The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Further to my previous post, and with the same restrictions, my " Spotted Flycatcher in Lincolnshire 2011 Project " sightings have now reached....35 :

31. 01 August - Snipe Dales Country Park (near Horncastle)...adult flycatching
.....06 August - Revisit to Riseholme (near Lincoln)...adults feeding chicks in nest
.....08 August - Revisit to Riseholme...adults feeding newly-fledged young nearby
32. 08 August - Fillingham Lake (near Lincoln)...pair feeding (hidden) young
33. 09 August - Woodhall Spa ...4 adults in aerial 'tag' chasing
34. 14 August - Hatcliffe (NE Lincs)... juvenile preening in pond area
35. 14 August - Tetney (NE LIncs)...adult flycatching, possibly feeding (hidden) young.
Thanks to those Lincs birders who have not only shared their sightings but have also given me site location details.
Tetney was my 73rd different (successful/potential) specifically Spotted Flycatcher 2011 site visit.

The most disappointing recent dips have been :
31 July - Chambers Farm Wood (10.30 - 1.45pm) (potential)
05 August - Burghley Park, Stamford (12.00 - 4.00pm) (follow-up)
07 August - Dunsby Sewage Treatment Works (near Bourne) (11.00 - 12.30) (follow-up)
13 August - Woodhall Spa previous stakeouts... and Petwood Hotel Grounds ( but tasty Turkey Sandwiches with Redcurrant Jelly served on the Terrace ) (11.45 - 3.00pm)

.....and after visiting a total of 34 different " no Spot Fly report" Lincs country churchyards (except for Willingham-by-Stow), plus revisits, between mid-May and late July, I've finally called it a day and have visited no new ones.

Freddy

Update - Mon 5th September : total number now stands at 41 Project sightings.

This last week has been a busy one with frequent trips out to check on reported Spotted Flycatcher sightings at either Swanpool (Andy Sims) or Linwood Warren (Stuart Britton)......thanks to both for sharing and notifying their sightings on the LBC website.

During this past week, with local movements/migration now well under way, I have had 20 definite Spot Flys and probably 3 more, with at least 15 or so estimated as different birds :

36. 29 August -.....Swanpool, Lincoln (Catchwater Drain bridge area)...1
37. 30 August -.....Swanpool, Lincoln (Catchwater Drain bridge area)...1
38. 31 August -.....Swanpool, Lincoln (Copse area)...1
39. 31 August -.....Linwood Warren (near Market Rasen) 8 definite, probably 10, possibly 11
40. 03 September -Linwood Warren (near Market Rasen) 6 definite, probably 7
41. 03 September -Swanpool, Lincoln (Copse area)...3

My introduction to the Swanpool series of Spot Flys was a bit frustrating as I dipped on the 26th -28th August reported birds.

All my trips/sightings have previously been reported on the LBC website.

Freddy

My association with Spotted Flycatchers goes back many years. Looking at my early teenage diary notes in my "Diaries of a Birdwatcher (1946-49)", there is an entry when I was still a "stranded war evacuee" living with my family in a war-requisitioned stately home (Pembrey House in South Wales:

(18th June 1946):

"I discovered a Tree Creeper's nest in a decaying beech tree only about 2 feet away from a Spotted Flycatcher's nest in the same tree".
"(1) The Tree Creeper's nest was behind a piece of loose bark and was constructed of pieces of beech twigs, grass and beech bark. It contained five young whose only adornement was a few fluffy black hairs on their backs."
"(2) The Spotted Flycatcher's nest was situated in a hole in the tree from where some bark had been taken out. The nest was composed of moss and lichens and containing four young and one egg - a white colour with red brown bars on it.
LOCALITY - Pembrey House Grounds, Pembrey, (Carmarthenshire)."

Fast forward 65 years and we come to "Spotted Flycatchers in Lincolnshire 2011".

Thanks to the ready and personal cooperation of literally dozens of Lincolnshire birders, I managed in 2011 to track down and observe (presumed different) Spotted Flycatchers - singletons, pairs, groups - on no fewer than 43 separate occasions, as well a a number of re-visits, with each record being reported on the web. The more or less equal number of dips - including 33 different churchyards - went unreported. (The only churchyard I connected in was Willingham by Stow). My first record was a pair in Dunsby (25th May) and my last a family group of 3 at Whisby NP (16th September).

Although the main concentrations were in the Lincoln, Market Rasen and Woodhall Spa areas plus the Wolds, between early May and late September I criss-crossed Lincolnshire on numerous occasions searching for Muscicapa striata ---- from Messingham, North Kelsey and Tetney in the North, to the Alford area in the East, to the Gainsborough area in the West and to Dunsby (Bourne) in the South.

It proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting project leading to personal contact with many Lincolnshire birders ---- and with renewed thanks to every one.

Freddy.
PS.
42. 06 September - Swanpool, Lincoln (Copse area)...2
43. 16 September - Whisby NP...2 adults, 1 juvenile