Tuesday 24th February 2015

Despite a strong cold wind a decent selection of birds were seen today.

Castle Lake - 1 Shelduck, 1m Pochard, 1f Goldeneye, a pair of Goosander, 1 Oystercatcher, 2 Redshank & a Grey Wagtail.

A1 Flashes - 2 Shelduck, 200 Wigeon, 2 Shoveler, 16 Oystercatcher, 1 Woodcock flushed from scrub on the southern side, 5 Redshank and the first returning Lesser Black-backed Gull (pictured below).

River Stell - 2 Little Grebe.

Low Hardwick - 4 Gadwall, 2 Grey Partridge & 2 Snipe.

Gadwall pair seen on the Moto-X pool.

Alan's Pool - 8 Wigeon, 1f Pochard & 2 Little Egret.

Fishburn Lake - 3 Shelduck, 6 Gadwall, 6 Mallard, 1 Tufted Duck, 5 Coot, 1 Little Egret, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Goldcrest & 9 Bullfinch.

Shelduck all over the place now.

Two of the nine Bullfinch seen together at Fishburn Lake.

Stonybeck Lake - 4 Mute Swan, 10 Shelduck, 1m Shoveler, 8 Pochard, 1f Goldeneye, 120 Lapwing, 80 Curlew & 2 Redshank.

Sunday 22nd February 2015

A morning visit produced the following;

Stoneybeck Lake - 11 Shelduck, 90 Lapwing, 30 Curlew.

Castle Lake - 3 Mute Swan, 5 Shelduck, 250 Wigeon, 2 drake Pintail, 2 Shoveler, 8 Pochard, 1f Goldeneye, 2 Little Grebe, 7 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Kestrel, 3 Oystercatcher, 1 Ringed Plover flew south, 3 Snipe, 7 Redshank, 1 Great Black-backed Gull & 5 Skylark.

A1 Flashes - 20 Oystercatcher & 14 Magpie.

Tuesday 17th February 2015

Today's sightings;

Castle Lake - 2 Shelduck, 1f Goldeneye, 1 Great Crested Grebe (the first this year), 8 Cormorant (including four in the water together at the northern end of the lake), 4 Oystercatcher, 1 Ringed Plover (another first for the year), 3 Redshank, the 3rd winter Great Black-backed Gull back again, 15 Fieldfare & 2 Mistle Thrush.

A1 Flashes - 3 Shelduck, 200 Wigeon, 2 Shoveler, 14 Oystercatcher, 50 Curlew & 3 Redshank.

Fishburn Lake/Carr Wood - 5 Gadwall, 6 Mallard, 5 Coot & 3 Common Buzzard.

Alan's Pool - 2 Pintail & 2 Little Egret (pictured below).

Stoneybeck Lake - 4 Shelduck, 2m Pochard & 1 Oystercatcher.

Monday 16th February 2015

Today's sightings with thanks to John Olley.

Castle Lake - 800 Golden Plover, 1000 Lapwing, 12 Redshank, 12 Oystercatcher, 40 Curlew, 2 Little Egret, 8 Pochard, 300 Wigeon, 2 Goldeneye, 4 Goosander, 4 Shelduck, a pair of Kestrel displaying, 10 Skylark & 20 Fieldfare.

Stoneybeck Lake - 4 Pintail & 30 Gadwall.

Sunday 15th February 2015

Today's sightings;

Castle Lake - 2 Shelduck, 12 Pochard (9 drakes), 1f Goldeneye, 2 Grey Partridge, 5 Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, 2 Oystercatcher, 500 Golden Plover, 4 Redshank, 2 Grey Wagtail, 6 Fieldfare and 2 Long-tailed Tit.

A1 Flashes - 2 Shelduck, 9 Oystercatcher.

Stoneybeck Lake - 3 Shelduck, 5 Wigeon, 11 Gadwall, 2 Pochard, 2m1f Goldeneye, Peregrine, 68 Coot, 64 Lapwing, 2 Redshank, 2 Long-tailed Tit & 2 Bullfinch.

Also at Stoneybeck Lake again today was this unusual Goose, possibly a Greylag/Swan Goose hybrid?

Monday 9th February 2015

A gloriously sunny morning with barely a breath of wind which made for some very pleasant birding conditions, however ice still prevailed with all open water mostly frozen.

A picturesque and completely frozen Fishburn Lake.

Sightings today from John Olley and myself.

Castle Lake - 10 Shelduck, 6 Pintail, 2 Grey Partridge, 2 Little Egret, 2 Oystercatcher, a small influx of 10+ Skylark including a few singing.

Alan's Pool area - 1 Grey Heron, 1 Grey Partridge, 9 Meadow Pipit, 2 Skylark and a Hare.

Fishburn Lake/Carr Wood - 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Woodcock, a male Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming right next to a female, 1 Song Thrush, 2 Goldcrest, 5 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Marsh Tit (identified by call, my first around here after nearly eight years of birding the area), 1 Coal Tit and a Bullfinch singing.

Low Hardwick - 1 Grey Heron and 5 Common Buzzard up together.

Low Hardwick looking towards the moto-x.

A1 Flashes - 2 Common Buzzard over high.

Stoneybeck Lake/Farnless Farm - 2 Shelduck, 5 Gadwall, 18 Teal, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 12 Curlew and 1 Great Black-backed Gull.

Elsewhere today - the first new born Lamb's!

Saturday 7th February 2015

Some sightings for today;

Stoneybeck Lake - 2 Mute Swan, 2 Shelduck, 2 Gadwall, 10 Teal including a pair copulating, 33 Moorhen, 27 Coot, 1 Redshank and 13 Lapwing.

Castle Lake - 6 Mute Swan, 2 Shelduck, 5 Pintail including 3 drakes and some display, 2 Grey Partridge, 2 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 400 Golden Plover, 600 Lapwing, 90 Curlew, 2 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, a 'Scandinavian Herring Gull', 1 3rd winter Great Black-backed Gull (pictured below), and an overflying Skylark (but none yet back on territory).

A1 Flashes - 1 Shelduck, 4 Shoveler, 40 Curlew and a distant Peregrine.

Low Hardwick - 1 Common Buzzard and a Kestrel.

Final sighting was a Fox near Alan's Pool.

Bean And Gone Goose

Monday 2nd February 2015

A cold day and once again most areas of water were frozen, however some good birds were seen, todays sightings from John Olley and myself.

Castle Lake in the morning produced 1 Ruff, 15 Redshank, 130 Curlew, 400 Golden Plover, 1300 Lapwing, 50 Fieldfare, 5 Grey Partridge, 2 Oystercatcher, 10 Tree Sparrow and 2 Shelduck.
In the afternoon a single Tundra Bean Goose was found in the company of 40 Greylag Geese and 107 Canada Geese in the field between Castle Lake and the A1 Flashes, pictured below.

It briefly relocated to the field immediately to the southeast of Castle Lake, pictured, before flying off towards Low Hardwick with some Greylag's just after 2pm.

Low Hardwick - 1 Grey Heron, 4 Meadow Pipit's one of which nearly became Sparrowhawk fodder, 1 Kestrel, 2 Woodcock flushed, possibly the same bird twice, 1 Mistle Thrush overflew, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Tree Sparrow back on territory and the highlight, a pair of Stonechat, the first time I've seen this species here in the winter and in the exact same spot as a pair seen back in October last year.

 

Typical Stonechat views.

Fishburn Lake - 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Goldcrest and a rare sighting of a Nuthatch, February is the month when birds venture further away from the Hardwick Hall stronghold.

River Stell - 10 Tufted Duck (9 females), 1 Little Grebe and 4 Long-tailed Tits overflew.

And finally, for a change, a Lapwing photo.