Thursday 30 September 2010

Spurn's Phoenix Act

Great Grey Shrike
Great Grey Shrike
Sparrowhawk
Sparrowhawk
Wheatear
Little Egret
Redstart
Redstart
Red-breasted Flycatcher
Jack Snipe
Redstart
Redstart Siskin
Siskin
Dunlin
Wheatear
Wheatear
Song Thrush
Record shot of Water Rail
Juvenile Whitethroat
Puffball
This was our 3rd visit to Spurn this month, and by far the best. Last week's visit was absolutely awful, the weather had just been too nice for too long, and the birds were very few are far between. Today could hardly have been more different. The highlight was a Great Grey Shrike which was seen by both groups. In the morning we were treated to views through a telescope, whilst in the afternoon we had good views of it hunting over the saltmarsh, and through Ken's telescope. Both groups had great views of Wheatears, Redstarts and Meadow Pipits. The am group also saw Yellow Wagtails, whilst the pm saw Siskins, Stonechats and Whinchats briefly. The views of the Redstart flying and fanning its tail were so popular with Brian that he went into Meg Ryan-in-When-Harry-Met-Sally-Mode! We also saw a Hooded Crow (am), Great Spotted Woodpecker (am) [local rarity], Brent Geese (am), Shelduck, Golden Plovers. Birds we didn't see, but which were reported over the radio included: Red-breasted Flycatcher, Lapland Buntings, Snow Buntings and Yellow-browed Warbler. There were plenty of Robins, and Song Thrushes about, and we saw a pair of Goldcrests in Big Hedge - that is the small hedge near Clubley's Field! Both sessions agreed that this was the best day so far this term! Also included above are Vince's pics of Jack Snipe & red-breasted Flycatchers taken earlier this week.

Wednesday 29 September 2010

7-Year Flamborough High!

Goldcrest
ditto
ditto
ditto
Redstart
Ring Ouzel - not even a record shot - apart from the Dotterel the worst photo on this blog in 2 years!
Comma
Juvenile Chiffchaff
Kestrel on the old Flamborough Lighthouse
Fungi
Flock of Wigeon
Yesterday saw our best visit to Flamborough in 7 years of trying. it almost made the long journey & attempting to cope with the 2 mph drivers worthwhile! We normally go for a very long circular walk along the headland, but there was no need to do that. We only walked along the length of a quarter-of-a-mile hawthorn hedge & examined a small sycamore plantation. An early highlight was provided by a pair of unleashed Alsatians. They flushed a group of what looked like Blackbirds from the bottom of the hedge, but they turned out to be 5 Ring Ouzels - the 1st of this species we'd seen in 7 years. They settled distantly in some bushes on the Flamborough approach road, and everyone was able to observe them - although one member's eyes couldn't make out the white crescent. One Ring Ouzel remained in the area during the afternoon, allowing the pm group the same privilege, but this time it was among a group of Redwing. The hedge yielded 3 Wheatear, a Whinchat, and several Redstarts and juvenile Chiffchaffs, whilst a Yellow-Browed Warbler was heard in Old Fall Plantation. The afernoon was pretty much a rerun of the morning, but the Wheatear were see near the Golf Club entrance, and there were fewer of the other birds. One highlight was provided by a determined female Sparrowhawk, which made several attempts to penetrate a thick hedge in which a passerine had taken cover. Despite her best efforts she left without her prey, and she failed to spot a Redstart, which was a sitting duck on the top of the hedge, plus the ring Ouzels feeding on the ground nearby. The amazingly confiding Golcrests, which fed only a matter of inches from the class were another joy of the afternoon session. Although we didn't see a great number of species, what we did see were quality views of birds we don't often encounter on the course. Flamborough may just stay on the list of venues to visit each Autumn.

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Retrospective 1

Little Egret (c) 2010 Aileen Urquhart
Nuthatch [Forge Valley] Marsh Tit [Forge Valley]
Falling Foss
The Blusher?
Robin
Tawny Grisette
Pipistrelle Bat
Pipistrelle Bat
Comma
Kingfisher
Kingfisher
Fly Agaric
Parasol
Red Deer
Dunlin
House Martin
House Martin
Blackbird - desperation!
Hawker
Common Ink Cap
It hasn't been possible to keep the blog upto-date during the last week, so here's a brief summary of events. On Friday morning the class 'enjoyed' a very windy morning at Flamborough Head, where the highlights were a Peregrine, a Hobby, and a Kestrel. The few members of the pm class who turned up went to Danes' Dyke instead. We didn't see a lot of birds, but quite a bit of fungi.

On Saturday I stopped off at Forge Valley, where I saw many species visiting the feeding station - the highlights being Nuthatch, and Marsh Tit, but I also made the long drive to the Little Beck area, and the Falling Foss waterfall. Although I heard Nuthatch & Treecreeper, and a Grey Wagtail at the waterfall, the best sightings were the abundant and varied fungi.

Sunday was quite wet on the RSPB Shearwater/Skua cruise, so I left my camera back in the car. There were several Red-throated Divers flying past and large movements of Common Scoter, but the highlights once the rain had stopped was a very close flying Sooty Shearwater and a Great Skua attacking an immature Great Black Backed Gull. Despite these excitements there were long periods were nothing much happened at all. I headed off to Sewerby Hall where large numbers of Swallows were feeding in the rain.

On Monday I saw the Kingfishers at Tophill Low again. A pair of birds showed, and the light was better than on our previous visit. The large group of people in the car park turned out to be the exterminators of the Ruddy Duck, and eventually some gunshots punctuated the tranquility. I went looking for Water Vole instead, which we failed to see, but under a hide flap I found a sleeping bat - probably a Pipistrelle.

We went on to Hornsea Mere, but didn't see anything particularly unusual.
On Tuesday classes resumed and we went to Normanby Hall. The deer rut hasn't begun yet, but we did see the Red Deer, some prancing Fallow Deer, and a few Jays. We also had Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Green & Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Wednesday was very quiet at Spurn in gentle Southerly winds. Morning highlights included Yellow Wagtails, a Stonechat (my first of the year), a Whinchat and a Wheatear. A Ring Ouzel was seen by Susan & Michael during the lunch hour at canal Scrape but I missed it by 2 minutes! The afternoon was even quieter with only a bathing Golden Plover relieving the monotony, but there were some House Martins still in their nests!