The Lincolnshire Bird Club

A birding friend of mine said to me today that he wished he'd experienced as many successful Waxwing visits as I had. I asked him how many times he'd gone for Waxwings this winter and he said 6. I replied that I had made 32 trips to date ( pm Mon 10 Jan) - from early November 2010 - with no less than 17 dips; to put it mildly ,he was 'gobsmacked'. I haven't put my dips on the web, as I consider it a Lincs Bird Sightings and not a Lincs Non-Bird Sightings website, but as an item of Bird Chat here goes :

( Location ) ( Trips ) ( Successful ) ( Dips )
Carlton Centre, Lincoln 8 2 6
Cherry Willingham 2 0 2
Tentercroft St. Linc 4 4 0
Mag. Courts, Linc 4 1 3
Rly Station, Linc 6 3 3
Ocean Rest. N Hyk 3 0 3
Med C. N HYK 2 2 0
W St. H 1 1 0
Sleaford 1 1 0
Branston 1 1 0
32 Trips 15 Successful 17 Dips
Sorry, I'm not very good at setting out tables (my wife says the same)
Note. I had Waxwing appearing in my BBH garden on specially planted Sentinel Crabapples on 3 occasions -24 Dec (1), 27 Dec (4), 28 Dec (3) but nothing before or since, despite much out-of-the-window gawping! I live in hope. Plus many walks around BBH, eyeing suitable berry trees but with no success (yet).

My birding friend also enquired as to why I go chasing after Waxwings anyway, and don't I get fed up with them. I told him : " Show me a birder who is tired of Waxwings and I will show you that birder as tired of life." Anyway, my wife prefers me chasing Waxwings as a Project rather than chasing Rainbows, or even chasing women, although I'm not quite sure what would be expected of me if ever I caught up with one of the latter -perhaps show her my Bus Pass, talk about my Stamp Collection or The Antiques Road Show?

The real danger for us Superannuated Saga Wrinklies is too much of the sitting room and the comfortable sofa, as the threat for us is :

sofa - gravitating
which can become sofa -vegetating
which can become sofa-disintegrating...........so sofa, but not so good.

Waxwings have provided me with a strong stimulus and a self-imposed deliberate strategy to get out of the house. Last summer it was Spotted Flycatchers and Butterflies This winter it's Waxwings. The only problem seems to be (as my wife pointed out recently) that I'm slowly developing Waxwrings round my eyes from too much binocular close-focussing.

Regards,

Freddy
PS. I've just noticed Dave Worrell's post (Mon '3.56pm') re the Nocton Fen Waxwing sighting. A number of us know the very stretch of road well including juicy red Guelder Rose berries ( as I remember, frequented by a lone Waxwing some ? 2 or 3 years ago).
I'm teaching Italian tomorrow morning, but I'll be there pm!.

Waxwings - UPDATE 15 FEB 11

Just for the record : as at 10 Jan 11, I had made -
32 Trips - 15 Successful - 17 Dips.
: as at 15 Feb 11, I have made -
52 Trips - 26 Successful - 26 Dips
with further trips being to :

Lincoln ( Outer Circle Road area and Sadler Road)
Branston ( Moor Lane )
Nocton Fen
North Hykeham ( N Kesteven School )
Witham St. Hughs
Sleaford ( by Spar Shop, Grantham Road )
Grimsby ( Scartho Road Swimming Pool area )
with the last trip being Sun 6 Feb.

For some time a nagging and incapacitating mobility problem (Hernia) had confined me to minimum walking and maximum car use, so that my birding was reduced to garden birdwatching from the house and Waxwing watching from the car. Even a moderate walk was 'paid for' later in the day. So Waxwings, and the chance to drive to a site and watch them from the car, have been a great boon to me these past few weeks - a really enjoyable Waxwing Project. Anyway I was hospitalised for the inevitable op on 10 February and, hopefully, mobility (even worse now in the short term -than before, which is usually the case -) will slowly increase in the days ahead.

There was thus method in my Waxwing madness. Nearly all of the trips were within 15-20 minutes' drive of the house and out of the house I certainly managed to get, even if I couldn't walk very much. All 50+ trips were to known Waxwing stake-outs and I also made a number of additional reconnaisance trips to likely local areas with berry trees ......but without success.

Finally, since my recent enforced absence from the Waxwing circuit, I have noted that :

Sleaford Waxwings (Spar Shop, Grantham Road) have been reported most recently by Russell Hayes -
13 (Sun 13 Feb) and Steve Nesbitt -10 (15 Feb).

Witham St. Hughs Waxwings have been reported most recently by Andrew Chick -18 (Wed 9 Feb) and
by Ian Misselbrook - 1 (Mon 14 Feb)
plus by Terry&Eileen Corlett -10 (Mon 14 Feb)

but the last Outer Circle area Waxwings (which were usually reported almost daily by various observers) have not been reported since Mon 7 Feb ( by
Brian Hedley - 35 (UPS) and Chris Grimshaw - 13 (UPS).)
Is any later news available?

Regards,

Freddy

How's your "Waxwing Project" coming on Freddy? Been a month since your last post in this thread

_________________
Regards
Steve



http://www.stevenesbitt.co.uk

Steve,
Thanks for your interest in this thread and I must add that your super Waxwing photos over the past few months (Grantham, Sleaford, Bourne,Lincoln Tentercroft Street) - plus other LBC birders' Waxwing photos - have made the LBC Photo Album that much more interesting for me. I was particularly impressed by the quality of your Grantham photos of 12 Mar, and these, plus your reporting post, became the spur for my successful visit of 13 Mar. Thanks for the 'tip-off' - it represented a belated 78th birthday present for me (re 10 March).

My last Waxwing report on LBC Lincs Bird Chat (above) was on 15 Feb with the last Waxwing trip being on 6 Feb. From 6 Feb until 28 Feb I didn't get out birding as a result of a Hernia Op and a slow healing period, and so, unfortunately, missed some Waxwing opportunities. I hit lucky straightaway on 28 Feb with 9 Waxwings on a Bracebridge Heath Cotoneaster tree (coincidentally on GRANTHAM Road) that I had been watching on and off for months without previous success. The next successful trip was the recent one to Grantham on 13 Mar. In between those 2 trips I'd made no fewer than 10 further trips all resulting in Dips - and all as a result of revisiting (temporarily ?) abandoned' sites, some more than once : = Hope v Experience -including :

Outer Circle Road Lincoln
UPS Lincoln
Monks Road Lincoln
Witham St. Hughs
Sleaford

So, for the record, in my Lincolnshire Waxwing Project this winter, as of today 15 Mar, I have made :

64 specifically Waxwing targeted Trips - and all documented - with 28 Successful (and these 'lucky' trips at 15 different sites) and no fewer than 36 Dips....with all of the Dips being to previous Waxwing stakeouts. However, Hope springs eternal in the human breast and there could well be that 100+ flock, eg. in Lincoln, in the days ahead. At least, I'm now fit enough again to get out and about. : Have Waxwing Report - Will Travel.

Regards,

Freddy
PS. Congratulations on your comprehensive and interesting click-on birding website below your name on the post above ......it makes for a great browse.

Hi Freddy,

It is really intertesting to read of your quest regarding the Waxwings, good news that you are now more mobile too. How many Waxwings in total have you seen so far, any ideas?

Bob Wacey has reported in another thread the Grantham group still being around but mobile and happily increasing in numbers.

Will be checking out this area as much as I can, I live just 5 minutes drive away.

If you see the flock of 100 do not foget to let me know

Thanks for your kind comments on my photos and website it is greatly appreciated mate.

_________________
Regards
Steve



http://www.stevenesbitt.co.uk

Steve,
In reply to your question re Waxwing numbers (15 March), I could make a total number of birds I've seen from the (now)29 successful Waxwing trips at 15 different sites this winter: checking my records,and at a rough estimate, it would seem to be c 700 birds.....not forgetting the 19 seen in Grantham today (Wed). But, of course, many of these would be 'duplicated' birds (eg. from 2 visits to see the same large flock) and so c 700 becomes a meaningless figure. Further, birds seen eg. in BBH may have been a splinter flock from a previously seen Lincoln flock, etc., etc.

For the record, however, I had large flocks of :
80+ Lincoln Railway Station - 2 Jan
c 75 UPS Depot Lincoln - 27 Jan, c 70 - 28 Jan, c 60 3 Feb ( most/all from the Railway Stn flock??)
c 50 Witham St. Hughs - 25 Jan
plus several flocks of over 30 in Jan :
Tentercroft Street Lincoln
Grimsby
Branston
Witham St. Hughs
plus many other groups below 30 in a number of other locations.
...I repeat, this chatty exchange of ours has no pretensions whatsoever of being a 'report' but merely represents an extended rambling Waxwing 'doodle'. (that is why it is in the LBC Bird Chat section).

What I do know for certain, however, is how much real pleasure Waxwings have given me this winter (even with (now) the 37 Dips included), and they have provided an extended personal birding thread, the memory of which will last with me for some time to come.

Regards,

Freddy