On Tuesday we made our first visit of the year to Ness End.My camera has been repaired, but the mainly distanced birds of this week wasn’t the best test of the repairs. The forecast had been for mist but it had never really dematerialised! That meant that at first there were no photographers blocking main hide. It was icy, but there were Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Coot and Cormorants seen from there. Apparently, we missed the Bittern by about 30 mins. We walked round to Decoy Hide. There was more to see high with good numbers of Pochard, Tufted Duck, a pair of Shovelers and 2 Snipe. A distant probably immature Cetti’s Warbler was heard. The riverbank added Wigeon and Redshank. There was little to hear or see in the hedgerows towards Reedy Hide. We heard a distant Water Rail from the latter, but a Marsh Harrier against the hill opposite was virtually the only new bird seen. On the remainder of the circular walk we managed a group of Goldeneye with at least one drake against the hotel, and more Cormorants drying themselves on the telegraph wires. Near the screen Steve spotted an active rat eating something on the main path. We crossed the road from the car park to check out on of the new pools. In the ditch I pointed out a distant Kingfisher for everyone. The pool had more birds present than on our last visit including: Black-headed and Common Gulls, Tufted Ducks and more Pochard.
On Wednesday we travelled the winding zigzag way to Wheldrake for the first time in 2022. The car park was badly frozen, but Bullfinches were present, and 2 Redwing were in the Bank Island car park. The path to the hides wasn’t frozen at all, but was of the consistency of a thicker than normal treacle, which stuck harder material to your feet - not the ideal walking conditions. Someone narrowly beat us to the first hide, so we waited outside, and did see plenty of Pintail, although the lighting conditions were atrocious. Skylarks flew over making their distinctive dribbling contact calls. There were huge numbers of Lapwing, Geese and a mixture of various wildfowl.
The walking conditions already bad, deteriorated beyond the hide. We saw a Kestrel before reaching the next hide. We were informed Pool Hide was frozen, so we skipped it first time around. After lunch we saw a pair of Willow Tits, which barely remained static.
We made it to Swantail Hide, but the wind was blowing straight in, so it was perishing, and the wildfowl was fairly distant. The wind didn’t blow in during the afternoon, so either the wind had changed direction, or not opening the window on the opposite side really helped. On the return journey Tony spotted a pair of Whooper Swans, which had vanished post-lunch. We tried Pool Hide from which we saw several drake and female Goldeneye, plus Shoveler and Gadwall. Louise may have heard the Dusky Warbler whilst we were in the hide. A pair of Buzzards were very vocal here in the afternoon. On the return journey the best sighting was a group of 5 Bullfinches in some Willow Trees. They flew off, but at least three were there again after lunch.
On Thursday the groups caught up with the venue cancelled before Christmas because of snow showers: Filey. There were several Oystercatchers a few Redshank and plenty of Herring Gulls in the Country Park. Winds from the NW were forecast, so it should have been fine on the beach protected by the cliffs and Carr Naze. There were one section though in which the winds were whipping around and made some of the group nervous of continuing. However, most of us pressed on, and we spotted Turnstones, Purple Sandpipers and a Curlew among the seaweed. They were joined on occasion by a Rock Pipit. As we continued we spotted several birds on the sea most of these were Cormorants, and a Shag, but then close to shore we had a Great Northern Diver, and then a bird we had never seen on a Thursday morning before: a female Long-tailed Duck. Unfortunately, some fishermen had set up their rods, so the afternoon group missed this potential first for them.
Oystercatcher
On Friday we diverted from Wheldrake to North Duffield. It was a lot drier underfoot, but it had obviously been colder and a layer of ice covered all the water. A Bullfinch flew over the car park, but there was little else to see from there. As we made our way towards the first hide Jane spotted Fieldfare, Redwing & Starlings in the adjacent field.
Heron
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