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| Black-headed Gull - A. Barrett |
Weather: Overcast and cool
Members and
friends: 25 Driver: Glenn
Twenty-five members took the trip to
Whisby Nature Park in Lincolnshire, with suitable precautionary measures in
place due to the Covid situation. The journey was uneventful, but we did manage
to spot half a dozen Red Grouse and the occasional Buzzard as we passed over
the Langsett Moors on the A628.
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| Tufted Duck - J. Wharton |
Arriving at the car park we walked up to
the visitor centre and viewed the adjacent Thorpe Lake. A couple of islands on
the lake held breeding Black-headed Gull, many of which had chicks present.
Over the lake a large group of Swifts fed, with single figures noted of Swallow
and House Martin.
Many members then headed to the path north
of Coot lake. We had been informed a Nightingale had been present in this
vicinity. On route we quickly picked up on singing Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow
Warbler and Garden Warbler. The Garden Warbler, usually a sculking species, gave
excellent views and we continued to the Nightingale location full of optimism.
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| Common Whitethroat - A. Barrett |
After a short period of walking up and
down the path the purported Nightingale was frequenting, we were alerted to its
presence by a short burst of distinctive song. We assembled around the offending
bushes. A further short burst of song followed and apart from a couple of our
group having excellent, but brief, views most of us only had fleeting glimpses
of the bird moving quickly through the undergrowth.
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| Wren - J. Wharton |
(Un)Fortunately one of the individuals who
did have excellent views was Fireman John who proceeded to spend the rest of
the day graphically recounting his lucky experience (it was like a fisherman’s
tale, by the end of the day the story had advanced to the bird singing its
lungs out whilst perched on the end of his finger!). No-one could deny the look
of joy on John’s face though from the experience.
For most of the group the frustrating
views of the Nightingale seemed to sum up much of the day, with many birds not
really playing ball and putting on a proper show. No doubt the cold overcast weather
did not help.
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| Greylag Goose - A. Barrett |
Walking on around the site we found
Great-Crested Grebe and Little Grebe on Willow Lake. Mute Swan and Tufted Duck
were in small numbers on most bodies of water. We had singles of Sparrowhawk
and Kestrel overhead and the occasional group of feral Greylag and Canada
Geese.
A couple of members were fortunate to hear
calling Cuckoo and singing Cetti’s Warbler. A Kingfisher was noted and there
was a brief view of a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Birds were obviously present but
with the distinct lack of sunshine nothing seemed to be in the mood to make
birding easy!
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| Carrion Crow - J. Wharton |
Teal Lake seemed to hold the majority of
different species with Lesser Whitethroat singing nearby (but again, not
showing itself). A Hobby put in a brief and distant appearance moving over the
trees at the rear of the lake. Over the water two Common Tern fished and there
were three Little Egret feeding in the shallows. Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Cormorant
and Grey Heron were also noted. A few gulls loafed in the shallows, with
Herring and Lesser Black-backed amongst the Black-Headed Gull. From a few small
areas of reed-bed a couple of Reed Warbler were heard singing.
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| Common Buzzard - A. Barrett |
Re-tracing our steps back to the visitor
centre we picked up most of the commoner tit species with occasional sightings
of both Gold and Greenfinch. A couple of Reed Bunting gave good views and the
final species of the day was a single Redshank amongst the Black-headed Gull
colony at Thorpe Lake.
We retreated to our plastic cells on the coach
and made the journey home to Stockport.
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| Mallard - J. Wharton |
Birds seen;
Total Species: 64
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