Nottingham RSPB
local group

My Kingdom for a Mistle Thrush!

Twenty past three and it is still dark as I roll out of bed. After a wash and some breakfast I'm out of the house, passing a party of drunken youths outside a local pub, and up to Carlton Square. Steve joins me there and soon Dave and Stuart arrive. We're off! A few hundred yards down the road we stop as Steve knows where we can see Grey Wagtail. We pile out to look over the bridge but in the Dyke there is no sign of the wagtail. However, in the dark we can just make out the white tail feathers of a Moorhen. Number one!

Soon we are heading up the A614 and here we have a real stroke of luck. To our right, floating just above the hedge is a Barn Owl, showing up very white in the headlights. Our first calling point was to be Clumber Park. Slightly disconcerting is the sign that the road beyond Clumber is closed for repairs so we will have to find a new route from there to our next calling point. As we approach the Clumber turn Dave sees a Mistle Thrush but he's the only one and the rules say that three of the four must see or hear a bird for it to count.

Clumber is reached well before a charge is made to park. We leave the car and the calls of Chaffinch, Great Tit and Chiffchaff are heard. As we walk through the park a Blackcap joins the chorus. We start to see as well as hear the birds, so a Pheasant scuttling away and a Wren scolding us from the undergrowth are added. We hear, and then see, a Tree Creeper and as we emerge into open land near the lake Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Shelduck and Pochard lengthen our list, as does a calling Cuckoo.

A field edged by trees where we had hoped to find Willow Tit and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is occupied by motor homes so we move on, keeping the lake on our right, picking up Gadwall, Grey Lag Goose, Pied Wagtail, Kestrel and Sedge Warbler on the way. Swifts are beginning to scythe through the air in their never ending feeding flights and a party of Long Tailed Tits flit through the bushes. The mocking cry of the Green Woodpecker reaches us and sightings of both Marsh and Coal Tits keep the total moving. A clear whistle alerts us to a Nuthatch walking along the branch of a large conifer and the cascading call of a Willow Warbler is heard. There we encountered a Blackbird with white tail feathers and resisted the temptation to turn it into a Black Wheatear!

Where the lake outflows we stop to scan round, for here is a house with bird feeders, as well as a view over farmland. This is a good place as both Great Crested and Little Grebes put in an appearance. A Grey Wagtail flies down the outflow, Swallows and House Martins skim the lake and a Reed Warbler sings from the reedbed. In the distant ploughed field Steve directs our attention to a Lapwing. The feeders by the house prove productive with House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Greenfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker paying a visit.

It was time for Stuart to do more driving. We stopped briefly by the bridge over the end of the lake to see a Mandarin and then tried to find an alternate way out of the park. This was unsuccessful and we had to retrace our steps but at least we saw a Jay and a bottle green melanistic Pheasant, not an addition to the list but interesting none the less. Finally we found the way out and reached the A1 north of where the road was closed.

Lound was our next destination and we intended turning on to the A634 to reach it. However some misleading diversion signs at the turn off led to us going south down the A1 again. Fortunately a minor road to Barnby Moor came to our rescue and we didn't lose much time as a result. This turned out for the best for, not long after we had parked the car on the gravel road near the current workings Dave cried out "Osprey!" and there one was, flying over the reserve. Pleased to see it though we were, in this context it still only counts as one species and as important as a House Sparrow. There were other species about and Sand Martin, Whitethroat, Oystercatcher, Shoveler, Linnet and both Greater and Lesser Black Backed Gulls were added to the growing list. As we were leaving, an obliging Reed Bunting flew past, landing on a prominent perch.

It was time to move on and we used the back roads to reach Gringley on the Hill. The village was not our concern so we drove down Leas Lane, a dead end road leading to Gringley Carr and the lowlands near the River Idle and only just in Nottinghamshire. A couple of Red-legged Partridge scurried away and when we parked the car the scratchy song of a Meadow Pipit was heard as well as the Curlew's bubbling call. We walked to the top of the canal bank to scan the fields but they revealed nothing new. When we returned to the car we looked across the fields again and this time were well rewarded. A repeated "wet-my-lips" identified a Quail, definitely a bonus, and an examination of some power lines produced both Yellowhammer and Yellow Wagtail. Below them on the ground a covey of Grey Partridge was a welcome addition and as we were about to leave a Turtle Dove flew over.

Raptors were next on the list so we made our way to Carburton Lakes. A Buzzard soon obliged but, despite an extensive period of scanning the skies, no Honey Buzzards were about, though we did see a Bullfinch. We were just leaving, when a very light bird looking a little larger than a Buzzard, flew over the car. This called for a quick u-turn but when we caught up with the bird again it proved to be another Common Buzzard. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

The Attenborough reserve was next on the list and there we saw our first tern of the day, a Common Tern. Local specialties such as Egyptian Goose and Red-crested Pochard appeared, as did a late Wigeon. From a hide we saw Tree Sparrows at a feeder and Dunlin and Little Ringed Plover on one of the gravel spits. Time was getting on and only Stuart had heard a Mistle Thrush for certain so either Steve or I had to answer Dave's increasingly desperate call. A more welcome song was that of a Lesser Whitethroat which we saw in the hawthorn hedge by the car park.

We had prepared for the day by taking notes of various sightings around the county to swell our total when things got tough, and it was time to go in search of some of these. A new venue for each of us was Kilvington Lakes, just in the county north of Bottesford. The journey there entailed leaving the county for a short while but this gave us a break from watching as we crossed a bit of Leicestershire. I don't know what we would have done if a rarity had been seen at this point. At Kilvington we parked by the side of the road and joined three other birders who were already looking through a gap in the hedge. The question "Is the Temminck's about?" was answered with "It was, but I can't see it at present."

For Steve, for whom this would be a lifer, this was an anxious time, but we saw Redshank, Greenshank, and Common Sandpiper before on a distant gravel island, a diminutive wader appeared. Scopes were trained and, to our delight, the slightly longer body of a Temminck's Stint caused great rejoicing. We asked about other birds in the area and were told of a Garganey at Cottam Flash, no more than three or four miles away.
A few minutes later we had bagged a male Garganey, despite a false start when we mistook a fishing pond for the flash. A brief stop and it was away again, heading for Netherfield Lagoons. The weather had been fine, the only rain falling when we were in the car. We parked the car in the appropriately named Teal Close, and walked to the lagoons. As we walked the footpath, a Sparrowhawk flashed past and, once we could see the open water, soon spotted a Ruddy Duck which has so far escaped the cull. Walking the bund between the shallow and deep pits we heard both Grasshopper and Cetti's Warblers, though we saw neither. It was gratifying to see here, as at the other waterside sites, how many swifts and hirundines there were hawking for insects. On the way round we came across a bright green Carpet Moth which we photographed and reported to the local wildlife group.

We had always intended to finish the day at Longdale Lane so we made our way there. The car park was empty as we arrived and we walked up through the clearing. Steve had by now heard a Mistle Thrush so Dave was able to relax. I was delighted to see a Tree Pipit on a wire and, though a little early for Nightjars, we did see a couple of roding Woodcock. By now we were cold and tired, so we decided to call it a day as darkness fell. Back to the car and home, having reached a grand total of a hundred and four species, a new record for Dave and Stuart on these occasions. We had our favourites. For Dave and Stuart it was the Osprey, Steve chose the Temminck's Stint while I picked the Tree Pipit. Many thanks to Stuart for driving us round all day and to all of those who sponsored us. At the time of writing the final amount raised is not known but it will appear in the October edition of the 'Knot.'

Little Grebe Great Crested Grebe Cormorant Grey Heron Mute Swan Greylag Goose Canada Goose Egyptian Goose Shelduck Mandarin Duck Wigeon Gadwall Teal Mallard Garganey Shoveler Red Crested Pochard Pochard Tufted Duck Ruddy Duck Sparrowhawk Buzzard Osprey Kestrel Red-legged Partridge Grey Partridge

Quail Pheasant Moorhen Coot Oystercatcher Little Ringed Plover Ringed Plover Lapwing TEMMINCK'S STINT Dunlin Woodcock Curlew Common Sandpiper Redshank Greenshank Black-headed Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Common Tern Stock Dove Wood Pigeon Collared Dove Turtle Dove Feral Pigeon Cuckoo

Barn Owl Swift Green Woodpecker Great Spotted Woodpecker Skylark Sand Martin Swallow House Martin Tree Pipit Meadow Pipit Yellow Wagtail Grey Wagtail Pied Wagtail Wren Dunnock Robin Blackbird Song Thrush Mistle Thrush Cetti's Warbler Grasshopper Warbler Sedge Warbler Reed Warbler Lesser Whitethroat Whitethroat Garden Warbler

Blackcap Chiffchaff Willow Warbler Goldcrest Long tailed Tit Marsh Tit Coal Tit Blue Tit Great Tit Nuthatch Treecreeper Jay Magpie Jackdaw Rook Carrion Crow Starling House Sparrow Tree Sparrow Chaffinch Greenfinch Goldfinch Linnet Bullfinch Yellowhammer Reed Bunting