A Very Full[er] Weekend

Saturday saw the first wildlife event associated with Robert Fuller's Christmas Exhibition. We met at the gallery and then drove in convoy to the secret location. We had only been there a few moments when the first Red kite was spotted, then a couple were found perched in trees, and finally 5 were flying around a very distinctive tree. Later Kites started arriving singly, and occasionally in pairs from all points of the compass. We had reached over 10 birds when first one, then another, and a third, and finally a squadron of 8 Red Kites were all in the air at the same time, and all heading for the same area of woodland. In total we saw 32 Red Kites which is far in excess of what I've ever seen before in East Yorkshire.

Red Kite

 Ditto

 While we were waiting for the birds we observed a Great Spotted Woodpecker near where over 50 Fieldfare were quietly feeding in the hawthorn bushes. A Jay was heard screeching, and a Green Woodpecker called as it flew behind us. A Mistle Thrush perched in a reliable Ash tree and we were able to watch it closely through the telescope. Other birds seen included plenty of Jackdaws. The only mammal seen was a Hare in the field behind us near the almost deafening cacophony of female Mallards coming from a concealed garden pond.

It was dark when I left the gallery after the return journey, and I drove very close to 2 hunting Barn Owls and suddenly a wader species rocketed up from the roadside caught in the headlights, it looked like a Woodcock. It was a nice ending to the afternoon.




Saturday's Sunset

 Crossbill

 On Sunday morning I reported at Tophill low for the Otter signs & tracks event. The walk was being run by the reserve warden, but there was a small chance he may be called away for the birth of his first child, so I was there just in case... The morning started very well with 2 Great spotted Woodpeckers fighting just inside the compound, and Peter Drury found 5 Crossbills. Later, one flew over the car park and landed briefly in one of the tall conifers. Richard introduced the site and made sure everyone was aware we we were looking for signs of Otters with very little chance we may find the actual mammals.

Most people had never been to Tophill Low before, so Richard ensured we viewed D reservoir, just to give people an idea of the enormous size of the reservoir - one the main winter attractions for the gulls and wildfowl. Although we had only a brief glimpse we could see Shoveler, Wigeon and Tufted Ducks, whilst Richard ensured everyone was aware that later in the winter that Tophill is one of the main sites in Yorkshire where the stunningly beautiful Smew may be seen.





We threaded our way through D Woods to the North Marsh hide, where Richard displayed photographs of Otters taken from there, including an absolutely stunning shot of 2 fighting dog Otters. A Jay flew into D woods from across the river Hull, and a Kingfisher whistled & flew past the hide, but unfortunately, I think only myself & one person actually saw it.







We carried on through D woods where 2 confiding Goldcrests gave very close views. In North scrub it sounded although at least 3 Jays were fighting over the meagre food supplies. Richard pointed out plenty of evidence of Otters, a holt under some buildings, another artificial one, some Otter runs, an Otter spraint, and a fresh one 'laid' within the past 24 hours, and a faint Otter footprint. Several brave souls had a sniff of the fresh spraint, and although they confirmed it was sweet-smelling no one was prepared to stake their life on the fact that it smelled like lavandar. Richard then took the group to the trail camera, where he removed the memory card. I had to leave the group at this point, but I believe when they got back to the visitor centre they were able to view the footage of a Water Rail, a link to the video is here: Water Rail Video




Fresh Otter Spraint - sweet-smelling, apparently!

 Record Shot of Short-eared Owl

 Ditto

 Record shot of the underside

The reason I had to leave at 12 was because at 1.30 I needed to be at the Humber Bridge for the afternoon's Short-eared Owl event. We shared cars to the location and already as we drove down the narrow approach road one owl could be seen hunting over the rough grassland. We got out of the cars, to find it was amazingly mild for what can be one of the bleakest locations on "God's" earth! Despite this, not everyone had dressed warmly enough, so if you are coming on one of these events, please put on plenty of extra layers - I knew what to expect & was as warm as toast! 

We had several excellent views of the owls, and probably saw 5 individuals, one was noticeably darker than the others. There were also some breathtaking dog fights at times when the hunting owls trespassed too close to each other. Other birds seen included 2 Kestrels, 2 Buzzards, and a Marsh Harrier. We left the location well before dusk, so perhaps more Owls came out after we left... Rather worryingly we were informed that the DEFRA stewardship grant, which has maintained the wilderness feel of this habitat, has expired, so this site may not be as fruitful in future years - if it exists at all.  The mighty financial imperative seems to be tightening its grip.   

Shock! Horror! We Went on a Dirty Twitch!

Today’s planned venue seemed to have quietened down recently, so we did something we have really never done before in 8 years of these classes – we went on a twitch!

The morning group met at Hornsea Mere, and while there we saw a Black Swan chasing a Mute Swan just off shore.  Keeping up the ‘plastic’ theme, through the telescope we could just make out a single drake Red-Crested Pochard with 2 females in the far distance.  There were quite a number of bog standard Pochards, and Tufted Ducks and seemingly hundreds of Coots.  Anthony spotted a single Common Tern on a buoy, which stayed long enough for everyone to get a decent view.

We shared cars to Aldbrough and parked at the designated car park – we seemed to be the only ones present.  A Whitethroat was singing as soon as we opened the car doors, and House Martins were ‘farting’ around the farm buildings.  We emerged from the farm drive and looking across the road there was no sign of the Roller on its accustomed post.  Then we spotted some chaps at the top of the hill on the bend, who waved us towards them.  We carefully negotiated the grassy verge punctuated with muddy & wet drainage slots.  On the brow of the hill about 5 birders were lined up on the Roller which was perched in a small bare tree in the trees which surrounded the farmhouse.  The bird had its back to us, so at that distance appeared mainly brown (although technically it has been described as cinnamon pink).  However, it was preening itself and when it turned its head the remarkable blue colour could be glimpsed.  There was a singing Skylark in the distance and then Brian spotted a Yellow Wagtail flying over the wheat.  Sure enough there was a pair and another single male.  Shortly afterwards Eileen saw a male Yellowhammers, while Swallows chased insects over the crop.  Later, they were joined by a couple of Sand Martins.  Once everyone had observed the Roller through the telescopes, as well as their own binoculars, and because the bird looked quite settled we shared cars to some woodland.  

The Roller photographed a few days ago when it favoured the bare field (c) 2012 Vince Cowell

 ditto

 Red-Crested Pochard (c) 2012 Tony Robinson [photographed elsewhere]

At the woodland those who didn’t have a coffee break were rewarded by saw a pair of Buzzards soaring over the woodland, and a Sparrowhawk moved far more purposefully just over the canopy.  In a ring of bushes we could hear a family of Long-tailed Tits, while a Reed Bunting perched briefly on the top.  Then there was a distinctive ‘chupping’ sound as 11 Crossbills flew north.  Only a few mintues later another was spotted at the top of a pine being bothered by a Pied Wagtail.  15 minutes later another pair were seen briefly feeding on the edge of a pine branch, but they soon flew towards the Mere.  There was no sign of any of these Crossbills in the afternoon, but we did hear a distant Cuckoo while we were standing in the same place.  The afternoon groups also had good views of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding a much less colourful youngster.  A distant Chiffchaff could be heard, as could the ‘raunchy’ cooing of a Stock Dove.  Anthony glimpsed an Egyptian Goose back at the Mere at lunchtime, but it had hidden itself away before I’d had chance to set up the scope.

In the afternoon we went straight to Albrough.  This time about 5 birders were scutinizing the tilled field, so it looked as though the Roller was much closer to the road.  When we walked to the end of the drive we discovered we were mistaken and that the Roller hadn’t been seen for over an hour even by the 3 RSPB employees.  Rather than stare at an empty field I crossed the road & walked partly up the hill & checked out the trees around the farm.  The Roller wasn’t where it had been in the morning, but I could make out something blue in another tree.  This time the bird was facing the watchers, so its stunning colour was more obvious.  Everyone else came across, but despite my directions initially no one else was able to get on to the bird.  As well as setting up my telescope I was then asked to lock on to the bird through the RSPB’s scope.  Then everyone tried to see the bird through the telescope, and once they had done so, they also attempted to find it through their own binoculars, which proved rather tricky for some.  Before everyone had had their turn looking through the scope a twitcher who had travelled some distance, insisted he should have a look, as he’d left his telescope in the car & was petrified that the bird may have flown away before he had retrieved it, and he may actually miss out on seeing the bird.  My ‘student’ was too polite to tell him where to go, and he saw it through the scope before they did!  We  were watching the bird from the safety of the grass verge, but we were still photographed by a mad local person going past in a speeding car.  Once everyone was satisfied with the views they had obtained we shared cars back to the Mere.  The behaviour of the Roller seems to have altered.  It doesn’t seem to be spending anywhere near as long feeding in the tilled field.  I wonder if it’ll be leaving soon?

House Martin

 Sand Martin [left] & House Martin [right]

 Sand Martin

 ditto

 Swift

Unfortunately, the Red-Crested Pochard & Egyptian Goose were no longer in view, but there were several Great Crested Grebes present and a single Gadwall.  The clouds had darkened and looked more threatening than in the morning & there was a resultant huge increase in the number of hirundines over the water.  Numbers of House Martins & Sand Martins heavily outnumbered the swallows, and several unrelated Swifts flew just over our head, and one of them actually displayed its white chin.  

The visit to the woodland was less eventful in the afternoon, an apart from the woodpecker already mentioned the best find was probably a Treecreeper, which was fairly confiding.  We dipped our toes into the murky water of twitching, and everyone was happy to see the Roller, but I don’t think we’ll be making a habit of it!  There was a bitty quality to the day, which was quite alien to the happily-established norm of an in-depth 2-hour session.

PS I’m not really sure if today’s events really qualifies as a dirty twitch – whatever one of those is!

 Buzzard

Red Stars

Male Redstart [at this location 3 years ago]

 Female Redstart

 Spotted Flycatcher

 Mayflies

 Micromoth

Rockrose

Yesterday afternoon was the first of the daytime wildlife events organised to coincide with Robert Fuller’s summer exhibition.  Four people met in the gallery from where we shared cars, and another 2 were waiting for us at the destination.  I also brought along my nephew who was often able to spot things quickly for the attendees.   On the journey we nearly slaughtered 8 Red-legged Partridges and an escaped lamb, but we managed to successfully avoid adding blood stains to the road.  Along the way there was a singing Meadow Pipit which I actually managed to spot on the return trip.  

From the car park we could hear a Yellowhammer singing just across the road, and this bird flew right over us and landed in the hedgerow we were shortly to walk past.  Here were also Goldfinches around the car park, but the usual Linnets were absent.  We plunged down the valley, and from the scrub there were distant Blackcaps and Willow warblers, but a more vibrant Song Thrush whilst another was visible on top of the Hawthorns.  One thing I noticed straight away was how noisy it is on weekends when there are a lot more non-birdwatchers in the area.  There was one family in particular of about 8 daughters, only half of whom were dressed in the compulsory pink who dawdled & made a hell of a lot of noise, and made my task that bit more difficult.  It was noticeable that Ben (12) did most of the complaining at the behaviour of the public, and came across as an old man!  

In the valley bottom I could hear a male redstart singing.  We went through a handgate an almost immediately I spotted a bird going into a cavity where Redstarts had nested 2 or 3 years ago.  I couldn’t believe they were using the same dirty old hole, but they were.  Both parents were going in and out regularly, so it was clear that their young were being fed.  We remained there for about half an hour, and although the Redstart’s movements at first were too quick for some of the viewers eventually both genders sat perched long enough looking for most people to get decent views.  This was a more colourful female than many, as a definite peachy blush could be discerned on her breast.  A Spotted Flycatcher also appeared briefly, and some Bullfinches flew over, and there were some Goldfinches perched on one of the dead Hawthorns.  

When we left the Redstarts and began to walk along the old railway line I could hear the very distinctive ‘chup’ of Crossbills, so these must have been in the stand of conifers which had been behind us when we were watching the Redstarts.  Along the early part of this walk we heard both a Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler, and the latter was even spotted with its wings outstretched.  We also heard a Blackcap, but this could only be glimpsed among the thick hedgerow, although it was seen in flight, as it flew from one side to the other.  A Mayfly was clinging to a nettle, and when I looked at the photo there were actually 2 mayflies there.  There were singing Chaffinches, a Wren and another Chiffchaff near the quarry.  Meanwhile we had Swifts, House Martins and Swallows flying over us at various times.  

On the return to the gallery there were almost as many red-legged Partridges dicing with death, but the only new birds seen were a pair of Linnets flew up as we drove back past a quarry.

A Game of Chess

Crossbill - a Queen?

On Thursday we visited somewhere we had never been to before. The arcane rules of this forested site meant we could only move diagonally, but we seemed to manage OK as we negotiated our way through the different patches of habitat.

The am session was accompanied by light drizzle through 90% of its tenure.  This was another bad site for dog mess, but it wasn’t a patch on Allerthorpe Woods.  In the car park, newcomer Chris had already identified a singing Chiffchaff, and this area also held a Mistle Thrush and a Goldcrest.  We hadn’t started long when Maggie identified a Blackcap by song.   On the woodland path which was predominantly coniferous we had only common birds with scolding Blue Tits, and singing Wrens & Robins being the most obvious.  In other words there were plenty of pawns on site.

Then we came to an area which had been cleared 20 or 30 years ago, and this had become very thick Birch scrub.  As we watched a singing Willow Warbler, and a young Coal Tit, a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew silently overhead.  We heard another Chiffchaff here, but we didn’t see a great deal of other birds.  Other birds heard included a singing Blackbird and a very cross, scolding Wren.  A distant Song Thrush was heard singing. 

Garden Warbler - just about!

We made a right diagonal turn and this wide avenue yielded several singing Garden Warblers, but they refused to emerge for very thick birch scrub.  While we were listening to the Garden Warblers and Bullfinch flew behind us out of sight behind yet more birch scrub. A left diagonal turn resulted in some strange sounds, but the only birds seen here were Dunnocks, and nesting Willow Warblers.  There were also Garden Warblers at both sides of the path, and eventually one of these perched in some Oak twigs and sang for several minutes, allowing most people decent views.

Possibly Ichneumon fly Protichneumon pisorius

Later, we stopped to listen to a Mistle Thrush, and after that had flown, we tried to spot a Goldcrest.  While we were looking up a medium-sized flew overhead uttering a really strange sounds – this turned out to be a Jay.  A second one was spotted briefly but we didn’t get really good views.  This was the nicest section of the woodland for flora with some fantastic Early Purple Orchids, plus Bluebells, Bugles, Wood Anenome, Lesser Celadines, Primroses.

On the way back another swiftly-disappearing Jay and a pretty confiding Blackcap were the highlights.  Although we didn’t encounter the number of species we are used to, the participants were impressed with a wooded site they’d never visited before.  

Early Purple Orchid

 Bugles

 Cowslips

 Bluebells

 Greater Stitchwort

 Yellow Pimpernel

 Wood Anenome

 Bank? Vole [yes, there is something there!]

 Crossbill [left] & a Siskin

There may have been a Jay’s nest just over the road from the car park, as there was a strange series of noises emanating from there.  The afternoon got to a good start when I noticed a slight movement out of the corner of my eye.  A vole/mouse was moving among the leaf litter under some bramble stems.  Then we turned a corner & were walking on when I heard a distinctive chup-chup & there were a few Crossbills at the top of a conifer.  After 5 minutes or so 11 flew off followed by 5 or 6 Siskins.  The remainder of the session was very similar to the morning & even the Orchids, Bugles, Bluebells & Primroses were exactly where we left them in the morning!  A pair of duelling Garden Warblers were a delight to the ears, but only glimpses of them could be discerned in the birch thickets.

Crossbill

 Crossbill

 There was no sign of the Crossbills on the return journey, but we found a family of Long-tailed Tits and then Peter tracked down a couple of Treecreepers.  Finally, as we approached the car park we could hear a distant Cuckoo.   Then it came a bit closer, before it finally flew over our heads indulging in a bit of brief gowking as it did so.  We were nearly back at the car park when we saw a Mistle by the side of the road.  These are normally fairly wary birds, but this one made only half-hearted attempts to hide in the trees.  It even allowed its photograph to be taken.  A fitting conclusion to the end of the game.

Mistle Thrush

Coal Tit (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

Willow Warbler (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

Chiffchaff (c) 2012 Richard Whateley