HOPE VALLEY BIRD WATCHERS CLUB
The Field Trips Report for earlier years are still available.
Eight members met up at the main car park at 9:30, rather surprised to find that it was almost full of cars. I guess the number of folk there should not have surprised us as it was the first dry and sunny day for what seems like a month of wind and rain. The ground off the main paths was saturated so we stayed on the track around the lake after a short detour past the bird feeder hide. There were very few of the smaller bird species present with only Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Chaffinch and a single female Great Spotted Woodpecker recorded there. We had lunch near the reed bed where some of us heard a Cetti's Warbler singing for a very short time. The only ducks present were Mallard, Tufted Duck, Shoveler and Goosander. There were good numbers of gulls on the lake with Black-headed far outnumbering the others which comprised 20 or more of both Common and Lesser Black-backed and a much small number of Herring Gulls. From the ornamental bridge we were please to spot a Great Egret but the bird count by the end of our walk was only 36, the least we have ever recorded at this site.
It looked rather grim as we set off from the valley in rather thick mist but as we climbed out of Rowsley towards Beeley Moor (the road up from Beeley village remains closed), we emerged into bright sunshine and a clear sky and were above what seemed to be an inversion. Eight of us convened at the corner above Beeley village and set off over the moor towards the woodland above Chatsworth House. Sadly, as we descended to the only slightly lower elevation there, we dropped back down into the mist once again. On the way down we had views of Skylark but there was little else of interest, Once into the woodland bird numbers picked up a little and there were lots of Nuthatches to be heard and seen. On the ponds visibility was very poor but several Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot and Goosander could be just about seen through the murk, together with what appeared to be a single drake Mandarin duck. The group split up somewhat as we left the woodland so only one of us managed to see the male Hen Harrier which was apparently near where we'd recorded one on last year's visit and was the only raptor detected. As we neared the cars, 3 Reed Buntings made fleeting appearance and we heard a Raven calling. The final total for the morning was 25 species.
Six members met at the west carpark on a rather cold, overcast day. We visited the public hide where we were greeted by the sight of 25 Whooper swans across the reservoir. There had been reports of a Red-breasted Merganser, but we failed to spot it, although there was a good mixture of water birds including displaying Gt. Crested Grebes. Our next stop was in the members hide where we added to our list of birds before walking along the road towards Brackenfield church, past the very active Heronry. Our aim was to see the Hawfinch that had been reported and had been seen just before we arrived. We spent some time scanning the Yew trees to no avail but luckily Lyla hadn't given up and she spotted the Hawfinch just before it flew over our heads and landed in a tree nearby. It then proceeded to flit about on the branches giving us some excellent views. We strolled back to the car park hoping to see a Little Owl but despite not being successful with the Owl we finished with a bird count of 38.
Six of us turned out and we set off just before 9:00 on our walk along the tow path from Tapton Lock towards Staveley. It was bright and sunny but a little bit nippy to start with. Water birds were very thin on the ground with only a couple of Moorhens and a small number of Mallards including a couple of pairs with very small ducklings. There were plenty of Chiffchaffs in song and several Blackcaps too. There were only a few Willow Warblers but the highlight was finding a Lesser Whitethroat in song, as usual being difficult to see for most. We turned back at the Hollingwood Hub where some of us enjoyed a snack at the café. There were a small number of Sand Martins around the café and they seemed to be nesting in holes in the brick wall which once formed an abutment to a long gone railway bridge nearby. Peter Feetham educated us about bees as we watched a Garden Bumble Bee on flowers by the café where there was also a Bee Fly and a possible early Bumble Bee. There were lots of Orange Tips on the wing and also a Brimstone butterfly. We were back at the cars soon after 1:00 having recorded a reasonable total of 31 species.
Eleven members were up bright and early and met at the car park off the A6187 near Stoney Ridge Road before 5:00. The weather was perfect for our first visit here, warm sunny and still. From the car park we could hear Chiff Chaff and Willow Warbler, soon joined by Robin and Wren. Will led the way through the woodland heading for a spot where he had heard Wood Warbler in the past. On the way we heard Red Grouse and a Curlew flew overhead. A Garden Warbler and a Pied Flycatcher were heard as we dropped down. We stopped for a while at the spot where we'd hoped for Wood Warbler but none were to be found. On the return to the cars we heard Cuckoo quite often and as we approached the cars we get decent views of one of the two we had heard calling. By 7:30 we had recorded 24 species and headed home for breakfast.
Only five members participated on this trip but we were joined by a guest.
Sunday 18th May
We convened at South Stack at 9:00 and were rather disappointed to find that corner of the island was shrouded in thick mist. Ellin's Tower was not visible from the visitor centre so we weren't surprised to find the cliffs were not visible from the tower. We decided to do the walk along the cliff tops back to the other car park. We did manage to watch a pair of Choughs on the walk together with a few Stonechats and Whitethroats. We had a leisurely coffee back at the visitor centre after our short walk, waiting in vain for the mist to clear. We left early to visit our next location at Newborough Sands. The weather there was hot and sunny and as a result the car park was very busy, as was the beach. We walked along the beach to have our lunch near the lighthouse on Ynys Llanddwyn. Even the island was very busy with so many visitors but we did find a few Shags on the rocks at the end and a Gannet offshore. We decided to try once again in the late afternoon at South Stack but there was very little change in the weather and it was still much too misty. We did manage to see some of the Guillemot nesting ledges from Ellin's Tower but highlights today were few.
Monday 19th May
Our little group convened at Cemlyn Bay at 9:00 finding a warm and sunny day with no wind. We started by walking along the shingle to view the
tern colony where there were
apparently 2000 Sandwich Terns, 250 Arctic Terns and 150 Common Terns with the 400 Black-headed Gulls. The colony was badly hit by bird flu last year so it was reassuring to find such good numbers. We also recorded good numbers of Dunlin and Ringed Plovers on the islands and eventually found one of the two pairs of Mediterranean Gulls present. We walked across the shingle bank and returned to the car park along the road. We had lunch doing a spot of sea watching and then decided to walk part of the coastal path, returning through the farm at Tyn Llan. By the end of our visit we had recorded 47 species. Highlights included 2 pairs of Red-Breasted Mergansers, and good views of numbers of Stonechat, Whitethroat, Wheatear and Sedge Warbler. Around the farm we saw both House Martins and Sand Martins and a brief view of a Chough flying through. On the shore from the cliff we had a Whimbrel, several Turnstones, Ringed Plovers and a Shag. We finished our trip by moving to a new site for us just off the A55 at RSPB Cors Ddyga. This is a very large lowland wetland site with a variety of lakes, ditches, pools and reed beds. Sections have been fitted with electric fencing to help breeding birds such as Lapwing to avoid predation by the local foxes. We only had a couple of hours there but there was a good variety of birds present. Wildfowl included Mallard, Shoveler Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Mute Swan and Gadwall. There were good numbers of Lapwing, some with well-grown young, with Little Egrets and Grey Herons hunting the ditches. Warblers included, Willow Warbler, Cetti's Warbler, Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff and Sedge Warbler. We recorded very few raptors during the trip but a couple of Marsh Harriers were seen here. As we returned to our cars we heard a Bittern booming, not a bad way to finish a weekend away. We finished the day with 32 species and 61 for the weekend in total.
Five of us convened on a windless and dull morning at the Dryham Lane car park. Sadly, the Butty Bus was absent with the owner taking a well deserved holiday. The breeding colony of Black-headed Gulls seems much reduced, presumably after last year's bird flu problems, but there were good numbers of other juveniles including Gadwall, Mallard, Moorhen, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Mute Swan and Coot. The Sand Martin colony seems to be doing well with a good number hawking over the pools. They were joined by smaller numbers of Swifts, House Martins and Swallows. From the Turret Hide a preening Bittern was pointed out to us which remained high up in the reed bed for as long as we were in the hide. Warblers were in song and we had excellent views of Reed Warblers from the Turret Hide. Also present were Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler and Willow Warbler. We noted a new hide has been constructed at one of the pools recently restored after completion of gravel extraction. That was as yet not open to the public. From Crosslands Hide were a family of Little Ringed Plovers with a single chick with several Lapwings and a single Avocet present. The forecast rain arrived just before we set off for home, having recorded 52 species at a reserve which continues to improve.
7 members and a guest convened in the car park before 9:00. The weather was dull and cool with rain showers forecast. Our first hide was Lovershall Pool. This is rarely very productive and as the pool has all but disappeared, it is unlikely to get better. The site was being grazed by Highland cows but they were making little impact. Beeston Hide was closed and Willow Pool Hide continues to disappoint. Like Lovershall, the pool here has all but disappeared and the removal of the feeders makes this another disappointment. It seems that YWT have all but given up managing the older parts of the reserve with pools drying out and reed, willow and birch taking over. There were more birds in evidence once we reached Piper Marsh where we had good views of a Kingfisher on the island where they normally nest. Most of the rest of the day was spent in the hides around Huxter Well Marsh where Reed and Sedge Warblers were still around and there was a lot of waterfowl activity. Two Great Egrets were acting like a pair, and there were good numbers of juvenile gulls - Black-headed, Herring and Lesser Black-backed. We managed to dodge the bulk of the showers and were back at the visitor centre soon after 3:00 having recorded 48 species.
Only 3 of us met up above the Robin Hood near Baslow for our walk starting off below Birchen Edge. The weather was bright and sunny but it failed to provide much bird life. Last year's total of 16 species was bad but this year was even lower with only 13 recorded, of which less than half were actually seen. When the highlights are good numbers of Swallows gathering around the Wellington monument, a pair of Ravens and a Buzzard, it tells the story. It seems unlikely that this walk will be in next year's calendar.
Six of us assembled at the visitor centre at 9:15. The centre didn't open until 10:00 so we set off on a walk around Bellmoor Lake which took us until around 11:00. There were several Chiffchaffs in song but the lake was rather quiet. 31 species were recorded including a Raven overhead as we had coffee after our walk. There were 3 Snipe on the small central island. We then drove to the north end of the reserve where we parked on Chainbridge Lane. We walked another circular route and spent a while overlooking Chainbridge Scrape. That too was rather quiet although we did see a family of Red-crested Pochard. Our next stop was at Neatholme scrape where we found a couple of Black-necked Grebes and a Pintail. By then the weather was much improved and we had a warm and sunny day from then on. Three Buzzards were soaring overhead. Lunch was eaten overlooking Neatholme Pit where we had good views of a Peregrine and a Kestrel being buzzed by a couple of Crows. We returned to the cars via Neatholme Fen where there was much to see. There were good views of a female Marsh Harrier which landed for a while. A juvenile Ruff was feeding on one of the islands among hundreds of Lapwing. On the far bank was a Great Egret and on the lake good numbers of Wigeon, Coot, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Teal, Shoveler and Mallard together with 2 more Pintail and 4 Egyptian Geese. There were more Chiffchaffs in song together with at least 4 Cetti's Warblers. On this walk we recorded 37 species. We finished the day by scanning from the bridge over the river Idle but found nothing new. Our total for the day ended on 50 species and we left soon after 3:00.
Seven members and one guest convened at Staveley Nature Reserve at 9:00. This is a YWT reserve located a few miles south of Ripon. The weather was perfect if a little chilly. We spent a while at the first hide where we watched a good number of skeins of Greylag Geese which seemed to be moving in all directions around the reserve with much honking included! On the first pool we noticed a pair of Whooper Swans, no doubt recent arrivals. They were not made welcome by the resident Mute Swan pair which had 8 well-grown cygnets. That pool also held a female Goldeneye. We then headed for the main hide which is circular and has views over the largest pool. That was heavily populated with Greylag Geese. There must have been around 350 here and double that in total around the reserve. One bird had an orange neck tag. We reported it to find it was ringed back in 2016 at Windermere and now spends much of its time in this area of Yorkshire. Jude Pealing spotted a pair of Pink-footed Geese in the throng. Also here were 3 Pintails among the more common ducks including Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Teal, Shoveler and Wigeon. Another highlight here was the disturbance of around 300 Lapwings which did a rather good imitation of a Starling murmuration. We then started on the perimeter walk having lunch at the bus-stop hide. From there we had our first glimpse of a Hobby together with a couple of Red Kites and at least 4 Common Buzzards. We finished the day at another hide where we all eventually got views of the Hobby as it sped by in front of the hide hawking for dragonflies over the reedbed. We left the reserve soon after 3:00, having recorded some 42 species, and met up for dinner at the Royal Oak Hotel in Ripon that evening.
29th SeptemberTwo more members joined us today so there were ten of us meeting at Nosterfield Quarry Nature Reserve at 9:30. The early arrivals had spent a short time at the screen overlooking Lingham Water. Historically this has been an excellent spot to scan for waders around the margins of the lake and wildfowl on the lake itself. Sadly the drier area in front of the screen has become a birch wood and the view from the screen is much restricted by vegetation growth. We then set off on a walk over the reserve towards the reedbed where there is a bird hide. We spent a short time at the hide and were well rewarded with a brief sighting of a Bittern, an even better view of a Hobby than that of yesterday, and a Kingfisher. Other highlights on the walk included a Great Egret, a small flock of Golden Plover and a few pairs of Great Crested Grebes. We then moved the short distance to Nosterfield Nature reserve where we had lunch in the main hide. There were a few waders present here including Greenshank, Ringed Plover and Dunlin together with good numbers of Lapwing. Other highlights here included good views of a perched Kingfisher and a Garganey. Both of these reserves are located a few miles north of Ripon and are managed by the Lower Ure Conservation Trust. During our visit to these reserves we added a further 21 bird species to our weekend list. Four of our party set off for home soon after lunch and the rest of us stayed a little longer before moving on for a walk around Marfield Wetlands which lies a few minutes away on the other side of Masham. We enjoyed a pleasant enough walk there but bird numbers were rather limited. Two new birds were added here making the total count for our weekend 65.
Six of our members attended this trip and started the day by visiting the reed bed at the north of the reserve. On the way to the hides, two Bearded Reedlings flew over us and into the reeds making typical reedling noises in flight and from inside their hiding place in the reeds. A Cetti's Warbler was heard before reaching the Reedbed Hide. In that area of the reserve we recorded the usual suspects including Coot, Cormorant, Mallard, Mute Swan, Gadwall, Wigeon and dabchick. On one of the Barn Owl boxes we noted up to 5 Stock Doves. There was mizzle and light rain when we were in the reedbed hide but otherwise the weather was dry and there was even a bit of sunshine in the afternoon. On the way back to the Bittern Hide we recorded our only raptor of the day - a Kestrel. From the Bittern hide we added the usual gulls together with Tufted Ducks, Moorhens, Shovelers, Great Crested Grebes, Grey Herons, Little Egrets and Carrion Crows. After a welcome coffee, we checked the Tree Sparrow Farm area which now appears to be known as the Bird Garden Hide, perhaps because there are no longer Tree Sparrows there. The usual tits and finches were busy on the feeders together with Dunnock, Woodpigeons and a male Pheasant. Our visit finished with the hides where most of the wader action normally takes place - Field Pool east and west, Wader Scrape and Wath Ings. The only waders recorded were Lapwing and Green Sandpiper. A highlight was a rather obliging Kingfisher sitting in a willow by the Wath Ings hide which posed well for photos. A distant Great Egret was added to our list here as was Common Gull and both Canada and Greylag Geese. By the end of our visit we had recorded a total of 38 bird species.
Four members met up at the Sheepwash carpark at 9:15 and started at the new Sheepwash Hide. It was overcast but relatively warm and dry. The only highlight there was a distant drake Pintail. There were at least 20 Great Crested Grebes off the hide beyond the large numbers of Coot and Tufted Duck. Small numbers of other ducks recorded there included Gadwall, Pochard, Wigeon and Teal. On leaving the hide we were encouraged to see a couple of Song Thrushes on the path, but they turned out to be the only thrushes we recorded today. At the Paul Stanley Hide the feeders were empty and the only highlights were to be a brief glimpse of a Sparrowhawk and a nearby Reed Bunting. We then headed for Lane End hide which proved rather quiet. The nearby feeders were empty as were all of the others on the site. That limited the number of small birds recorded. On asking at the site reception regarding the lack of food, they suggested it was down to staff shortages rather than any deliberate decision to stop feeding. If true that is a long-standing problem as the feeders had clearly been empty for many days if not weeks. Other highlights included a Treecreeper, some Barnacle Geese within a large Canada Goose flock and a Jay. As we left during the early afternoon the gull roost was starting to build with Lesser Black-backed, Common and Black-headed Gulls arriving in good numbers. A total of 43 species were recorded.