Kingfisher Comes to the Rescue

There were a lot more ducks around at this venue than there were 3 weeks ago.  A female Goldeneye was the highlight with very smart Shovelers, plus Gadwall, and a couple of Pochard and a single drake Teal and 2 females.

At the brand new hide there was a single Redshank, but the site has been beautifully landscaped, so has great potential for the future.

On the river there were a few more Redshank, and in the afternoon through John's scope we saw five Black-tailed Godwits, a couple of Dunlin, some Wigeon & more Redshank.

There were Long-tailed Tits, Goldcrests, Bullfinches and Redwings among the Hawthorn bushes, and a couple of drake Goldeneyes near the hotel.  However, the highlight for both the morning and the afternoon was a male Kingfisher near the hotel hide.  However, Maggie went back at lunch time & managed to photograph a very close female Kingfisher.  A pair of Great Crested Grebe were also pretty confiding from the Hotel Hide.

All photos (c) 2012 Maggie Bruce

Female Kingfisher

 Ditto

 Ditto

 Ditto

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.  

Twirling Moustachios

As we crossed the Humber Bridge the fog was so thick, I'm sure most people wondered if we were going to see anything.

One of the first birds we could discern was a very confiding Grey Wagtail, which was catching insects alongside the tiny creek leading to the hide.  Throughout the whole walk the air was punctuated by the croaks of flying Snipe.  Suddenly all the dabbling Teal took to the air and a long winged raptor could just be made out through the mist.  The wings looked too thin & narrow for a Marsh Harrier, so a Hen Harrier was the most probable answer.  There were plenty of Reed Buntings and Tree Sparrows in the bushes, whilst on the mud there were over a thousand Golden Plovers, plus Shelduck, a few Ruff, Curlew, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Herons, a single Spotted Redshank, and a Little Egret.

When we took the walk along the gravel path to the other hide it wasn't long before we heard some pinging and a pair of Bearded Tits showed very well, and these were lifers for about half the group.  On the return journey we came across 2 pairs together, and eventually Maggie was able to get a picture of a pair side-by-side.  Unfortunately, although they could be heard in the distance in the afternoon they refused to reappear.  The light was a lot better in the afternoon, and even though the Grey Wagtail was relocated the loss of the Bearded Tit was a large hole, which couldn't be filled.

Bearded Tits [male left] (c) 2012 Maggie Bruce

 Grey Wagtail

 Golden Plovers

 How Blots are Smuggled into the Landscape

Disappearing Waders

It was very drizzly on Thursday morning when we returned to last Wednesday's location. We went to Townend Hide first where there were plenty of waders to see. The largest island was covered in Snipe with 2 Spotted Redshank nearby and a Dunlin on the other side of the island. There was a scattering of bog standard Redshank all over the water with a large Heron stalking at the back of the reeds. Some Teal were dabbling and and a Shoveler and a small flock of Gadwall flew West. A flock of Ringed Plover flew west, which was more surprising. We stayed a long time and eventually a Marsh Harrier flew past. 4 Greenshank flew in and the Spotted Redshank left around the same time. Some large fat Plovers flew over, which may have been Grey Plovers, but we're more likely to have been Golden Plovers. Towards the end of our stay about 12 Black-tailed Godwits flew in and started feeding.

All photos on this post (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

Black-tailed Godwits

Snipe

Redshank

Greenshank

Black-headed Gull & Dunlin

Meadow Pipits

It was very drizzly on Thursday morning when we returned to last Wednesday's location. We went to Townend Hide first where there were plenty of waders to see. The largest island was covered in Snipe with 2 Spotted Redshank nearby and a Dunlin on the other side of the island. There was a scattering of bog standard Redshank all over the water with a large Heron stalking at the back of the reeds. Some Teal were dabbling and and a Shoveler and a small flock of Gadwall flew West. A flock of Ringed Plover flew west, which was more surprising. We stayed a long time and eventually a Marsh Harrier flew past. 4 Greenshank flew in and the Spotted Redshank left around the same time. Some fat Plovers flew over, which may have been Grey Plovers, but were more likely to have been Golden. Towards the end of our stay about 12 Black-tailed Godwits flew in and started feeding.

On to Singleton where there were fewer waders, but a lot more ducks. A young Cormorant was on the island, but took off when the Black-headed Gulls moved in. There were plenty of Shoveler and Gadwall, and a couple of Little Grebes.











We missed out First Hide because there was only a Coot and we headed to Marshland. The birds were mainly roosting here with Spotted Redshank, Snipe and a couple of Greenshank being the best of it. Every member of the hirundine family went over with Swallows in the majority, with a few House Martins and even less Sand Martins. Richard spotted a Kestrel hovering in the distance. 




Near Xerox I heard a Willow Warbler and then suddenly a flock of mainly Long-tailed Tits appeared with a few Great and Blue Tits in tow.











In the afternoon it became hunt the wader with very few waders to be seen. A pristine Hobby flew right along Singleton, but only Eric and myself (as well as some strangers) saw it. In contrast most people saw great number of Lapwing fly up in the far distance and then at the back of the group the fast wing-beats of a hunting Peregrine could be discerned. It made its way all along Alkborough Flats, and apart from a brief detour to chase a small bird, it carried on heading south east until it was lost to sight. A Marsh Harrier came a lot closer and was particular enjoyed by Gordon. We saw plenty of waders drop into Townend, but when we got there there was nothing.  Eventually a Black-tailed Godwit dropped in, at least it was a new bird for the pm session. Eric also later picked up some Bearded Tits, but the rest of us had already left Townend by then. Marshland was much more disappointing than the pm with only a Pied Wagtail, some Snipe and Teal putting on much of a show. Brian spotted some small birds at the back of Marshland - the first were Reed Buntings, but the final birds he noticed were a couple of juvenile Reed Warblers.  There wasn't a sign of the best birds last week - all the Ruff seemed to have continued on their migration south.  I'm not sure if the poor afternoon was a result of the outgoing tide, or the fact that a lot of places are less interesting after lunch.

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.

Get Knotted

Red Knot (allegedly) in the mist

Almost like a painting!

 Still misty, but closer to the hide

This morning I thought I’d check out the high tide roost at Spurn Point.  After a very bright start it had clouded over by 8am, and then less than halfway to Spurn a sea mist rolled in.  The mist was still in place when I reached Chalk Bank hide over an hour before high tide was due.  The mist was quite thick, but I could make out that there were a couple of thousand Knot, and smaller amount of Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Bar-tailed Godwits, Redshank, Curlew.  There were a couple of Sanderling some with remnants of summer plumage, and at least a single Black-tailed Godwit.  On the far sand bank there seemed to be a mass of Oystercatchers, Herring Gulls and a few Cormorants, but these were difficult to see through the mist.

 A pair of Knot coming in to land

 Knot on the beach (with Dunlin in Foreground)

 Lining up to land

 Knot

(Red) Bar-tailed Godwit - all alone

 Bar-tailked Godwit - still stands out in a crowd

 Bar-tailed Godwit (non-breeding plumage) with Dunlin

Over an hour and a half the mist came and went before rolling back completely.  At first I had sole occupation of the hide, but half an hour before high tide a Cambridgeshire couple came in for there first ever visit to Spurn.  They are used to thousands of Knot at Snettisham at the end of August, but were pleased to see so many in summer plumage in July.  As the tide began to go out 4 less-experienced birdwatchers squeezed in & once I’d made the most of the photography opportunities I took my leave. 

Grey Plover in flight

 Grey Plover landing - note diagnostic black 'wing' pits

 ditto

 'Silver' Plover - near enough to see the gleam in its eye

 Grey Plover in non-breeding plumage

 Dunlin

 Dunlin (left) Behind a Redshank

 ditto

 Curlew (right) with Dunlin & Bar-tailed Godwit

 Sanderling (3rd from right) note white belly, slightly larger size & shorter bill

On the way out there were a few wary waders by the side of the road, but I was only able to snatch a few pictures of Turnstones.  There was very few birds of interest at canal Scrape.  I took so many pictures of the waders at Chalk Bank that my camera card was full for the first time ever, so it was time to delete some out of focus flight shots, as I waited to see if anything turned up at canal Scrape.  The whole of the afternoon was taken up with processing the wader pictures.  I should have just junked those taken in fog!

A Nice Day Beside the Sea

Wednesday was the second day running I'd spent on the coast, but this time I was some 30 miles or so south of yesterday’s venue, so not many species overlapped.  From the car park some of the class thought they saw a Snipe fly into the Borrow Pits, but it didn’t stay long.  Leaving the car park we saw a Greenfinch performing its slow-motion ‘butterfly courtship’ flight, and then we soon encountered a House Martin colony with a couple of House Sparrows also in residence.  Not long after going through the gate we found our first Common Blue butterfly, but we didn’t add many more.  This area is normally very good butterflies, but apart from a few whites and a pair of Small Heaths fighting and a Speckled Wood in the afternoon, numbers of butterflies were definitely down.  Once it had warmed up by the afternoon a large hawker Dragonfly was also patrolling this area.  Blackbirds and a Song Thrush were singing, but there were very few Linnets, and a few singing Goldfinches.  Near a marshy area we usually see a Sedge Warbler, but this was absent this time, although we did see a whole family of Whitethroats.  At the end of the hedgerow Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were singing and flying above a meadow.   

Cuckoo (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

 Speckled Wood

 Small Heath

 Small Heath (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

 Blackbird - with damaged plumage & beak full of worms

 There had been changes in the area, as new conservation areas had been excavated since last Autumn.  This meant that we had to take a slightly different path from this point.  Here, we did have good views of a Sedge Warbler and a Large Skipper, and a more distant sighting of a Reed Bunting.  A male Wall Brown basked at the entrance, but a few hundred yards further we stumbled upon a very worn female Wall.  2 Little Egrets flew over as we neared the lagoons.  On the first stagnant pool we discovered a pair of Shelduck, a Redshank and 3 more Little Egrets.  Then we saw our first hunting Little Tern, while 5 Sandwich Terns headed out to sea.  

 Large Skipper

 Wall Brown (male)

 Wall Brown (worn female)

 Little Tern

 Little Tern

 Sandwich Tern

 Ringed Plover

 Ringed Plover (Chick) - had the awww factor

 Ringed Plover - adult in flight

Ringed Plover seeing off a Dunlin

Right next to the hide in the morning was a Curlew, while in the afternoon this had been replaced by a Little Egret.  From the hide we saw a couple of Ringed Plovers and 3 tiny chicks, and a Little Tern also seemed to be on eggs.  A distant Cuckoo we seen heading north being mobbed by small birds before it left them trailing in its wake.  Meanwhile on the lagoon a Dunlin in breeding fettle flew in, but it was soon seen off by one of the Ringed Plovers.  On the return journey a Cuckoo (possibly female) was flushed from the hedgerow, she flew over the fields, but then started to return before perching on the top of a hedge in full view.  We even had time to set up the telescope for everyone to get a decent view.  Exclamations ranged from “Golly gosh”, through “Crikey”, to “it was good, that”, but Brian’s “brilliant” provided the final consensus.  Suddenly the temperature rose to unimaginable heights and the humidity was an amazing contrast to recent weather.  The afternoon started with these temperatures, but by the end a cool easterly wind had started to hit us from the sea. 

Dunlin

 Little Egret

 ditto

 Little Egret under attack by Ringed Plover

 Cuckoo (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

Mute Swan Cygnets (above) - again provided an aww factor

The morning group shared cars to the hide on the edge of the Nature Reserve.  There wasn’t a great deal to see, although the 5 cygnets in front of the hide elicited some appreciative, but embarrassing cooing!  Also seen here were a pair of Pied Wagtails, some moulting Mallards, and a few Linnets & meadow Pipits came down for a drink.  In the bushes opposite we observed a family of very colourful Greenfiches and the odd Whitethroat were also spotted.   

Pied Wagtail (female) with Mayfly?

 ditto

 Apprentice Scumbag

 Three of the morning group went on to Sammy's Point where they saw at least 4 different Cuckoos.  However, the afternoon also scored as the morning female had returned to her position in the hedgerows she had patrolled in the morning.  They were all able to enjoy a long look at her as she flew north over an Oilseed Rape field.

 Cuckoo (c) 2012 Tony Robinson