Taking on the Big Guns

So last Sunday was the day I came back up to Leeds for my final term of my second University year and while I'd been visiting Clumber Park a few times to volunteer, I hadn't actually had a birdwatching session there the whole month I was back.

And that was bad news.

Let me explain. Clumber Park is my nearest National Trust property about 20 minutes drive away from where I live. I've been going there since I can remember and have spent many a day wandering through the grasses and woodlands or staring out at the lake looking for birds and altogether having a brilliant time there. I've been a member of the Clumber Park bird group since I was ten and we go on organised walks around Clumber or further a field which I go to whenever I can.

Now the Clumber bird group is headed by a formidable pair of birders that lead the walks and on top of being brilliant birders there also top blokes. Anyway, at the start of every year everyone in the bird group gets sent a list of birds you have a chance of seeing in Clumber Park with the newsletter with the idea of keeping a Clumber list throughout the year and eventually comparing at the end. And like any good bird list, there's always a little bit of competition bubbling away under the surface.

Yet this is only the first year I've ever had a go. That's because the birding giants of the group are at their weakest they've been for a long time. And now I'm going for the jugular.

When I joined the group there were originally 4 imperious birders that would lead the walks. This has since been halved over the past years and now of the 2 left, only one of them regularly birds in Clumber. So this is my chance. If I can make use of my time at home and maximise my bird sightings, I may have a chance of claiming number 1 spot. Or second spot. Yeah probably second spot.

But it hadn't got off to a great start as I'd only been once in this current year back in January. Although I did get 37 birds, I was still way behind the competition. So when I saw there was a walk with the Clumber Bird group I had to make sure I was there to try and pull myself closer! Plus birding with experienced birders is always a brilliant way of seeing things you'd never see yourself and learning loads in the process.

The walk got off to a flying start with the years first Swallow singing from the farm buildings at the car park as we arrived. It was then marred slightly by my inability to find a Sand Martin that was flying over the lake when all the other people looking could see it (yes it was one of those moments!) but that was soon all behind me when I spotted my first Chiffchaff of the year in the park. Lapwing were a good spot whilst a drumming FEMALE Great Spotted Woodpecker caused much interest in the group. It seems it isn't only the males that are at it as some books would have you believe!

However the bird of the day was one we didn't see but heard, and its one of my all time favourites. Many people associate Chiffchaffs or Swallows as the start of Spring, but for me nothing beats the cascading song of the Willow Warbler to tell me that Spring is steam rolling in. It's a song that conjures up lazy hot days and one of my top tunes on my soundtrack to Summer. I thought with the incredibly cold weather that we'd been having that these little gems wouldn't have returned by now, or if they had they certainly wouldn't be singing. But I was very glad to be wrong. Now I like to see birds before I tick them off on a personal list but the rules of the Clumber list allows hearing to be enough for a tick. So that meant Willow Warbler went down for the year. And for one of my favourite birds I was more than happy to make an exception.

Bird List for the Day:
 
Swallow
Mistle Thrush
Pied Wagtail
Carrion Crow
Blackbird
Buzzard
Collard Dove
Chaffinch
House Sparrow
Woodpigeon
Mallard
Tufted Duck
Coot
Mute Swan
Greylag Goose
Lapwing
Magpie
Reed Bunting
Great Crested Grebe
Great Tit
Chiffchaff
Goldcrest
Blue Tit
Shelduck
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Jackdaw
Wren
Moorhen
Canada Goose
Cormarant
Gadwall
Robin
Kestrel
Yellowhammer
Starling
Goldfinch
Skylark
Stock Dove
Dunnock
Pochard
Pheasant
Black Headed Gull

Heard: Willow Warbler