Happy New Year

It's been a long time since a blogpost, but I've been busy trying to contract diabetes over the past 6 weeks, so had nothing to post about.

Today was the first class of 2013. We started at a large local park. The first surprise arrived in the initial 5 minutes when I heard a Jay. On investigation it appeared that a pair had been present since November, and had even been since recently nest-building, but we don't see to for ourselves. One class member was quick enough to spot a scruffy urban fox, but the rest of us weren't so lucky. There were Long-tailed & Blue Tits near the car park. We then had a long walk punctuated only by Starlings & House Sparrows. For beginners the differences between Common & Black-headed were pointed, and later juvenile and adult Herring Gulls were added to the mix.

All pics (c) 2013 Chris Cox

Goosander (Drake)

 Goosander (female)

 Ditto

 Ditto

 Pochard (drake)

 Tufted Duck (female)

On the water Mallard including many 'mongrels' were differentiated, and in the afternoon we discovered 2 apparent Pintail hybrids. More straightforwardly the lake had Tufted Ducks, Pochard, Greylag & Canada Geese, an immature Cormorant and in the afternoon a very brief glimpse was obtained of a Great Crested Grebe. However, the true stars of the water were approximately 30 Goosanders spread throughout the park. Occasionally, these gave very good views, but the light wasn't brilliant for taking photographs. 



The Kingfisher, Heron and Little Grebe didn't survive the previous 3 winters, and don't appear to have returned, and there wasn't even any sign of last years parakeets.



On the return journey the morning highlight was provided by a pair of Goldcrests, whilst in the afternoon we couldn't relocate them, but we did find a pair of Siskins instead. Here's hoping for better light next time.



In the morning every participant wished everyone else a Happy New Year, but in the afternoon as far as I could tell no one bothered.  Is that another difference between mornings and afternoons?

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.   

Ringing at Filey

Today we were at Filey, which coincided with the Filey Brigg Ornithological Group's annual ringing week in the Country Park.  Before the session started I checked it was OK for us to watch, and Pete Dunn said we would be welcome to observe. 

Jay

 Filey's Temporary Ringing Station

 Pete Dunn explaining something to the am session, plus 2 extraneous members of the public!

Continental Jay

 When we arrived Coal Tits were already being processed.  Shortly afterwards 2 greenfinches were caught, so the wing feathers and tail feathers were spread to show how a bird may be sexed and aged.

Greenfinch

 Greenfinch

 Weighing a Greenfinch

After the ringing the morning session shared cars to Filey Dams.  Some of the ringers where here too, to repair the Barn Owl Box.  To do that they had to catch the 2 Barn owls in residence, and these were also shown to the morning group.  one was noticeably darker than the other, so was probably the female.

Checking the Barn Owl Box - through the mist

 The probable male Barn Owl

 The probable female Barn Owl

 The probable female Barn Owl

Because of the disturbance on the reserve most of the birds had been flushed, but we did see the Avocet, some Wigeon and an immature Heron.  There was no sign of the Black-tailed Godwit. 

Immature Heron

The afternoon session saw BlueTits, a Tree Sparrow, and a Goldcrest being ringed.  

 Blue Tit - taking a peck

 Tree Sparrow

 Goldcrest

 Goldcrest - checking its fat reserves

 The Tally at 2pm

After the ringing we went down to the beach were we saw Oystercatchers, Turnstones, a Redshank, a few Cormorants and an immature Gannet continually diving into Filey Bay, and usually returning to the surface with a mouthful of food.  Meanwhile a Herring Gull wrestled with a crab which was still alive, and which was seen to give the gull a nasty nip.  

Herring Gull - eating a crab

 Juvenile Gannet - getting ready to dive 1

 Juvenile Gannet - getting ready to dive 2

 Juvenile Gannet - getting ready to dive 3

 Gannet - after the dive

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