Nottingham RSPB
local group

The Adventures of Nott the Hoopoes

Turn your back for four years and everything changes! When I left Nottingham in March 2000 everything seemed as it had been for years. But returning on the evening of may 7th 2004, I realised parts of the city had disappeared. New road systems had been imposed and - "Oh my goodness” where did that tram come from? (or words to that effect).

One thing that remained was the traffic jam from junction 24 of the Ml along the A453 and into the city. It took an hour to do the final seven miles of my journey. But I am far from displeased about this, as several years ago I had signed a petition to stop the road being diverted through a nearby Heronry. You see we can save things if we try; all it takes is a bit of effort.

May 8th saw us up (but not necessarily bright) early and forming a team consisting of myself, Dave Goodwin, Andrew Griffin and Stephen Wilkinson. Another change that had taken place was the demise of the Snobby B'stards, as half of the team seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Perhaps they are being probed by aliens somewhere.

Our new team of Nott the Hoopoes was a good combination and we could not lose the RSPB bird race as we were the only people to form a team. However we were overwhelmingly supported by people unable to participate and lots of sponsorship money was raised.

Our first destination, Longdale Lane was reached in very heavy rain and we were forced to wear as much waterproof gear as possible. I was the first one to sulk as I put my foot through my waterproof trousers and created a hole big enough for a pregnant elephant to walk through! Never mind, if the rain continued at this rate we would all be soaked through any-way.

We had decided that no self respecting Owls would be out in this weather and Woodcock was looking doubtful too. Just then a 'whisk' call revealed a roding male patrolling his territory. A good year tick and a difficult species to get on the list.

As Andy drove us to Clumber Park, he ordered us to stop breathing as the windows were steaming up and visibility was not good. I cannot remember experiencing conditions this bad on a bird race before. The rain continued but it did not stop four soggy maniacs trudging around Clumber Park, which we had to ourselves. Mute Swan, Shelduck, Gadwall, Pochard, Moorhen and Long-tailed Tit all slip onto the list as do Blackcap and Reed Warbler. Four distant Terns, seen through rain filled 'scopes and binoculars were put down as Common, and then the big one happened. Looking behind us Andrew shouted "There's an Osprey, — I'm not joking — there's an Osprey coming over!" Time stood still as we watched one of our favourite raptors fly not too far overhead, hover in the distance, and head south-west again. Where was the bird going? Certainly not to Scotland as birds there should have been on territory at least two or three weeks ago.

If there is one place not to be missed on a local bird race then it is surely Lound which was our next port of call. Due to roadwork's part of the village and all the lagoons were inaccessible and valuable time was lost trying to find a way in. Andy came up trumps again as he remembered a country lane he used to use years ago, but he never told us what for...

The lane was full of potholes and craters which I certainly would not have taken my car over. Since my last visit here a viewing screen has been erected and this proved invaluable for watching the 'scrape'. Little Grebe, Barnacle Goose, Teal, Pintail, Shoveler, both Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers were seen as well as Redshank, Greenshank and three species of Gull. A Whitethroat sang from the roadside scrub but Stephen spotted the star bird for this site. A distant rock was in fact a drake, Red-crested Pochard having a bit of a nap.

The rain had now stopped which pleased me because my waterproof trousers seemed to have grown and had been dragged on the mud under my boots. Again Andrew drove through the mysterious country lanes and I felt glad that he did not get the urge to pull into a secluded lay-by somewhere!

The fields in and around the Idle Valley held Turtle Dove, Red-legged and Grey Partridges, Corn Buntings and lemon coloured Yellow Wagtails, birds which I do not get to see over in Wales. Lunch was taken by the raptor viewpoint at Welbeck Great Lake, but the only birds of prey to be seen were a couple of Buzzards and Kestrels.

I was well aware that when we reached our next destination Sherwood Forest we were getting funny looks from the well dressed day trippers out for a picnic with their families. We were probably looking a bit tired, scruffy and hungry, but hey we were 'working' hard for charity. Not long after our arrival we found ourselves in a fenced off area and obviously ought to get out before we attracted too much attention to ourselves. The path ahead was all quite — all we needed to do was nip quickly over the fence. But all of a sudden there were hundreds of people about. It was like a scene in the cartoons where the character tries to cross an empty road only to be flattened by traffic that appears from nowhere. The area we had been in had turned up our only Spotted Flycatcher of the day, so it had not been all bad. The paths went on and on and I seem to recall Andy hungrily eyeing up the cattle which are now grazing small areas of the forest. Near some conifers, I heard the excited calls of a couple of Crossbills which was frustrating as the others saw them fly off, but not me, they would have been a nice addition to my year list.

Despite the weather we were still on a respectable score and were still in the north of the county, the decision was made to drop into the city and bag the Peregrines, on the Newton Building so off we went. The plan worked in theory but not in practice. The Peregrines were not showing themselves today, which is more than I can say for those trams! Perhaps the Peregrines were secreted away on the trams and we just had not realised yet.

The gravel pits along the Trent Valley are always worth a visit, but daylight only allowed us enough time to visit one, but which? I personally would have liked to give Attenborough a go, but the others decided that Holme Pierrepont was the place to be. They were not wrong, as the light started to fade Stephen spotted a pair of Garganey feeding secretly on the far side of one of the pools. We were still on a roll and at another stop our last tick of the day a Hobby hawked for insects overhead.

Light was fading fast and now the plan was to visit a 'stakeout' for Grasshopper Warbler. Suddenly it got brighter and the sky seemed like it would never get dark. However eventually darkness descended before this species entered our list and we finished the day on the total of 96 species. Had we realised that Dave had forgotten to tick Lesser Whitethroat at Lound our total would have been 97. We had not been able to reach the 100 species in the time allowed and I think we were all a little disappointed not to have reached that score.

There are times during bird races where you hit 'the wall' and you generally want to punch the other three who seem more tired, more niggly and smelly than yourself, but this time it never happened. The only argument was between Stephen and Dave who disagreed over which film was best, American Beauty or The Blues Brothers! [Blues Brothers, obviously - Ed.]

I would like to thank Dave, Andy and Steve for putting up with me and for forming a great team which I would like to race with again in the future. Thanks must also go to Jan with her regular phone calls of encouragement. This worked especially well as Dave wanted to go home when we were at Clumber Park, only our second site!

If anyone wants to challenge Nott the Hoopoes next season please let us know. Perhaps we can use it as another event to raise more valuable funds to help our feathered friends.

Stuart Taylor      
(The Wandering Warden)