LAGOONS GALORE

A change is as good as a rest is the old expression, so for a change the Bird Club trip visited Rutland Water.


Rutland Water Nature Reserve is managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust in Partnership with Anglian Water.
Created in the 70s it is an important wildfowl reserve, and is a credit to all involved.
Over the years the sanctuary has evolved for not only the wildlife but also those who wish to enjoy it. Comprising of around a thousand acres the lagoons have been purposely made with the wild life in mind. There are nearly 30 hides in which to view the area, not including the visitors centre.

Sunday turned into a gorgeous day weather wise, a welcome relief for those who have been suffering from SAD so long.
The usual guys Bob, Mark, Wendy and myself met our good friend Tim Newton and later Richard Barford joined us.

Tree Rat

Brown Tree Rat

Adjacent to the Visitor's Centre is a bird feeding area this is the best site for Tree Rat along with various other passerines. A Muntjac quietly moved around but disappeared as the lady came to refill the feeders. This area also had a purpose built photography hide, not a bad idea when you consider how many Trust Members carry a camera these days.

Redhead Smew

Male Smew

Tim was paid large sums of money, we are talking footballer numbers here, as our team leader. Slowly we made headway to the Sandpiper hide overlooking lagoon 4. A treat in the bright sunshine were a party of Redhead Smew supplement by several  iconic males absolutely wonderful ! I guess these were the highlights of the day.

Shoveler

Male and female Pintail

Now I don't know how Mark does it, but he has the knack of finding a needle in a haystack, lucky for us, with  great number's of waterfowl mulling here there and everywhere Mark found the only American Wigeon on site, Well Done.
Eurasian Wigeon, Shoveler, Goosander and Pintail all made an appearance along with Sparrowhawk and Red Kite.

First Primrose for the year

One of a party of Siskin

We  ambled around many of the hides picking only the best as advised by our expensive trip leader. We were seeing lots of incidental stuff and I could not help but feel a yearly pass would be very beneficial.

Robin

It's no doubt that good weather helps to make a nice day out but good friends both human and feathered make an exceptional day out.

Post meeting synopsis - The Gambia by Dave Jackson.

Hello

The first indoor meeting of the year was held on Wednesday 3rd Jan when we were privileged to enjoy Dave Jackson's presentation and take on the Gambia, that fabulous little country on the west coast of Africa. The Gambia, now an independent country once 'owned' by Great Britain, provides an excellent opportunity for the wildlife enthusiast to sample a little of the African experience. Although there is little in the way of free-ranging mammals these days, there are still plenty of birds and an opportunity of seeing reptiles and insects too.

Dave provided plenty of high quality digital images depicting much of the bird life on offer, and also ensured that the cultural aspects of this small country were illustrated too. It seems that over the years there has been some development with improved roads and other infrastructure with investment from overseas but the general easy going and friendly character of this country remains.

During our winter months the Gambia plays host to quite a number of birds that during the summer can be found in Europe, making it even more interesting to find and identify wintering migrants among the often more exotic African residents! I particularly marvelled at Dave's Abyssinian Roller images, somehow capturing the poise and action of this charismatic and beautiful subject and also the incredibly bright azure colours of the flight feathers. The presentation was made all the more enjoyable with stories of ventures that went according to plan and also those that went not so well, such is the nature of this vibrant little country entirely surrounded with the much bigger and French-dominated country of Senegal!

A well crafted and vivid presentation that provided plenty of information and expectations to anyone planning to go to the Gambia, and bringing back some fabulous memories for those that have already ventured and enjoyed the charms of this tiny African nation. Thank-you very much Dave!

Regards

Neil M

Violaceous Turaco.

Back from the brink project

Hello

A message from Susannah O'Riordan...

I’m one of the Project Officers working on Back from the Brink, an initiative supported by The National Lottery which has 19 projects across the country working towards saving a number of rare and threatened species.  I’m based in Rockingham Forest, leading the ‘Roots of Rockingham’ project which is focused on improving woodland habitats in Rockingham for 15 priority and 11 secondary target species including birds, plants, moths, butterflies, bats and reptiles.  5 of our 15 priority species are birds, namely Willow Tit, Marsh Tit, Lesser Redpoll, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Spotted Flycatcher.  You can find out more about the project here https://naturebftb.co.uk/

To gain a better idea of the distribution of the target species and to monitor the impact of habitat management work being carried out, we are aiming to survey as many of the target woodlands as possible and are looking for willing volunteers who’d like to get involved in this work.  We’ve got a couple of training workshops coming up soon that will inform people about the target species and how we are going to survey for them, and allow people to sign up to help. These are being led by one of our project partners, the RSPB. I’ve attached information on these workshops to this email and they can also be found on our website https://naturebftb.co.uk/news-events/?category=events

If there are people that would like to get involved in the bird surveying but can’t attend either of the workshops, they can contact me directly as we could still use their help.  

If you’d like any further info, please let me know

Thank you

Best wishes Susannah O’Riordan  Rockingham Forest Project Officer - Back from the Brink Tel 01780 444067 Mobile 07483 039324 (limited reception) Based at: Forestry Commission Office, Top Lodge, Fineshade, Corby, Northamptonshire NN17 3BB Butterfly Conservation, Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5QP

Company limited by guarantee, registered in England (2206468). Charity registered in England and Wales (254937) and in Scotland (SCO39268). naturebftb.co.uk @naturebftb