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Ogston Reservoir Gull watch New Years Day (1 Viewer)

wolfbirder

Well-known member
As a birder of 8 years, I have to admit that gull watching leaves me cold. I have been to my local res, Chasewater on many cold occasions hoping for a white winged gull. All to no avail. Amazingly I still need both Glauc & Iceland Gulls.
On New years day I set off early to Huthwaite Tip, Sutton In Ashfield, Notts where Glaucous & Iceland had been reported regularly over previous few days. I got there on a sunny cold morning, realised I had forgotten my wellies - but hey we are birders so I trudged around the tips perimeter fence in search of rare gulls. Unfortunately - and I hadnt thought of this - it being new years day, the rubbish wasnt being turned over by diggers so the gulls were not really attracted. Some gulls were around but no white wings. And my shoes were covered in gunky scummy mud, and my nostrils filled with the putrid stench of domestic waste. A typically unsatisfying start, although i did get some very strange looks from people with bleary eyes, opening the curtains of adjacent houses.
Myself and two other birders who had equally sad lives (bearing in mind we should have been enjoying New Years day doing something a little more special such as nursing a hangover), moved on to a patch of land behind a new factory where a lot of gulls were concentrated. Just as we approached on foot, a kid on his new mini-scooter passed us, and the little s*d must have flushed the gulls away, as there was nothing there when we got to the dip! Failure number two! I wondered if this was an indication of what 2006 was going to bring.
So I decided I must get to Ogston Reservoir, about 15 miles away and just across the Notts/Derbys border. I checked my road atlas and realised I had one page missing - I think birders will know we get through road atlases far quicker than anyone else, chucking them aside etc. But I could not believe my bad luck - P50 missing! Just the one I needed. So I nipped into a garage to buy one thinking the £6 I had left would suffice. They were about £11 !! So I had to have a quick scan & memorise directions to Ogston.
I came to Clay Cross, and headed down towards Ogston, which was viewable from the road. Unfortunately there are no directions to it at all, but I did through luck navigate my way down to it eventually.
Arriving at about 1pm, I got talking to a local birder (Ogston bird club) who let me into their wonderful hide ( there is a padlocked access gate). What a nice bunch they are. Not a great deal on the reservoir itself, some ducks, a Little Egret, and a feeder that attracts the usual finches & tits, and rats! They deserve immense credit for the scrape they have created in front of the hide that allows great views of perched Cormorants. Great for photos. I would recommedn membership to locals, only £7 PA and they have thereown website I believe.
I left the hide before the roost as more paid up members were arriving and room was restricted - it only seemed fair!
Nearby, birders gather on the country lane by a wall that overlooks the reservoir, for the usual winter gull roost. Upto 60 birders gathered at about 2.30pm on this day, far busier than normal I should imagine, and I have to say these Derbyshire/Notts birders were really helpful to me. Ogston is superb for gull watching, if there is no fog (a common problem apparently)! Today was fine, visibility very good with the sun angle ideal, and the reservoir is not too wide so that birds coming in are ever too far to scope. Furthermore, they seem to swirl in from the same angle - as though they have been instructed to land using a single runway direction. Between 3-4 pm hundreds of gulls arrived, and eventually the shout went up of "adult Glauc" - a great shout as we could all get onto it quickly, and it continued to show well on the water too. It is impossible however to monitor all 'landings', but these experienced birders also put me onto a 1st winter Iceland gull, and an adult Caspian Gull. Three lifers for me in a day, possibly the last time this will ever happen in the UK.
Sorry to go on, but I really enjoyed this gull watch, the birds all showed well in good light for a change too. Maybe I will not be so dismissive of gulls in future! Even though I ruined my shoes and my clothes stunk of s**t (courtesy of Huthwaite Tip) I still drove back to Wolverhampton a happy birder, where once home I was quickly ridiculed and scoffed at by my drunken relatives who had gathered for a New Years Day party. I just thought to myself, "get a life you saddoes!!". Is it me or is it them?
 
wolfbirder said:
I just thought to myself, "get a life you saddoes!!". Is it me or is it them?

Hi Wolfbirder, great account!

I'm sure a lot of people would agree that it is indeed us, but as long as we're enjoying it, who cares!!! B :)

As you say Ogston is a superb place to get good views of some of the scarcer British gull species. I was there on the 30th of December, a day when the fog defintely got the better of us, however we still managed to get 2 Glaucs, particularly spectacular a 1st winter. As for gull watching, it will always be difficult, even people who spend night after night at that roost and dedicate their birding to gull ID and other gull related topics can still have problems IDing them, as I observed the other evening. When what looked for all the world to be Iceland, turned out to be a Glauc.

Keep going, even if it does mean walking across tips in the process!!!

Cheers


Ps: I'm sure there'll be plenty more 3 tick days!! Everyone has that 'magical day' where they see a whole host of rarities, normally at Spurn or on the Scillies!!
 
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60 birders turning up for a gull roost. Very impresive. You don't get that on Gloucester tip.
Why does this reservoir turn up so many white wing and caspian gulls in such a land locked place?
 
Andrew said:
That was a good account. Sounds like a 'must see' place for any birder.

once a year's enough for me for a caspian and a white-winged... spent waaaay too many evenings standing on the path watching the gulls there as a young birder... if you live around there though there aint much else to do birding wise

Monkeyboy, was that a Glonk or an Iceland the other night?

Tim
 
I think the res turns up such good gulls because it's surrounded by quite a few tips and other daytime gull hangouts, i.e Huthwaite, making it the first point of call for roosting gulls each evening. Also, the reservoir isn't that big, so anything in the roost is almost certain to get picked up, as the scope views are a lot better than those that you would get at other res's in such poor light. Another thing to remember is that with such a volume of observers present, the whole roost will be getting scanned, whereas others may be being left untouched as everyones at Oggy!!
 
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Woodchatshrike said:
60 birders turning up for a gull roost. Very impresive. You don't get that on Gloucester tip.

You dont get that in Scotland either, tonight at Musselburgh I was all alone yet again, not complaining though because WHEN it does turn up it will be mine all mine !
 
Birdspotter said:
Woodchatshrike said:
60 birders turning up for a gull roost. Very impresive. You don't get that on Gloucester tip.

You dont get that in Scotland either, tonight at Musselburgh I was all alone yet again, not complaining though because WHEN it does turn up it will be mine all mine !

There were only half a dozen folk searching for that Bonepartes Gull in Angus last night!
 
Great to hear you enjoyed Oggy Wolfbirder, my local patch over the last few winters, long got bored of the more local patches near my house. Unfortunately I missed New Years day roost as I was recovering from the previous evenings late night out!

60 birders?! Wow! There's usually no more than 3 of us covering the roost at a time, and that is on a Saturday. Try coming another day, less people and easier viewing. We currently have 2 regular Iceland Gulls along with a couple of Glaucous & several Caspian Gulls (at least 4 1st winters & 5 adults in the last 2 weeks, though never more than 4 in a night).

Don't get me started on that Glonk Tim! Some very strange shouts that night as I've told you, amusing, next night when it came in it appeared as a massive female Glonk with the full suit of charaters!

Oggy may not be so good in a few years, with more and more inland tips closing and new methods underway to get rid of waste, the traditional gull roosts may be a thing of the past, make the most of it while can! I remember 10 years ago, the roosts were much bigger when there were 2 more massive tips in the area.
 
James,

Was that the Glauc that came in on the 30th and at first everyone called it as Iceland?? As in the pic below? I put it on my year list thread, and had a couple of PMs questioning the ID as Glauc, takes a bit of looking at, but it is a Glauc!! :scribe:
 

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Hi Dan,

Yes, that's the bird! You must have been standing very near to me! I was the one looking very bored and frustrated by the crowds and the mist! Not quite everyone called it first as an Iceland :cool: I had a bit of a discussion with a couple of Notts (?) boys about it, people didn't seem to realise the effect mist has on birds, it magically alters their structure and size. The primary projection was noticeably short, the body was broad when seen back on, with a tiny eye. Size, though it appeared small, it was still larger than a Herring Gull! How many Icland Gulls have you seen that are not only as big as a Herring, but still show a short primary projection! Some combination that. So yes, it was agreed by all in the end as a Glonk. There is a photo of the same bird on Surfbirds scarce birds from Poolsbrook.

Shame the mist was in, you'd have had a cracking evening otherwise, get yourself down again, I reckon 7000+ large gulls at the mo, you'd have cracking views of both Iceland & Caspians at the mo.
 
It was a cracking day - full of the trials and tribulations that we go through as birders. And to prove I am sad, as I drove off well satisfied with 3 lifers at about 4pm, I counted the cars parked by the wall - 31 !! All the passers by thought we had found the loch ness monster or something. It may have been so busy due to just being New Years day, or perhaps Derby bird club had arranged a visit?
Anyway, I would still recommend Ogston at a weekend in winter, when there are likely to be others to help. I do not possess the incredible gull ID identification skills that many possess, so that was useful. But it differs, as others have confirmed, in that the gulls are closer and on a reasonable day easier therefore to see.
And you can see why Caspian is no longer considered sub species of Herring Gull too. Quite different in jizz and build, in my opinion anyway.
Glad a few people at least enjoyed the read. Thinking back it all was a bit commical to start with, but it is nice to share the pains and misfortunes, and it ended splendidly. I can see why birders move on to gulls after a few years birding, they certainly present that extra challenge with various plummages.
 
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