The annual New Year bird walk took place on Sunday 8 January. The venue was the Papercourt area, which is an excellent venue for a winter bird walk as there are a variety of habitats.
It was a dull, cold, overcast day with a forecast of light rain when 11 members gathered at the car park near Newark Abbey. First we scanned the meadows on the east side of the road and saw many winter thrushes. There were also flocks of Jackdaws, Crows, Magpies, Woodpigeons and Starlings. We then walked westward along the river and saw a group of Egyptian Geese These are becoming quite common and are breeding very successfully. There were swans and Mallard on the river but no sign of the Little Owl that is known to roost in one of the oak trees. A Barn Owl is known to quarter the fields to the north of the river at dusk each evening but nobody had the enthusiasm to wait for it! We did see a number of Siskins. We crossed the river and searched the meadows for Brambling and Redpoll, both seen the week before, but we were out of luck, perhaps not surprising as the drizzle had reached us and everything was hunkered down.
The small lake at Papercourt is always good for ducks and we had good views of Gadwall, Shoveller, Tufted Duck, and Pochard. The main lake had many Coot and Great Crested Grebe, but the highlight of the day was a Black Throated Diver. This bird had been on the lake for at least two weeks, but sadly a few days later it was found dead with fishing tackle in its throat. A sad end to a beautiful and rarely seen bird. On the way back we passed a house with a thick hedge that was alive with House Sparrows making a lot of noise but they kept well under cover and we saw no more than the occasional movement. A Song Thrush was singing from a high perch but this too was not located. We did not hang around as the drizzle was persisting. In all we saw or heard 39 species. Not as good as the 54 I had seen on the same walk a week earlier, but the conditions had been much nicer then.
Song Thrush
Blackbird
Robin
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed tit
Collared Dove
Kestrel
Starling
Wren
Wood Pigeon
Siskin
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Starling
Magpie
Carrion
Crow
Jackdaw
House Sparrow
Fieldfare
Redwing
Gadwall
Shoveller
Mallard
Moorhen
Coot
Egyptian Goose
Cormorant
Black-throated Diver
Pochard
Tufted Duck
Canada Goose
Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
Lapwing
Mute Swan
Mistle Thrush
Pheasant
CHRIS BRADING