young stonechat was flitting between a bramble and the grass as it hunted for food.

A deer ran in front of the hide.

A sedge warbler was hiding in a hawthorn bush.

Mr and Mrs Gadwall flew in for a bathe.

Several butterflies and damselflies.

One more bird species than my last visit, but surprisingly 8 different birds, bringing my year total for the reserve to 81.

Coots rule at North Duffield Carrs

 

I spent 3 hours in the Geoff Smith hide this afternoon enjoying the birds and the cool breeze.

Whitethroats remain busy in front of the hide.

Reed bunting. linnet and sedge warbler were also visible to the right of the hide. At least 7 grey herons in differnt ditches on the reserve and 4 mute swans, plus a single whooper swan. A marsh harrier was busy hunting

Swifts, swallows, sand and house martins were flying over the reserve hunting insects while lapwings and curlews were chasing away the marsh harrier and carrion crows.

On the scrape when I first arrived were a pair of tufted ducks. However a coot did not like their presence so chased the male away several times.

Each time the male tufted duck flew back to join his partner.

After this chase the female tufted duck followed the male and they remained at the far end of the scrape.

This allowed the coot family to emerge and feed.

Spoonbills

 

A busy Bank Holiday at RSPB Blacktoft Sands. with lots of visitors enjoying the sunny weather.

One of the recent developments at the reserve was the re-profiling of the scrape in front of the Ousefleet hide. which has made it very attractive to breeding Avocets. There are about 100 adults and 50 young.

The adults took to the air in large numbers whenever a marsh harrier or carrion crow came near.

Spoonbills were having a bit of a spat on Reedling hide.

They flew towards Singleton lagoon where this one had a preen. It was however very close to the waters edge and I could only see parts of its head and neck.

A great white egret and grey heron were standing close together on an island in front of Townend hide,

Corn bunting

 Dog walking this morning. No whitethroats and only 1 swallow. perhaps things will improve with the warmer weather. On the plus side I had a new bird today, a corn bunting.

Community Birdwatch

 This morning was our monthly walk around the Museum Gardens.

The wildflower meadow is starting to come into full colour.

12 different species on todays walk around with members of the public who are just starting to birdwatch.

Lots of blackbirds, robins and dunnocks and a single male blackcap singing.

June 17th is the next one at 1030.

A few memories of Mull.

 

Until the next time.

Red footed falcon.

 While i was on Mull I was reading reports about sightings of red footed falcons in the Lower Derwent  Valley. My friend Stu had been and had seen 2!. Would they stay until I got home?

Bright and early on Monday morning I drove to North Duffield Carrs and joined Stuart Rapson in the hide.

We spoke about the holidays we had both been on as we watched the birds on the reserve.

In front of the hide whitethroats were busy

I think that smart looking reed buntings deserve a better song! A deer walked past the hide.

We had the briefest of views of a red footed falcon on the other side of the River Derwent, so decided to walk along the riverbank for a closer view. We parked in the car park just over Bubwith Bridge and walked along the riverbank. When we reached the gate Chris Gomersall and Ian Howard were there watching the falcon. Ian had been on Mull last week and has posted some great photos on Mull Nature Watch on Facebook.

Looking across the river onto the reserve.

For some strange reason I had not taken my scope with me, so I was grateful to the three of them for allowing me to view the falcon through their scopes.

Stuart ( @ivoryg.bsky.social) used his scope to take a piture of the falcon as it perched on a post.

Another year tick and some consolation for missing out on corncrake on Mull.