Short Toed Eagle fallout

It would appear that young Joe Pell of the great Lincolnshire hoax is still getting a hammering on Bird Forum.......and rightly so I reckon.  He must feel a bit like Carlos Tevez at the moment, although slightly poorer and slightly better looking. If you was to play on the word 'PELL' a little it's amazing what you can get...... Pell, Peller, Teller, Penn and Teller, it was right under our noses all the time, can't believe we were all duped. An ode to Joe.....

There was a young lad called Joe
Who saw an Eagle with a short toe
He was looked on with Zeal
But was it for real
And now he's everyone's Foe.

                                            An appropriate song I feel. Liar by The Sex Pistols. 

As the biggest hoax came to light since Lee Dixon played for England, even the birds themselves were struggling to cope. This Greylag Goose after being told what young Joe had done decided enough was enough.

From Carsington to Casualty

I don't want to sound like I'm over-dramatising events here but today has been filled with quite a few lows. I met up with Clive at Carsington with me wearing a couple of layers less than I did yesterday. I was still sweating more than Michael Jackson's Doctor.

Carsington was much the same as it has been of late with no new arrivals. Although if you was to believe the crap in the log books then lurking nearby was a Phalarope sp, female Black-necked Grebe ( very well done for id'ing that), Goldeneyes and Swifts. Please do us a favour and stay at home.

We were sitting in the hide when I received a text that 2 Sarnie Terns were present at my local patch Wyver Lane. Now these would be a site tick so I was more than keen on seeing them. Clive, however wasn't so keen. Quite lucky really as within minutes they had done one. Theye were heading West though so maybe a chance of picking them up at Carsi. We gave it a while and saw nothing so decided to go up on the moors which was very disappointing.

After a couple of hours we headed back to Carsi and the heat of Sheepwash Hide. When my phone started ringing I thought maybe it was about the Sarnie Terns but it was the lads' school. Harry had decided it would be a good idea to stick a pebble down his lughole. With no way of getting there I bribed Clive with the prospect of a bottle of Merlot and off  we went. Luckily the hospital were quite prompt and within an hour we were leaving with the contents of his ear.....£3.57 in loose change, 4 Sticklebricks, 8 Toy Soldiers and the pebble.

With not much time to get back up Carsi we made our way home, a decision I now regret. It wasn't until after dark did I find out that the 2 Sarnie Terns did make their way to Carsington.

This evening on Bird Forum has been quite entertaining though with the was it/wasn't it saga of the Lincolnshire Short Toed Eagle. Well surprise surprise it was all a hoax after all.

Summer returns!

With soaring temperatures and good views of Nightjar to be had you could be forgiven for thinking it was June or July. So why I decided it would be a good idea to wear 4 layers of clothing and a pair of Wellingtons is anybody's guess. Something I would regret as the day progressed. Chris was picking me up at 08.00 and despite his best efforts to drink Derbyshire dry of Bitter last night he was still on time.

Thick fog greeted us as we got down Wyver Lane but any reservations were quickly swept away when we noticed that small flocks of Meadow Pipits were passing over head. To better our chance of seeing even more we walked down to the viewing mound. I recall a similar day last Autumn with Clive when it was foggy and we had small flocks of migrating Passerines moving through. Nothing however prepared us for what happened over the next few hours. In my post a few days ago I mentioned that Wyver isn't exactly a migration hotspot, well maybe we will need to have a rethink.



So over the next few hours we were treated to almost constant flocks of Passerines flying through. We estimated 540 Meadow Pipits, (and I thought 70 was good this time last year), 49 Pied Wagtails, 114 Swallows, c250 Lapwing, c50 Linnets, 3 Skylarks and smaller numbers of Redpolls and Siskins. Whilst all this was going on we was also treated to a brief visit from a Greenshank which was the first of the year for Wyver. A superb few hours birding and one of my better days at Wyver. The Greenshank was also a site tick for Chris. 

Chris then suggested that we drive up to Codnor which had decided that a back garden in the middle of Beirut would be a good idea to spend a couple of days. The only thing missing was Kate Adie reporting on the street corner. We eventually found the house and made our way round the back where there was already a couple of birders watching it. We then stood there for around 30 mins in the baking heat as the Nightjar snoozed. I managed to get a few iffy shots before we left. The day sort of petered out from there on in with a couple of trips to Avenue Washlands near Chesterfield and Ogston Res producing very little.

A couple of photo's from last week, a male Wheatear, 2 Grey Heron's and today's Nightjar.

The progress of Rothiemurchus

If you was to scroll down a few posts you will see that an Osprey I saw at Carsington water on September 7th was in fact one of Roy Dennis's satellite tagged bird's. A week later the two year old male was leaving Sussex to cross the channel and ended up just South of Le Havre. At 16.00hrs he was NW of Le Mans.
The following day Rothiemurchus headed south west after 0500 hours, and at 10:00 hours was west of Nantes. At 11:00 hours he was on the north end of Noirmoutier and then flew Southeast over the ocean. At 13:00 hours he was over the sea east of L'Ile d'Yeu and then flew on SSW out to sea at 68 kms/hr and then obviously decided not to cross the Bay of Biscay because an hour later he was flying east towards Les Sables d'Olonne. He turned inland and roosted the night beside 3 lakes in woodland near Saint Julian-des-Landes. 252 km today.

On the 16th  he then flew on SSE at 09:00 hours and 11:00 hours was on Ile de Re. He set off again at midday and at 13:00 hours was at the south end of Ile d'Oleron, flying south at 44 km/hr - he flew down the French coast, crossed the mouth of the River Gironde and soon afterwards settled in woods to the west of the north end of Lac d'Hourtin-Carcans. 175 km today.

On the 17th Rothiemurchus was on the west shore of the lake from 0600 to 08:00 hours and then flew on the south. He was just north of Etang de Lacanau at 0900 hours, and had probably passed over the reserve of Etang de Cousseau where Pascal Grisser has observed colour ringed ospreys including an old friend green/white 51 which I ringed near Aviemore as a chick. Pascal has seen this Osprey on migration many times and we now know that it breeds in Norway. By 11:00 hours he was in the Bay of Arcachon, where he spent some hours, before flying into near by forests north of Les Jacquets, where he roosted the night.

On the 18th Rothiemurchus set off south by 1000GMT flying S at 67 km/hr. At 1300hrs he was just SW of Biarritz airport and an hour later was flying S at 61km/hr at 1103 metres S of Irun in the Basque country. He then turned west along the north Spanish coast and at 1800 hrs was in Urdabai estuary, north of Bilbao. At 1900hrs he was roosting 3 kms to the west in forestsed hills.

On the 19th Rothiemurchus spent the whole day at Urdabai estuary. Urdabai is a beautiful estuary, where Logie spent time on her spring migration in 2008. My friend, Aitor Galarza, is a manager of the Biosphere Reserve and we were there last week filming for BBC Autumnwatch - while there we identified a colour ringed osprey 1RS which had been ringed as a chick in Bavaria this summer by Daniel Schmidt.
Rothiemurchus roosted again in forested hills west of the estuary and after catching a fish in the estuary in the morning, he flew off west after 1000 hrs. By 1300hrs he had passed Bilbao Harbour entrance and flew on to the south of Santona estuary. At 1500hrs he was flying at 50km/hr west near Tresgrandas east of Llanes. Seems to be headed for Portugal where he stopped over on his first migration in September 2009.
 
On to the 22nd and Rothiemurchus left Villiviciosa in the morning of 21st and flew on west and by 1300hrs was settled in the estuary of the Rio Nalon,near Soto, where he spent the day and then flew up into forested hills to roost overnight. He seems to be headed for Portugal - may be to visit his haunts in autumn 2009.

By the 23rd he was off by 8am and flew fast to the west, approaching Navia at 1000hrs. He crossed the estuary of Ribadeo without stopping and at 1200hrs was flying towards Viviero. At 1300 and 1400 hours he was perched on the estuary of the River Sor near O Vicedo, and then followed the river up into foressd mountains where he lingered and roosted the night after a day's migration of 145 kms.

Yesterday at 0900 hrs he flew out of the valley of the River Sor and headed SW but only for 45 kms before settling in the foretsed valley of the River Eume, well below the dam. He remained in the area all day and was still there this morning.              

Arctic Skua at Carsington

Just received a call from Clive that there's an Arctic Skua at Carsington as I type. Only him and another birder there watching it!

Vis Migging!

If someone had uttered those words in my presence a few years back I would not have had a clue what they were talking about. Now however, vis migging...or Visible Migration is something that really fascinates me. In years gone by and especially at this time of year I was seeing birds flying over but did not really see any significance in what I was seeing. Moreover, I didn't know many calls so hadn't a clue what was going over anyway.

Nowadays however with a few years experience behind me I always look forward to a few hours with my ears and eyes trained to the skies. Although Wyver Lane isn't exactly a migration hotspot, in the right conditions it can be quite prodcutive. Although the conditions today weren't quite right I still had 54 Meadow Pipits over in around 3 hours, also 14 Pied Wags, 3 Greenfinch, Lesser Redpoll and bigger numbers of Swallows and Housemartins. Carr Vale due to its elevated location near Bolsover has been producing some quite remarkable figures over the past 2 weeks including 1'370 Swallows on Sep 16th and 1'270 Meadow Pipits on Sep 14th.  

It took me a quite a while to understand that some of the birds flying over was more than birds just flying over. One thing that sticks in my mind was an elderly chap down Wyver Lane who once asked me if I had seen anything interesting. I replied that there had been a bit of movement and I had had a number of Skylarks going over. He seemed surprised as he hadn't seen or heard a Skylark for 30 years. To be fair he is getting on a bit so his hearing and eyesight isn't that clever. But I then realised the significance of Autumn migration and although the Skylarks might have come from nearby, they probably came from Northern or Eastern Europe.

So, what is visible migration? Visible Migration was pioneered by Dutch Ornithologists in the Netherlands in the 1940's and has come a very long way since then. Just by selecting a suitable location anybody can enjoy the magic of bird migration. And it is as simple as that, just picking a location and recording what passes through on a given day. I first found that familiarising myself with the more common species was key. The tsip tsip tsip call of the Meadow Pipit is now ingrained in my brain and is one of the first calls I listen out for come September.
 
As early as July/August movements can be noted in Hirundines, Swifts, Wagtails and possibly Crossbills which in some years can be seen in large numbers. Into September and things start to really hot up. Meadow Pipits start moving in vast numbers either from here in the UK or from Scandinavia.  Linnets, Siskins and Repolls are also moving now and again knowing their calls is key. Into October and possibly my favourite time. This is a good time for Continental migrants and about the time Skylarks are coming over. But also Redwings start to arrive, as do Goldfinches and Reed Buntings. Later in the month  Fieldfares start arriving along with Blackbirds, Greenfinches, Bramblings, Chaffinches, Starlings and Wood Pigeons.October can be good for a rarity like Lapland Bunting, Snow Bunting or maybe a good Pipit.

Even into November and the migration spectacle can still be witnessed. On clear days vast numbers of Wood Pigeons, Starlings and Fiedlfares mover across and down the country.  And don't forget the sound of skeins of Pink-footed Geese crossing the country from Lancashire to Norfolk. These are normally seen around 90 mins to 2 hours after day break. Right up to the end of the month there's still a chance of a rare Bunting or Pipit and is the time for wild Swans start appearing. 

Last year Lapland Buntings seemed a little earlier than this year. In fact whilst I was walking the Dam Wall at Carsington on September 22nd last year I had my very own Lapland Bunting. Initially it was the call that drew my attention but I was lucky enough to not just see it flying over but also see it on the deck. That's the very reason why it fascinates me, you just never know what will turn up.

All in all there's a bit of something out there for everybody so get out there and enjoy the phenomena that is Visible Migration!

A visitor from afar?

Well not quite, but yesterday this specimen was originally put out as a pure Ruddy Shelduck. I was quite sceptical and rightly so it would seem.  I wish whoever puts these records out would just take a little time to study the bird first. Back in 2008, 3 of these type birds also turned up at Wyver Lane and stayed for a few weeks before exploring the rest of the Midlands. Now it seems that one of those 3 has returned....unless it's a different bird. Judge for yourself what it is but you can't go far wrong with South African/Cape/Australian Shelduck.

Some you win...some you lose.

Today down Wyver Lane I was hoping to maybe have a passage Wader or two. In the past Wyver has notably pulled in Greenshank and Ruff at this time of year but for the last few years water levels have been too high come Autumn migration. With the Summer being as dry as it has there is ample muddy shoreline for a few Waders. Unfortunately though all we've had is a load of Lapwings, 2 Ringed Plover and a juv LRP. So the patch as ever is a frustrating place to be....although it could and maybe should have been a much better day than that.

After giving the main pool a good going over it was off to the viewing mound. I have to say at this time of year it is one of my more favourite places to be for a spot of vis migging. I've done it a few times over the past week or two with mixed results. Today was a bit of a non event with only a few Passerines going over.....a maximum of 5 Meadow Pipits, 2 Lesser Redpoll, c15 Siskin, Linnet, c100 Housemartin and c100 Swallow. The some you win.....some you lose bit releates to a few Raptors. I was counting Hirundines moving through when I heard them alarm calling, I looked up to see a Hobby circling over head. The bird drifted over the reserve towards the river only to be joined by a second bird. They both circled around for a minute or two before heading off South.

Within minutes of the Hobbies disappearing a Common Buzzard appeared from over the woods and circled around for a while. Then a short while later a second Buzzard sp flew into view from the North. In fact, at first it shouted out Osprey to me because of its paleness and the way it held its wings. It took me a short while to realise it was a Buzzard but not once did I think oh it's just a Common Buzzard. It's head seem to protrude and the way it held its wings all point to Honey Buzzard but due a lack of experience prevents me from nailing it 100%. I had a similar incident also down Wyver two years ago but again due to lack of experience I hadn't got the balls to call it. Something else about it got me thinking was the fact that it appeared from the North and moved straight through South. All the Common Buzzards I see just soar over the woods and don't do much else.

Gannet at Carsington!

As the great Edmund Blackadder once said 'I think the phrase rhymes with 'clucking bell'.  When we realised that we had got a Gannet in our midst the air turned more blue than a Bill Hicks concert. In fact we have to think ourselves very lucky that we were even there in the first place. Chris the bus driver picked me up at 07.30 for a visit to Wyver Lane. Luckily he left the bus at home so we had to make do with his Fiesta. For Wyver Lane it wasn't a bad couple of hours, a juv Little Ringed Plover was on the main pool, 17 Meadow Pipits over and 3 Sparrowhawks up over the woods. Those 3 sightings alone constitute a very good day down there so we decided to bugger off somewhere else.

We were debating whether to go down the Trent Valley or head further North. Fortunately we chose the latter. Clive had been texting me with regular updates of what was going on at Carsington which didn't exactly fill us with much optimism. Never the less we headed off that way but with a quick stop at a nearby quarry. Not a lot doing there apart from a Raven, Buzzard and 6 Linnets.

So it was off to Carsington where we met up with Clive round at Sheepwash. A bit quiet there so we decided to go to the Dam Wall to have a look at all the Waders. The wind had died down considerably from yesterday so scoping was much easier. There was still quite a stiff breeze though so we climbed down the stones onto the wall itself. From there we got good views of 5 Ruff, 4 Curlew Sands, Knot, 10 Ringed Plover and a Dunlin.

We almost didn't go onto Stones Island but we decide to give it a go. We couldn't have timed it any better. We had just got to the end of the Island when both Clive's and my phone went off. Clive even said 'It's probably Roger'. Indeed it was Roger and the text said 'Gannet over Carsi'. I think all three of us let out some choice words. But then the panic set in, we didn't know when, where, what or anything. I then scanned towards the North end of the Res and there it was a near adult Gannet sweeping across the water. An unbelievable sight. More choice words were let out as we watched it land on the water with the Gulls. We then legged it back to the car quicker than Chris with the Gourmet Wagon in sight. The Gourmet Wagon is our answer to alka seltzer. A quick Bacon Butty and a bottle of full fat Pepsi and the night before is just a distant dream.

We got round to the new path to witness an immature female Peregrine having a pop at the Gannet. The Gannet obviously pissed of with this retreated and buggered off North East. Quite a memorable moment and a great end to the day. Below is a part of my post from yesterday, don't say I didn't warn you.

Photo of the Gannet courtesy of Steph (Gomphus) on Bird Forum. Follow this link to see Steph's artwork.
http://www.freewebs.com/slthorpebirdart/

Just like last week there was some hope that Hurricane Katia just might throw up a surprise or two. Also like last week it was a bit of a let down. Maybe we shouldn't keep on getting our hopes up but I'm sure a biggy isn't far away.

No reason for posting this song from The Jam other than it being a bloody good tune.

Extreme Birding

As Hurricane Katia takes its toll on the UK and David Walliams finishes his swim up the Thames, Carsington Water yet again produces the goods with the Waders. Walliams and his team were warned over the weekend that over 500,000 cubic metres of raw sewage had entered the river since last Monday. Despite this, Walliams vowed to carry on. Upon finishing his epic swim, Walliams was unusually lost for words

Just like last week there was some hope that Hurricane Katia just might throw up a surprise or two. Also like last week it was a bit of a let down. Maybe we shouldn't keep on getting our hopes up but I'm sure a biggy isn't far away. Quite a few Waders were reported over the weekend so I was keen to catch up with a few of them. I walked the Dam Wall first off which was a challenge in itself. Lots of Meadow Pipits, 5 Yellow Wags and a single Wheatear seen. I got near the sailing club and looked with my bins and could see several Waders in the distance. Trying to scope them was a different matter entirely. I set my scope up but with the wind buffeting me from all angles it made it impossible. The Ruff that were there were easier to pick out due to their size but the smaller Waders.......forget it!

I moved onto Stones Island with the hope of some better views but with the wind now coming straight at us it made the task even harder. After a bit of perseverance and in the brief interludes when the wind died down we managed to find 5 Ruff, 4 Curlew Sands, Knot, Dunlin and Ringed Plovers....around 10 in total. 3 more species of Wader were seen at the North end of the res....Greenshank, Green Sand and Common Sand. More of the same tomorrow I reckon.

Rothiemurchus the Osprey

It's always a pleasure no matter what the circumstances are to see an Osprey. But little did I know that the one I saw at Carsington on Wednesday afternoon was in fact satellite tagged and his (and it is a he) every move is being monitored. Rothiemurchus named after the place near Aviemore where he was ringed in 2009 drifted over the woods opposite the hide at 14.48hrs and I then lost it over the South end of the Reservoir at 14.57hrs. Yes I know I'm sad for timing it but I had nothing better to do.

He had been seen flying over Ladybower Res around 2 hrs before gracing Carsington. At around 17.00hrs he was just North of Nuneaton and an hour later he was roosting in a wood near Towcester. Today he is down in Arundell, Sussex.

Completely unrelated, but, after watching some of the football over the weekend and having to put up with the usual whining from managers and players I thought a tune from one of the best bands in the world was in order. The Referee's Alphabet by none other than Half Man Half Biscuit

Where have all the Seabirds gone?

With all the Manxies turning up inland and the Sabs Gull that's in Staffs I thought that the Seabird capital of the Midlands, Carsington, could turn something up. In fact, if you was to look at Carsington's record over the last 20 years for turning up true pelagics then it certainly has come up trumps. Several Bonxies and Arctics, Gannets, Fulmar, Manxies and a couple of Leach's including one seen by Clive and myself back in 2007.

So with this in mind I set myself up for the day. The wind yesterday wasn't anywhere near as strong as Tuesday but there was still plenty of heavy blustery showers. Well in the end I think there was more chance of  India beating England at Cricket than me seeing a Skua. It would have been nice to get some Sea watching practice in before our Norfolk trip but it wasn't to be.

In truth it wasn't a bad day, any day that includes Osprey, Hobby, 8 species of Wader, Yellow Wag, Wheatear shouldn't really be looked on as a bad day. My second Osprey in a week did exactly the same as the last one.....just fly straight through.  The Hobby was a brief fly through just after I arrived. The Waders were well scattered around site and with the Turnstone and Redshank that makes 15 species of Wader at Carsington this month. Still 5 behind last month's total of 20 but that will be hard to emulate.

I was trying to find a song entitled 'Where have all the Seabirds gone?' but this is the closest I could get. Don't know who the hell these are but I think they are a George Formby tribute band.

A quick visit to Wyver Lane this morning produced the usual fare on the pools. Although 3 Shoveler are new birds in. Was nice to see a Siskin flock of around 40 birds though. Also the first Meadow Pipits of the Autumn....2 flew over south.

Autumn's back!!

To say that Autumn had arrived would be slight understatement to say the least, but with the wind, rain and cold of the past few days, Summer is now just a distant memory. As mentioned in a previous post the Dam Wall at Carsington can be an unforgiving place, so why on earth I chose to walk it this morning on possibly the windiest day of the year is any one's guess. In fact, I wasn't the only one stupid enough to think it would be a good idea as on the approach to the Dam I met up with another birder. We felt like Sir Edmund Hillary and George Mallory as we made our way along the wall fully expecting to turn around and see an army of Sherpas with a fortnight's supplies.

There was in fact very few birds to see as we made our way to the summit. Only 2 Wheatear of note. And they say that birds are stupid. I think they had the right idea hiding away from the worst of the elements. Together with the rain it made the walk quite a miserable one. We eventually made our way to Stones Island where we caught up with both juvenile Curlew Sand and Ruff.....later in the day there were 2 Ruffs in the same location.
On the island was also a few Yellow Wagtails and a load of Meadow Pipits.

I decided that as there seemed to be bucket loads of Pied Wags I would have a go at counting them. I got to a massive 157 which is way up on the 90 odd of the other week. Sheepwash Hide held the same as the past few days, Pintail, quite a few Wigeon and Gadwall and lots of Teal. The only thing that Sheepwash isn't doing is pulling in the Waders, only a couple of LRP's and a distant Godwit which turned out to be a Black-tailed.

I had a walk to view the Bay on the other side of Sheepwash Spit and had the usual 3 Greenshank and 2 Common Sandpipers. We did have 2 Peregrine and 2 Raven back in the hide but nothing else. Siskins are starting to build up as we had a flock of 7 fly over. Later in the day a Sand Martin flew past us and will probably be the last one we'll see until next March. Not a bad day overall but we was expecting a bit more with the current stormy weather. To end this post I'm going to include this photo of a Weasel that was at Carsington last night. We were all standing there on Stones Island when it kept on popping up all over the place out of many of its holes. The photo isn't mine but thought I would add it anyway.....I don't think they will mind.

Elephant and Ratty!

We were walking along the path at Carsington the other day and spotted this beastie. An Elephant Hawkmoth Caterpillar I believe. 

Then down Wyver Lane on Thursday morning this Mole was also on the path. At first I wasn't sure if it was dead or alive. It must be the only Mole who is scared of the dark but paid the ultimate price in thinking it would be better off above ground.

A long day.....

An early start was on the cards yesterday to try and catch up with the Curlew Sands that turned up at Carsington on Friday evening. So the alarm was set for 04.30 as I was getting picked up at 05.30. When we arrived it was still dark so thought our chances were quite good. We hung around until the sun came up to find the place void of Waders. We walked a little further and caught up with 4 Greenshank, Common Sand and 8 Little Ringed Plover.....but no Curlew Sands.

We doubled back just in case we had missed them and there they were feeding around 20 yards away.

We enjoyed them for a while before moving off to the hide. A good selection of Wildfowl inluding almost 150 Teal, 19 Wigeon, 2 Pintail, 2 Red Crested Pochards and 2 Common Pochards. After a while Chris who had picked me up was off down the Trent Valley. I guess I could have gone but I thought I'd stick it out at Carsi. A move that didn't really pay off as all I got to show for it was a Green Sandpiper and the odd appearance from a Greenshank.

I walked around to Stones Island to find Clive there who had come up from work for the last hour. Nothing new came in but we caught up with the Ruff near the Sailing Club.

It just gets better....

After my Osprey on Tuesday afternoon I didn't think things could get much better. But yesterday evening not only did I get a site tick I also got a long overdue Derbyshire tick, but more about that later. I met Clive (who will feature quite heavily in this blog) for a days birding at Carsington (where else). Throughout the day a good selection of Waders were seen, the highlight being 3 Greenshank which have been around a while now.  But also 3 Redshank, Ringed Plover, 4 Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpipers and 2 Dunlin.

What I like about this time of the year is looking out for signs of Summer/Autumn leaving us and Winter being just around the corner. Things like Wigeon numbers slowly increasing to now double figures. Meadow Pipits start trickling back from the moors....we had 3 yesterday but Clive has had 4 today. Another sign is the Gull roost building up. A count of almost 5'000 LBB Gulls was made a week ago.

Tit flocks seem to be increasing in size and is always worth going over just in case something a little more unusual tags along. We watched a mobile flock yesterday and got quite a few Chiff Chaffs, Willow Warblers, Nuthatch and Willow Tit to name a few.

We made our way to Stones Island for the last couple of hours to see in anything came in before dusk. We had the 3 Redshank again and 2 Dunlin plus a couple of Yellow Wagtails. We were standing on the edge of the Island scanning the Dam Wall when Clive says 'what's this here?' I think he knew what it was as soon as he saw it but it's just something you tend to say even when a bird is so obvious. I looked up and saw a large Raptor flying above us. It only took a couple of seconds for us to both agree that we were watching a Marsh Harrier. We know that in certain parts of the UK they are ten a penny but round here they are like rocking horse shit. Only on passage do we get them in Derbyshire...one day though you never know.  I think (actually I know) I let out a few expletives in the excitement of seeing my first Marsh Harrier in Derbyshire. Clive has seen one in the county but it was a first for him at Carsington. The bird sailed on through North East and wasn't seen again. A fantastic end to the day.

That must mean another top tune. This time probably my all time favourite band The Wedding Present singing Getting Better, which is in fact an old song of The Beatles.