More Local Waxwing

Went to North Duffield Ings this morning, and Bubwith Ings too.  North Duffield Ings was stacked out with waders and there was a load of ducks about too.

Highlights included:

Lapwing: 1520
Golden Plover: 131
Redshank: 36 (roosting on river)
Ruff: 34
Dunlin: 34
Curlew: 1
Snipe: 1

Wigeon: 911
Teal: 740
Pochard: 96
Tufted Duck: 4
Shoveler: 2
Shelduck: 3
Pintail: 2

There was also a flock of 20 Tree Sparrow, with a couple of Reed Bunting heard.

I decided to head north along the east side of the Lower Derwent Valley picking up Great Spotted Woodpecker, Fieldfare, Redwing, then a familiar silhouette in a roadside bush - Waxwing - at least 50 of them! Got a couple of pics (below) and watched them for 10+ minutes as they fed in some hedgerows, before I headed on to Rufforth Airfield where I hoped to connect with either the 1st winter Caspian Gull that Ollie and Chris had found in the morning, or the 2nd winter Iceland Gull that Tim had just found. Luck however was not on my side, as I approached the airfield a small gyrocopter thing flew low over the airfield and flushed pretty much everything! I waited around for over 2 hours but nothing! Nevermind, there's always tomorrow! Got some nice Goosander on the way home.

Waxwing © Andy Walker 2013

Waxwing © Andy Walker 2013

Waxwing © Andy Walker 2013

Waxwing © Andy Walker 2013

Waxwing © Andy Walker 2013

Final Bash of the Year at North Duffield Carrs

A massive flock of 800 Wood Pigeon flew low over the garden this morning which was an impressive sight, along with a few Stock Dove in amongst them. The dog walk produced a decent flock of Chaffinch but I couldn't find any Brambling today. There was a small flock of Fieldfare and Redwing about and quite a few Blackbirds. Still more Wood Pigeon went through.

I had a look at North Duffield Carrs this lunchtime to see if there was anything doing. It was fairly interesting with an adult male Peregrine putting all the Wood Pigeon and Lapwing from the valley up as it hunted at leisure. I'd estimate 2,500 Lapwing around the Carrs, with several thousand more along the valley - a very impressive sight. Quite a few Dunlin about and still plenty of Ruff and a few Golden Plover too.

Again plenty of wildfowl with the flock of 50+ Pochard still present and 13 Tufted Duck amongst thousands of Wigeon and Teal. A very nice pair of Pintail remain, but again just too far for the camera!

There was a very showy Wren close to the hide, though trying to get a photograph was quite hard amongst the vegetation, and a Great Tit popped in briefly too. As I was walking back to the car a Barn Owl gave a very nice fly-past. I just managed to get back to the car before the heavens opened!

Happy New Year to all my followers & readers, hope 2013 is good. I'll probably put my 2012 review up tomorrow if I have time.

Mute Swans

Mute Swans

Wren in front of the hide

Wren in front of the hide

Wren in front of the hide

Wren in front of the hide

Great Tit near the hide

The River Derwent Floods (and some birds)

Popped out this afternoon to see if the floods had decreased much. Not a lot but they had gone down a bit!  I also wanted to get some pictures of the floods from Bubwith Bridge as a gauge for future years to see how future floods compare to this one! Pictures below.

I started at Bubwith Bridge, there was a good 600+ Wigeon (and a few Teal, Mallard) here and a few Mute Swans. The ducks were all concentrated on the very tops of the flood banks that were just visible. A Kestrel was busy along the roadside

On to North Duffield Carrs. There was a flock of about 40 Whooper Swans in the field near the reserve (most had got their heads down so not really possible to check for Bewick's), also lots of Lapwing, Golden Plover and various gulls in the field. I may check it again tomorrow properly.

The North Duffiled Carrs were still well underwater, the flock of 50+ Pochard was still present, 2 drake Pintail showed nicely but were just out of range of the camera and there was a good 500 Wigeon, 300 Teal and a few Gadwall, Mallard, Canada Geese and Greylags. There was also a good 1500 Lapwing present and there was a single Redshank on the riverbank too. A flock of 30 Knot flew south through the valley with a single Dunlin (though I missed these as I was counting Pochard at the time!). As I reached the car park I had a very nice fly-past from a Barn owl. Unfortunately there was no sign of any Regulus sps.

Look out for my annual review of 2012 in the next day or so....

View to NW of Bubwith Bridge looking towards North Duffield Carrs

View to S from Bubwith Bridge of River Derwent

View to SW from Bubwith Bridge (Drax Power Station) looking into sun

Mute Swans on Bubwith Ings through a five-bar gate

Wigeon (and Teal) on the River Derwent S of Bubwith Bridge

Bubwith Bridge

Local News: Finches and Thrushes

Had a couple of nice walks round North Duffield village today.  There was loads of thrushes this morning, a good 1000 Fieldfare either moving through towards the southwest, or dropping into a freshly ploughed stubble field and in with these several hundred Redwing, Blackbird and Song Thrush, also a lot of Starling too. In addition here there was a few Meadow Pipits and Linnets too.

Several Goldcrest and Long-tailed Tit moved through the hedges and a few Lesser Redpoll, Chaffinch and Brambling flew south. A series of large puddles proved a great attraction for a mixed finch flock with Lesser Redpoll, Siskin, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Chaffinch all taking a bath and having a drink. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker and Bullfinch showed well.

A bit later I was enjoying several Jay, Green Woodpecker and some more Great Spotted Woodpecker and had a couple of Crossbill and a Grey Wagtail fly over.

Also had a Goldcrest and a flock of 40+ Goldfinch in the garden.

Late news from last week: 

Last weekend I went down to North Duffield Carrs for an hour in the cold northerly wind and had very nice views of a Short-eared Owl, 3/4 Marsh Harriers and a giant of a Peregrine that was busy flushing pretty much everything on site!

On Thursday I went up to a new site we've just got in Northumberland, a big forested area so will be interesting to see what we get up there (if anything?!) started off with a few Crossbill and some Red Squirrel so not to be complained at.

Might be heading North tomorrow, Lesser Kestrel (if it is one?) would be a nice year tick - and hopefully a bit closer than the one I had a Minsmere a few years back and a Bee-eater would be a nice November tick! Think the last time I had Bee-eater in November they'd arrived on their wintering grounds near our house in Kenya! Just hope the fireworks don't scare everything off!!

LDV Patch Birding

Had a lazy morning, local dog walk was made up of lots of singing migrants - which seemed a bit bizarre given how cold it was! First bit of sunshine since last Saturday morning probably had something to do with it! Also found Sparrowhawk and Great Spotted Woodpecker nests which was cool. Also had Swift over the house/garden for the first time this year.

After lunch I spent 45 minutes in the Geoff Smith hide at NDC, however it was pretty quiet. There was 10 distant Black-tailed Godwit and there was also 5 Greenshank (2 close to the hide and 3 far from the hide). Didn't see any Whimbrel and there was again no sign of the Bar-tailed Godwit. Several Sedge Warblers gave really good views. There was also 2 Great Crested Grebe on the floods on the reserve and 4 Oystercatcher.

Mid-afternoon I took a quick local walk which resulted in some really nice views of a couple of Tree Pipit. The first sat out in the open on a dead branch and the second hunkered down in a leafy bush. I managed to grab a couple of record shots on my phone though they are not the best as I was obscured by the vegetation between the path and the birds. Also had Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler showing well and Green Woodpecker and Cuckoo were heard too. Several Swallow flew through.

Male Tree Pipit (Phone-scoped) 

Male Tree Pipit (phone-scoped) 

Male Tree Pipit (phone-scoped) 

Tree Pipit (phone-scoped) 

Tree Pipit (phone-scoped)

A 30 minute spell at Geoff Smith this evening was very quiet with no sign of any Greenshank but the 10 Black-tailed Godwit were still present (very distant) and the Grebes were still there too. A Cuckoo was heard calling. Again, no Whimbrel but there was several House Martin and Swallows about.