Avez-Vous un Cuppa?

After finishing my student placement in Coalville for the day, I checked out Beacon Hill to see if there were any spring migrants about. Checking out the lower fields opposite the car park, the only notable bird was a superb looking male Wheatear feeding on piles of brown cattle shite. Over the next few weeks I will try and check this site out on a regular basis, and see if it produces the same number of spring migrants like Ring Ouzel and Warblers like it did last year. The only other sighting I had on Beacon Hill was strangely two Llamas feeding in the sheep field next to the Wheatear!

While I was booking my Citroen C2 Loeb in for a service,I got a pager message of about 16 Common Scoters at Swithland Reservoir that afternoon, so I decided not to do my weekly food shop at Morrison's, which I was going to do after servicing the car, but instead headed for Swithland Reservoir. Before I reached Swithland, I phoned John and Skev, about the Scoters, which there would try to see later in the day after family and work commitments. Viewing from the stone wall on Kinchley Lane, I scanned across the reservoir,firstly picking up the long staying pair of Smew, then a group of seven Common Scoters in the middle of the reservoir. Digiscoping the flock I took a few records shots of the Scoters. At around the same time,another birder came round the corner,and asked if the Lesser Scaup was still showing? Scanning further right over the reservoir, I saw the Lesser Scaup was close to the dam, and told the birder it was showing from the dam, which he thanked me and drove to the da...

After finishing my shift at the General Hospital, I drove over to Eyebrook Reservoir to look for the reported Avocets . Stopping at the inflow end, I saw the two birds almost straight away after I had got out of the car, feeding in the shallows. As the birds were reasonably close, I took a few record digis shots of the birds. In the same area, were a couple of Little Ringed Plovers and the now long-staying two Green winged Teals , a single Dunlin and at least eight Redshanks . At around the same time, Colin Towe and Chris Lythall(Leicester's Top Listers!?!) drove up and joined me watching the birds at the inflow end. Over the next hour, as usual good general banter was talked about, ranging from my new scope to cutting the hedge at Eyebrook! Just before I was about to leave for home, two Peregrines (male and Juv/female-type) flew over the inflow, sending the flocks of ducks and waders into a panic. After this sighting I made my way home to get ready for an evening...

On Tuesday,with John Hague and Brian Moore we went to Derbyshire and South Yorkshire for the day to do some birding. Leaving at six in the morning from Leicester,we started birding in Chesterfield about an hour later to look for four Waxwings in Cutthorpe which had been around for a few days. As we got out of the car, a couple of local bird ringers told us that the Waxwings had flew off just a few minutes before we had arrived. So we waited for the next hour to see if the birds returned, but as there was no show of the Waxwings during the hour so we moved onto Cutthroat bridge, near Ladybower Reservoir to look for Ring Ouzels. Walking onto the moorland, the first bird we saw was a nice looking male Red Grouse calling not too far from the footpath. Scanning the surrounding area, we counted at least another ten Red Grouse. Moving up a small gully in the valley, we saw more Red Grouse on the moorland, a fly-by Curlew and a pair of Stonechats feeding on the nearby vegetation. Maybe we we...

Just once in a while the weather forecasters get it right, and as I got up in the morning, a good covering of snow had occurred overnight. So I decided to get out early before work in the afternoon to take some photos of snow in Leicestershire. I took a few photos between Bardon and Beacon Hill as I know this is the highest point in Leicestershire and was bound to have snow on the ground. After taking a few snaps,I moved onto Blackbrook to see if the two Little Egrets were still around, as I thought it might make a nice photo of two white birds on a white background! However there was no sign of the Little Egrets feeding in Blackbrook brook, but only a token drake Mandarin duck trying to hide in the snowy background. Moving onto Dean's Lane,Beacon Hill I took a few more snow photos. I noticed by now that most of the snow was melting, so I decided to move onto Swithland Reservoir to do a bit of birding. As I drove down Kinchley Lane,I saw Ben Croxtall was scanning the water with his...

After receiving a quick phone call from John Hague at around 11.30am in the morning to inform me about a female Scaup down at Birstall, which Andrew Cliff had found the previous day. I rushed down to the site as I had to be at work at the General Hospital by 1.00pm. Parking at the Meadow Lane Car Park,I walked down towards to the Key Lakes,and started to scan the first lake on the right, which upon the first bird I saw was a female Scaup! I phoned John straight away and let him know that the bird was showing very well, which he would try and get to see it after he had finished work. I took a couple of record shots of the bird, and then went straight to work. Thinking about the sighting,looking back at my records in the Soar Valley area,I think this bird was my fourth Scaup in the area over the last fifteen years, and a nice year tick to boot!

As the Six Nations has now finished, here is my team of the championship. 15:Lee Bryne (Wales)or Georghan Murphy (Ireland) 14:Vincent Clerc (France) 13:Gavin Henson (Wales) 12:Tom Shanklin (Wales) 11:Shane Williams (Wales) 10:James Hook (Wales)or Chris Paterson (Scotland) 9:Mike Blair (Scotland) or Mike Philips (Wales) 8:Ryan Jones (Wales) Captain 7:Martyn Williams (Wales) 6:Alasdair Strokosch (Scotland) 5:Ian Gough (Wales) 4:Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) 3:Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy) 2:Ross Ford (Scotland) 1:Gethin Jenkins (Wales) Subs: Rob Kearney(Ireland),Jamie Noon(England),Danny Cipriani(England),Allan Jacobson(Scotland),Leonardi Ghiraldini (Italy),Nathan Hines(Scotland),James Haskell(England). I realise that there are a lot of Welsh players in this team,but there are the form team in the championship,and maybe I'm bias against England,as the majority of the time I think there play crap Rugby! Although I must admit I do think England have got some decent playe...

Over the weekend between watching the rugby,I've actually did a bit of birding. On Friday,I went down the Soar Valley,to see if the Great White Egret was still around, but as usual with Great White Egrets in Leicestershire at the moment,there was no sign of the bird in the surrounding area. Although a pager message stated that the Egret was showing well from Plover Hide at Wanlip Meadows,when I got there I could only find a Little Egret on the scrape. Somebody had made a mistake! After taking a few record shots of the Egret I moved onto Eyebrook Reservoir, and finally connected with the elusive Green-winged Teal, which was feeding at the inflow end. Also it was good to see the Eyebrook crew (Mick,Phil and Peter),and good general banter of the local birding scene was discussed over the next hour or so! The only other sightings I saw during the hour at Eyebrook was four Dunlins and a single Ringed Plover. On Saturday before the rugby(that another story!),I visited Cr...

On Saturday,Wales won the Grand Slam in the Six Nations Rugby championship.Beating France 29-12 in Cardiff, the welsh team was superb in defence, and were worthy winners through tries scored by Shane Williams and Martyn Williams. Warren Gatland,Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley have turned round a poor team in the World Cup to become the best team in the Northern Hemisphere, and I congratulate them for doing a great job. Next up for Wales is the Boks in South Africa in June, and hopefully Wales will push them all the way?

Whilst counting ducks down at Watermead CP North I found an adult Great White Egret sitting in trees at Birstall nature reserve. When I first saw the bird,I thought it was an Egret, but what species? Viewing the bird through my scope I confirmed my suspicions that it was a Great White Egret. After that I was straight on my mobile and phoned a number of birding friends of my find. First to arrive was Allen Pocock who congratulate me on my find, followed by Steve Lister the county recorder, and then local birder Pete Jessop. We watched the bird for the next hour or so until I decided to finish the wildfowl count and to get some dinner. Please that I had find the bird,it got me thinking that probably this bird was the one seen earlier in January 2008 at Cossington Meadows LRWT, and maybe even the bird seen as far back in the Soar Valley area circa 2005!? Hopefully this time around the Egret will not been so dam elusive, and show for the local birders this weekend. Than...

During this week,I have done a few things,firstly I went to this month's Leicester wildlife group talk about Amphibians(Newts, Frogs and Toads)at the Firebug pub. As I have never seen any Newts in Britain, the talk was a good learning experience, and noted that I will look for some Newts in the near future. After the talk me and John Hague went down to the Criterion(recently voted the best pub in Leicester),and I had a couple of excellent Czech beers. Returning to my car, I found that I had been given a parking ticket at 19.45pm at night! OK, it was my mistake as I had parked next to a disabled space,but getting a ticket at that time of the night was a bit extreme? The next day,meeting up with John, Skev and Dave Mack, we visited the annual Leicester Beer Festival. Although I'm not renowned for being a large ale drinker, I did find a couple of excellent continental style beers, Hair Repie from the Poachers Brewery and Lager Bier from the Bridgnorth Brewery. Fin...

Over the last two of days I have seen two species of Hare not too far from my home. Firstly whilst looking for the Green winged Teal at Eyebrook Reservoir (which I didn't see!) on the Saturday, I notice at least four Brown Hares sitting in fields opposite the feeding station. There was no real action from the Hares but a couple did try to shadow box for a few minutes. The other Hare on the agenda over the weekend, was that I finally saw a Mountain Hare. Although I know that the Mountain Hares in Derbyshire/South Yorkshire were introduced into the area in the last century. I have always wanted to see a Snow White Mountain Hare in its natural habitat. So I set off on Sunday morning to look for Mountain Hares around Ladybower and Derwent Reservoir in the Peak district with my friend Margaret. After finding a spot in the crowded car park, we walked slowly passed the dam at the bottom of the valley. Birds in the surrounding area included good numbers of Siskins...

Just once in a while when everything goes right, and as Hannibal Smith of the A Team would say, "I love it when a plan comes together". Yesterday was just that day, firstly Manure got knocked out of FA cup by Pompey, then Wales win the Triple Crown in Ireland, by beating Ireland 16-12 at Croke Park. Following this game England lose to Scotland at Murryfield, as England lack direction and drive and are Jonny Wilkinson's days number in the England team?! Then Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-0, With El Nino(Fernandos Torres) scoring his 25 goal of the season, and finally on the sporting front, Chelski also get beaten in the FA cup by the socialist republic of Barnsley, by one goal to nil. Maybe there is a god, after all, or maybe not!!!

Although I spent most of the Saturday kicking my heels at the LRI, waiting for a non-arriving taxi, Sunday was totally different from the previous day. I met up with Andy Smith and John Hague at Thornton Reservoir to check out a few local sites for Little Owls. Although we didn't see any Little Owls in the brief search, the surrounding habitat looked excellent for Little Owls, and I will probably check the sites out again over the next few weeks. Andy then invited me and John for a coffee in his garden. Andy's garden probably has one of the best views in Leicestershire, as it looks over the reservoir and surrounding area. Just below Andy's garden, was a small pond in his neighbours garden,which probably had the most frogs I have ever seen in such a small space. I counted over 200+ Frogs in it! After leaving Andy's, John and me checked the feeding station by the boat house at the reservoir, with a good number of Chaffinches and Reed Buntings the only birds of note. At th...

Over the last week, a few things have been of interest to me, last tuesday the East Midlands had an Earthquake, which woke me up with a jolt, as I thought somebody was trying to break into the house. It also reminded me of my days spent at Gateway Sixth Form College, trying to learn the basics of A' Level Geology. Other things which caught my eye during the week was an excellent tv programme on the acclaimed architect Richard Rogers. When it comes to Architecture, I'm very much in the modernist camp and the total opposite of what the future monarch of this country thinks about Architecture. Great buildings designed by Richard Rogers included the Lloyds Building in London, The Pompidou centre in Paris and the National Assembly of Wales in Cardiff. Finally,on the birding front, Eyebrook Reservoir hosted a Yankee Green-winged Teal for a few days during the week.I didn't have time to see the bird but maybe it was the returning bird from the previous year?