May 2018 Bird Watching for Beginners walk – Markeaton Park

On a glorious day with no cloud, but loads of people, 5 birders took the beginners walk at Markeaton park. 
 
The fine weather brought out the public, and unfortunately for us, the number of dogs not on leads, meant that we were seeing very few birds in the wooded areas.  So a count of just 20 species was low by our standards.
 
2 male Mandarin Ducks on the duck pond, plus a couple of Nuthatches were well seen, but the highlite and Bird of the Day was a female Goosander that flew into the duck pond area, and after a couple of fishing dives, flew back to the main lake.
Credit to Philip for that one and which we have named Philip. (Bit tough being a female bird!!)
 
Some of the nest boxes made at the recent nest box making session were spotted on the walk, including No 1 which was the one of the 3 nest boxes sponsored by Pamela.  If you are looking, they have all been painted green, with a number on the base, and there are 28 in the park plus 2 in the Walled Gardens.