Saturday 7 May 2022

Cloud Cuckoo-land

On Tuesday we went to Welwick Saltings, and we were met with utter devastation as the two parallel lines of wild, untrimmed blackthorn hedge and young Elm trees had been wantonly destroyed.   The shock took a long while to subside.  However, in the new growth we did see a Yellowhammer and a pair of Linnets.  A Reed Bunting was a on the sheep fencing, whilst a Sedge Warbler sang in the open nearby.  We made our way to the reedbed and heard Cetti’s Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed Warbler and more Sedge Warblers.  The boarding to the old hide looked too unsafe to venture on it.  A pair of Roe Deer erupted from the surrounding vegetation and then headed across the fields, but they returned later.  
Yellowhammer
Linnets
Linnet & Yellowhammer
ditto
Sedge Warbler
Reed Bunting
Whitethroat
ditto
Long-tailed Tit
ditto
Marsh Harrier
ditto
ditto
We were about to slink back when suddenly the joyous call of a male Cuckoo rang out.  He flew past out, and later we saw him perched on the highest twigs of a tree which had yet to come into leaf.  On the return journey we were blessed with a surprisingly confiding Lesser Whitethroat at the summit of a blackthorn bush.  In all we encountered 31 species, making a cumulative total for the term of 45.
Cuckoo
ditto
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Roe Deer
Carpet Moth?
Thistle
Spring Beauty
Buzzard with Prey
Back at home just before it got dark a very late Brambling came into the garden for a bath.
Brambling
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On Wednesday at Welton the overnight drizzle was just ending as we began.  It remained overcast all morning until there were gleams of blue sky as the session neared its end.  There may have been a distant Grasshopper Warbler, but there was too much extraneous noise to be 100% certain.  The first lane yielded up Yellowhammers and Whitethroat, but no Yellow Wagtails or Linnets.  We heard a distant Cuckoo, and hoped it would still be around when we got nearer the river.  On the walk we heard Blackcaps and had a glimpse of a Sedge Warbler in a tangled bramble patch.  There were Swifts and various hirundines busy feeding high in the sky.  The Cetti’s Warbler wasn’t as obliging as Friday, but at least one person gained a decent view.  Our first glimpse of the Cuckoo saw it being chased by a small passerine.  Later, it had a whole string of Black-headed Gulls attempting to force it off their territory.  When we were on the riverbank we had a couple of glimpses of a Kingfisher, before we saw it join its partner under a Hawthorn bush.  The afternoon was a rerun of the morning with nearly all the same subjects, but we had to call it a day when torrential rain in Lincolnshire inched it’s way across the Humber.
Yellowhammer
Lesser Whitethroat
Reed Warbler
Cetti's Warbler (c) 2022 Tony Robinson
Sedge Warbler (c) 2022 Tony Robinson
Sedge Warbler (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
ditto
Cuckoo and Turbine Blade
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Cuckoo
Cuckoo Chased by Black-headed Gulls
Cuckoo (c) 2022 Tony Robinson
Chiffchaff (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Reed Bunting (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Record shot of distant Kingfisher
Buzzard Mobbed by Crows
ditto
Already Losing the Cuteness Factor (c) 2022 Hugh Wood
Back at home the rain started, but a female Blackcap still had an artificial bath, and then dried herself in the garden.
Female Blackcap
Some of the Wednesday morning group tried to see 100 species in one day on Tuesday.  They almost got there.  They ranged from Forge Valley to North Cave and many places inbetween.  Here are some of the photographs.
All photos (c) 2022 Tony Robinson
Dipper
Grey Wagtail
Little Ringed Plover
Ditto
Ditto
Meadow Pipit
Skylark
Female Stonechat 
Female Stonechat
Wheatear
Ditto
Meadow Pipit
Grey Seal
Grey Seals
Thursday was at Thixendale.  From the gallery we walked down the hill where both groups encountered a pair of Redstarts found by Elaine.  It was a bit dangerous watching from the road, so we carried on.  There was a male Tawny Owl in the Wych Elm, which was spooked by a car and flew off.  We heard a male hooting later.  We heard several singing male Restarts possibly as many as half a dozen.  Along the Wolds Way we saw at least 3 Dingy Skippers sunworshipping on the chalky path.  On the journey we saw Red Kites, a Kestrel and a Meadow Pipit.  At one point there was a terrible amount of high-pitched screeching, and turning we saw 2 Red Kites and 2 Crows appearing to fight over the remains of a small amount of roadkill.  However, Jan realised we were witnessing an attempted food pass between the kites, which the crows were attempting to intercept. However, the highlight was undoubtedly the amount of male Redstarts singing along the National Trail.  Everyone saw them in the end, but we learned reactolite glasses don’t aid watching small passerines on a sunny day amongst vegetation or bare twigs.
Male Tawny Owl
Red-legged Partridge
Redstart
Singing Redstart - Shame about Barbed Wire!
ditto
Redstart (c) 2022 Paul Green
Singing Redstart - not chewing a twig!
Final View of Redstart - seen by all on pm
Female Redstart
Meadow Pipit
Treecreeper
Yellowhammer
Red Kite Food Pass Being Mobbed by Crows
ditto

ditto
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Curlew
Dingy Skipper
Peacock - after a bird attack
Tadpoles
Drone
On Friday we went to Alkborough Flats again.  From just beyond the car park it was possible to hear Grasshopper Warbler, Bittern, Bearded Tit, Cuckoo and a Cetti’s Warbler.  We did see some of these later.  There were many sightings of male Marsh Harriers hunting, with just an occasional female.  From outside the hide we observed 6 Avocets, a Black-tailed Godwit and some Teal.  In the afternoon the Godwit was joined by Spotted Redshanks, and a bog-standard Redshank.  The walk added a Water Rail and several views of some exuberant Sedge Warblers.  Their cousins, the Reed Warblers remained concealed. There were plenty of prominent Reed Buntings singing on top of the vegetation.  The path to Trent Falls was still impassable through flooding, which isn’t really acceptable after such a dry period.  The Cuckoo was less visible after lunch, but we had a flock of 4 immature Spoonbills.
Reed Bunting
ditto
Reed Bunting (c) 2022 Jane Robinson
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Reed Bunting (c) 2022 Mike Woods
Sedge Warbler (c) 2022 Mike Woods
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Pied Wagtail
Willow Warbler
Black-tailed Godwit & Spotted Redshank
Immature Spoonbills
Spoonbill (c) 2022 Mike Woods
Little Egret (c) 2022 Jane Robinson
ditto
Shelduck (c) 2022 Jane Robinson
Cuckoo
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ditto
ditto
ditto
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Cuckoo (c) 2022 Jane Robinson
ditto
Garden Tiger Moth Caterpillar (c) 2022 Jane Robinson
Garden Tiger Moth Caterpillar
Blue-tailed Damselfly (c) 2022 Jane Robinson
Greater Spearwort (c) 2022 Jane Robinson 
Two Wednesday am stalwarts had a week on Anglesey, where they saw a nice selection of species.  
Whinchat (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Stonechat (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Stonechat (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Blackcap (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Choughs (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Female Stonechat (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
(c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Linnet (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Sand Martin (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
ditto
ditto
Sandwich Tern (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Whitethroat (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
Red Squirrel (c) 2022 Symon Fraser
ditto

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