Jake's Progress: Jake Hill's Birding Blog

April 2010

Last month I mentioned I had seen my first Sand Martins of the year, during April I saw my first House Martins, Swallows and Swifts of the year. I always look forward to seeing these as they are a sign that summer is on its way. The actual first Swift of they year wasn’t a common one, it was something a little uncommon.

We had a trip down to Suffolk with PJ and our first stop was a sewage works at Kessingland where a Pallid Swift had been hanging around for a few days. The bird was showing very well when we got there and being the only swift in the sky it was easy to pick out! We watched it for a while and when the light hit it right we could make out it’s slightly paler colouring. So that was a nice easy tick for me. We checked out the sewage works where there were lots of Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings. In the trees were Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. Amongst the Pied Wagtails there was a White Wagtail. I hadn’t seen one before but once I’d got on it I could see the grey back and black head stood out rather than blending like a juvenile Pied does. There were some juvenile Pieds around to compare it with. Although not a tick it was an interesting bird to see. We’d gone to Suffolk with the hope of seeing the Lesser Kestrel but with no reports for a few days we headed to Minsmere. I’d not been here before so was looking forward to my first visit.

We had a good 4-5 hours there and walked just about the whole of the reserve. Amongst the usual ducks, gulls and waders were lots of summer plumaged Mediterranean Gulls and Black-tailed Godwits, Avocets feeding close to the hides and a few Ruff, Sanderling and Ringed Plover. After lunch we had close-up, but brief, views of Bittern and a summer plumaged Water Pipit fed on a small grassy island. Marsh Harriers hunted over the reed beds and a Peregrine circled high above us. I’d had a great day and hope to get back again soon.

One other surprise sighting for me happened when I was watching a video of Forest’s 97/98 Division 1 Championship season the other week. At the end of the game, as the players were going back into the dressing room, the door opened and who should be standing there handing out champagne? Our very own Newsletter editor, Howard!

March 2010

In March I went on my work experience at Attenborough Nature Reserve.

For most of the week I was building a path to the tower hide with various volunteers so when you walk down it make sure you think about the hard work I put in! The other days I was there I worked in the centre doing different things such as working on the shop till and making a fact sheet about fish that you could find on the reserve! Whilst working there I managed to get good views of a Bittern on Clifton Pond and my first Sand Martins of the year over the Sailing Lake. Thank you to Attenborough for having me for the week and thanks to Carl Cornish who originally got in touch with people to find the placement for me.

The weekend after my work experience Attenborough Nature Centre had a weather day so Notts Birdwatchers went to man the hides to find any migrant birds and point them out to the public.

Me and my dad went into the tower hide with Neil and Chris and during the day we managed to see 4 Sand Martins, a Peregrine, 6 Common Snipe and a male Pintail as well as all the usual birds that you would expect to see. This was the first Pintail we had seen at Attenborough. We also had Long-Tailed Tits, Great Tits and Chaffinches in the bushes right in front of us.

Towards the end of the month we went to Loughborough Town Hall to see a talk by Chris Packham which was very interesting especially when he was talking about dissecting various animals and birds when he was younger!

In the garden we think the Blue Tits or Great Tits are going back to our sparrow box because my mum has heard something tapping on it over the last few weeks.

December 2009

We started off last month by going to Rutland Water as we had seen reports of Long-eared Owls roosting there. At the visitor centre we asked where exactly they were and how to get there, once we knew where to go we walked to the area they were in. At first we couldn’t see anything because there were so many trees and bushes in front of the tree they were in, but eventually we managed to see them. I still don’t know how the person who found them did find them, they were so well hidden! On the way back to the car we went in all the hides to see what else was around but there was not much around only the usual wildfowl.

Our second trip out last month was to Holme Pierrepont with PJ to see the Great Northern Diver and to get some pictures of it. When we got there we looked around the part of the rowing course near the finish line and straight away we saw it on the water but it was on the other side of the course so we decided to walk round to the other side. As we were walking round it moved to where we had just been but it did eventually drift back over and I managed to get some photos of it. After some great views of the Diver we walked up the course to see if we could find the reported Smew up there and try and get a photograph of them. At the top of the course we did see a male and a female Smew but every time we got quite close they flew off and landed even further away. You may remember Smew had been a real bogey bird for me up until last winter and even now they like to give me the run around!

Our last trip out was to Wollaton Park with PJ and Mike Chapman to try and see Lesser-Spotted Woodpecker but we had no luck at all. There were plenty of Long-Tailed Tit flocks but no Lesser Spot within them. We did see a Great-Spotted Woodpecker and hear a Green Woodpecker plus Nuthatch and Treecreeper. We’ll be trying again over the next few weeks.

My British list now stands at 211 and my World list at 279, there’s still plenty more for me to see!

Garden Update:

This month the cold weather has brought a good choice of birds to the garden. We have had a male Bullfinch visiting the garden just about everyday, also Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Blackbird Mistle Thrush and a Wren.

November 2009

This month we decided to go and see the seals at Donna Nook as it was a good time to see them as they were pupping, we took my mum and my grandparents along with us. We got there at about 10 o’clock and already there were loads of people looking at the seals. On the beach there were lots of seals and quite a lot of pups. I managed to get some quite close up views and pictures of some pups that were right up next to the fence. There were also lots of placentas on the grass which did not smell very nice and showed that there were pups still being born. Apart from all the gulls that were hanging around scavenging on whatever they could find there were not many other birds just some Redshank, a few Starlings and a skein of Pink-Footed Geese that flew over. After the visit to Donna Nook we decided to go to RSPB Frampton Marsh for a look around the new reserve and to try and see a few more birds. We had a walk around and went into all the new hides, we saw a lot of wildfowl and waders, lots of Brent Geese and the day was finished off by having a cup a soup from the visitor centre whilst watching a pair of Barn Owls hunting over the reserve.

We had arranged to have a day out with PJ during the month and after checking Birdguides on the Saturday we headed off to Far-Ings in Lincolnshire for the Red-necked Phalarope that had been present for a few days. We arrived at the site around 08:30 and within 10 minutes we were having good close up views of the bird. We had seen a few in America last year but this was a new one for my British list.

Also at Far-Ings we saw Wigeon, Redshank, Shelduck and Curlew. After that we went to Blacktoft Sands to see some Water Pipits that had been reported. As we were walking to the visitor centre we saw loads of Lapwing and all of a sudden they all went up and a Peregrine flew over our heads. We headed straight for the hide the Pipits were reported from and quite quickly my Dad had them picked out through his binoculars. PJ got onto one in his scope and we all had good views of several of them feeding on the mud. A Meadow Pipit then showed well in front of the hide and we were able to compare the differences between the birds. Also from this hide we got amazing views of Marsh Harrier hunting over the reed beds. Apart from the harrier and the pipits there was not much else to see at the reserve, waders were very scarce, apart from 15-20 Snipe all huddled on a mud island. Our last visit of the day was to Carsington Water to try and see a Ring-billed Gull which had been seen in the roost there for a week or so. We walked down to the hide in the horrible weather to see the gull. At the hide no one had seen the bird but there was a Kingfisher that kept on landing on a rock right in front of the hide. It started to get dark and there was still no sign of the gull so we decided to head back to the car and call it a day. After the Phalarope and Water Pipits my British list now stands at 210.

October 2009

We went to the NBW Migration Day event at Attenborough during October to help out in one of the hides. It was pretty quiet from a birding point of view but we did manage to see Common Snipe, Kingfisher and Black-tailed Godwit.

Dave Parkin, who was in the hide with us, found a Cormorant with a ring on its leg. Between us we managed to read it as C4 and Dave, through his contacts at the BTO, got in touch with the man who originally ringed it. This was Gerard Debout who ringed it as a chick on the 15th May 2004 on the Chausey archipelago which is the southern most of the Channel Islands. It was seen three times in July and August of the same year in that area but not again since, until we saw it on the 11th August. I wonder where it has been in the meantime?

The following weekend we went out for the day with PJ with the main aim of seeing the Brown Shrike at Staines Moor. We got there at about 0800 and asked some other birders who were coming back how to get to the bird. Fifteen minutes later we were on the moor and the shrike was showing very well. We all got good views of it in PJ’s scope. A Dartford Warbler had been reported in the area behind where we were standing so we went off to look for that. There was no sign but there were plenty of Stonechats around as well as a Green Woodpecker. We then went to see if we could locate the famous “Rossi’s” Ring-billed Gull at Westcliffe-on-Sea. We had a good look around, there were one or two odd looking Common Gulls but nothing that looked right for our bird. However we did see a few med gulls, a new bird for me. I even managed to get a couple of nice photographs of one. On the way home we called in at Grafham Water as a Slavonian Grebe had been reported from there earlier in the day but we didn’t see it.

We managed 59 species altogether on the day, not bad as we didn’t do that much birding on foot.

The weekend after that trip we went up to Besthorpe for the NWT guided walk. We were led by Charles and Carl from the NWT. The weather was a bit grim and the birds were keeping a low profile. We did manage a Green Sandpiper, small groups of Redwing and a large flock of Greenfinch as well as a few Bullfinch. We also had good views of a buck Roe deer. Charles and Carl showed us the plans they have for this site which they hope will make it even better for birds in the future.

The next day we went off to Spain for a week. We had very nice, warm weather. The house we stayed in was very remote and very quiet, but we had plenty to look at! The first morning had Hoopoes and Spotless Starlings on the telegraph poles, Black Redstarts flitting around everywhere and numerous other birds, some we identified some we didn’t. What we did identify were loads of house sparrows, goldfinches, blackcaps and robins!

All week we kept seeing a small group of larks on the slope behind the house. Eventually, after a bit of tracking and a few distant photos and luckily one bird deciding to give us a bit of its song, we identified them as Thekla Lark. Later in the week we found a Crested Lark on the beach and this gave us a good close up of its longer bill compared to the Thekla.

Also on the beach we found a couple of Kentish Plovers whilst overhead we had various gulls including Slender-billed and Audouin’s. The odd Gannet passed by offshore and Sandwich Terns fished up and down the beach each day, flying over my head whilst I was in the sea! There were lots of Yellow-legged, Black-headed and a few Mediterranean gulls as well. Other trips out got us Black Wheatear, Crag Martin, Greater Flamingo, Black-winged Stilt and Avocet.

One evening we were having a walk around the local area when a crow-like call caught our attention. Two black birds were calling as they flew by in the distance, they weren’t crows, rooks or jackdaws. When we got back to the house we checked the Collins Bird guide on my PDA and the only thing that came close was Chough. A little later we heard the same call and this time they flew a bit nearer and this time we managed to get good views of their bright red bills. The last day at the house and early in the morning we got a really nice bird. At first we thought it was a Blackcap but its stance and head markings weren’t right. It then gave a call and a quick check of the PDA confirmed it was Sardinian Warbler. It then gave us a lovely view to confirm we were right.

The Spain trip added 13 new birds to my list and my UK list increased by two with Brown Shrike and Med Gull, not bad.

September 2009

On a Sunday afternoon in September me and my Dad had nothing to do at home so we decided to go to Attenborough to see what was around and also to get some blackberries. When we got to Attenborough we had a quick look at Church Pond, there were loads of Coots and a few Great-Crested Grebes in their winter plumage. Then we walked up between Coneries Pond and the railway line. We saw a gull sat on a buoy and at first we thought it was a Herring Gull because of the grey wings and the red spot on its bill, but then it stood up and it had bright yellow legs. Then we realised it was a Yellow-Legged Gull as it was not dark enough to be a Lesser Black-Backed Gull, luckily one flew over at the same time to enable a comparison.

We carried on walking and saw a couple of Grey Wagtails fly over and came across a small flock of Long- Tailed Tits and with them were a couple of warblers. We studied them for a while and identified them as Chiffchaff, rather than Willow Warblers, because of the tail flicking.

A bit further along we could see into the water treatment centre and saw the bizarre sight of Crows jumping over the arms spinning around the filter beds and from time to time one of them would sit on one of the arms and spin around for a while. We walked to the fields at the end (unfortunately part of Derbyshire!) and saw a Jay flying over with an acorn so we waited a while and eventually it flew back over the top of us again and then came back with another acorn, obviously stocking up for winter.

So a quick walk had given us a few interesting birds and a tub full of blackberries, which tasted lovely in the crumble I made! We also got out on our bikes up around the business park at the top of our road and then up into Strelley and then into Swingate. This turned up a few interesting birds including Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Skylark, Yellowhammer and Mistle Thrush as well as good numbers of Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws.

We want to do this on a regular basis and perhaps make the area our local patch. My bad luck in seeing a Sparrowhawk in our garden has continued. We have had three previous visits, all involving males, all of which I have missed. On the same day as our bike ride my Dad had seen a juvenile in the garden but it flew off before he had time to get a photograph of it. I was doing my paperround.

Later the same afternoon, whilst I was out playing football with my mates, my Dad went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea (to stop my mum nagging him!) and saw a male in the garden having massacred a Woodpigeon. This time he managed to get a photograph or two, one of which is with this article. Apologies for the quality but he’s still learning!

So five visits and all missed by me, one day my luck will change.

July/August 2009

During August we went to the Bird Fair at Rutland Water. We have been a few times before but this was easily the best one yet. We went through all the marquees looking at all the amazing photos and all of the places we would love to visit but haven't the time (or the money for some!) to go. The main thing we wanted to do was go to the Simon King talk and then get his book but it wasn't until 3 o'clock so we killed some time by looking at all the scopes and deciding which one we would have, if my mum would let us buy one! We also watched a ringing demonstration, the man doing it had a wren and up close it is amazing how small they actually are. After this we headed to the tent that Simon King was doing his talk in. As we got there we caught the end of the last event which was the Bird Brain of Britain quiz hosted by Chris Packham. After this was done we managed to find a spot at the back of the marquee to listen to Simon's talk. The talk lasted 45 minutes and was very interesting and entertaining. Afterwards we went to buy the book, Simon was signing the copies so I got to meet him, shake his hand and get my photo taken with him. Overall the day was very good and we got to see quite a few famous faces: Mike Dilger, Simon King, Johnny Kingdom, oh, and Neil!

Towards the end of August we visited the YWT nature reserve at Potteric Carr. We decided to go there as it as a new place for us to visit and the previous couple of days a Little Stint had been reported there and that would be a new bird for me and my dad. When we got there we looked on the sightings board and the Stint had not yet been reported that day but a Spotted Redshank had been. We have seen these before but hadn't got a good view so we were hoping to get a good view of one this time. In the first few hides there was not much to see except for a few Coots and Moorhens although my dad got a brief glimpse of a Kingfisher whizzing across the water before a train got in the way! When we got to one hide overlooking a scrape a man told us where the Spotted Redshank was, he showed us in his scope first and then we found it in our scope feeding in the water. We scanned the lake and there were the usual things, Mallards, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls and we also managed to spot two Little Ringed Plovers. A Common Snipe flew in and started to feed out in the open, but still no Little Stint. As we walked out of the hide there was a Kestrel hovering over a field and it was amazing to watch because it was quite windy and every so often it would stop flapping but continued to hover. Our next stop was at the Café where we had some lunch and then went in a hide that was next to the Café. Visible from here is a bird table that a Blue Tit kept visiting but only for a few seconds each time and then shot back into a tree, also there was a Robin, five Great Tits and a Chaffinch. The next and final hide we went in was quite good because we saw an adult Little Grebe feeding its one chick that still had a bit of a humbug look with its stripy head. Also there was a Mute Swan and a few Coots but the best thing was seeing a Stoat run right in front of the hide and then off into some thick grass. Overall the day was quite successful apart from we didn't see the Little Stint. When we got back to the visitor centre the board was being updated with sightings of the Stint and also a Montagu's Harrier, which we have seen before, but would have been nice to see again.

Garden Update

For fans of the Fast Show, this month we have mostly been seeing sparrows. There appears to be at least two family groups visiting on a regular basis, taking advantage of the seed and fat balls we put out. On my birthday earlier in August we had a visit from a male Bullfinch. It was around for a few days but has since disappeared. We checked back through our notebooks and in previous years, around the same time, we have had a visit from a male Bullfinch for a few days which then disappears until the following August. Has anybody else had similar behaviour from Bullfinches? We have had some young Goldfinches and a couple of Blue Tits visiting regularly as well as a number of Starlings. These seem to have started roosting in a neighbour's tree, they get quite noisy in the late evening! We have got rid of the bird table and have now got a feeding station to try and stop the Wood Pigeons from eating all the seed, they make quite good vacuum cleaners now clearing up all the dropped seed on the floor. We bought a Squirrel proof feeder whilst we were at the Bird Fair to try and stop the Squirrel from eating all the sunflower hearts as well as picking up some tips about using chilli powder, both appear to be working so far!

June 2009

It's been a busy couple of months in our garden. We have had loads of newly fledged birds visiting, Starlings, Blackbirds and Robins on the table and Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Blue Tits on the feeders. Also there have been occasions when we have had lots of Swifts and House Martins flying around over the garden and every so often a Swallow will appear.

Recently when I have been out on the estate I have seen a Sparrowhawk flying around. The last time I saw it I was on my bike when it dived into a nearby bush. I heard some fluttering in the bush then it flew out and landed on a fence that was right next to me. It hadn't caught anything and unfortunately I did not have my camera with me as it would have made a great photo. It was a grey/blue colour so presumably a male.

We've been to Attenborough a couple of times recently and had a look at the new hide.

Both me and my dad thought it was really good and in the future could be really useful. The hide is raised so you can look right across Clifton Pond and Tween Pond and see everything that is going on. There are also bushes and trees in front of the hide so once the birds get used to it and start to come to the trees you should be able to get great views and photographs of Wrens, Dunnocks and maybe even Whitethroats.

Every couple of weeks we get the RAF News because my brother is in the Air Cadets. My dad was reading it recently and came across an article that was about Ring Ouzels in the UK. It stated that the RAF Ornithological Society had recently discovered a bird on an island in Scotland and went on to say 'The last recorded sighting of a Ring Ouzel in the UK was in 1990' also their spokesman John Towers said 'Although the bird has been seen in other countries it has been years since there was evidence that it still exists in the UK'. My dad showed me this article and we were both really confused. I knew they were fairly common in the UK, we've seen one ourselves in Haweswater when we went to see the Golden Eagle there. I looked on the BTO website and found that last year there were 6900 breeding pairs so we think they might have made a tiny bit of a mistake with that! I think my dad might be writing to them so they know they are wrong!

May 2009

Sorry if you missed my article last month but we were decorating and the house was upside down and I was busy with school work so in this article I am including the last two month's news.

During the two months a lot has been going on in the garden. The Blackbirds fledged on Good Friday and we saw the two chicks being fed on the fence in the garden. House Sparrows have been bringing their young to our garden to be fed, this is really nice to see. We think the Dunnocks have fledged because we noticed that the adults had not been going in to feed them so we quickly looked at the nest and saw that it was empty. We expected to see them being fed in the garden but we did not see anything so we're not sure if they did fledge or if maybe a Magpie or cat took them. The Great Tits have also presumably fledged as we haven't seen the parents going to the box but we never actually saw the young. Last year we had Blue Tits in our Sparrow terrace, this year we have got Great Tits in our Sparrow terrace and we have never actually had Sparrows nesting inside it, so it should change its name to a Blue Tit and Great Tit terrace!

One night I stayed at my Mamma's and Granddad's house and we were sat outside and we saw a pair of Blue Tits look in one of their nest boxes so we stayed quiet and watched them look around then they flew off, but about 5 minutes later they came back and looked at the other nest box in the garden and then they flew off again. Then about 5 more minutes later they came and looked in the Sparrow terrace that is in the garden but then they flew off and it shows that Sparrow terraces should be for Blue Tits not Sparrows. In the end they settled for a box on their shed.

On the last Sunday of April my dad went out early to see the Whiskered Terns that were at Willington Gravel Pits in Derbyshire. I couldn't make it but when my dad got back and told me how easy they were to see and how nice they looked I asked him to take me later that day. We got there at about 5:30 and walked down to the pit trying to dodge all the gnats and flies! When we got to the pit there were a few people already stood on the platform so we walked down to the flat area to look for them and straight away a couple of them flew past us. We stood watching for them a bit before we moved and stood on the platform so we could get a better view. I tried to get some photos but they were too away and too fast and agile, I did get a good look at them through my binoculars though and they were very nice looking birds. On the way back to the car we saw various warblers flitting around and singing in the bushes and trees which was very pleasant.

In the middle of May we went to Bempton Cliffs mainly because my mum wanted to see some Puffins so we also took my Mamma and Granddad. When we got there the weather was not very nice at all. It was drizzling and windy but we still went out to the cliffs. Just walking along the cliffs you could see Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Gannets and the odd Fulmar. When we actually looked off the cliff we could see thousands of Guillemots, Gannets and Kittiwakes. We had to look very hard to try and find some Puffins but we did find some and got some quite good views of them. I got quite a lot of photos of just about everything that we saw including a Sedge Warbler that was sat in a bush next to the path singing away.

A few months ago my dad had booked a boat trip to go to the Farne Islands at the end of May and he also booked a campsite so we could stay up't' North for the weekend. We left our house at about 9 am on Saturday and on the way we stopped at RSPB Saltholme, the new reserve in Teeside, to stretch our legs and for a look around. There were a lot of Common Terns and also a few Redshanks and a Grey Heron. When we were walking to one of the hides we saw a Yellow Wagtail sat on a fence post. We were really surprised to see this, it looked really nice and very yellow. When we were sat in the hide we saw a Swallow sat on a fence 5 ft away from us, a great opportunity to study one at close range. However the highlight of the day was a Great White Egret, although it was a long way off we did have really good views of it. After an hour of looking around we went back to the car to have some lunch and then headed for the campsite at Budle Bay.

At the campsite we set up next to some woods with a stream running through it and so hoped over the weekend to see a Dipper but we didn't see one. There were Tree Sparrows around and lots of other birds, including a very loud Chiffchaff. Later on that evening we walked down to Budle Bay for a look around. First we stopped next to a road were you could see the whole bay. We scanned round with the scope and managed to see Oystercatcher, Pintail and a pair of Eiders. We'd seen these before but not a male in summer plumage so we were really excited.

We walked further up the road to another gap. We looked for about 10 minutes but there was no sign of the Eiders, just the Pintail that seemed to be hanging around with some Mallards! We carried on walking and came to a campsite which had a public footpath next to it that led to the beach, so we walked down the path. At the beach we sat on a grassy bank that faced the sea.

With the scope my dad found the pair of Eiders plus 2 more males and a female so now we were really pleased. We walked along the beach back to the road and then walked to the campsite. That night when I was asleep my dad said he heard a single Tawny owl ‘twitting’ to itself. The next morning we had a quick look in the trees to try and see it sleeping, but with no luck. We started early the next morning as the boat left Salthouses at 10 am so we got there for 9 am so we could park up and pay. While we were waiting for the boat we saw about 15 Eiders all at the same time so we were really happy to see this many. On the boat we could constantly see Puffins flying over the top of us.

Our first stop was on Staple Island and there we saw so many Puffins and Guillemots it was unbelievable. Also there were Shags sat on nests lees than 1ft away from us. Also we had to be very careful where we walked because there were female Eiders sat on nests all over the place and they are very well camouflaged. We were on the island for 2 hours and in that time we saw just about every sea bird you get on the coast in England and a Rock Pipit that had a beak full of flies.

The second island we visited was Inner Farne. The island with the evil Terns! As we got off the boat straight away we saw a pair of Eiders leading their 3 chicks towards the sea. There was a pair of Common Terns doing the courtship display on the beach. As we walked up the path there were Common and Arctic Terns sat on nests right next to the path. We walked between the two buildings to the toilet and when I walked through an Arctic Tern pecked my head, my dad took a photo of it as it did so and another Tern pecked his head. Serves him right really!

We walked up to the big white house at the top of the island and on the way took photos of all the Terns including some Sandwich Terns. Around the island there were the usual, Puffins, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Shags and Fulmars. When we were walking back in the direction of the boat we saw a Puffin in its burrow just poking its head out. We stood in a place where the Puffins were constantly flying over and we tried to get some photos of them but it was really difficult. After about 15 minutes of trying I think we only got 1 or 2 decent pictures out of about 50. Now we had to go back to the boat and head back to Salthouses. When we got off the boat we got something to eat and then walked down to the beach for a look around. We saw 35 Eiders including about 10 chicks, but you can never get bored of Eiders.

On the way back home we saw a Kestrel, the only one of the whole trip and didn't see any Buzzards.

During half term we went to Mablethorpe for the day even though the weather was awful. We walked down the beach and we saw loads of Common Starfish just lying around. There were quite a few birds on the beach, mainly gulls but also two Ringed Plovers and the best of the day two 2 Little Terns sat on the beach; this was good because it was another new bird for us. When we got further up the beach we decided to have a look around the Seal Sanctuary but it also has other injured animals there. There were some lovely male Kestrels and even an Emu but the best thing that was there was a Golden Pheasant.

So now Neil we have seen one (even though it wasn't in the wild!), just not at Wolverton.

So two new birds in the last couple of months and they were both terns, Whiskered and Little.

My bird list is now at 206.

March 2009

March started off with my Wildlife Trust Watch Group at Wollaton Park, luckily for me this month it was all about bird watching. During the previous watch group I offered to make a list, with pictures, of birds we might see easily such as Coot, Gadwall and Black-headed Gull as well as some that might be difficult to see such as Treecreeper, Green Woodpecker and Jay. We saw all but three of the birds that were on the list as well as a few extras including a Sparrowhawk.

Whilst we were at the lake we bumped into David Parkin who came over for a chat and told us he had heard a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker further around the lake. We had a good look and listen but without any luck.

Our garden has had an increase in visitors on the feeders. Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Chaffinch have been turning up almost daily to eat the sunflower hearts. We have been watching a pair of Dunnock taking nesting material into our passion flower bush and we think the Blackbirds are nest building in one of the bushes in the front garden as they did two years ago. We're not sure about the Blue Tits nesting again, we think they have been visiting the box but can't be certain. I'll keep you updated with nest news through the summer.

Talking of summer, just as I was coming home from playing football I saw my first summer visitor, a Swallow! This was on March 30th, the earliest I have ever seen one. It flew around above the houses then headed off south west. This was also the first time I have reported a bird myself onto the NBW phone line.

February 2009

This month we didn't go out much because we didn't have much time spare.

At the start of the month we went out for the day to try and see Brambling and Little Owl. We started the day looking for Brambling at a place near Kilvington. We waited there for about 45 minutes but there was no sign of anything except for 5 Buzzards all in flight at the same time which we thought was very unusual.

Next after not seeing the Brambling we to try and see the Little Owl near Kilvington Lake but we couldn't see anywhere where it could have been seen because all the bushes had been chopped down. We drove up and down the road and there was nothing else about so we headed home. On the way back we stopped to look at a field that had about 50 Fieldfare in it and a flock of Golden Plover flying around.

During the cold weather we had recently more birds seem to come to the garden. Blackbirds came more often and there were more of them, also we had Greenfinch and Goldfinch in bigger numbers.

This month was not a very good one for birding because of all the snow and cold weather but it was quite good for me because I got a day off school!

January 2009

This month our first trip out was to Colwick Park because a Smew was reported there so obviously we went for a look. We got to Colwick around 10:30 and as we walked down to the lake we hoped it would be right there in front of us but of course it wasn't. We scanned the lake for 15 minutes before walking round to the next lake in case it had moved. When we got to the lake there was plenty of Common Gulls and Black-Headed Gulls but there was also one Lesser Black-Backed Gull which turned out to have a ring on it's leg, so we wrote down the number, the colour and which leg it was on (JPE1, blue, left leg) and that night my dad went on to the BTO website and put in the details and a week later he got an e-mail back saying it was ringed in Rauna, Farsund, Vest-Agder, Norway during the summer of 1999 when it was a chick and has previously been seen by Mark Dennis and Andy Hall at Colwick Park.

After our trip to Colwick Park we went to Barton to see the Bewick's Swan's and the Ruddy Shelduck. We knew the birds would be easy to see and they were. We had to scan through about 20 Swans to try and see the 4 Bewick's Swans and when we found them we got good views. The Ruddy Shelduck was in a nearby field and as soon we walked round the corner it stuck out like a sore thumb so we got the scope on it and had a good look at it. After this we decided to go and try and see the Corn Buntings at Clifton. As we pulled up we saw a flock of birds flying around so we quickly got out our binoculars and had a look but they had gone behind a mound so we went round the side of the mound to try and see them but they were not there so we waited to see if they turned up. We kept on seeing flocks of Linnets but then a bird flew up into a tree behind us, we got our binoculars on it and could tell straight away it was a Corn Bunting and a few minutes later it was joined by several more.

We decided to go out for a day to Norfolk and our first stop was at Salthouse where we managed to see and get photographs of Turnstones and Snow Buntings and also around was some Wigeon, Teal and a Dunlin. On the beach was a single Glaucous Gull which we got great views of. We then decided to head to Titchwell but on the way we stopped at Holkham Pines for a look around. There was plenty of Pink Footed Geese but unfortunately no White-Fronted Geese. We walked down to the beach but there was not much around so we walked back up to the hide for a look. At the hide there was not much around except for a pair of Shelduck. Then we went on to Titchwell because there had been a Jack Snipe reported there. When we got there we looked at the sighting board to see what was around and it said there had been a Jack Snipe reported that day so that got our hopes up a little bit. We walked up to the beach and on the way saw Snipe and had great views of Bearded Tit. At the beach we saw Sanderling, Oystercatcher and what we thought was a Red-Throated Diver out at sea. On the way back down we went into all the hides for a look. We saw Ruff, Pintail, Golden Plover, Shelduck and Teal.

Just before we got to the shop a warden told us he had seen a Water Rail underneath a log and there it was running around. Before we left we looked round the shop and my dad bought a book that was £2.50 and should have been £50, all the way home he kept going on about how cheap the book was so I stopped listening and fell to sleep! Towards the end of the month there was a Smew reported at Holme Pierrepont so obviously we went for a look. When we turned up there was somebody already there but he had not seen it yet so we started to have a look. Then the man spotted it and my dad found it in the scope and we actually saw a Smew, so now we believe all of you that Smew do exist!

We did the garden bird watch but there was not much around so afterwards we cleaned out the bird boxes ready for this year, also we converted one of our boxes into a Robin box because we had seen a Robin looking inside it. We also refilled all our feeders and later in the day we were lucky enough to see a male Blackcap in the Buddleia. A nice end to the month.

December 2008

This is my final article for this, my first year of writing for the newsletter. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading them as much as I've enjoyed writing them and hope that you continue to enjoy them next year. Thank you to all those people who have encouraged me along the way. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Now onto the birds.

On Saturday 15th November my Dad and I left home just before 05:00 and headed off to Lincolnshire, stopping in Mapperley on the way to pick up PJ. Dad and PJ had been planning the trip for a couple of weeks and the day before had come up with a plan to try and see 4 good birds. These were the Desert Wheatear and Steppe Grey Shrike in Lincolnshire and the Pied Wheatear and Two-barred Crossbill up in North Yorkshire. This is why I had been dragged out of my warm bed so early!

As we got near to the coast we had great views of two Barn Owls, one sat on a post and one hunting over a field. We got to the beach at Saltfleet just as the sun came up. We found the spot where the Desert Wheatear had been the previous few days and as the tide went out saw the corrugated metal that the bird had been seen on. We waited, and waited. Then waited a bit more; but nothing. Not a sign of it anywhere. PJ had mentioned in the car that the previous night there had been a full moon and had wondered if that might help the bird move on. It looked as though he was right. Whilst we were waiting a flock of about 100 Brent Geese flew over us and out at sea we saw a skein of Pink-footed Geese heading south presumably to Norfolk.

After about one and half hours we gave up and went to see the Steppe Grey Shrike at Grainthorpe Haven. We eventually found the farm down a narrow track, parked the car, put some money in the donation box, and walked down the track towards a group of people with binoculars and cameras. The shrike was pointed out to us, perched on a bush in the distance. We got a fairly good look at it through PJ's scope but were really keen to see it close up. People around us were saying that a few minutes before we got there the shrike had been down on the ground hopping around their feet! As we waited the bird slowly moved closer to us following a path and a line of small bushes. As it got nearer people moved around the field to get closer views, we decided to stay where we were hoping that it would come to us.

After 20 minutes of waiting and watching people get really close views of it we decided to walk round to the bird. As we got to the bush it was in, it flew out and then landed on a branch right in front of us, less than two metres away. We got a few photos of it and then we just stood and admired what a good-looking bird it was. It didn't seem bothered at all by all of the people stood around looking at it. After 10 minutes or so it flew down between us into the field before flying off to another bush further down the path. We did some research into this bird when we got home to find out where it had come from. You all probably know this but I found it interesting, Steppe Grey Shrike is a form of the Southern Grey Shrike and is usually found in Central Asia, in places like Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Obviously it fancied a trip to the seaside!

We now had a problem, because we'd spent so long waiting for the wheatear and then so long admiring the shrike that we were running out of time. PJ checked BirdGuides for news of the Pied Wheatear and Crossbill in North Yorkshire and both had been reported that morning. We were still hopeful that the wheatear at Saltfleet would turn up and as there was a report of a Glaucous Gull at Donna Nook we decided to stay in Lincolnshire and not make the long drive up to Yorkshire. At Donna Nook we parked in the car park with all the people who'd come to look at the Grey Seals and their pups. We walked over the dunes and had great views of the seals; we'd never been to see these before so this was a real treat.

My Dad soon picked out what he thought was the gull and sure enough the view through PJ's scope confirmed this. But the only problem was that the bird was quite far away so we couldn't get any decent photos of it but we got some great photos of the seals and their pups.

Now we headed back to Saltfleet but had a quick stop at Howden's Pullover on the way. It was a bit quiet here but there were plenty of Golden Plover and Lapwing either side of the track. As we parked up at Saltfleet we saw some people looking at something through their scope. They let me have a look and there sat on a post was a Short-eared Owl. Just as my dad got to have a look it flew off and came towards us and landed on a bank so we slowly walked down to where it had landed. We couldn't see it but then we noticed another one flying around near a tree so we started following that one. When it got too far away we stopped following it and went back up to the beach to try and see the Desert Wheatear but it wasn't there and hasn't been reported since.

It was starting to get dark so we thought it would be a good idea to hang around to see if we could see any more owls. We didn't see the Short-eared Owl again but we did see a Barn Owl hunting over the marsh and a Hen Harrier flew past us fast and low.

We decided to head back home and once again had great views of another Barn Owl hunting over a field by the side of the road, It followed us as we drove along! That made four Barn Owls for the day. It was a great day with some real nice birds. We saw 40 different species including two new ones, the shrike and the Glaucous Gull. Bird of the day was easy, the fantastic shrike! The drive home passed quickly as I managed to catch up with some sleep and the day finished off on a real high point as we listened to the football commentary and heard Lee Camp save a last minute penalty for Forest to get a draw at Bristol City!

November 2008

Recently I have been asked by my old primary school head teacher to write an article for the schools PTA magazine about why, and what, we should feed the birds during the winter and it got me thinking about the birds that I see in our garden. Now it is autumn and getting close to winter I have been seeing some birds we don't really see during the summer. Lots of Jays flying over, Coal Tits visiting our feeders and Mistle Thrushes eating our rowan berries.

I also started wondering why you see more of the common birds during the winter than in the summer, even those that don't migrate. I did some research and found it is because some of these birds, like Blackbirds and Starlings, do actually migrate here from Scandinavia for the winter to take advantage of the warmer climate. Also if there are not many berries on the trees over there certain species move here in large numbers, Waxwings being a good example. Lets hope for a Waxwing winter this year!

This month there have been many different birds reported around the UK for example a possible Little Blue Heron in Wales and a Green Heron in Kent but we have not had the time to go and see either of them, yet, so instead we went to try and see the Lesser Scaup at Holme Pierrepont. We pulled up at the gate at around 07:15 because it had been reported the past few mornings at 07:30.

As we were scanning across the lake we saw Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Pochard, Little Grebes and Coots but there was no sign of the Lesser Scaup. We kept on looking for about another 45 minutes and we still didn't see it. A Kingfisher flew low across the water and a Great Spotted Woodpecker hopped around in a tree. It was getting close to 08:30 and my dad had to go to work (It was half term so I wasn't at school!) so we got going without seeing the Lesser Scaup. When my dad got home from work he said that it hadn't been reported all day so it looks like it had moved on, if only we'd gone 24 hours earlier!

Earlier in the month we went to Attenborough for the Migration Day event. We visited the Kingfisher Hide and met some of the NBW volunteers, Lynne and Ron Demaine and Kev Hutchby to name a few. Although the birding was quiet it was nice to spend a few hours in the hide chatting to everyone but the real highlight (his words not mine) was meeting Howard; what a legend!

October 2008

This month we had 2 attempts to go on the RSPB bird cruise from Bridlington. We've been on it for the last 3 years but this year both of them got cancelled because of bad weather. The first attempt was cancelled whilst we were on the boat because all of a sudden a real thick fog came in and the skipper cancelled it for safety reasons. The second time it got cancelled the night before due to the forecast being poor. Just before the fog came in the first time I at least got a new bird, which was Sandwich Tern. It was great watching them diving around everywhere. After the boat trip had been cancelled we decided to go somewhere else so we went for a walk at Spurn Point. We went in a couple of hides and when looking out of one of them we got a new bird for the UK, a Whimbrel, it was a bit distant but through the telescope we could tell the difference between it and some nearby Curlews.

Towards the end of the month we went to Budby to look for Common Crossbill. It took us, surprisingly, 10 minutes to find them but it took us an hour to actually see them properly and identify them. We kept seeing, and hearing, them but they were flying in front of the sun so we could not see them properly so we moved. Then they landed in a tree near to us and about 1 minute later they flew in front of us. Thanks to Trevor Pendleton for providing us with the directions.

With these 3 new birds my British bird list is up to 193 so only 7 new birds to see by the end of the year to reach my target of 200.

Just before I started to write this article I was thinking what I would write about because we had not done much birding but then I thought you do not really have to travel or try hard to see birds, for example when I was on my paper round the other day I saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker. On the park with my granddad recently I saw a Sparrowhawk hunting over the local gardens and this last weekend two Jays flew over my back garden. And then there are the Goldfinch, House Sparrows, Starlings, Blackbirds, Dunnocks, Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons which are daily visitors to my back garden. It can be quite easy at times to see nice birds.

September 2008

As I told you in my last article I have been to America on holiday with my family, well now we are back and we wish we were still there, we really enjoyed it.

The first full day we were there we went to a pond near my mum's auntie's work, the South Bayside Water Treatment facility in San Francisco Bay. The pond was full of birds: Willet, Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Dowitcher, Black Skimmer and Black-crowned Night Heron. We have seen a Night Heron before at Gibraltar Point but it was a blob in the distance, here we had fantastic close up views. Most of them were juveniles like the one in my photo. We also saw lots of Snowy Egrets and American Avocets, a few Forster's Terns, White Pelicans (which are quite rare in the SF Bay area), Black-necked Stilt and many more.

We stayed at my mum's auntie's house and from there we saw some really nice birds like Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch and Lesser Goldfinch. Also we saw Anna's Hummingbird that was really nice. We went to a place just down the coast called Half Moon Bay and there we saw Brown Pelicans, a Common Loon and a small flock of Surf Scoters. Also if you remember I told you I was going on a whale watching trip and we had a whale of a time! We set off from Monterey Bay harbour at 09:00 and for the first hour or two we did not see any whales because we were not out far enough but we did see a Sea Otter and a lot of California Sea lions. When we had got out far enough we heard a report of Humpbacked Whales so the skipper headed towards where they were and when we got there we had absolutely great views of them and as they dived we saw great views of their tails. In between watching the whales we had great views of lots of birds including Red-necked Phalarope, Pink-footed and Sooty Shearwaters and best of all a Black-Footed Albatross! We also saw two different kinds of dolphin, Risso's and Pacific White-sided. Before we had to go back we saw the whales again and a small flock of Sabine's Gulls and an Elegant Tern. When we had got off the boat we got something to eat and sat down by the harbour and were rewarded with close views of a Western Scrub Jay and a few Brewer's Blackbirds and Heermann's Gulls.

The next time we saw some new birds was when we were travelling to Las Vegas. We had stopped at some services and as soon as we got out the car we saw two Great-tailed Grackles. They were really nice and when they walked into the sun they turned a green colour like Magpies do. We also came across a couple of these noisy birds in a tree on the strip in Vegas! After the madness of Vegas we went to a little Danish town called Solvang. One morning we went to the beach and on the way we stopped because we saw a bird on a wire and some birds flitting around between Now it was time to head back up to Pacifica but the new birds kept on coming. We had been travelling for a couple of hours so we decided to have a stop and what a good decision that was, two different Raptors put in an appearance, an American Kestrel and a Cooper's Hawk. My mum spotted the Cooper's Hawk perched on top of a building, as we watched it dropped down on a small bird and then flew back up and started plucking it right in front of us. My brother spotted the American Kestrel perched on top of a lamppost and we got amazing views of it before it was mobbed by other birds and flew off. Our next stop was at San Simeon Bay where we saw the usual gulls and a Black Phoebe perched on a tap! I managed to get quite a nice photo of it. A couple of Whimbrel flew in and landed on the beach, another new bird for us. A bit further up the coast there was an Elephant Seal viewing point so we stopped for a look. As the name said there was Elephant Seals and hundreds of Ground Squirrels running around the car park. On the beach a couple of seal carcases had attracted a flock of Turkey Vultures and the smell was awful! When we got close to Pacifica we saw a White-tailed Kite hovering over the top of a field. It was really nice and we knew straight away what it was due to its unmistakable white tail and wings. As we got close to Pacifica we saw a lot of Red-tailed Hawks just sat on posts at the side of the road and a few soared over the top of us, pretty much like the Buzzards do back home.

Back at Pacifica we had a walk along Sharp Park Beach and climbed up to Mori Point. This walk produced a few new birds, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe and Black Turnstone. On the beach there was a flock of 22 Elegant Terns and Ravens and Brown Pelicans were everywhere as usual!

We had one last opportunity to see some new birds when we went a walk through Purisima Creek Reserve. It was amazing walking through the huge Redwoods, unfortunately we had somehow managed to leave our binoculars behind so bird identification was difficult but we did manage to identify Steller's Jay and Wrentit.

In total we saw 70 species just about all of which were new birds for me, the complete list is below. It was a great holiday, and without much effort we saw some great birds. In true NBW style I suppose I should name a bird of the trip but to be honest they were all really good and I can't choose one above all the others.

July/August 2008

This month's article is shorter than normal because we have been busy with other stuff and there hasn't been much birding to do. Unfortunately we missed out on the best bird, the Caspian Tern, at Collingham Pits.

Garden bird update: In June we had 3 Bullfinch in the garden, a male and 2 female, we've had them before but not very often. Also our Blue Tits in the nest box fledged successfully. We didn't see them fledge but we saw some chicks in the tree on our front garden and saw the adults going in and out of it feeding them. Recently I brought a new camera and about a week ago I was in the garden taking photos of birds when I saw a raptor of some sort soaring over the garden. I took a lot of photos of the bird because I didn't know what it was, later on when my dad got home I showed him the pictures and his first thought was a Honey Buzzard. We sent some pictures to Andy Hall and Neil Glenn and they cannot identify it for certain but they both think it may be a Goshawk. Andy has now put the picture on Bird Forum to see if anyone can identify it. Have a look and see if you can help out.

In June dad and I went to see the Black-winged Stilts in Cheshire. Sadly when we got there the RSPB people said that one of the chicks died the week before but we saw the other chick and both adults. We had great views of the chick and adults and the RSPB people were very helpful when they were showing us where the birds were. My next article will be longer than normal! We are going to America for 3 weeks on holiday. We'll be visiting my Great Granddad in California, he's a birdwatcher as well so I am looking forward to seeing him. We are going on a whale-watching trip from Monterey Bay, hopefully we'll see a lot of birds as well as whales! There will be a lot of photos as well because I am taking my new camera with me, I'll share some with you later.

June 2008

The Blue Tits seem to going back and forth so we think there might be chicks, which would be great if there was; I'll keep you updated. Also we have noticed a Crows nest in a conifer near our garden and my dad has set up the telescope so we are keeping an eye on them. Unfortunately there has not been a Crow on the nest for a day or two so we think the chicks inside the eggs have died.

Last week when I was walking to school I saw 2 Buzzards soaring quite near our estate and then that evening when I was at the park I saw the 2 Buzzards soaring in the same place but I have not seen them since. We have had many chicks in the garden, Blackbird, Starling and Sparrow chicks (Sadly the Sparrows are not from our sparrow terrace!)

On the first May bank holiday weekend we went away for the Sunday and Monday. On Sunday we went to Ullswater for a walk around the lake. The weather was nice at first but then it started to rain on and off. It was a very nice walk going through woods and villages and going up and down hills, I would recommend it very much. (It is in the Lake District.) During the walk we saw 30 birds and heard a Cuckoo and a Chiffchaff. My highlight bird was a Dipper that kept on flying under this bridge we were standing on and landing on a rock. We also saw a Yellowhammer that looked really nice and it was singing it's little bit of bread and no cheese song!

On the Monday we went to Lytham St Anne's to see the Ross's Gull that had been around for a week or two. We were there for an hour and a half and there was no sign of it, we left because we also had other plans for the day. When we got home that night dad and me looked on bird guides and guess what we left at 11:10 and it turned up at 11:15 can you believe it because we can't!

Now for some good luck for us. When me and dad found out there was a Garganey at Attenborough our first thought was let's go see it before it goes so on a Tuesday night off we went to Attenborough. When we got there a man said he had seen it, so we went to where he said it was. At first we couldn't see it then I spotted it. We were looking at it for a while and it was a lovely new bird for me. We then went for a walk down to the Trent and at last managed to see a Garden Warbler as well as lots of other warblers.

And back to the bad luck. When a Cattle Egret was reported at Attenborough on the first Saturday of the month we didn't know about it until late because we were down at the City Ground watching Forest get automatic promotion. We kept checking where it was during the following week because it flew to Lound. All week it was reported as being at Lound so on Saturday we got up to go and see it and it was not there! We waited about 2 hours and it didn't come back that day or ever again so we missed it and it is not the first time that has happened. We were lucky enough to see 3 Hobby's in the sky over us at the same time though. On the second bank holiday weekend me, Dad and PJ went to Norfolk for a day out. We went to Lakenheath Fen, Weeting Heath and Titchwell Marsh. First we went to Lakenheath Fen to try and see the Golden Oriole, but we didn't see any. As we got close to where the Oriole usually are we thought we heard one singing in the trees but we couldn't see it so we stayed for about 15 minutes to try and see it but it didn't come out of the trees. We carried on walking past where the Oriole usually are and up to the little hide. When we got there we were looking over a little pond. After about 5 minutes a Kingfisher flew in and landed on a stick that was in the water and my dad was really annoyed that he didn't bring his camera. We saw a Marsh Harrier flying over the reeds and PJ stayed on it and all of a sudden he shouted “CRANE!” Dad and me got our binoculars on it and that was another new bird for us. Before we left the hide we saw a Bearded Tit and then we heard some Cranes and then all of a sudden they flew out from behind a bush and landed in the reeds. After that we headed back to the car because it started to rain and then we were off to Weeting Heath.

When we got to Weeting Heath the rain was still hammering down so we went into the visitor centre. The reason we had gone to Weeting Heath was to see the Stone Curlews. The lady in the visitor centre said the Stone Curlew's change over was at about 11:00, the time now was 10:50 so we went to the hide quickly. On the way we passed a nest box with a Spotted Flycatcher in it which she had also told us about, another new bird for me. We were in the hide for about 1.5 hours but there was no sign of the Stone Curlews but we did see a Stoat, Woodlark and some Wood Pigeons having a shower! Just before we left PJ had a text message saying there was a Temminck's Stint at Titchwell so off we went.

At Titchwell it was really windy so we did 't think the stint would show but it did. In the second hide there were a lot of people but no one could see it. Then when a warden came in he sat down and said “Temminck's Stint”, we all got our scopes and binoculars on it. We had been uncertain if we would be able to identify it but it was sort of obvious as it couldn't be anything else. Another new bird for me. After we saw the Stint we headed home. Overall we saw 67 birds that day including 3 new birds. Overall in the month I saw 5 new birds taking my total up to 189. My target is to reach 200 by the end of this year.

Hopefully next month I will have more new birds to tell you about, as I write this we are planning a trip to Cheshire to see the breeding Black-winged Stilts.

May 2008

Before I tell you what I've been up to since the last Newsletter I would like to say thank you to everyone who has made such nice comments about my articles. Special thanks go to Nigel Slater for his words of encouragement in his last article. Knowing that people are reading, and taking an interest, in my articles makes me very proud. Thank you.

Garden Bird Update: If you remember last month I told you I had put up two bird boxes and a sparrow terrace. We now have Blue Tits nesting in one, not one of the individual boxes though but in the sparrow terrace! They were very busy for the first 10 days or so taking nesting material up to the box, as can be seen in the photo. For the last week or so we have only seen one around, making brief visits to the box, perhaps the female is incubating the eggs. Let's hope it is, I'll update you next time.

Last month Mike Leatherland asked for reports of birds in our gardens. I live in NG16 as well, but Nuthall not Kimberley. Our garden bird list has recently gone up to 30 when a heron (unfortunately only a grey one!) landed on the back fence. This total of 30 is the number of birds that have actually been in the garden, so if we included “fly-overs” it would go over 40. My garden highlights would be the Coal and Blue Tits we get.

I've also had a few other local trips out and have now seen my first Common Terns of the year as well as my first House Martins, Swallows and Swifts, it now feels like summer! My Dad got permission to take me onto the Boots site, where he works, to look for a Grasshopper Warbler he had seen and heard reeling. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very good and although I heard it reeling I didn't see it. A couple of days earlier we had heard one at Attenborough but again couldn't see it. My dad has recently heard one again at Boots so we're going to try again, wish me luck!

NWT Guided Walk — Besthorpe: It's 4am, it's dark, I'm tired, I'm wondering what I'm doing up so early, on a Sunday, and the weather is forecast to be wet, it must be another NBW trip! We set off just before 5 and headed for Besthorpe to meet up with other NBW members and Carl Cornish from NWT who was to lead the walk. By 6am a small group of NBW members had been joined by Carl and so off we went to do the first part of the walk. This covered an area which included scrub, farmland, an old reed bed and the banks of the River Trent. We saw lots of different birds such as Blackcap, Yellowhammer, and Yellow Wagtail. We also saw (or heard) various warblers such as Willow and Garden (or was it Blackcap!), Common and Lesser Whitethroat and Chiffchaff. I've yet to see a Garden Warbler and unfortunately it refused to show, although with the stories that Neil and Carl were telling it may have turned out to be a Blackcap anyway! The best bird we saw in this area was a male Wheatear which we had great views of as it perched on a bush, then a fence, and then fed on the ground in front of us. Also in this area I caught a brief view of a Turtle Dove, this was a new bird for me and Dad and we were determined to get a better view.

The second part of the walk took us around the lake area and also into the gravel pits. Carl had been up in the area the previous day and had seen Ringed and Little Ringed Plover on the pits and was hopeful they were still around. They were and so we took notice of the differences between them, such as the orange base to the bill of the Ringed and the yellow orbital ring of the Little Ringed. Another lesson in bird id completed.

While walking around the pits we saw the unusual courtship display between two Shelducks, including the strange call from the male. Very odd! We had been hearing a Cuckoo and eventually saw two of them in the same tree. Although a bit of a distance away with the use of PJ's scope I got a fairly good view. We also got another brief view of a Turtle Dove as it flew over, not the view we wanted though. There were lots of Swallows and House Martins and at least one Sand Martin, more warblers, Yellow Wagtails, Pied Wagtails and even a Mandarin.

By now it was getting on for 11am and so we headed back to the car park, still determined to get a good view of a Turtle Dove. As we walked back around the lake we suddenly heard the “turrrrrr” “turrrrrr” of one calling, Carl had already got his scope on it so at last we got the view we wanted.

By the time we got back to the car we had been walking for 5 hours and had seen almost 70 birds. Only the Turtle Dove was new but even so it was a great morning. Oh, and the weatherman got it wrong, no rain just warm sunshine. Thanks to everyone for their company and pointing things out to me and for the use of their scopes and also to Carl for leading the walk.

April 2008

In my last article I told you about the bird boxes we put up. Nothing has gone in any of them yet but there seems to be a House Sparrow going in and out of a gap in our roof. The gap is right next to my bedroom and I heard one of them when I woke up the other morning so I think that they are going to make a nest in our roof. The other news with the sparrows is that they have attracted a Sparrowhawk. We often see one flying around but the other day one flew into a bush on the front garden, scattering sparrow and blackbirds everywhere. Unfortunately I wasn't there to see it myself but my dad told me about it. It went into the bush, climbed down through it and popped out onto the driveway. It then flew off, without a meal. At the beginning of March me, my dad and my Granddad went to Colwick Park to try and see the Smew that was reported to be there but we did not see it and that's not the first time we have missed a Smew, when it was reported at Holme Pierrepont we went and it wasn't there then it was reported at Colwick Park we went to see it and guess what is wasn't there. I hope to have better look next time when I am looking for Smew.

The reason my grandad went with us was because he as sort of the reason I got into bird watching because he is a bird watcher as well. One of the best birds we saw, and my highlight of the trip, was a Great Spotted Woodpecker. We had a couple of trips to Attenborough during the month. Some of the highlights were male and female Red-crested Pochard, our first Sand Martins of the year, our largest ever flock of Ruddy Duck (15!) and a couple of Shelduck. On the first trip we also saw a duck that we thought was a Garganey but weren't entirely sure. Even when checking bird guides and photos we still weren't sure, oh well! On the second trip to Attenborough we took my dad's camera and I tried a bit of bird photography. A couple of the photos appear in this article I also had my first trip to Clumber Park. We didn't see any new birds but still had a good time and had great views of some nice birds. One of the first things we saw was a Nuthatch, we watched it for a while and then it joined another Nuthatch and passed what looked food to it. I think it must have been a pair and this perhaps is part of the courtship. Whilst walking around the Chapel area we had really good close ups of lots of Chaffinches. Also we saw lots of Song Thrushes, on one grassy area we counted five, the most I've ever seen together.

After Clumber we went to the Welbeck Raptor watch point. This was our first trip here, but it won't be our last. Although we only saw one raptor, a Kestrel, we were amazed at the close up views of the different tits and finches that were feeding on the nuts and seed that people had put out on the fence. We even had a visit from a Great Spotted Woodpecker, this was our closest view of this species we've ever had. Next time I'll take the camera, and birdseed, with me!

That's it for this month, see you next time!

March 2008

I want to start by saying I hope you enjoyed my last article. From now on I am going to be writing a monthly article about what I did in the previous month and what birds I have seen.

In January we did the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch but it was very quiet in the garden with only a couple of Blackbirds, Dunnocks and Woodpigeons seen. The first time we did it the garden was exploding with birds even seeing Blackcap and Reed Bunting but the last 2 years it has been very quiet due to the mild winters. To try to get more birds into the garden we've put up two bird boxes and a House Sparrow terrace. I'll keep you updated on what happens!

On the 2nd of February I went to my monthly wildlife watch group at Wollaton Park. We talked about what hibernated, what migrated and what stayed in England. After about 15 minutes on that subject we went out onto the park to try and find different seeds and leaves. While everyone was looking around under the trees I spotted a Jay fly into the top of a tree. I told my dad and he got it in his scope and everyone came to have a look at it.

I've been asked if I want to do the Gold Award with the group and will be finding out what this involves at the next meeting. On the 9th of February my dad and I went to Colwick Park for a walk around. We stopped and looked at the first lake to see what was around and obviously we saw Mallard, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan and the other usual lot. We stopped at that lake for about 10 minutes before walking on to the next lake. As we approached the lake the first thing we noticed was the huge flock of gulls. We checked them out to see what they were; there was Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Great Black- Backed Gulls and Lesser Black-Backed Gulls. We stayed there for a little while and just as we were about to leave a Little Grebe appeared out of nowhere so we stayed a little longer and then all of a sudden another Little Grebe appeared out of nowhere. On the way back we went through a little wooded area where we saw about half a dozen Redwings. A few minutes later my dad spotted a Great Spotted Woodpecker but as usual I couldn't see it but then it flew down into a tree where we had great views of it.

Next month we want to try and get out more because the last month we didn't get out much and hopefully we'll see some new birds. I'll let you know how we get on in the next newsletter.

February 2008

My name is Jake Hill and I will be writing a monthly article for the newsletter. I will be writing about things I have been up to and places I have been. This is my first one about our trip to Norfolk on a Notts Birdwatchers minibus trip, Hope you enjoy.

Trip to Norfolk: Sunday, 20th January 2008

I had to get up very early, so did mum because she had to take dad and me to the Priory Island so we could get the minibus. It was a long trip to Kings Lynn (I had a snooze!) where we had a break to stretch our legs and go to the toilet. When we got going again we went to Cley-next-the-Sea to see the White Crowned Sparrow. There were about 60-70 people trying to look on a 6ft wide driveway, after a while of not seeing the sparrow someone whistled and pointed to the Sparrow, it was behind us! Neil took me round the back of everyone so I could see it but just as was about to look it flew off (I saw it fly). A few minutes later it came onto the driveway, I bent down to see it so I was in no ones way but then I couldn't see because one of the panels on the gate was in the way. A few more minutes later it came out again and this time I got a good view of it.

After watching the sparrow for a few minutes we went back to the minibus and headed off to Salthouse. There had been reports of Snow Bunting and Lapland Bunting and as we drove down the track to the car park we saw a gathering of people looking at something so we headed towards them. As we walked across the pebbles we were greeted by a flock of small buntings. We soon had them in our binoculars and we could tell they were Snow Buntings but I couldn't pick out the Laplands. However some of the people on our trip had their scopes on them and they let me have a look. I got a brief glimpse of one but I could make out the difference in the plumage to the Snow Bunting. They entertained us for about half an hour by flying over our heads and landing within a few feet of us several times. As well as the Buntings there was lots of Turnstones and we were lucky enough to see a Merlin fly over.

Unfortunately we had to move on and get back to the minibus to go and see our next target bird. About 10 minutes later we were driving down narrow country lanes looking for fields of geese. Eventually we found a field that lots of people seemed interested in. So we jumped off the minibus to look at what appeared to be an empty field but in fact was full of Pink-Footed Geese but that wasn't what we were looking for. What we were looking for was a Snow Goose and there it was sat in the middle of the field, a bright white lump surrounded by dark brown lumps! Interestingly last September we went on a RSPB boat trip from Bridlington and saw several skeins of pink feet and in one of them was a Snow Goose, wonder if it was the same one?

Next stop was the visitor centre at Cley for Water Pipits and water closets! We scanned the field they were reported in but there was no sign of them. We could see the marshes from where we were standing and we had views of: Avocets, Golden Plovers and we got a great view of a Marsh Harrier soaring over the reeds. Now we were off to a supermarket car park, in Cromer, not to buy anything but to see a Waxwing. After waiting for 20 minutes we began to think it wasn't going to show up and then suddenly there it sat in the top of a tree. We had good views of this lovely looking bird for a while until it dropped down into some bushes to have his dinner.

The next and final stop was Roydon Common for a Great Grey Shrike and the raptor roost. The drive over there was very quiet, I think everyone was catching up on some much needed sleep! Just as we got there it started to rain and by the time we got to the place where the shrike had been seen it was coming down really heavy. The shrike was nowhere to be seen, it obviously had more sense than us and was sheltering from the pouring rain. After a while the rain stopped and a few minutes later someone spotted the Hen Harriers in the distance. Then a stroke of luck, as Jenny tried to get the harriers in her scope she put it straight on the shrike.

We all had a look at the shrike and then walked around the track to get better views of the harriers. We weren't disappointed as we got great views of a male and 3 ring-tails. We also had views of a man in a woodpile wearing a red hat, very strange!

We then went back to the minibus and headed off to the nearest services to top up with fuel and while we were there we voted for bird of the day. Whilst everyone agreed that the Snow Buntings were fantastic the White-Crowned Sparrow just won it.

On the trip I saw 4 new birds: Hen Harriers, Snow Bunting, Lapland Bunting and White-Crowned Sparrow.

I really enjoyed my day out to Norfolk, thanks to Neil for driving and thanks to everyone else for making us feel welcome and letting us use your scopes to see some of the fantastic birds.

Hope you enjoyed reading my first article and I look forward to contributing more in the future.

Jake Hill

View Jake and Mike Hill's images from their American trip.

Read Jake's Norfolk outing report.

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