Waders - At Last!

Bright with a gentle breeze was perfect weather for a morning walk. I set off early down the Pit Tip lane before dawn, seeing very little, except Blackbird, Magpie and Carrion Crow. Along the bottom was a singing Robin and at Dawson's Corner a Kestrel was hunting in the overgrowth (probably a male). There were plenty of probable Redwing too, but the light wasn't good enough to tell yet. Along the Sustrans path a single Song Thrush was singing.

At the Mill Lakes the Greylag Goose was in its usual spot with a Great Crested Grebe. Taking the anti-clockwise path, no Cormorant were around today, but a Grey Heron was in the reeds on the far side. A couple of Rabbit were around the Dipping Ponds, probably as it was still early. The Pochard flock was split in two and no sign of the recent Ruddy Duck amongst it. Several Teal were also around the far bank with a few Gadwall. A Song Thrush was singing and showing quite well around the Willow Carr.

The Peninsula didn't show too much today, a juvenile Great Crested Grebe and many Tufted Duck. Walking up towards the bridge, I stopped to get good views of the Mud Island to check for the reported Snipe. After seeing a few movements and setting the camera up, I caught sight of the Kingfisher again; flying from the river and clockwise around the shore of the lake. I'd spotted a couple of movements on the edge of the mud, which turned out to be Snipe, but the footage was poor.

I met a local birder who I'd seen before, but not talked to (other than a quick hello). I asked him if he'd seen anything and we got talking about the site and what could be seen and where. Norman (that was his name) had been coming to the site since he was a kid (I think) and remembered it before it was a lake (just a large reedbed on the river Leen). He told me about all the birds that used to breed in and around the site and gave me a few hints on where to find birds such as Pheasant, Grey Partridge and some plover species. We walked back down to the peninsula where he thought we might get a better chance at seeing the Snipe, but no luck on that score. However, he did pick out a Common Gull from the flock of Black-headed Gull, which was a site first - I think they'll arrive in greater numbers soon though. He also told me about his friend Ralph, which turns out to be the guy I found listed on Surfbirds for his Mill Lakes patch list. Ralph had apparently set up a feeding station at the Water Meadow, which I later found. After speaking with Norman, I went back to look for the Snipe and head up to the Water Meadow. Just as the sun was up high enough to hit the mud flat island the Snipe started to come out. At most I picked out six together, but there were probably more in the undergrowth.

Common Snipe

I headed up to the Water Meadow along the side of the river seeing a pair of Wren in the scrub of the wood. A pair of Goldfinch were up in the trees with some Blue Tit and Great Tit. No sign of any Long-tailed Tit all day today, but I did spend most of my time looking at the Snipe. A single Bullfinch could be seen high up in a tree (through the branches) as I approached the Water Meadow gate, and there seemed to be good numbers of birds around. The new feeding station seemed to be doing its job well, as a couple of Willow Tit were feeding there. Also a single Goldcrest was showing well in the trees by the rail track.

Willow Tit [honestly!]

On the way back from the Water Meadow I met a couple who were watching the lake from the west side. It seemed as if they didn't know the site or what to see there too well, so I let them know about the Snipe, which they seemed very interested in. Just after leaving them I met yet another birder who seemed more experienced, but was relatively new to the site. We chatted as we walked back around and over the bridge. He'd been a member of Ogston Bird Club (Derbyshire) and was now living nearby. He mentioned that he'd been to Goosedale quite a bit and some farm nearby, maybe it was Westhouse Farm or Grange Farm?

On the way back plenty of Rook were in the fields at the bottom of the Pit Top and a Sparrowhawk (probable male) was being mobbed by a crow above the Pit Top. On the path between the narrow conservation areas, a female Reed Bunting (probably first winter) flew straight in front of me and landed on the hedgerow fence. It disappeared into the hedge, but stopped long enough for me to get some footage. For me, this was a pretty good sighting, as I've only seen them once before and that was at the Mill Lakes - a more likely habitat.

Female Reed Bunting

I decided to walk around the main conservation area with the hope of adding a Green Woodpecker or Skylark to the list, but nothing new was to be seen. It was around this point that the sole came off my walking boot, making it both noisy and a pain to walk. However, I did catch sight of a probable Kestrel on the way back into The Warren, although from the silhouette the tail looked unusually long. Just before leaving the park I caught sight of a Sparrowhawk (probably male) sitting in a tree by the exit (in the garden of the bungalow), and managed to get some close footage before it flew away.

Female Sparrowhawk

A great day by my standards, with 38 species recorded and two additions to my patch list in the form of Snipe and Common Gull. It was also nice to meet so many other birders on this relatively small patch.