March 2018
1st – 2 Fieldfare seen in a garden on Hillside, 2 Redwing seen in a garden on Doles Lane.
2nd – Several Fieldfare seen feeding in a garden on Aults Close.
3rd – Garden on Hillside, a pair of Field Fares taking crab apples directly off the tree. They were joined shortly after by a pair of long tailed tits in the magnolia
5th – 1 Water Rail and 1 Grey Wagtail seen at the treatment works, 1 Water Rail seen in the reed bed Stanhope Wood, c15 Fieldfare, 3+ Song Thrush and 30 Redwing seen opposite Clovermead Kennels Common Piece Lane, 6+ Yellowhammer and 18+ Reed Bunting seen NE of Hicklin’s Bridge, pair of Reed Bunting seen in the reed bed Stanhope Wood.
10th – spring is here. The first lot of frogspawn was seen in a garden pond at a house on Aults Close
9th – 3 Lapwing and 2 Stock Dove seen in field N of Bakeacre Lane, 2 Mistle Thrush seen Blakemere Farm, Bakeacre Lane
13th – 16 Teal seen on floodwater Bakeacre Lane
14th –1 Cormorant seen south of Mercia Marina pond, 4 Tufted Duck seen on Mercia Marina Pond, 1 male Kestrel seen west of Watson’s Bridge, 5 Bullfinch seen A50 embankment north of the treatment works, 1 male Reed Bunting seen on bird feeder in garden on Hillside.
18th – Several Fieldfare seen on green area between Aults Close and Wren Park Close
19th – 1 Meadow Pipit and 1 Chiffchaff seen at the treatment works
21st Wow, it must be spring – two Red Admiral butterflies in the garden this morning. One fIuttered over and the other spent quite some time feeding on the flowers of the mahonia.
22nd – 1 Gadwall seen on Mercia Marina Pond, the first sighting this week, 1 Peregrine seen on the cooling towers Willington Power Station, 1 Chiffchaff seen canal side S of the treatment works (first song this year) and 1 Treecreeper seen at the Ballast Hole Pond, 1 male Bullfinch seen in tree in front garden Aults Close
25th
2 Brimstone butterflies seen Heath Lane junction with Willington Road and another one in All Saints Churchyard.
February 2018
1st – 12 Gadwall seen on Mercia Marina Pond, 1 Skylark heard singing NE of Hicklin’s Bridge, 1 Grey Wagtail and 50+ Pied Wagtail seen at the treatment works, 1 Fieldfare seen in the horse paddock N of Crow Park Way (very scarce this winter), 3 Song Thrush (2 singing) hard around the circuit, 2 Mistle Thrush and 2 Redwing seen in the horse paddock N of Crow Park Way, 1 Jay seen N of Willington Road opposite the Cattery.
5th -1 Meadow Pipit and 1 Goldcrest seen at the treatment works. 4 Bullfinch seen on the A50 embankment N of the treatment works. 1 Black Swan seen on the canal between the Nadee and the treatment works.
7th – 4 Yellowhammer and 2 Reed Bunting seen NE of Hicklin’s Bridge, the first sighting for several weeks.
14th – 20+ Teal and 1 female Kestrel seen in flooded field Blakemere Farm, Bakeacre Lane
15th – 1 male Kestrel seen west of Watson’s Bridge, 2 overwintering Chiffchaff seen at Severn Trent treatment works, pair of Bullfinch seen near Findern Primary School
22nd – 5 Tufted Duck seen on Mercia Marina Pond, the first sighting for several months
25th – 1 Lapwing seen from a garden on Hillside flying SW, 5 Stock Dove seen in stubble field SW of Watson’s Bridge, 100+ Redwing seen in a field SW of Common Piece Lane
27th -1 solitary Redwing seen rooting in the undergrowth by the Derby bound shelter Heath Lane.
28th – 1 Reed Bunting seen feeding on garden bird table Aults Close.
January 2018
1st – Several Pied Wagtails seen in a garden on Castle Hill. 1 Buzzard seen being harassed by 14 Magpies over Heath Lane. 1 Eurasian Nuthatch has become a regular visitor to a garden on Longlands Lane, first seen just before Christmas.
2nd – c60 Pied Wagtail seen at the treatment works.
3rd – 10 Gadwall seen at Mercia Marina Pond, 1 Grey Wagtail seen at the treatment works and 3 Bullfinch seen A50 embankment north of the treatment works.
10th – 1 Coal tit and 4 Long-tailed tit seen in a garden on Hillside.
11th – 1 Tawny heard calling at 0315 am. Small Tortoiseshell butterfly seen in a house on Common Piece Lane and released.
12th – 1 Kestrel seen Willington Road.
29th – Treecreeper seen near the treatment works
31st – Black Swan seen on the canal near the railway bridge.
December 2017
2nd – Redwing seen Bakeacre Lane.
4th – Song Thrush seen in garden Aults Close.
18th – 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker seen canalside near the railway bridge. 1 Meadow Pipit and c20 Pied Wagtail seen at the treatment works.
20th – 3 Cormorant seen on the pylon S of Mercia Marina. 2 Gadwall seen on Mercia Marina Pond. 1 Tawny Owl heard calling early morning from a garden on Hillside.
21st – Tawny Owl heard calling at 2.30 am by a resident on Main Street.
31st – 1 Green Woodpecker heard calling SE of Nadee. 1 Goldcrest seen feeding with a tit flock between the treatment works and Stanhope Wood. 1 male Bullfinch seen in Findern Churchyard. 1 Fieldfare seen feeding with C20 Redwing in a field S of Common Piece Lane. Tawny Owl heard on Hazel Close.
November 2017
1st – Male Kestrel seen perched on wires east of Nadee. 1 Grey Wagtail and c20 Pied Wagtail seen at the treatment works.
13th – Sparrowhawk seen to take a Sparrow from a bird table in Aults Close.
16th – 2 Cormorant seen on a pylon S of Mercia Marina. 2 Wigeon and 19 Gadwall seen on Mercia Marina Pond. 1 Kingfisher seen flying east along the canal between the railway bridge and Hicklin’s bridge. 2 Fieldfare seen flying W over the churchyard, the first sighting this autumn. 1 Goldcrest seen feeding with a tit flock near the railway bridge. 1 Jay flew over the canal near the Ballast Hole Pond. 1 male Bullfinch seen near the A50 underpass, the first sighting since May. 1 male Yellowhammer seen in fields NW of the Ballast Hole Pond, the first sighting for several weeks.
19th – Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding on bird table Aults Close.
24th – c50 Redwing and 1 Fieldfare seen near Watson’s Bridge. 5 Song Thrush seen at the treatment works. 1 Goldcrest and 1 Treecreeper seen near the Ballast Hole Pond and 1 Coal Tit seen in a garden on Hillside.
29th – 21 Gadwall seen on Mercia Marina Pond.
October 2017
2nd – 1 Grey Wagtail seen at the treatment works and 1 Jay seen in the cattle field SW of the treatment works.
4th – 1 Grey Heron seen canalside SW of the treatment works and 1 Greylag Goose seen on the canal S of the treatment works in company with 100+ Canada Geese. 4 Gadwall seen on Mercia Marina Pond. 1 Kingfisher seen flying west along the canal towards the Nadee. A late record of 1 Swallow seen flying south over Heath Farm.
8th – 1 Coal Tit seen in Hillside garden.
14th – 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker see to fly over the canal just E of Nadee, 1 Chiffchaff seen at the treatment works.
17th – 1 male Kestrel seen hunting adjacent to Heath Farm.
22nd – 1 Tawny Owl heard calling from Hillside Garden.
26th – 2 Widgeon and 11 Gadwall seen on Mercia Marina Pond. 1 Peregrine seen perched on the rim of a cooling tower at Willington power station. 1 Water Rail seen at the treatment works. c18 Redwing seen by the old fish ponds N of Common Piece Lane (first sighting of the autumn). 1 Goldcrest seen with a flock of tits at the bottom of Common Piece Lane. 1 Treecreeper seen near Hicklin’s Bridge (first sighting this year).
31st – Kingfisher seen flying along the canal between Hicklin’s bridge and the railway bridge.