May 2020 Report

1 May – 31 May

BIRDS of Lady Bay

Headline BirdsAnd here we go again – two more new ticks for the area - a Lapwing seen on Adbolton Lane on 27 May and a Common Sandpiper seen and photographed flying upstream off The Hook on 8 May. You may disagree, however, with these as bird(s) of the month and go for another Barn Owl or Raven sighting, more Linnets seen on Regatta Way or our fourth Red Kite. What an area we live in!

Herons and EgretsSlightly less sightings for Grey Heron with 11 across the area. The single bird that turned up on the Grantham Canal seemed to enjoy itself and was not in the least disturbed by the many canal walkers in proximity to it; it was last seen on 24 May. Not surprisingly sightings of Little Egret were well down with only one seen flying east over Rutland Road on 21 May.

Swans, Geese and DucksCanada Geese – numbers remained fairly low with the majority being in single figures. There were five double figure counts with the maximum being 32 birds on 19 May near to the boat club. They also continued to explore the eastern end of the canal with a count of five birds on 8 May.Greylag – Four sightings of Greylag Geese was a very low number of records. The maximum count was six birds with the Canada Geese on 19 May. None were seen on the canal.Tufted Duck – only one record from the river on 11 May.Coots – A maximum of 47 birds was recorded at the beginning of the month including 29 chicks. 45 birds were seen mid-month with 14 chicks. The difference in numbers is probably down to not being able to see the birds due to the reed growth. There are at least two nests with birds sitting for the second time.Moorhen – A total of 17 birds including 8 chicks was seen at the beginning of the month. This is slightly up on 2019. By mid-month numbers had dropped to 11 birds including only 3 chicks. As with Coots, reed growth may be the reason that further birds were not seen. The single bird on The Hook was last seen on 15 May.Mute Swan – two pairs have produced young on the canal. Both the ‘Ropsley’ set and the ‘Rutland’ set comprise 2 adults and five cygnets. Both nests had their fair share of failure with Ropsley having one dead cygnet and two abandoned eggs while Rutland, I think, had four abandoned eggs and one dead cygnet. Both families seem happily settled into their surroundings. Late Tweet: couldn’t find the Rutland family on 4th June.Elsewhere there was the odd single bird seen on the River Trent throughout the month.Great Crested Grebes – a maximum of eight birds seen including two young, very often seen on the back of one of the adult birds. Birds seen still in courtship display on 7 May.Cormorants – this species was regularly seen throughout the month as flyovers or along the river corridor.Mallard – the resident population on the canal seems to have reduced in numbers. Only 18 adult birds were noted but breeding was successful with 13 ducklings being seen on 1 May. 10 ducklings were seen on 15 May. Elsewhere one garden on Mona Road attracted a single bird all month which was joined by a mate towards the end of the month. An unusual sighting was of female birds snapping at Mayflies on the river on 24 May.

Gulls and TernsLesser Black-backed Gull There were four sightings of single birds on 2nd (juvenile), 15th(adult) and 24th(adult). Two birds (adult and juvenile) seen over Rutland Road also on 24th. Black-headed Gulls Similar to April. Singles fairly regularly seen over the area with the maximum flock size being six birds on 19 and 20 May.Common Terns Between one and five birds seen between 1 and 20 May over the river. One bird was seen over Mona Road on 16 May.

Raptors four raptor species again this month but with, not surprisingly, numbers reduced due to breeding and nesting activitiy.Common Buzzard – 9 records of one to two birds spread throughout the month.Kestrel – single birds seen on 3 May, 12 May and 31 May.Sparrowhawk – a slightly reduced tally of six sightings of single birds over The Hook, Trent Boulevard and Mona Road. Two birds were seen over Mona Road on 2 May.Red Kite : a superb fourth sighting for the area over Trent Boulevard on 30 May.

May 2020 Report

Owls – A fantastic second sighting of a Barn Owl on 5 May in the Adbolton Lane area.

(M Jones)

Waders and Rails Two waders (and two new ticks for the area!) took the honours this month. A superb Common Sandpiper seen and photographed flying upstream off The Hook on 8 May and a brilliant Lapwing seen briefly in the Regatta Way/Adbolton Lane area on 27 May. A single Snipe was heard in the Pinders Pond area between 2 May and 12 May. We’ll have to wait until Autumn/Winter for any hopeful signs of Water Rail and future Snipe encounters. A single Oystercatcher was noted on 11 May in The Hook and river area.

Common Sandpiper(J Hannah)

Smaller StuffWarblers32 records of Blackcap, 19 of Chiffchaff, 30 of Common Whitethroat, 10 of Sedge Warbler, 5 of Cetti’s Warbler and 8 of Garden Warbler kept us more than entertained during the month. We did however lose Willow Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat at the end of April, unless they do become quiet after finding a mate. Cetti’s Warbler has not been heard since 12 May, Sedge Warbler 20 May and Garden Warbler after 25 May. Is it disturbance that doesn’t make the area attractive enough? The first Common Whitethroat was seen on the canal on 12 May with two subsequent sightings on 14 and 15 May.

Swifts, Swallows and MartinsMixed fortunes for this group. Swifts have been regularly seen in the area often in single figures but creeping up into double figures on a couple of occasions. Swallows have been hard to find with six records of single birds but a brilliant group of 12 birds was seen over the river on 20 May. Sand Martins seem to be finding it hard to enter the area with only five records of up to four birds but a super group of ten birds was seen over the river also on the 20 May. It seems to be desperate times, however, for House Martins with only four records of one and two birds with the last birds for the month being two on Julian Road on 30 May.Tits

May 2020 Report

38 records of Blue Tit is almost a 50% drop on the April figures which is probably indicative of breeding activity. Extremes of success were indicated with both young birds and failed nest boxes being noted on Mona Road. Coal Tits did a similar act with only eight records, which is nearly a 50% drop on April numbers.Great Tits had another very good month with 35 records throughout the month. A superb story of a Great Tit family from a garden out of the area just showed how it’s possible to enjoy the highs and lows of nature. Surprisingly only four of the 36 records came from The Hook. Long-tailed Tit records were slightly down with 12 reported, all bar one from gardens; the remaining one was from the eastern section of the canal.

FinchesGoldfinch showed remarkably well throughout the month with 59 records of 1-4 birds, occasionally 5-6 birds and a maximum of seven birds on Regatta Way on 1 May. Greenfinch and Chaffinch records were almost identical with 29 and 28 records respectively each of an average of about four birds with the maximum number being 3 Chaffinches on 1 May near the boat club and ten Greenfinches on The Hook on 15 May. Our ‘jewel’, the Bullfinch, was in short supply with only four records of which three were from gardens and one from The Hook.

Other40 records of Dunnocks throughout the month is a great tally of which all but three sightings (of two birds) were of single birds. It is again a similar picture for Robins but in complete contrast to April with 53 of 55 records coming from gardens and not The Hook. There was only one record of Goldcrest with a single bird on Holme Road on 9 May. Wrens were heard regularly throughout the month (39 records) but all were of single birds except for three on The Hook and two on Rutland Road on 15 May. Linnets were again seen in the Regatta way area with an adult male feeding a young bird on 1 May and an adult male (same bird?) seen and photographed on 13 May.

Kingfisher: 18 records throughout the month is a further increase in sightings of this superb bird. Two birds were regularly seen on the river while three records have come from the Grantham Canal. A welcome reward for hours of watching.

Corvids: seen all month throughout the area with numbers still affected by breeding. There was a great record of a single Raven seen and heard near the boat club on 1 May; apparently there was a widespread movement of this species over the area during the month. The maximum number of Jackdaws was 10 birds on 19/20 May on The Hook, at least 5 Carrion Crows on 2 May in the Mona Road area and seven Rooks on 30 May in the Rutland Road area. Out of 49 records of Magpie the maximum number was four birds on Regatta Way on 1 May.

Wagtails – despite Yellow Wagtails being seen beyond West Bridgford, the area didn’t manage to attract any birds. There were only two records of Pied Wagtail; three and one birds on 1 and 2 May.

Buntings – A low six records of Reed Bunting was down on April numbers with 1-2 birds being seen on The Hook area for the first three weeks of the month.

Starlings – adult, young and fledgling birds seen throughout the month across the area. The maximum number was of 30 birds seen on two occasions – about 20 May and 24 May from Pierrepont Road and The Hook.

Doves and Pigeons - Stock Dove crept back into the picture with four records - all from the Mona Road area between 13 – 23 May. Feral Pigeons were noted all month across the area with the maximum number being about 50 birds on Regatta Way on 1 May. Ever present across the area, Wood Pigeons were noted most days with the maximum being about 10 birds in the Mona Road area at the end of the month. Decent numbers of Collared Doves were noted during the first half of the month but then tailed off in the second half.

Thrushes – Blackbirds remain our most common thrush with its beautiful song dominating the air on 3 May - Dawn Chorus day. Single records of Song Thrushes were noted for the first half of the month before fading. There were three birds seen and heard on The Hook on 15 May. Mistle Thrushes were heard and seen all month with a regular individual making its presence known continually in the Rutland Road area.

House Sparrows – record numbers down on April figures but seen every day in regular ‘hotspots’. The bird seems to have spread slightly on The Hook into two or three small groups. The maximum number was about 15 birds on The Hook on 15 May but Trent Boulevard is still recording counts into double figures.

Woodpeckers – Green Woodpecker was incredibly vocal in the Pinders Pond/boat club area for the first half of the month (ten records) but then became silent probably as a result of breeding activity. There were two records of Great Spotted Woodpecker being heard on 4 and 6 May.

Crisis Nature List

May 2020 Report

With the slight easing of lockdown restrictions, it has been decided to finish the monitoring of the Nature List as reported at the end of May.

As a final tally, since March 23, 105 species of bird have been seen, 12 species of butterfly, six species of Damsel/Dragonfly, 14 species of insect, 43 types of flower, 12 species of mammal and three species of amphibian. The full list is on the website (www.ladybaybirdwatchers.wordpress.com) and so is not repeated here. A few special mentions though have to be made:

BirdsThe final top ten birds were as follows with a comparison made against the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch results of 2020:

Position Species No of Sightings 2020 RSPB BGB1 Blackbird 215 52 Woodpigeon 203 43 Robin 166 84 Blue Tit 165 35 House Sparrow 153 16 Goldfinch 148 67 Magpie 146 108 Great Tit 145 79 Carrion Crow 12810 Dunnock 12415 Starling 233 Long-tailed Tit 9

Away from the Lady Bay area the implementation of Garden Watch has seen records submitted from Mapperley, Holme Pierrepont, London, East Leake, Carlton, Gamston and West Bridgford.

Just a few birds to be remembered from the Nature List:

Great Tit Sparrowhawk

Great Spotted Woodpecker JayFlowers

May 2020 Report

One of the final flower species to be added to the list was Oxford Ragwort. A super photograph and an even better explanation.

(M Harbron)

Oxford Ragwort. A hybrid of 2 species Senecio aethnensis and Senecio chyrsanththemfolius, originating from Mount Etna in Sicily. Brought to Oxford Botanical gardens in 1690, from whence it escaped to adorn walls and railway lines across the UK. 

MammalsWhat a photo to finish off the mammals.

Roe Deer(M Jones)

Dragonflies, Damselflies and Insects

May 2020 Report

Not to be outdone, the Broad-bodied Chaser.

(J Duxbury)

AmphibiansThere is a further problem with the water level in the canal; hopefully it won’t affect the water life.

ButterfliesSmall Heath and Common Blue finished off our list of butterflies for this period

………and it’s raining again….remember last month?