PWC 2016 FebruaryTotals

The first 2 spreadsheets show my score compared to the other people, the first spreadsheet is the category (NGB/AFON Under 25) and the second category is Midlands League

Here is my standing in red, and my rival (friend) Sam who i'm competing against (Midlands League)

Here is my standing in red, and my rival (friend) Sam who i'm competing against (Under 25 League)

So February has been a more quiet month compared to January, with highlights being Stonechat, Lapwing,  Raven, Marsh Tit, Bramblings and Jay.

Mute Swan: 6 birds flew E on the 18th, this is one of a handful of records of Mute Swan on the Patch

Greylag Goose: The highest count was 7 birds flying round the village on the 18th, but 2 birds have regularly been seen hanging round at the 'pond'

3 Greylag Geese at the 'pond' on the 28th

Mallard: The usual c30 birds hanging round the 'pond' with 2 domestic mallards in there as well

Red-Legged Partridge: 1 bird was seen sulking along a hedgerow just outside Shoby on the 19th

Pheasant: A resident species on the Patch, the highest count being 6 birds in the paddocks near the Stud.

Sparrowhawk: Only 1 record this month, with a male bird flying through Saxelbye Park on the 21st

Buzzard: A resident species on the Patch, 2 birds was the highest count on the 7th, with one bird giving close views in the Paddocks near the Stud, which some of you might have seen photos on my Twitter Page

Buzzard

Buzzard

Moorhen: 3 birds were present throughout the month at the 'pond' and 2 birds were seen at a different site in the 19th

Lapwing: 22 birds were seen feeding in a winter wheat field on the 28th on my way back from the Woodland Survey

Part of the Lapwing flock from the 28th

Black-headed Gull: 2 flocks both containing c40 birds in each flew over the patch on the 18th

Stock Dove: 8 birds were present in the paddocks near the Stud feeding with Starlings and Corvids on the 19th

Woodpigeon: A resident species on the Patch, the biggest flock contained 300+ birds on the 9th

Stock Dove: 3 records this month with the biggest flock of 8+ birds feeding with 300+ corvids in the paddocks on the 19th

Collared Dove: A resident species on the patch, with 2 pairs being the highest count around the village on the 18th

Little Owl: A resident but a species that likes to keep itself hidden! With one record this month being one bird sat on a telegraph post on the 28th

Terrible Shot of a Little Owl on the 28th

Green Woodpecker:One record this month with a female bird flying through the village on the 5th

Great-Spotted Woodpecker: 3 records this month, all 1 individuals with one male heard drumming on the 14th

Kestrel: 2 records this month with a pair seen at their breeding site just outside the village on the 12th

Magpie: A resident species on the patch with 3 records the highest count being 4 birds in the paddocks near the stud.

Jay: One bird was heard then seen fly through Saxelbye Hall on the 7th, this is one of a handful of records

Jackdaw: A resident species on the patch, with the highest flock being 300+ with a bird with abnormal plumage seen on the 28th

Abnormal Jackdaw Plumage on the 28th

Rook: A resident species on the patch with the largest flock being 200+ birds on the 15th

Carrion Crow: A resident species with the highest flock being 20+ on the 15th

One of the Raven's from the 7th

Raven: 2 records with 3 birds seen on the 7th, this is already the most records of Raven I've ever had on the patch


Goldcrest: 2 records this month 7 birds were present in Old Dalby Wood during my monthly Woodland Survey on the 28th

Blue Tit: A resident species on the patch, with 5 birds was the biggest flock counted, which was in my garden on the 27th

Great Tit: A resident species on the patch, with the biggest flock being 7 birds moving through Shoby on the 7th

Coal Tit: Only 2 records of this species, numbers have fallen as were arriving to spring, with 2 birds present in the garden on the 19th and 5 birds on the 28th during my Woodland Survey

Marsh Tit: Less than 10 birds ever recorded on the patch, but they are becoming more frequent, one bird was heard then seen briefly on the 18th at Saxelbye Park with a tit flock also containing one of the only records of Treecreeper this month.

Skylark: Up to 7 birds were seen on the 7th, with 3-4 birds heard singing regularly

Skylark from the 7th

Long-tailed Tit: One local flock containing 12 birds was seen on 3 separate occasions with the first record being on the 18th

Treecreeper: With 2 records this month, the record being on the 18th at Saxelbye park in a Tit flock including the Marsh Tit, the other record being 2-3 birds present in Old Dalby Wood during my survey, this is the highest record of Treecreepers seen at once ever!
 

One of the Treecreeper's in Old Dalby Wood on the 28th

Wren: A resident species but elusive on the patch, 3 birds was the highest count in Old Dalby Wood on the 28th

Starling: A resident species on the patch, with the highest count being 400+ in the paddocks near the Stud

Blackbird: A resident species on the patch, with 11 birds being the highest count near the grain dryer on the 7th

Fieldfare: Only 4 records this month, with 200+ moving through on the 20th, but 1 bird is present throughout the month on the local orchard

Redwing: Only 3 records this month with the highest count being 100+ on the 20th.

A single bird seen at Shoby on the 27th

Mistle Thrush: 2 records this month, with 2 birds present around the village on the 20th then the 27th

Song Thrush: 4 records this month, numbers do seem to have increased possibly due to Scandinavian birds moving through with 7 birds counted along the hedgerows on the way for the woodland survey on the 28th

Robin: A resident species on the patch, with 5 birds present at Shoby being the highest count

Stonechat: A female was present along the hedgerows near Saxelbye Park on the 20th, this is the first record EVER on the patch, and it was my youngest cousin (6 years old) who spotted it first, young birder in the making!!!!!!!!!

Dunnock: A resident species on the patch, with 4 birds in my garden on the 15th being the highest count in one place.

House Sparrow: A resident species on the patch, with 50+ always in the hedgerows near my house

Tree Sparrow: A resident species on the patch, 1 pair was seen at their breeding location on the 18th

Heavily cropped image of a Tree Sparrow on the 18th

Grey Wagtail: One bird was heard flying over the village on the 20th

Pied Wagtail (yarrellii):  2 birds present throughout the month on the paddocks near the stud

Meadow Pipit: First record of the year with a single bird flying through (N) on the 18th

Brambling: The record was broken once again with 42 birds present on the 21st, the numbers suddenly dropped with only a few birds back at the grain dryer

Part of the Brambling flock from the 17th

Chaffinch: A resident species on the patch with 50+ seen on the 28th near where the Lapwings were

Bullfinch: A resident species, 5 birds was the highest count on the 17th at Shoby

Greenfinch: A resident species on the patch, with 5 birds present around the village with 3 of them being singing and displaying males

Linnet:A resident species on the patch, only 1 record this month of a single bird flying through on the 7th, there numbers have been down this year compared to other years, maybe due to a mild winter

Lesser Redpoll: 2 records both at the start of the month, with 2 birds at Shoby on the 7th being the highest total.

Goldfinch: A resident species on the patch, with 20+ being the highest count on the 20th

Siskin: 2 records this month, 2 birds present on the 7th, then 10+ present again in Old Dalby Wood on the 28th

Siskin at Shoby from the 7th

Yellowhammer: A resident species on the patch, with 5 records of this species, with 21 being the highest count in the paddocks near the stud

Yellowhammer from the 28th

Reed Bunting: One record this month of an individual seen at Shoby on the 18th


Here are my records of all the species for the month

And here are the new species for the year:

The Long-Billed Dowitcher at Rutland Water

For the last 23 days a Long-Billed Dowitcher has taken up residency in and around Leicestershire and Rutland, after first being reported at Wanlip Meadows, this bird has also been seen at Wanlip North Lakes, then on the 23rd 'a' Long-billed Dowitcher had been reported at Rutland Water on Lagoon 3 and showing well.

Back in the February Half-term I took my 2 younger cousins (6&10) to Wanlip North Lakes to hopefully see the Long-billed Dowitcher, after 3/4 hour we had no look, but my cousins did get their first Green Sandpipers, Goosander, White-front and Pink-footed Geese.

On the 27th my dad and I tried again for this bird at Rutland Water where it had been seen to be showing well, when we both arrived we had ticked off 100+ Lapwing, Tufted Duck and Golden Plover, on the way towards Lagoon 3, we got close views of Bullfinch, Redwing and Song Thrush. We arrived at Shoveler hide (my favourite hide, click on this link to see why: Black Stork!), the hide wasn't to busy and within seconds of setting up the telescope myself and my dad were watching this Long-Billed Dowitcher, this was my 281st species seen in the UK!!!!!! After watching this bird for a good 30mins, it flew off with all of the Lapwing, then after a few minutes of tracking it in the sky it came and landed even closer, and getting some awesome pics of this bird:

Here is a terrible flight shot of the bird

Terrible Flight Shot

Here are some Camera photos after the bird landed

Long-Billed Dowitcher

Long-Billed Dowitcher

Long-Billed Dowitcher

PWC 2016 January Totals

Well it's been an amazing month to kick this challenge off with, had some awesome birds including; Raven, Bullfinch, Brambling,  Yellowhammer, Lapwing and Gadwall. 

Here is a roundup of this month's sighting: 

Greylag Geese: A resident species around the patch,  2 birds flew round the village, then relocated at the 'pond' in the afternoon on the 23<sup>rd 

Mallard: A resident species on the patch, around 30 birds present on the 'pond' with 3 domestic ducks</sup>

Mallard and Moorhen from the 23rd

Gadwall: 1 bird flew south outside the village on the 23^rd probably came off the 'pond' , this is the first ever record on the patch, a species that  I didn't think I'd ever get

Red-legged Partridge: Rare but resident species, 7 birds were seen feeding in a fallowed field near Old Dalby Wood on the 31st

Grey  Partridge: Very rare but resident species, 2 birds were sen feeding with the 'Red-legs' on the 31st, this is the first sighting in 3 years!!!!
 
Pheasant: A resident species around the patch , 7 was the highest count on the 16^th 
Sparrowhawk: A resident species around the patch, but can be elusive, seen on the 2^nd, 6^th, 10^th of this month

Grey Heron: A vagrant species, one was feeding at the 'pond' on the 31st

Grey Heron flying away at the 'pond' on the 31st

Buzzard: A resident species around the patch, seen every time I've gone out birding, highest being 2 birds on the 23^rd 

Buzzard from the 23rd

Sparrowhawk:A resident species around the patch, only one female was seen flying through the village on the 16th

Moorhen: A resident species around the patch, seen regularly on the 'pond' highest count being 3 on the 24^th 

Golden Plover: A rare vagrant on my patch, this species I've only had one other sighting, one bird was heard on the 6^th flying over in the night
 
Lapwing: A rare vagrant on my patch, with only a handful of records on the patch, 5 birds circled round just south of the village on the 23^rd  

Lapwing from the 23rd

Woodcock: Uncommon Winter visitor, one bird was flushed in Old dalby Wood on the 31st

Common Gull: A vagrant on my patch, only 1 record was recorded this month being 6 birds flying SE on the 24^th
 

Herring Gull: : A vagrant on my patch, only 1 record was recorded this month being 17 birds flying SE on the 16^th
 
Stock Dove: A resident species around the patch, only a handful of records this month, the highest being a flock of 12 feeding with a flock of c30 Woodpigeon on the 31st at the 'pond'

Woodpigeon: A resident species around the patch, highest number was c200 feeding in a winter wheat field on the 17^th 

Collared Dove: A resident species around the patch, seen most days hanging around the village, the highest number being 5 birds in Grimston Churchyard on the 24^th 

Barn Owl: A rare vagrant on my patch, with one bird flying down a private lane on the 8^th 

Little Owl: A resident species around the patch, heard most nights around the village, one bird was sighted sitting outside a Barn Owl box at the 'pond' on the 24^th 

Tawny Owl: A resident species around the patch, heard most nights around the village, 3 birds were heard on the 13^th 

Green Woodpecker: A vagrant on my patch, one record this month, being a male feeding in a paddock on the 24^th
 
Great-Spotted Woodpecker: A resident species around the patch,  a few birds hang around different areas of the patch, the highest count at one time was 2 birds on the 24^th 

Kestrel: A resident species around the patch, one sighting was of a female hunting near the grain dryer on the 4^th 

Peregrine: A rare vagrant on my patch, with 2 previous records on the patch, a huge adult female raced through village chasing a Woodpigeon on the 24^th
 
Magpie: A resident species around the patch, only 1 record this month off 3 birds on the 9^th 

Jackdaw: A resident species around the patch, always around the village, and the nearby paddocks, the highest count being around 300+ on the 23^rd going to roost

Rook: A resident species around the patch, always in the nearby paddocks, highest count being 200+ birds during roost on the 23^rd 

Carrion Crow: A resident species around the patch, always hanging around the patch in small number, the highest count being 36 in the paddocks on the 23^rd
 
Raven:A single bird spent the morning around the village on the 9^th, it's more than likely it's still around with Corvids in the paddocks, then seen on the 31st when showing my Grandad the Bramblings on the 31st
 
Goldcrest: A resident species around the patch, resident in Old Dalby Wood, but a vagrant everywhere else, 1 bird was seen near the Grain Dryer on the 24^th
 
Blue Tit: A resident species around the patch, seen regularly on the patch, 13 birds on the 17^th was the highest count

Great Tit: A resident species around the patch, seen regularly on the patch, 7 birds on the 17^th was the highest count

Coal Tit: A resident species around the patch, seen regularly on the patch, 3 birds on the 24^th was the highest count

Skylark: A resident species around the patch, this time of year they hard to pin down, found 3 birds feeding in the fields outside the Grain Dryer

Long-tailed Tit: A resident species around the patch, regular flocks around the patch, a flock of 16 was the highest count recorded

Treecreeper: A vagrant species to the patch, one bird was recorded with a flock of Tits (Great, Blue and Long-tailed) on the 9^th 
Wren: A resident species around the patch, highest count being 2 birds in my garden on the 3^rd
 
Starling: A resident species around the patch, biggest flock count being 200+ flying round at roost time on the 24^th 

Blackbird: A resident species around the patch, the highest count being  11 birds between the Orchard and Grain Dryer on the 22^nd 

Fieldfare: A winter visitor to the patch, the highest flock count was 600+ birds flying through on the 23^rd and 31 birds were recorded feeding in the Orchard 14^th 

Song Thrush: A resident species around the patch, sadly declining species, one bird was seen at the 'pond' on the 31st and two birds were in the Orchard on the 14^th  

Hazy shot of the Song Thrush at the 'pond' on the 31st

Redwing: A winter visitor to the patch, highest flock count was 300+ birds flying through on the 23^rd 
Mistle Thrush: A vagrant species, one bird was within the flock of thrushes on the 14^th in the Orchard

Robin: A resident species around the patch, highest number was 8 birds around the patch on the 24^th, but there are probably more birds around

Dunnock: A resident species around the patch, 4 birds together was the highest count on the 16^th 

House Sparrow: A resident species around the patch, with around 60+ birds in Grimston, including a female with 2 white primaries on each wing, she was seen on many occasions

Tree Sparrow: A resident species around the patch, but sadly declining species, with a handful of birds around, with 3 birds in a flock of c30 House Sparrows in a Shoby feeding station on the 2^nd 

Grey Wagtail: A vagrant species on the patch, there were 2 records this month, 1 bird on the 1^st and another heard flying over on the 24^th, could well be the same bird
 
Pied Wagtail (yarrellii): A resident species on the patch, 5 birds were seen around the paddocks on the 24^th 

Brambling: A winter visitor, a record number were recorded at the Grain Dryer on the 30^th 22 birds were seen, these birds have increased in numbers over the last few years

7 of the 22 birds seen on the 30^th

Lovely Male Brambling from the 30^th

Chaffinch: A resident species on the patch, regular flock of 30-40 birds are at the Grain Dyer with the Brambling ,and a flock of 15-20 birds on the paddock hedgerows

Bullfinch: A resident species on the patch, 8 birds was the highest recorded, with 3 birds (2 Male and 1 Female) at a cover crop field, and 7 birds (4 male and 3 Female) at Saxelbye Hall on the 24^th 

Male Bullfinch from the 23rd

Greenfinch: A resident species on the patch, sadly another declining species, with only 1 record, of a bird flying S on the 23^rd 

Linnet: A resident species on the patch, numbers at the moment are down, with 2 records of a flock of 10 birds in the fields around the Grain Dryer regularly

Lesser Redpoll: A vagrant species on the patch, a flock of 3 birds at a cover crop field on the 16^th and a single bird flew N on the 24^th
 
Goldfinch: A resident species on the patch, with regular 'charm' flocks, the highest being 27 in a cover crop field on the 16^th
 
Siskin: A winter visitor, a record flock was recorded of 7 individuals in the Goldfinch flock on the 16^th and c10 flock was seen in Old Dalby Wood

Yellowhammer: A resident species on the patch, with 7 birds present in the hedgerows near the paddocks on the 24^th 

Male Yellowhammer from the 24th

Reed Bunting: A resident species on the patch, with 7 birds with the Yellowhammer on the 24^th 

Red = Less than 10 records on the patch
Blue = Between 10 - 50 records on the patch

My Spreadsheet showing all the species

My Spreadsheet showing all the species

My Spreadsheet showing all the species

So the first month proved very well with 59 species with 60 points, with the female Peregrine being the only 2 pointer.

The Bramblings

For the last few years, in the winter months small flocks of Brambling have been congregating, feeding and roosting with our resident Chaffinches at the Grain Dryer. There are usually around 4/5 birds with c30 Chaffinch, but this year despite the extremely mild climate we have had record numbers of these birds, 22 birds were recorded on the 30th. This is the biggest flock of Brambling recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland in the Winter period of 2015-16.

So here some absolutely stunning photos that I've managed to take of these birds.

Many of you have seen these images on Twitter, thank you for the support and on Monday I'll be posting my Patchwork Challenge round up of the month.

Nasal Saddled Tufted Duck

Just before Christmas I went out with my friend Sam (@sampittmiller) to his local patch Priory Water, a medium sized Gravel Pit in the Wreake valley in Leicestershire. In the winter, this area attracts a lot of different duck species, and, a few days earlier, Sam found a 1st Winter male Scaup which is very uncommon so far inland.

So we went in search of this bird, checking through all the Tufted Duck flocks floating on the choppy water, when I noticed something very unusual on one of the Tufted Duck's beaks. After having a closer look, we were able to make out that it was a ‘nasal saddle’, which is a type of colour mark in which the 'ring' is strapped on the upper mandible. This was very exciting because one of the last times I visited Priory Water with Sam, I found a colour-ringed Cormorant with the initials 'CTH' which had been ringed the year before at Attenborough Nature Reserve.

Nasal saddled Tufted Duck 
'A43'  Photo by Toby Carter

So getting back on topic, after trying to get some half decent photos of this bird through my telescope (Digiscoping), we managed to work out that the nasal saddle was marked with the combination 'A43'. I reported this and after a few anxious weeks, I got the results which were very interesting.

It turns out that the bird was originally ringed in Saint-Philbert-De-Grand-Lieu, France in December 2009. It was spotted a year and 9 months later at Matignicourt-Goncourt (again in France) 312 miles away (as the 'Duck' flies). We spotted this bird at Priory Water 4 years and 3 months since it had last been reported, and it had traveled 373 miles (again as the 'Duck' flies) from its previous known location.

This is one of the reasons I love ringing and birding, as out in the field you can spot colour-ringed birds of all sorts, like Reed Warbler, Coot, Cormorant, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Common Gull and Black-headed Gull, and that is just to name a few! Behind each ring is so much information that helps people like the BTO understand more about where these birds are feeding, migratory patterns, and much, much more. Reporting ringed and colour-marked birds is a really valuable thing to do and if you ever do spot a colour-marked bird you can report it using this website. 

I'd like to say a big thanks to Sam of course but also to BTO,  Kane Brides, David Rodrigues and Alain Caizergues for digging up the old records of this bird.

CTH (Sam)

There's more info on this Tufted Duck here. 

Toby Carter, @TobyWarbler
Sam-Pitt Miller @birdboysam

Freezing Day Birding

I went back to Priory Water with Sam, hoping to see 'A43' again but sadly no sign, with there being some hard cold night recently, we arrived to around 80% of Priory Water frozen over, this in some cases made it easier to count!

Only area that wasn't frozen!

Had a nice surprise of 9 Goosander in a decent flock, as well as c50 Teal, c30 Wigeon and the odd Gadwall. In the nearby trees we got some very good views of a small flock of Siskin (c10), after a bit of a search we managed to find a Little Grebe (not very common at Priory) and Sam found a Water Rail! The first of the year for me and first for this site, it was quite amusing to watch it walk briefly across the ice.
But it wasn't till we were on our way back did Sam find the 1st Scaup, which was another reason for visiting. Last time i was there it was still very brown and (juvenile) looking, but now it almost looked like an adult with the white back and lovely green sheen on its head when the light caught it. We watched the Scaup for the next 3/4 hour, till we head strange noises coming from the ice, turned out to be a young Mute Swan skidding along the ice trying to get to land.

Here are a series of Scaup photos taken from my DSLR though the telescope. Plus photos of the Mute Swan.

1st Winter Scaup

1st Winter Scaup

1st Winter Scaup

1st Winter Scaup

1st Winter Scaup with Tufted Ducks

Mute Swan skating

Mute Swan skating

Mute Swan