Time for an update from the weekend and this morning. On Saturday morning we had a ringing demo at Binn Green. Thirty birds were ringed, amongst them were Chaffinches, a Treecreeper, Coal Tits, Siskins, Great Tit, Blue Tits ( largely first winter birds ), Goldfinch and Blackbird.
Recent sightings from Sunday include Dipper,Red Grouse,a female Goldcrest and Brambling as well as the usuals Goldifnch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch. Coal, Blue and Great Tit from around the main trail. Bird of the day goes to the two Whooper Swans on Dove Stone res. These birds will have overwintered in England and will be on the way back - possibly to Iceland - to their summer breeding grounds. I watched them on the res for about half an hour, during which time they were head-bobbing which can be part of the courtship display.
They circled over Dove Stone res, Binn Green, Alderman's Brow and Yeoman Hey a couple of times, presumably helping with gaining height, before flying in the direction, of the Holmfirth road. Here's a factoid for you: Whooper Swans have been recorded migrating at altitudes up to 8,200m where the ambient temperature is -40C ( source: BTO's website ).
Also on the main reservoir were 40+ Black Headed Gulls, the numbers of which increased to over 140 during the half an hour I was watching the Whoopers. So, what you see in 30-minutes-birding can vary tremendously, which is of course a good reason to spend more time birding ! However, our '30-minutes-birding' is really just about getting in touch with what's about, and a bit of fun. My main reason for being out on Sunday was it was one of the core count days for the BTO's wetland birds survey ( WeBS ), so it's great to have been at Dove Stone at this particular time to record these Whoopers for this survey, which is all about monitoring sites for overwintering birds.
In terms of people visiting, Sunday was a busy day at Dove Stone with cars queueing to park in the main carpark and Binn Green car park being full too. Good for our people engagement team though, out there at the coal face promoting the work of the RSPB and showing people Dove Stone's wildlife - good one Mandy, John and Ken. Reports from the weekend include two Mountain Hares seen through the scope on the hillside above the adjacent farmland. Mountain Hare are largely nocturnal - particularly active at dusk and dawn so I'm guessing these hares will have been sitting rather than feeding. I've personally not seen any Mountain Hare recently but it's likely that these hares will have begun their moult from their white winter pelage to summer's brown. More on this soon. I'm sure the Peregrines will have been seen over the weekend too so an update coming on our resident pair soon as well.
photo courtesy of MIke Price
So, what a difference a day makes. Compared to the how busy it was at the weekend, this morning Dove Stone was very quiet - Yeoman Hey res looked stunning with early mornings being when the reservoirs are stillest and the reflections at their best. Sightings from this morning include Brambling at Binn Green, which was full of the sound of Goldfinches and Siskins. As well as usuals Blackbirds, Robin, Coal, Blue and Great Tit around the feeders there was a Nuthatch, a female Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay and a Dunnock. Still waiting for my Sparrowhawk ! Also seen were three Mistle Thrush - one of which was seen off by one of the remaining two birds - presumably these birds are a pair as Mistle Thrush can begin nesting in February. I later saw a single Mistle Thrush nearby singing - possibly the same bird. Other birds are also starting to gear up for breeding as I've seen Blue Tits checking out two of our nest boxes at Dove Stone.
Back to the recent sightings. Moving on to Yeoman Hey there was Dipper and Grey Wagtail on the spillway and in the adjacent woods a few Goldcrests. Last sighting for today was as I walked back up the steps to Binn Green where I saw a Weasel - short tail with no black tip tells this mammal apart from a Stoat. It was head-on so I got the chance to watch this lovely little animal for a minute or two, whilst it watched me before disappearing. I think there's a lot to be said for walking on one's own - you see more.
More soon...