Signs of Summer Still Lingering

On Friday everyone shared cars from the Humber Bridge to the same N. Lincs estuarine location we visited on Tuesday. We looked for the Grey Wagtail first but we were disappointed. Instead there were what may have been Otter tracks. When we reached the hide we flushed a Kingfisher, but it perched just a little further on allowing everyone great views. However, before I could snatch a photo a careless dog-walker with her 2 unruly dogs ensured it was frightened off to an area where none of us could see it.

Kestrel [male]

 ditto

 ditto

From the hide there were at least 60 Avocets (amazingly late for this far north), and over 200 Black-tailed Godwits. There was one adult male Ruff with white head feathers and some black feathers on its crown. Meanwhile 2 females or juveniles were on the flooded field opposite the hide. There were fewer than 20 Dunlin, and a possible Snipe, and Caroline pointed out a pair of Shoveler. A few Golden Plover flew through from time to time, but didn't settle on the mud. An immature and an adult Heron were useful for comparison purposes, and a few Curlew stalked on the mud near the Black-tailed Godwits to illustrate just how much larger they are!

The walk round the gravel path resulted in a pair of Bearded Tits, which were later joined by another pair. There were also a few Redwings a little further on. We didn't see much from the east hide apart from Curlews and young Moorhens, although a juvenile Ruff dropped in for the pm crowd. On the way back there were 2 Kestrels hunting and 3 Lesser Redpolls flew near the female, whilst the male settled down and perched in an Elder bush quite close to the group, and stayed there for several minutes. In fact in the end we carried on & left the relaxed Kestrel to preen in peace. It also allowed the pm group to approach fairly close. Some of the group glimpsed a flying Bearded Tit on the way back.  

Avocet

 Avocet

 Avocet (underside)

 Black-tailed Godwit

 Otter Footprints?

 Otter Footprints?

At least one member of the pm group viewed Kingfishers as mythical birds like a Roc or a Phoenix, but yesterday she did gain a glimpse of it flying away from the hide area where it was seen in the morning.  

A Tale of Two Site-ies

Today started off very badly just as forecast with heavy driving rain. The participants arrived in good time, and remained ensconced in their cars as the rain lashed down. From the look on everyone's faces they didn't expect it to clear up before the class was about to start. However, just as the class was due to begin the rain suddenly stopped and we were able to go ahead as planned. The weather continued to improve and after only 30 mins a large patch of blue appeared. Several 'students' had to pay the extortionate parking fees before we shared cars to a reserve hidden behind a housing estate. 




On arrival we repaired to the large 'L-shaped' hide. The best bird was a Black-tailed Godwit, but after half an hour an Avocet flew in. It's the latest I ever remember seeing one in Yorkshire. In the afternoon a Curlew was also seen from this hide. Other birds included several Teal, which had emerged from their eclipse plumage, but after checking thoroughly we couldn't find a single Snipe, which is normally common on this reserve at this time of the year.

Oystercatchers

 Ditto

 Turnstone

 Avocet (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

 Black-tailed Godwit (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

A visit to the smaller hide resulted in a few Wigeon, and a pair of Gadwall, and a few Tree Sparrows at the feeding station. However, the finest performance was put on by a female Sparrowhawk being mobbed by several Crows and Magpies.

In the morning we went on to the cliff tops where we added Guillemots, Gannets, Shags and Cormorants, and several exhausted Redwings arrived from the sea running the gauntlet of a hunting Peregrine. In the afternoon we walked on the beach where we enjoyed close views of Oystercatchers, Turnstones and Redshank. There were no other waders, which was rather surprising and the lack of Red-throated Divers, Eiders and Grey Seals was another disappointment.

Carrion Crow (too much white bread)(c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

 Sparrowhawk being mobbed (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

On Tuesday we were able to visit our planned location: Tophill Low, but we did so in the teeth of a ferocious wind. A hurricane hadn't been forecast for our visit, just as it hadn't 25 years before a previous non-existent hurricane, but the winds were certainly very strong. This can be seen in the water flying out of 'O' reservoir. Highlights included 2 female Sparrowhawks sparring over D reservoir for 5 minutes in the morning & 2 Chiffchaffs in the afternoon. The site exhibited strong apartheid tendencies with only Gadwall on North Lagoon, only Teal on South Marsh East, and only Tufted Ducks on 'O' Reservoir. However, there was plenty of racial integration at Watton Borrow Pits, which held several more species including Great Crested Grebe, Wigeon, Curlew, Cormorants and a few others.  One morning participant remained behind and was able to photograph a Willow Tit on the feeders 

 Great Crested Grebe 

 Great Crested Grebe

 Common Frog

 Drinking Water Blowing Away

 Record Shot of Grey Wagtail 

2 Female Sparrowhawks Sparring (c) 2012 Maggie Bruce

 Willow Tit (c) 2012 Maggie Bruce

Visit to the Dentist Required

Wednesday saw us return to last Tuesday's venue. However this week it was low tide, so the birds weren't as close to the hides as last week. We sheltered from the heavy rain in the Visitor Centre where we saw several Ruff and 5 Dunlin towards the left, and Teal, Shoveler and a single Wigeon on the right. Tony saw what he thought was a Marsh Harrier flying east, which the young Scottish RSPB officer was too polite to correct. On investigation it proved to be a Bittern, which was much more exciting for everyone. We had already seen a bona fide Marsh Harrier too, so we had the best of both sightings. A Long-tailed Tit flock passed by and some of the group saw a small, sharp-billed bird in tow, which was probably a Willow Warbler.

Konik Pony

 Long-tailed Tit

 When the rain stopped we set off to last week's premier hide. There was plenty to see here again, but nearly everything was much further away. The nearest bird was a juvenile Redshank & a couple of Snipe flew in. Spotted Redshank and Ruff were already in situ, but a couple of Greenshank flew right into the back of the site and shortly before we left 3 Black-tailed Godwit arrived - one of which still had plenty of breeding colour.  One surprise was an adult Avocet with 3 youngsters in tow, which were seen from 2 hides before setting off west.  Perhaps they were breeders from further north on their way south - but records this late in September are rather unusual at this reserve.  In the afternoon a distant Great Crested Grebe was sighted from the most easterly hide.

Juvenile Redshank

 Snipe

 Black-tailed Godwits (far left & far right)

The far hide was less profitable with mainly the odd duck species, a distant Marsh Harrier and a family of Little Grebes. We retraced our steps, but the hide near the visitor centre was very poor. The photocopying hide was a little better, but didn't add any new species. The main entertainment was provided by the fierce marshland ponies. 

 Spotted Redshanks & Lapwing

 Marsh Harrier

We then tried the one hide on a different alignment to the others. Here were 15 or so roosting Spotted Redshanks, which were later joined by a very white-headed male Ruff and a couple of others, plus plenty of Lapwings. A total of 6 then 9 and later 15 & eventually as people got their eyes in 18 Snipe were asleep at first, but then set about stitching for food. In the heavy rain the afternoon group saw 6 Ringed Plovers, a fairly unusual bird at this site - they had obviously dropped in to refuel in the bad weather.

Late-comers

Yesterday I had another look at the Spurn high-tide.  It was very different from the previous visit.  My nephew and I arrived well before the high tide was due, but there were relatively few waders present. A Common Scoter and a Grey Seal were a little out of the ordinary.  We waited until half an hour after the high tide and the situation hadn't altered much.  We went to the other almost derelict hide, where we saw a Whimbrel on the beach & then had a close encounter with a flock of Sanderlings.  We were about to try another bit of the peninsula when suddenly thousands and thousands of Knot could be seen arriving, presumably having been spooked from another roosting site - Beacon Ponds?

Sanderlings

 ditto

 ditto

 Knot

 Knot

 A Finger of Knot

 Knot over the Humber

 Mainly Grey Plover over the Humber

 Record Shot of Common Scoter

 Grey Seal

 Willow Warbler

 Grasshopper

We then had a look at Kilnsea Wetland where we saw 3 immature Avocets & one parent, 2 immature Shelduck and an Oystercatcher.  A Marsh Harrier was hunting over Beacon Ponds & sent up the largest number of Terns Ben had ever seen.  Later, a Greenshank dropped in, but was too distant to photograph. 

Avocets

We then decided to walk along Beacon Lane where a male Wall Brown played hide-and-seek before eventually posing nicely.  There weren't as many butterflies as in other years, and the bird life had quietened down.  At Beacon Ponds there were many Sandwich and Common Terns roosting on a peninsula, but they remained out of range of the camera lens.  

Male Wall [Brown] 

 Underside of Male Wall

 Brown-tail Moth

 Black-tailed Skimmer

The Same, But Different

On Thursday we went to Tophill Low again because of a poor forecast; but because of the fruitless vigil for the Kingfisher yesterday we went south instead.  We could just make out 4 Avocet chicks on South Marsh East, and there were a few Common Tern chicks on South Marsh West and on Watton Borrow Pits.  Also on WBP was a Peregrine & when we were walking round O Reservoir Phil heard a squawking Common Tern looked up & there was the Peregrine heading North with the Tern seeing it off.  Only a few minutes after this 3 Crossbills flew along the edge of O Woods heading east.

Peregrine (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Peregrine (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Avocet (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Bee Orchid

 Burnet Companion (Thanks to David M Turner)

The wild flowers alongside O Reservoir were particularly lush, and there were plenty of orchids: Common Spotted & several spikes of Bee Orchids.  In the afternoon after the thunderstorms we caught sight of what was probably a female Black-tailed Skimmer, but there were precious few other insects about apart from a Meadow Brown & a Ringlet in the morning.  

The blood-curdling noises heard in North Lagoon were made by Marsh Frogs which seem to have taken over large areas of the reserve.  Phil was the first to spot the snout sticking up above water, and he was able to ensure everyone got to see it.  Both groups had views of Grass Snakes, but the longest was one seen in the afternoon near East Pond.  This was a first for Carol.  

At Watton Borrow Pits 2 Lesser Whitethroats were heard, so were probably about to embark on second broods.  In the afternoon Liz spotted an adult heron here, whilst the peeping of a Kingfisher could be heard as it passed by on the dyke below us, but was screened by the rampant vegetation.  However, the last occasion coincided with a passing Sparrowhawk, and this time the Kingfisher flew a little higher allowing itself to be glimpsed.