BTO Young Birders Camp (27th-29th May)

Last August around the time of the Birdfair, the BTO announced that they would be holding their first Young Birders Weekend which would be sponsored by the Cameron Bespolka Trust, at the time I knew that I probably couldn't make it due to it being in  exam season. But 2 weeks ago I found out that there were still places available, with it also being in my holiday I could make it! So here is how this weekend turned out to be one of the greatest experiences of my life!  

Day 1

I stayed behind school to get changed and waited for my dad to pick me up from school, we set off around 4pm hoping to get to the BTO  HQ in Thetford Norfolk for 6:30pm but due to 2 accidents on the A1 we didn't arrive till 7:15pm but in that time my dad and I got brilliant views of Red Kite, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Grey Heron. When I arrived many people had arrived some I knew and others I was yet to get to know.

After everyone else arrived we tucked into dinner, I sat on a table with Ben Moyes, Sam-Pitt Miller, Elliot Montieth, Luke Nash, Max Hellicar and Zach Haynes. I knew most of them on the table got as the evening progressed we all got to know each other better, later on we were taken to the campsite where Glamping-styled Tipis awaited us. We all unpacked  and got to know each other in our tents even better, by this time it was 10:30pm with a 4:45am start the next morning so we all decided to 'try' and get some sleep, but 2 factors affected my tents sleep; one being the tent next to us who were talking or an extra hour! And forgetting to zip the bottom of the tent up properly so we were all quite cold! 

Tipis - Ieuan Evans ©

Birdcamp Selfie from Left-Right: Elliot, Myself, Ben, Max and Eleanor - Ben Moyes 

©

Day 2

It was a very early start 4:15am start but to brighten the mood was a distant Cuckoo singing away in the distance! There were a lot of tired zombies walking around the camp, but the excitement was starting to kick in, as we arrived at the BTO reserve the Nunnery Lakes, to take part in separate tasks in multiple groups which were; Bird Ringing, Nest Recording, Bird ID and Bird Mapping. I was in Group 2 which was made up of Paddy, Mya Bambrick and Sam-Pitt Miller. We started off with a ringing session (my favourite) I got to extract 2 Willow Warblers and got to see my first Kingfisher in the hand this year! Also saw my first Reed Warbler of the year, as I've not been out to a reedbed this year due to GCSE revision. In the other groups the highlight was a smart Garden Warbler.

The Kingfisher caught

Wingshot of the Kingfisher

Garden Warbler -  Elliot Montieth ©

Our next activity was Bird Mapping, we were led by Su Gough, like many people in my group this was a different way of recording birds in a given area. we took a particular route that Su had mapped around the Nunnery Lakes, we started off straight they way with a singing Willow Warbler and Whitethroat. We later saw Canada Geese with many Goslings some of the geese had BTO colour neck rings on (this doesn't harm the bird) and saw my first Cuckoo, at first Paddy and myself saw what we thought to be a female Kestrel fly away from us on our walk, but when it was flying away a bubbling call was heard from the same direction, this turned out to be the female Cuckoo, but this Cuckoo was very special it's a hepatic bird which is a rare 'morph' of the Eurasian Cuckoo. We finished the walk with seeing 2 pairs of Kingfisher, multiple Reed Warblers, a Treecreeper with nesting material and a very unusual singing Marsh Tit. This was a brilliant way to map out singing birds around your patch.

This was followed by Paul Stancliffe taking a bird ID session around the Lakes, we saw the hepatic Cuckoo again, plus Paul taught us how to separate Sedge from Reed Warbler and Garden Warbler from Blackcap. After watching and listening to the knowledge of Paul, he went to show a site where we could hopefully see Slow Worm, this is reptile I've always wanted to see, well we didn't just see one! We saw 12 Slow Worms varying in size and huge Grass Snake. Already this weekend is getting really awesome and were not even half way through!

2 small Slow-worms

The biggest Slow-Worm

After that session, we went onto Nest Recording with Mike Toms, we were equipped with a cane (for tapping only) and given basic knowledge, he showed us a Linnet nest found be Ben Moyes earlier on today as well as Yellowhammer and Whitethroat both found by Elliot Montieth. When tapping around the gorse bushes, my hay fever started to set in quite bad, then I saw something hopping along the floor, after some watching it turned out to be an Adult Jay! After catching the bird it was apparent it was severely underweight. We took the bird hoping it would later be released after some feeding Also Mike showed us his Red-legged Partridge nest with 12 eggs in! With 10 minutes left we were the only group who hadn't found a nest, then suddenly I saw a Willow Warbler fly from almost under my foot! After half an hour of waiting from a distance, Mike Toms managed to find the Willow Warbler nest located in some dead grass, the nest contained 6 young chicks big enough to ring, so everyone in the group managed to ring one of the chicks!

Yellowhammer nest found by Elliot Montieth

The unwell Jay caught whilst nest finding

Linnet nest found by Ben Moyes

The Willow Warbler nest that I found

We didn't have breakfast till 11am! We were all starving but 10 minutes later LUNCH arrived! Our next stop was one of the places I was most looking forward to about this trip the RSPB's LAKENHEATH FEN, we were given some brief history about Lakenheath we were shown a Crane egg from a predated nest earlier this year. We were split into 2 groups with David Walsh, a good friend of mine on the other team as we set off for an afternoon Bird Race.

Within 5 minutes we had ticked off Cetti's Warbler, Cuckoo, Buzzard, Reed Bunting and Jay. Later along the path we reached a view platform looking over one of the reedbeds, myself and Dannte (London Birder) went in search of a close Cuckoo we could hear, after some fleeting glimpses we managed of the Cuckoo we also ticked off Shoveler, Kingfisher and Sedge Warbler. After the Cuckoo moved on, we realised that another bird landed really close to path after some searching we managed to pin point the Cuckoo and I managed to get some photos in the scope, they weren't brilliant but I thought they weren't going to get any better, boy was I wrong! Within 10 minutes the bird seemed to be in TOUCHING distance through the scope, this is one of those times you dream of getting so close to a particular bird, this time it came true even Dae ja vu! After the bird flew off still can't believed the views we got, it wasn't over! Within a few minutes I was watching Bearded Tits 5 metres away from me, then I got a text from Elliot saying that Bitterns were flying 5m away from them! They weren't wrong as one bird flew straight over our heads! Already getting my best views of Cuckoo, Bearded Tit and Bittern ever it had to end somewhere! With very distant Cranes, 2 adults and a single chick to be seen.

Bitten flying - Elliot Montieth ©

2 Crane and a Marsh Harrier - Elliot Montieth ©

Fly by Cuckoo - Elliot Montieth

My Digiscoped effort of the Cuckoo

Without realising it we were already at the visitor centre again ranking up 58 species across the afternoon we drew with the other team, although we got Treecreeper and Great-Spotted Woodpecker which they didn't they managed to get a Drake Garganey! We headed back to the BTO for a lovely BBQ for a bit of a rest waiting to go out into Thetford Forest, within the hour we were in the heart of the forest listening to the very knowledgeable Greg Conway an expert on Nightjar ringing! The purpose of the evening wasn't just to see a Nightjar but to GPS tag a Nightjar to work out their wintering grounds in the Sub-Saharan Region, after the nets were set and the tape was played (Grey has a licence), we went away to let the Nightjars get near the nets, after waiting we were rewarded with 2 Nightjars flying over our heads and churring away as well! But in the distance Paul Staincliffe managed to pin-point the faint call of a Long-eared Owl! The bird called closer later, this wasn't a bird I was expecting to hear or see on the trip! After being distracted by that, we came back to find Grey Conway had caught a first-summer NIGHTJAR! This was a lifer for me number #285! After watching this bird being processed and many photos taken we watched it fly off into the twilight sky! It was 11:30pm when we got to the campsite to be woken up at around 4:30am the following morning so we all got to bed as quickly as possible to try and get some more sleep.

Day 3

We woke up early again, and headed out towards Landguard Bird Observatory near Felixstowe, with an hour bus journey there was plenty of time to catch a few more winks of sleep before we arrived. One time I woke up to find everyone asleep on the bus! We arrived at Landguard around 6am to be greeted by Andy Clements who was going to spend the morning with us, at first we couldn't see much due to the sea mist covering the Felixstowe Docks as well, we were given brief history to Landguard Bird Obs and with it use be an army base, then we did some Sea-watching which resulted in 7 Dark-bellied Brent geese and 6 Little Terns, both species I didn't expect to see this trip either, then we moved on to the moth traps, there were a lot of moths within the traps my highlights were seeing my first Small-Elephant Hawkmoth and an unseasonal Pearly Underwing which was also a moth lifer for me. After being shown their Heligoland trap, it was time for lunch which included Digestive biscuits and Prawn Cocktail crisps! After talking to the warden Chris Bridges who I've known for a number of years it was time to walk around the Obs to see what we could find, after an hour of searching we managed to find Common Terns, Ringed Plovers, Starlings and hundreds of Linnets feeding in the gorse bushes. After walking around the Obs, David Walsh took us into the Brecks to do some Breckland birding, we arrived 30mins later at Sutton Common hoping to find Dartford Warbler, Woodlark and Tree Pipit. As soon as we stepped out of the mini bus we were already watching a Dartford Warbler with food going to and from its nest, I'd only had previous views of Dartfords at RSPB Arne in Dorset, despite the heat haze we all got brilliant views, after walking around we picked up a Stonechat singing its heart out on top of a pine tree. Just before we got back into our minibus Ben and Paul managed to pinpoint a Woodlark singing away in the skies above us, after getting distant views of this bird, we moved onto a very special site.

Dartford Warbler - Mya Bambrick ©

David Walsh took is to a site where there was a breeding pair of Redstarts, I'd only ever seen a female so to see the male was amazing, due to this being a rare breeding bird I'm not going to publicise the location of the nest mainly due to the fact of I had no idea where we were!

My digiscoped effort of the Male bird

Male Redstart - Mya Bambrick

We then headed off to RSPB Boyton Marsh in search of Turtle Dove which if we saw one would be another lifer for me! After searching for 30 minutes and no look of finding these birds, Max checked Birdguides and saw that about 5 minutes before 2 Drake Garganey had been seen, we ran down there but we didn't have time due to us having pre-booked lunch at a lovely pub, that wasn't the only bad news, 3 people in our group had seen a pair of Turtle Doves fly past them! You can't have everything your way. After having a massive lunch (I had a huge homemade burger and huge chips) we left Mya and Josie as they headed home, we got to the Campsite packed our bags and waited for our parents to pick us up.

Avocet - Elliot Montieth ©

Woodlark - Elliot Montieth

2 Garganey - Elliot Montieth © 

This weekend has been of my greatest experiences of my life, spending time seeing awesome birds whilst making new friends at the same time. I'd like to say thank you to Ieuan, Viola, Paul, Lee, Mike, Greg, Justin, Josie and the Cameron Bespolka Trust in making this weekend so special for everyone! 

Here is a link everyone's Twitter account: 

• Ben Moyes : https://twitter.com/Ben_Moyes16
• Sam-Pitt Miller : https://twitter.com/sampittmiller
• Max Hellicar : https://twitter.com/MaxHellicar1
• Josie Hewitt : https://twitter.com/josiethebirder
• Elliot Montieth: https://twitter.com/Elliot_Montieth
• Luke Nash : https://twitter.com/young_birder89
• Paddy Lewin : https://twitter.com/P_Lewin26
• Eleanor Morrison : https://twitter.com/EcoBittern
• Amy Hall :https://twitter.com/wildlifebloga
• Zach Haynes : https://twitter.com/nerdboy386
• Dannte : https://twitter.com/wildinLDN

PWC 2016 April totals

Sorry for this late post, as my GCSE exams have now started (4 German, 1 Biology, 1 Chemistry and 1 English already done)

Wow what a month it's been, with all these Spring Migrants coming through, I've picked up some unusual and new species for the patch this month, highlights have included; Osprey, Grasshopper Warbler, Whimbrel, Wheatear and Willow Warbler.

Here are the results from my March records on both Under 25 league and Midlands league

Midlands Results

Under 25 results

Mute Swan: 1 record this month of 2 birds flying E on the 1st

Greylag Goose: 10 records this month with 7 birds being the highest count of the month at the 'Pond'

Mallard: 11 records this month with around 30 birds present throughout the month, but decreasing slightly as we went through the month

Tufted Duck: Two birds were present on the 'pond' on the 9th

Red-legged Partridge: One record of 4 birds present in a cover crop field at Shoby on the 30th

Grey Partridge: Quite surprising record of two birds heard calling near Shoby on the 1st, good to know that there is more than one pair around

Pheasant: Resident species on the patch with 5 birds seen most trips around the patch this month

Grey Heron: 1 record this month of a single bird seen flying away from the 'pond' in a Easterly direction, probably same bird I've seen throughout this year so far.

Red Kite: One record of a low-flying bird going W-E over my head on the 19th, already this year has been the best for this species on the patch, it's great to see them roaming around a bit more now

Red Kite from the 19th

Sparrowhawk: A 3 records this month, all sightings being single birds, with 2 of the records being a male bird and a female bird was seen on the 15th

Buzzard: 6 Records this month with 6 birds being the highest count of the month on the 12th

OSPREY: This is by far one of the best birds i'll get on the patch this year, after only seeing a high-flying individual 2 years ago in September, I had the first bird on the 6th, this bird was missing a secondary feather. Then on the 9th another bird flew over and a lot closer too! This bird wasn't missing any feathers, then on the 16th ANOTHER bird flew over with a blue ring on it's foot! Probably from Rutland. To have one Osprey was amazing but to have 3 is incredible!

The Osprey from the 9th

Moorhen: 5 records this month, with 4 birds present at the 'pond' on the 17th

Lapwing: An amazing 7 records this month due to 2 males spending most of the month displaying to one another across a field, then that field got drilled with barley but they left a patch, I'm pleased to say one of the Males stayed and has got a mate!

WHIMBREL: For anyone who knows my patch will know this is highly unlikely speices, but I had a single bird call and fly off in a Northern direction on the 30th, this is also a LIFER for me! I don't think I'll get a lifer off my patch for while!

Black-headed Gull: 3 records this month of flocks of 30 birds moving through with Common Gulls too

Common Gull: 4 records this month with numbers varying from 10-40 strong throughout the month

Lesser Black-backed Gull: 3 records of small flocks (c5) flying around the paddocks at the start of the month

Feral Pigeon: I've only just realised that I haven't added this species to the list! This is a resident species with around 4 birds present throughout the year

Stock Dove: 12 records this month with flocks 20 strong, which for me is very good!

Woodpigeon: Around 200+ birds present around the patch throughout the year

Collared Dove: A few pairs are lingering around the village, highest count being 6 birds present on the 21st

Barn Owl: One bird was present hunting around some grassy meadows on the 2nd

Little Owl: As the breeding season commences I haven't heard many Little Owls this month with only one record this month on the 2nd heard calling at 11pm

Green Woodpecker: 2 records this month with 2 males heard 'yaffeling' on the 1st being the highest count

Great Spotted Woodpecker: 11 records this month with up to 4 males drumming around the patch on the 6th

Kestrel: 2 records this month, both coming from their breeding location, only seen the male, still awaiting the female bird to arrive

Magpie: 8 records this month, the highest count being 7 birds feeding in one paddock on the 15th

Jay: One record this month of 2 birds seen flying towards one of the local woods from the 'pond' on the 1st

The 2 Jays from the 1st 

Jackdaw: 200+ birds present on the 23rd at a roost being the highest count this month

Rook: 50 birds present around the patch throughout the month

Carrion Crow: Up to 30+ birds seen one the 12th being the highest count this month

Raven: One record this month of a bird flying north through my village on the 1st

Goldcrest: 6 records this month with 5 birds in a flock down at Shoby on the 4th being the highest count in one place

Blue Tit: 13 records this month, with 8 birds in my garden on the 16th being the highest count this month

Great Tit: 12 records this month 5 birds in my garden on the 12th being the highest count

Coal Tit: 9 records this month, with 3 birds present in my garden on the 12th being the highest count

Long-tailed Tit: Only 4 records this month, with all records being single birds

Skylark: 12 records this month on the patch, with 7 birds singing on the 30th being the highest count

Sand Martin: A new species for the patch, with 7 birds seen flying over the 'pond' on the 8th, this is a species I've wanted on the patch for many many years

Swallow: 12 records this month with their numbers increasing throughout the month, with up to 6 males seen flying around the patch on the 30th

House Martin: People who know me know I'm mad for House Martin's, so when the first pair arrived on the 16th I was so happy, but due to bad weather no more birds turned up for the rest of the month

House Martins

Chiffchaff:  11 records this month with 6 males heard singing at Shoby on the 11th being the highest count this month

Willow Warbler: Only the second Willow Warbler record on my patch on the 4th, also this bird was ringed but I couldn't get a good enough photo, also I thought this bird was a Chiff until it started calling!

The Ringed Willow Warbler from the 4th

Ringed Willow Warbler from 4th

Blackcap; 6 records this month with up to 3 birds seen at one place at Shoby on the 8th

Lesser Whitethroat: Not a very common bird on the patch in the summer, so I was happy to find this bird in some willows at Shoby on the 27th

Whitethroat: 5 records this month with 2 males setting up territories at Shoby, but only seen one female so far

GRASSHOPPER WARBLER: ANOTHER LIFER FOR ME ON THE PATCH THIS MONTH ! One bird was at first heard reeling at Shoby, after some patience the bird briefly came into view on the 24th ! This was a species that was on my list to see this year, didn't expect it to be on my patch!

Treecreeper: 2 records this month both coming from the spinny next to the Grain Dryer, there is a nest in the spinney but I'm yet to locate it! Both records have been individuals

Wren: 9 records this month with the highest count being 6 birds in my garden, presumably a full family making a visit to my garden on 12th

Starling: 8  records this month with the highest flock count being 52 birds on the 15th, with around c30 birds present throughout the month in the paddocks.

Blackbird: 11 records this month with 11 birds being the highest count down at Shoby on the 21st in a cover field

Fieldfare: 2 records this month both being single birds, my last record was on the 5th

Redwing: 2 records this month with 5 birds seen on the 5th being my last record of the 15-16 winter season

Song Thrush: 11 records this month with 4 birds seen near the grain dryer on the 31st being the highest count this month

Mistle Thrush: 7 records this month, all records being of a nesting pair in the village, sadly the nest was predated, and there is no sign of either of parents yet since

Robin: 10 records this month, 5 birds were seen in my garden on the 15th being the highest count this month

Wheatear: This was a target species for me, and I spent almost every morning in the Easter Holiday looking for them to find my first one on the 6th, I went on the find another 9 birds, being 6 records all together, the highest count was 3 birds seen on the 24th! This is by far my best year for Wheatear

Wheatear from the 17th

Dunnock: 6 records this month, 4 birds were fighting in my garden on the 12th being the highest record in one place this month

House Sparrow: c50 birds were present around my village throughout this month, with c30 birds present at Shoby too

Tree Sparrow: 10 records this month all coming from the pair down at Shoby, seen at their nest location and surrounding hedgerows


Yellow Wagtail: 6 records this month, my first being 3 birds seen on the 16th, and the highest count being a passage roost of 17 birds on the 23rd! That's the highest ever count of Yellow Wags on the patch

Yellow Wagtail from the 23rd

Pied Wagtail (Yarrellii): 11 records this month of Pied Wags, with 7 birds present on the roof of the Grain Dryer on the 31st being the highest count

White Wagtail (Alba): A single bird was seen amongst the 17 Yellow Wagtails on the 23rd, this is a species that I've only seen on Scilly, so to have one on my patch brought back some memories from last October!

White Wagtail from the 23rd

Meadow Pipit: 12 records this month, all records came from the 1st-14th, so they'll all be passage birds, with the highest flock count being c30 birds in the paddocks near the my house

Brambling: 12 records this month with the highest count being 12 birds, the last record this year of Brambling was the 16th with a single female amongst 3 Chaffinch

Chaffinch: 13 records this month, with around 20 birds present all the time at the Grain dryer this month

Bullfinch: 5 records this month, with 4 birds seen on the 12th at Shoby

Greenfinch: 9 records this month, 6 birds were seen in my garden on the 1st

Linnet: 11 records this month, with only single birds ever been seen at once!

Lesser Redpoll: 4 records this month, of a single bird visiting my Grandads and my own garden from the 9th-17th

Lesser Redpoll from the 9th

Goldfinch: 11 records this month, with around 30 birds present around the village all month

Siskin: 4 records this month of a single male bird, again visiting my Grandads and my own garden from the 4th-9th

Siskin from the 5th

World Osprey Week! (WOW)

From the 11th-15th of April, it is officially World Osprey Week, this is all about raising awareness of these magnificent, graceful birds. I go to school in Oakham and with Rutland Water literally on our doorstep, Rutland Ospreys came into school to celebrate this event at my school.

The plan was to have a Skype to call to other children/students from a school in Italy ( Istituto Comprensivo 5) and a school in Gambia (Tanji Lower Basic School) , there was 6 pupils from my school Catmose College, including myself we all had to do a little presentation on a certain part of the Ospreys and the projects trying to save them, I had to do a 1 minute presentation on the purpose of Satellite Tagging the Ospreys and what the data that we've collected shows about these birds, for example we have a much clearer view on where Rutland and other British Ospreys spend their winter and what migration paths they take.

Here is me talking to kids from Gambia and Italy

After our group from Catmose did their presentation, the children from Gambia had a poem to read to us all about the Ospreys that spend their winter in Gambia, then the children from Italy had a presentation on the Ospreys that are around where they live (Grosseto) and what they know about them.

This was a brilliant opportunity to talk to other kids from across the world despite having a few technical problems there were two common themes being talked about; Ospreys and the Natural World

Myself and the rest of the Catmose crew 

Please go and check out the Rutland Osprey website, also check out their webcams looking over one of the Osprey nests, with the female having only just laid her 3rd egg! http://www.ospreys.org.uk/

Great Grey Shrike at Warren Hills

On Sunday 11th April, my dad made the decision last minute for us to go and see a Great Grey Shrike at Warren Hills, as this bird had been seen for the last 3 days, normally in the county these birds are just moving through

So we headed off to Warren Hills, on the way we picked up my Granddad, all going for this lifer, when we arrived there was a few birders around, but the bird hadn't been seen for 15mins, typical we'd missed the bird by a matter of minutes! But after some extensive searching, I managed to pinpoint the Shrike, taking cover at the bottom of a bush sheltering from the gusty wind, within a few minutes this bird was showing off at the top of his/her's favourite perch, he was catching Bumble Bee's regularly (mainly Red-Tailed Bumbles), after watching were the bird was catching it's prey I moved further along the hedgerow, after some perseverance and waiting I got the shot I was looking for, a flight shot of this bird! After many failed attempts I got the shot I was looking for, even though the bird was around 130m away, it was an awesome bird to see! A lifer, county and year tick putting me at 282 as my life list, 192 for the county and 115 for the year!

Great Grey Shrike on his lookout perch

The flight shot I was looking for! 

 

PWC 2016 March Totals

Feb excels!!!

Midlands Mini League, with friends Sam (@birdboysam) and Jack 

Under 25 Mini league, with friends Sam (@birdboysam) and Jack

March has been a very eventful month on the patch, with highlights being Tufted Duck, Blackcap, Sand Martin, Swallow, Red Kite and a very unexpected Harris Hawk

Mute Swan : This year already has been the best EVER for Mute Swan on the patch, with 13 birds flying W at dusk on the 11th over the 'pond'

Greylag Goose: A resident bird on the patch in small numbers, the highest count this month was 4 birds seen at the 'pond' on the 11th

Mallard: A resident flock of between 10-30 birds at the pond, 15 birds were counted on the 'pond' on the 11th at dusk

Tufted Duck: A pair were seen on the 'pond' on the 16th, this is the first record of Tufted Duck on the patch, then probably the same pair on the 29th at the 'pond'

Tufted Ducks

Red-legged Partridge: Resident but very scarce on the patch, 1 bird was heard calling then later flushed accidently on the 6th just outside the village

Pheasant: A resident species on the patch, with 3 birds seen on the 9th at the 'pond'

Grey Heron: 3 records this month of Grey Heron, only been one bird presumably the same bird each time feeding at the 'pond'.

Red Kite: 2 records this month, which is very unusual, the first record was a single bird being mobbed by 2 Carrion Crows on the 14th, and 2 birds flying E between Old Dalby Wood and the 'pond' on the 19th

Sparrowhawk: Been very elusive this month with only 2 records (that I've seen, as my dad had one in the garden) the sightings being a juvenile bird at Saxelbye Hall on the 15th and 23rd

Harris Hawk: One bird I never imagined to get on the patch, one bird flew south of the grain dyrer early on, on the 30th, this bird could be the bird last seen back in November at Cossington Meadows, this bird had no bells or jessie's to distinguish where the bird had come from.

Photos of the Harris Hawk being mobbed by local corvids on the 30th

Photos of the Harris Hawk being mobbed by local corvids on the 30th

Buzzard: A resident species on the patch, 1 bird was seen soaring around one of the local woods on the 6th

Moorhen: A resident species on the patch in small numbers, with 3 birds seen on the 9th at the 'pond'

Black-headed Gull: Passage bird through the patch throughout the year, with 100+ birds flying over on the 5th, presumably coming from a roost

Common Gull: Passage bird through the patch throughout the year, with 20+ birds seen flying amongst the Black -headed Gulls on the 5th

Lesser Black-Backed Gull: One record of 5 birds soaring high over the village on the 20th

Herring Gull: 3 birds feeding at the Stud on the 23rd

Stock Dove: A resident species in small flock numbers (1-20), with 10+ birds amongst a corvid flock in the paddocks near the stud on the 9th

Stock Dove from the 9th

Woodpigeon: A resident species with flocks between 50-200 usually seen around the patch throughout the year

Collared Dove: A few pairs linger around the village, later on in the month, they started to pair up, with 4 pairs being the highest count on the 25th

Green Woodpecker: One bird has been heard 'yaffeling' near the stud, yet to be seen but heard on 4 occasions, then a female seen at Saxelbye Wood on the 31st

Great Spotted Woodpecker: 3 birds was the highest count 5th, with males heard most mornings drumming on their favorite trees

Kestrel: 5 records this month, at 2 separate breeding locations, with one pair already checking out nesting sites!

Magpie: 9 records this month, with 7 birds being the highest count in  Saxelbye Hall on the 25th

Jay: First of the year with a bird heard then later seen at Saxelbye Hall on the 12th, this is one of only a few locations out of their breeding area

Jackdaw: A resident bird on the patch throughout the year with 200+ birds seen at their roost sites most night in the woods

Rook: A resident bird on the patch throughout the year with 300+ birds seen at their roost sites most night in the woods

Carrion Crow:A resident species on the patch, with 10+ birds seen at the stud through the month

Raven: 2 records this month, both single birds one record on the 15th and the other on 25th, probably the same bird

Goldcrest: 8 records this month, the highest count was 3 birds at Saxelbye Wood, there has been a definite influx of these birds around the patch

Blue Tit: A resident species on the patch, with 7 birds present in the garden on the 14th being the highest count

Great Tit: A resident species on the patch, with 4 birds present in the garden on the 25th being the highest count at one time

Coal Tit; A resident species on the patch, with 3 birds present at the grain dryer on the 12th

Skylark: A resident species on the patch, a massive influx in Skylark on the patch this month as birds are starting to pair up, the highest count being 14 birds on the 25th

Swallow: One bird was heard then seen flying N at the bottom of Saxelbye Park on the 25th, this is the earliest record on the patch and the 4th record for the county this year, then 2 birds present on the 31st in the village

Swallow seen on 25th just at the bottom of Saxelbye Park

Long-tailed Tit: A resident species on the patch, with a flock 5 being the highest count, and many pairs seen carrying nesting material, yet to find the nests though

Chiffchaff: One bird was heard singing at Shoby on the 26th, this bird had a pollen 'horn' bigger than it's bill #rhinobird!!! With 5 birds present at Shoby at the end of the month heard singing

Blackcap: 1st record of the month was a Male bird in the garden on the 9th

Blackcap

Nuthatch: 2 records this month, with 1 bird feeding in the garden on the 9th, and one heard calling in Saxelbye hall on the 25th

Treecreeper: 3 records this month with 3 birds at the Grain Dryer on the 6th being the highest count

Treecreeper

Wren: A resident species on the patch with 4 birds chasing each other round the garden on the 1st

Starling: A resident flock of between 50-100 birds present feeding at the Stud throughout the month

Blackbird: A resident species on the patch with 7 birds feeding in the orchard on the 13th being the highest count

Fieldfare: A massive influx at the start of the month 300+ counted on the 5th, since then numbers have fallen to around 20+ moving through

Song Thrush: An influx of Song Thrush throughout this month with 12 birds present at Saxelbye Hall on the 19th

Redwing: A decrease throughout this month as these birds migrate to Scandinavia, with the highest count being 60+ at Shoby on the 20th

Mistle Thrush: 2 birds present on the 12th, then records of single birds present throughout the month

Robin: A resident species on the patch, with 6 birds present singing throughout the month within the village

Dunnock: A resident species with 7 birds present on the 12th in the garden

House Sparrow: A resident 70 birds present throughout the month in the village, plus 20 birds at Shoby present

Tree Sparrow: 5 birds present on the patch on the 30th, with 2 pairs established territories, this is the highest count of breeding pairs ever on the patch, hopefully this is a sign of the population increasing

Grey Wagtail: One record of a this species seen on the 20th flying North

Pied Wagtail: A definite increase on this species, with 27 birds present at a roost at the stud on the 27th

Meadow pipit: Another bird increasing as migration carries on, with 15+ birds moving through the patch on the 27th

Brambling: As expected numbers decreased due to migration, but 15 birds present on the 1st, with 3 birds present on the 31st

Chaffinch: Flocks of c30 birds seen along the fields near the grain dryer throughout the month

Bullfinch: 5 birds present at Shoby on the 29th, this was the highest count on the patch

Greenfinch: Good numbers of these birds around the patch with a flock of c10 seen near the 'pond' on the 12th

Linnet: Good numbers of this species seen across the patch with 5 birds present on the 30th, with single birds seen across the month

Goldfinch: 15 birds seen at Shoby towards the end of the month, setting up residency in the local hedgerows

Siskin: 2 records this month, with 2 birds seen flying North on the 14th, over the garden

Yellowhammer: 12 birds seen at the stud on the 30th, feeding on the seeds for the local horses

Reed Bunting: More birds seen this month with 4 males singing at Shoby on the 31st

All species new for the year

Final score and result for the month