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It's been a while since I last blogged, with news of Common Redstart at Dove Stone, being the last update to the Dove Stone reserve 2013 Bird List . Saturday saw my first sighting of Swfits at Dove Stone for this year with one flying over Dove Stone reservoir, and on Sunday there were several flying...

Here's the latest from Dove Stone. Good additions to our reserve 2013 birdlist with Mealy Redpoll (59) being seen earlier in the week up at Binn Green. In terms of id, Mealy Redpoll are larger and paler than Lesser Redpoll. Today we've had Whinchat (60) in the Chew Road/Chew Brook area. Whinchat...

Sightings of Willow Warbler and Swallow at Dove Stone today, bringing our Dove Stone Birdlist for 2013 up to 58 . Last year's Swallow's arrived a full week earlier, on April 12th. Up at Binn Green today I saw a female Brambling , quite late really. Last year we had a record of Brambling at the...

Latest sightings from Dove Stone. On Saturday there was a Common Tern flying over Yeoman Hey ( one of the ide features for Common Tern is a black tip on the bill; though not particularly distinct in this photo ) from the direction of Greenfield Brook towards Dove Stone reservoir. Great to see, it will...

Time for an update with the latest sightings at Dove Stone. Starting up at Binn Green , on and around the feeders there's plenty to see with regular sightings of Treecreepers , Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dunnock, Siskin , plenty of Blackbirds and Chaffinches, Greenfinch and Coal, Blue and Great Tit...

The big draw at the moment are the number of Siskins at Binn Green on both the feeders and on the Larches, where they're feeding on the cones. And the sound of such a large number of Siskins is great to hear. So how many are there up at Bnn Green ? On the bird ringing session two weeks ago we ringed...

A quick update with what was seen around Dove Stone at the weekend. At Binn Green there was good activity at the feeding station with Coal, Blue and Great Tit and Chaffinch as well as sightings of Siskin, Greenfinch, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Wren and Great Spotted Woodpecker . On Sunday a Sparrowhawk flew...

So we're into a new year of birding. Aside from the enjoyment of watching birds seen on a regular basis at Dove Stone, a few of the birding highlights of 2012 at Dove Stone have been a Red Kite at Dove Stone rocks, sightings of Osprey through the Chew Valley, Whooper Swans on Dove Stone res, the...

...Good sighting from Mandy today at Dove Stone with two Peregrines flying well above a 40+ group of Pink Footed Geese before one of the Peregrines flying into the group and isolating a single Pink Foot before deciding that it was a bit of a non-starter by the sounds of things - bit big for a Peregrine...

A quick update on what's been around so far this weekend. Up at Binn Green yesterday there were Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, Jay, Treecreeper, Raven, Coal Tit, Blue TIt, Great Tit, Long Tailed TIt, Wren, Mistle Thrush and a juvenile Sparrowhawk which did a good fly through the feeding area, taking...

A quick update with some of this week's sightings. Starting with Binn Green, Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Greenfinch, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue TIt , plenty of Chaffinches and a single Brambling. Also sightings of Jay, Mistle Thrush and Great Spotted Woodpecker . Over at the main car park this week we've...

A quick update with some recent sightings at Dove Stone. This morning in the field above Dove Stone reservoir 'plughole' ( it's actually a bell jar overflow but plughole's a much better name ! ) good views of a Kestrel hunting. In the trees bordering this field there were also two...

A quick update of what's around and about. Starting with Chew Brook and up to Chew Res we've recent sightings of Grey Wagtail and a juvenile Dipper . Lots of Meadow Pipits around as well as a few Wrens . Up on the moor tops we've had sightings of three Ravens and Red Grouse , including a...

Time for an update with some news of recent sightings around and about Dove Stone. Up at Binn Green plenty going on with regular sightings of Bullfinch, Siskin, Greenfinch, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay and Coal Tit as well as Crossbills earlier in the week. Recent reports of both a Hobby...

A quick update on recent sightings at Dove Stone. Yesterday we had Grey Wagtail and juvenile Common Sandpiper seen alongside Yeoman Hey reservoir. There were also 5 Curlew flying over Yeoman Hey which was good. Over at Chew Brook there were also more sightings of Grey Wagtail and House Martin as well...

A very brief stop-off at Binn Green feeding area last night gave views of Great Spotted Woodpecker , Jay , Mistle Thrush, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, juvenile Coal Tits, Wren , an adult Black Pheasant and some young Pheasants . Obviously that's just one small part of Dove Stone and there's plenty...

Recent sightings from Dove Stone this week include three Crossbills up at Binn Green this morning as well as a Spotted Flycatcher seen up at Binn Green yesterday. Regular sightings around the Binn Green feeders of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Jays, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Treecreeper and...

The first Cuckoo of the year returning to Dove Stone, probably from sub-Saharan overwintering grounds, was heard on May 4th. This will be the male giving the 'cuckoo' call. Since then we've heard regular calling from around the plantations behind Bradbury's Farm; yesterday was our first...

Great to hear the first Cuckoo of the year from Dove Stone this morning. And amazing to think of this bird's journey from its overwintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa. Cuckoos are a red listed bird in rapid decline. Take a look at this link for info on just how much this species has declined:...

What's about this week at Dove Stone so far: at the moment we're liking the activity up at Binn Green. This morning lots of Siskins with Lesser Redpolls , Brambling as well as regulars Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Coal, Blue, Long tailed and Great Tit and Black Pheasants. Jays are also around regularly...

A quick update with news that Common Sandpipers were heard at Dove Stone on Sunday - quite often they'll give a three-note call as they fly. They've also been seen earlier this week, with the most recent sightings being on Friday around Yeoman Hey and Greenfield reservoirs. Common Sandpipers...

This Sunday we have the second of our guided bird id walks that follows on from September’s walk in which we looked at bird song and behaviour. This time round we’ll be taking a particular look at winter migrants to Dove S tone. Fieldfares have just started to arrive at Dove Stone....

This Sunday sees the next of our guided walks from this season's Autumn walks programme. If you'd like a copy of the full programme then come and find us at the RSPB information point at the top of Dove Stone's main carpark. We also have a guided walks mailing list - please ask us for more...