Today I suffered a severe lack of motivation to get out birding, and since it was a Sunday my options were limited due to the Sunday transport services. In the end I decided to head to Wyming Brook up in the peaks near Fulwood.
I arrived at the reserve late morning and spent the remaining morning and early afternoon at the site. Its a woodland site, the reason I went being that as of 2 days ago there were wood warbler displaying. Sadly, despite my best efforts I was unable to find any wood warbler. I struggled to find any birds initially, but I found a few after a bit, the highlights being a couple of Siskin, which I had not expected and a male Blackcap. There were also good numbers of fledgling birds around, mainly Blue Tits, Great Tits and Robins, allowing me to get good views of them.
After my walk around the site without wood warbler I decided to move on to Redmires Reservoir just over the road, as it was on my way back and has a decent record of rarities. On site there were good numbers of Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, a pair of Common Sandpipers and Lapwings. On the banks there were Meadow Pipits and Whitethroats, with plenty of the former parachuting.
After a while overlooking the lower Redmires reser, I decided to call it quits and wander back via Endcliffe Park. On the way over to the park I found multiple Curlew, as well as one Greater-Spotted Woodpecker. But just before you entered the wood I was surrounded by calls which I recognised as Garden Warbler, a species still avoiding me. I did not find one of the birds to confirm my suspicions, but did find one bird making the calls I thought, but as I approached to find it, the song became a call, but a 'chat' call, similar to a wren. I have heard neither Garden nor Blackcap do this, so it threw me. I got a brief view of the bird as it made its way through the ivy, but only caught a greenish tinge of a stubby warbler. Having taken to Google, apparently both species make this call, but it is harsher in the Blackcap. Google only seems to have recordings though for blackcap, so that makes comparison difficult. However, it certainly did not seem as harsh as Blackcap, so maybe I did find a garden, but I will have to wait again I think, before I can finally tick it.
By the time I reached Endcliffe wood I had done enough and was ready to go home, so started to pick up my pace for the remaining walk. I picked up the usual, Mallard, Moorhen, but also a family Party of Blackcap, in an area too dark for photos but it was lovely to watch all the juveniles flit around the shrubbery.
So ultimately a decent days walk and birding, just the species list to follow.
Species List:
Wyming Brook: Siskin, Blackcap, Robin, Chaffinch, Treecreeper, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Woodpigeon, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Magpie,
Redmires Reservoir: Curlew, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Common Sandpiper, Canada Goose, Pied Wagtail, Linnet, Mallard, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Swift, Swallow, Whitethroat, Meadow Pipit, Greater-Spotted Woodpecker, Lapwing, Goldfinch, Greenfinch,
Endcliffe Park Wood: Blackcap, Robin, Willow Warbler, Blackbird, Mallard, Moorhen, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Treecreeper,
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