Monthly Archives: January 2025

Carsington Water in Derbyshire was to be the place to be today, the attraction for me today was Red throated, and Great Northern Divers plus a female Ring necked Duck. I arrived at about 9:30am, on a cold but sunny day, plus a bit of wind.

I parked in the Carsington Water Visitor Centre car park which is just of the dam road at what3words (perfume,reclined,rotations), the car parking cost, as of date, free for 15mins, up to 1 hour £2, up to 2 hours £3.50, up to 4 hours £6, and over 4 hours £7 with pay on departure.

The visitor centre is right next to stones Island, where all three target birds were hanging out. I decided on looking for the female Ring necked Duck first, this was around by the sailing club area, which unfortunately you are not allowed to enter, but the bird was viewable from Sones Island, but distant. There were a couple of other birders there when I arrived, so got on to the bird fairly quickly, not good views however, to it snoozing, so I decided on looking for the divers, then come back for better views.

It only took five minutes to get around to where I could view a good area of water and was soon on to the Red throated Diver, due to a guy putting me on to it, this one was very distant, but alas no Great Northern, other birds seen here were Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Black headed Gull, Cormorant, Pochard, Great Crested Grebes, and Little Grebes.

After about 45 minutes here I moved on back to the sailing club area, the Ring necked Duck was now awake and giving better views, but still distant, other birds here were, Wigeon, Little Grebes, Great Crested Grebes, Pochard, Mallard, Tufted Duck and a couple of distant Red Kites, and a fly over Sparrowhawk, I spent a lot of time here, getting other birders and non-birders on to the bird, however when I got news of the Great Northern Diver having been found again, I was off, it was near to the spot where the Red throated Diver was, there was a guy still there watching it, and with his help I was on to it at last, and once again this bird was distant too.

I decided having seen all three target birds to visit the Sheepwash area, a lovely hide down here, whilst walking down to it I had a couple of fly over Ravens, there wasn’t nothing here that I hadn’t already seen, the last port of call was the Paul Stanley hide, and again all birds distant, none water birds of the day were Blackbirds, Blue Tit, Pied Wagtail, House Sparrow, Robin, Song Thrush, Wren, Long tailed Tit, all mainly around Stone Island

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Bird List : Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, Great Northern Diver, Grey Heron, House Sparrow, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull. Little Grebe, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red throated Diver, Redwing, Ring necked Duck, Robin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Wren (31) 103/200

Swans winter Swans, the day took me to a place in South Yorkshire, a place called Branton, a place of fields and hidden in these fields, were Swans. Has I came closer to the fields, I could see white blobs as I approached, I stopped at the closet blob, these turned out to be Mute Swans, nice to see but not the swans I was looking for, I was looking for the winter visitors.

I moved on down the road to where there were more Swans, these turned out to be mostly Whooper Swans, there were supposed to be a couple of scarcer Bewick’s amongst these, so graping the scope, I started to scan thru them, and eventually I found them, stuck at the back of the field in what seemed to be a furrow, typical, at least I found them.

After Branston I moved on North again and up to Wombwell, where unfortunately I found very little, so I moved over to Old Moor. Visiting the Tree Sparrow Farm feeders, once again very little here too, did see Blue Tit, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Woodpigeon, Dunnock and Long tailed Tit. After here I moved over to the reedbed hide and joined the party of gatherers looking at the Bearded Tits which were showing rather well but in very windy conditions, making photography very hard.

A few days before this trip, I travelled over to a place called Lower Laithe Reservoir to see the Red necked Grebe and also found Red Grouse

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Birds Lower Laithe Reservoir : Black headed Gull, Canada Goose, Common Gull, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Jackdaw, Red Grouse, Red necked Grebe, Robin, Tufted Duck (10)

Birds at Branton : Bewick’s Swan, Linnet, Mute Swan, Whooper Swan (4)

Birds at Wombwell Ings : Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Great Black backed Gull, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Lesser Black backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Reed Bunting, Woodpigeon (16)

Birds at Old Moor : Bearded Tit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Long tailed Tit, Pheasant, Robin, Stock Dove, Teal, Wigeon (16) 100/200

Today’s day in nature was to be at RSPB St Aidan’s near Castleford, the bird attraction today were , Slavonian Grebe and Red Crested Pochard.

Arrived at about 8:30am to a very cold but dry day, getting the gear together, I opted for wellies today, as St Aidan’s can get a bit muddy in places, and it was also going to be a scope day, mainly due to the distance of the birds being far, I also expected the target would be also, I would also be videoscoping today.

By the time I got everything together, it was about 9am, the first port of call was to be the Little Owl, which was always around the dragline, and not to be disappoint, there it was on the railway sleepers, sleeping, of course, also around the dragline were Stock Dove, and Woodpigeons. Around the visitor centre feeders (Little Owl Cafe) were Great Tit, Greenfinch, Robin, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, and Woodpigeon.

Moving on, I decided on going around Bowers Lake first, this was the last reported place for the Red Crested Pochard, it wasn’t here, birds that were, Goldeneye, Pochard, Tufted Duck, and Cormorant. Next course of action was to go down to the last reported place of the Slavonian Grebe, looking around, I got sight of Great Crested Grebe, Teal, Wigeon, a perched up Common Buzzard on one of the islands, Great Black backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Common Gulls, Black headed Gulls, Oystercatcher, Gadwall, Goosander, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Shelduck, and then right over at the other side in with the Great Crested Grebes was the Slavonian Grebe, talk about being distant, but close by in the reed edge were Bearded Tit and a Cetti’s Warbler, by this time I was getting hungry, so I headed back towards the car park, stopping off at the Eastern Reedbed on my way, here I found Meadow Pipit and Water Pipit along with Pied Wagtail and Grey Wagtails and a Common Snipe, I missed the Jack Snipe, that was seen here. Over the hillside were a couple of Red Kites along with Common Buzzards.

After dinner, I decided on going around the back pathway to try and get closer to the target birds, the plan worked, I got better views of the Slavonian Grebe, and a surprise find whilst I was here, was the Red Crested Pochard, a nice ending to the day

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Birds Seen: Bearded Tit, Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Owl, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pochard, Red Kite, Red-crested Pochard, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Slavonian Grebe, Snipe, Stock Dove, Teal, Tufted Duck, Water Pipit, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (49) (96/200) 7 added

Well todays forecast was, Mist, however I walked out of the door to, sunshine. I was travelling back home today and I was making stop off’s at Hornsea Mere and North Cave Wetlands.

The Long tailed Duck was the attraction at Hornsea Mere, I arrived to no birders on site, only fishermen, who had just landed a magnificent Pike, I’ve never seen one of these, so it was a spectacle to see. Returning back to the birds, which there were a lot, I knew this was going to be long process in finding this bird, I started scanning.

Lots of Goldeneye were here, more than I’d ever seen in one place, a fantastic number. I started by looking thru the many Tufted Duck for the Scaup that were here, but it was becoming a pointless exercise, as they were all mainly at a great distance from where I was standing. Other birds around were, Gadwall, Mallard, a couple of Pintail, Shoveler, Wigeon, Greylag Geese, with Barnacle Geese way over in the far field, Gulls about were Black headed, Herring, Gret Black backed, and Common Gulls, by this time I hadn’t located the Long tailed Duck.

I kept scanning, moving around the area, after about an Hour and a half hours, it popped up pin front of me, couldn’t believe how close it was, I watched it for a good long time whilst it was feeding, then it finally settled down, it was good to have good views of it.

Setting off again, home bound, North Cave Wetlands was going to be my next stop, before the final leg of the day, Brambling were the attraction at North Cave. On arrival my first port of call, of course, was the Little Butty Van, food was needed. After food I got the gear together and moved out towards the feeders, stopping in a couple of places before hand to see House Sparrows, Bullfinch and then a fly thru Curlew.

At the feeders were Blackbirds, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Woodpigeon, Dunnock and eventually after the wait the female Brambling, then after what seemed an age the male Brambling showed up, sadly they weren’t together at the same time, a single Red Kite also flew thru.

I then decided on moving down to Crosslands hide, where Egyptian Geese had been reported, as I got nearer, I could see most of the pools were frozen over, I couldn’t see anything about, until I got nearer to the hide where there was a wood pile and a few small birds about Reed Bunting, Blue Tit and Great Tit. It was here that I met another couple, we got talking, they were out looking for the Little Owl, I took them down to where I had seen it last I was on a visit, it wasn’t there, we eventually found around the back, in a tree. Walking back to the car a Kestrel flying thru was the last been seen of the day, whilst a Water Rail was to be the last heard.

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

35 species seen today with 7 species added to the list Barnacle Goose/Brambling/Curlew/House Sparrow/Little Owl/Long tailed Duck/Red Kite

Birds at Hornsea: Barnacle Goose, Black headed Gull, Common Gull, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Great Black backed Gull, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Long tailed Duck, Mallard, Mute Swan, Pintail, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Wigeon

Birds at North Cave Wetlands: Blackbird, Blue Tit, Brambling, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, House Sparrow, Kestrel, Lapwing, Little Owl, Long tailed Tit, Pheasant, Pink footed Goose, Red Kite, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Teal, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (89/200)

Blue Tit

Brambling ♀

Brambling ♂

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Greenfinch ♂

Reed Bunting ♂

I was expecting sunshine today, but when I looked out this morning, it was all fog, and lots of it, the weather app was wrong again, but I was here so out I went, and my first port of call was the East Lea site, a members only site.

On arrival the fog was still hanging around, the pond was frozen over, only birds around the edge were Moorhen, birds in the air were, Herring Gulls, Woodpigeon, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren, Goldfinch, and Long tailed Tit. I moved on around to the Filey Dams site, but it was the same problem here as East Lea. Birds in the trees were Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, and Tree Sparrow.

According to the weather app the fog was supposed to burn off at about noon, so I decided on going into Filey and around the Country Park Area. Oystercatchers were the first birds I saw at the park but looking thru them I saw, Redshanks and a couple of Turnstones. After parking up I headed out towards Carr Naze, I left the camera, thought it was too misty. Around the cliffs were Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipits.

I then I went down on to the beach, the mist had started to lift, I was hoping to get under the fog. There were Sanderling running around the beach, I had a great time with these little birds, watching them run around and taking photos, they came so close. I then went on to bay corner were there were Redshank, Turnstone and Purple Sandpipers, but sadly the tide was coming in, so I had to retreat, so I went back to the car and dumped the camera for the scope. Scoping the bay I picked up on two Great Northern Divers, a Canada Goose, Herring Gulls, Great Black Backed Gulls, and a few Shag.

After this I moved on back to the Country Park and walked on to the Rocket Pole field, after a tip off, so I finished the day on a couple of Fulmars, Sparrowhawk and sadly a brief Short eared Owl

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Birds Seen East Lea/Filey Dams: Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Stock Dove, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren

Birds Seen Filey: Black headed Gull, Canada Goose, Common Gull, Fulmar, Great Black backed Gull, Great Northern Diver, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Oystercatcher, Purple Sandpiper, Redshank, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Sanderling, Shag, Short eared Owl, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Turnstone (82/200)

Filey Dams

Filey Brigg

Sanderling

Sanderling

Well I thought I would hit Tophill Low at opening time, which was 9am, unfortunately due to heavy motorway traffic it was just after 10am. Settling in and getting the gear together, I then decided on doing the ‘D’ reservoir, with the scope first.

Lots of wildfowl were present on ‘D’ reservoir, so I started scanning, Pochard, Wigeon, Goldeneye, Shoveler, Gadwall in smaller numbers were Coots, Cormorants, Mallard, Little and Great Crested Grebes, Greylag and Canada Geese, it wasn’t until after about an hour of scanning that I found the Male Smew, been a while since I’d seen one of these, so good connect again, it was about dinner time now, so I moved out, stopping at the feeders first seeing Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbird and Robin.

I went back to the car had some dinner and swapped scope for camera, then headed off towards the ‘O’ reservoir. I took in all the various hides on the way, but there was nothing present, I managed to see a flock of Goldfinch, Robin and Chaffinch, but nothing on the waters, due to the ice, also heard a Cetti’s Warbler.

The ‘O’ reservoir held a large amount of wildfowl, just like the ‘O’ reservoir, there were good numbers of Teal on here along with, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, a few Pintail and lots of Coots.

I then walked around the ‘O’ reservoir hides and had the same problem here as with the previous hides, ice. I also moved on to the Watton Hide , here I found birds, Teal, Mallard, Mute Swan and a Male Goosander. Moving on then back to the ‘D’ reservoir and the newer hide, but saw nothing new from here, so I moved onto the North Marsh Hide, bumping into a couple of Roe Deer on the way, it was ice free here, but no birds. I went back too the Reception Hide and the feeders , adding Dunnock and Treecreeper to the list.

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Birds seen at Tophill: Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Canada Goose, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Goose, Herring Gull, Little Grebe, Mallard, Mute Swan, Pintail, Pochard, Robin, Shoveler, Smew, Teal, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Wigeon (29) 68/200

Thought I’d go down to Old Moor, for a change, but mainly to get the bird tally up and running, and with the weather forecast for snow, I knew I wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.

The Tree Sparrow farm was the first port of call, with camera in hand, first glimpse around it looked like things had been updated a bit with new feeding areas, with new set ups, which looked a bit more photography friendly. There were a few photographers and a good selection of birds about with Pheasant, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, and Bullfinch.

My next move was the path down towards the Reedbed hide, down here I came across a few Redwings and a single Mistle Thrush. At the hide were Mute Swan, Gadwall, Wigeon, Little Grebe, a pair of Common Buzzard, Coot and Stock Dove.

My next port of call was the wader scrape hide, where I was hoping for Caspian Gull, unfortunately there were none, but on the mere were Herring Gull, Great Black backed Gull, and Black headed Gulls, also on the mere were Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Gadwall and Pied Wagtail.

The final hide of the day was Wath Ings hide, where I added Shelduck to the day list along with Little Egret, Grey Heron and Common Gull

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Bird List : Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Black backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Little Egret, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Stock Dove, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (41) (43/200)

Redwing

Bullfinch

Reed Bunting

Blue Tit