Back with a Bang (& a Bittern!)

The 1st session after the long summer break saw us concentrating mainly on wading birds. We were going somewhere with plenty of hides, so it was safe to ignore the rather damp early morning forecast - which rather surprisingly was wrong anyway! The first hide may have been a little confusing for first timer Maggie, as it was absolutely packed with waders. The Lapwings were the most obvious, but there was also a very noticeable white-headed male Ruff. There were also juvenile male ruffs and a buffish female Ruff - or Reeve, much smaller than the other juveniles.

In addition there were some of the closest views we've ever enjoyed of Greenshanks, and in good numbers too. There was a single Green Sandpiper and a couple of moulting Dunlin, but nothing really out of the ordinary. A single Spotted Redshank busy feeding in the deepest water was a very nice sighting. It wasn't particularly close so most people had a better view through the telescope. 

Ruff

 Ruff with Snipe [left]

 Greenshank

 Greenshanks

 Greenshank & Redshank [right]

 Record shot of Bittern

 Record shot of Bittern

 In the next hide we were quickly put on to a Bittern which was perched at the top of the reeds, looking rather windswept. We were told to try & photograph this distant bird as best as we could, because they were trying to discover if this was an old juvenile, as there are still some young birds being fed on the reserve. The ducks were mainly in eclipse, but we could ID Shoveler and Gadwall, and a juvenile Shelduck. A young Cormorant flew in and immediately hung its wings out to dry.

Ditto

 Blackcap

 Cormorant

 Moorhen

 Wigeon

 Heron

 Magpie

 Speckled Wood

 Konik Ponies

 Record shot of Little Grebe

When we went to another hide there was a pair of young Little Grebes with 3 very young chicks. This has put back some of the conservation work back several weeks. There are also young Tufted Ducks and I think Shovelers on the reserve.  There were a few calls of Bearded Tits from this hide, but they resolutely remained completely out of sight, though we did see a Reed Bunting, young Sedge Warblers, and a charm of Goldfinches.







The remaining hides just produced more of the same, but one hide had a great numbers of winter-plumages Spotted Redshanks on display, with one bird with slightly more spangly plumage. There was another Green Sandpiper here, which we'd a little bit better than the earlier bird.  A Blackcap eating elderberries was the passerine highlight of the afternoon session.







The final hide brought more distant views of Snipe, Greenshank, Redshank and 5 more Spotted Redshank. We did see a few Marsh Harriers in flight from time-to- time, but we were told that these had dispersed much earlier than normal, which seems to be the opposite of most of the other birds, which are breeding much later in the season than is usual, but this is almost certainly because of the disastrous early start they had!

A Logical Viewpoint

All pictures (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

Thursday morning was our final visit to an urban nature reserve.  Everyone but the lady from Castle Howard seemed to find it OK, but she probably isn’t used to real urban driving!  The car park was quieter in the gentle drizzle, but we did see a few Linnets, a House Sparrow and low-flying Swifts and House Martins.  I left my camera at home because my previous one ‘died’ in heavy rain, and downpours were forecast.  Richard was braver, so I’m completely reliant on him to illustrate this blog.  On the playing field there were 2 Lesser-Black Backed Gulls for the first time, and the Starlings, Rooks, Carrion Crows, Magpies and Jackdaws were still present.  A male Bullfinch flew from left to right just at the beginning of the walk but it couldn’t be relocated.  There were actually more birds singing on the walk up the hill in today’s bad weather than the 2 gorgeous days we visited last week.    

Water Vole

 Linnet

For the second Thursday am running we heard a Cuckoo, but this time despite several apparently close encounters we failed to see it.  The Warblers were harder to see this time, though we did have an early Chiffchaff near the beginning and then a definite Willow Warbler at the end.  The Lesser Whitethroat had gone silent again, and we only heard a couple of Whitethroats this time.  A Chiffchaff was heard, but it was harder to locate this time.  There were a few Blackcaps singing from deep cover on the path parallel to the Poplar Avenue, but apart from one brief flyover, again these remained concealed from sight. 

Chiffchaff

 We waited for a time on the bridge but there were fewer things to see round here too.  2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers flew from a young Ash tree on the bank & headed into the reserve towards some large Willow trees.  The adult soon flew off, but a fledgling remained for several minutes.  I don’t think everyone managed to lock onto it in time, but those that did were able to watch trying to peck at the bark for and climb the tree.  People were discussing this sighting when Phil G spotted something swimming across the drain.  Everyone spun round and got a great view of a Water Vole.  It was then busy for a few minutes on our side of the bank, because we could see the ripples spreading out from our side, but the vegetation screened it from any further views.  

Immature Great Spotted Woodpecker

 ditto

 Chaffinch

We popped into the reserve again, but took a different circular path, which took us past a Willow Warbler and the den area, which was recently featured in the local press.  There were fewer butterflies and other insects to see because of the drizzle, but we were climbing the steps out of the reserve when the Cuckoo stared calling again nearby.  Unfortunately, a Search & Rescue helicopter then flew low over us, and we weren’t able to track it down.  The final sight of the morning was provided by a Greenfinch, which at first twittered & wheezed in the car park before embarking on its slow-motion butterfly courtship flight.  A nice way to bring these urban visits to an end.

 Willow Warbler

Greenfinch

Open Day Plus One

Kingfisher - Bird of the Day (Old Photograph)

All other photos were taken today

Yesterday was unusual in being a working day, but what was even more unusual was that Sunday was a working day too.  Of course, there are many people who would argue that what I do can’t really be called working!  Yesterday was the occasion of the first official opening of Hull’s first nature reserve, and today I was involved in a Birdwatching Walk for Beginners round the Noddle Hill Nature Reserve. 

As I walked from one car park to the other I heard a grating squawk on the playing fields, and there were my first juvenile Starlings of the year.  The only other birds in this area were some grazing Greylag Geese.  Most of the rest of the participants were waiting in the Anglers Car Park where we were serenaded by a Chaffinch.  From here it was also possible to hear a Reed Warbler singing from the lake and someone spotted a Greenfinch wheezing from some bare twigs.  At least 12 people had booked, but plenty of children also attended.  Steve from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust made a short introduction and we began.  I tried to spot the birds at the front of the group, while Steve concentrated on keeping those at the back of the group informed of what we were seeing. 

Starlings

 Chaffinch

 Orange-Tip

 Willow Warbler (can't see its pink legs)

We squeezed into Red Admiral Alley where we immediately heard a Chiffchaff, soon followed by a Blackcap and a Robin.  We didn’t see a Red Admiral, but we did observe an Orange-tip nectaring on a dandelion, swiftly followed by a pair of fighting Speckled Wood butterflies.  Towards the end of the alley we were treated to the wonderful cascading song of a Willow Warbler, as it sang from of all things, a Willow tree.  This provided a welcome contrast to the previous bird, which had been the monotonous ‘song’ of a Collared Dove.  As we were about to emerge from the alley a few Swifts and House Martins flew about, but by the time we were back in the open they had all moved on.  

Carrion Crow

 Reverend Reed Bunting

We struck out into more open country and this is where we encountered the biggest problem of the day: the very strong winds.  Despite the wind we spotted more Greenfinches on the wires, a few Linnets, and a single Skylark flew over the crowd of cattle.  Shortly afterwards a Magpie quickly flew away when it saw us coming.  It was about this moment that we flushed a pair of Red-legged Partridge.  We traversed the full length of the site towards Foredyke Drain & on the way saw plenty of Linnets flying around, and several Whitethroats performing their ‘puppet on a string song flight’ before diving into thick bramble cover again.   Carrions Crows perched on the hawthorn bushes & a few were feeding in the flooded meadow, which in the late afternoon, evening and night is transformed into the hunting ground of the Short-eared Owl.  When the drain was in sight I could hear the simple repetitive song of a male Reed Bunting, so we were able to inch our way towards it until everyone in the group had seen it.  Once everyone had taken a look I crept a bit nearer to take a picture.

We followed Foredyke Drain towards the pumping station.  On the way we had some great views of singing Skylarks and I spotted some owl pellets on the ground in the middle of nowhere which can only have come from Short-eared Owls.  We reached the junction with Holderness Drain, but the strong winds meant that there were much fewer birds around than our previous visit: http://www.eybirdwatching.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/new-reserve-gets-nod-of-approval.html

Everyone was able to catch up & we had a breather from the walk and the wind.  Unfortunately, even the Tree Sparrows didn’t appear to be hanging around their nest holes.  Steve and I were just having a short chat when I heard the tell-tale high-pitched squeak of a Kingfisher.  I was in time to let everyone know it was flying past & everyone swung round to gaze towards the drain.  Luckily, most people saw the bird, but the force of 15 faces swinging round to look at it, meant that the Kingfisher quickly let its DNA fall into the water before lifting into the air and flying over the lock.

Linnet

 Chiffchaff (black legs)

 Bottoms Up! (Greylag Goslings)

On the return journey we saw a Kestrel being mobbed by a crow, and the front section of the crowd had a brief glimpse of a Sedge Warbler, but it went to ground in a bramble bush and refused to come out.   On the way back a Linnet actually posed near enough to snatch a photograph.  As we walked round the lake I heard the mournful piping of a Bullfinch, which then flew over our heads & straight above the island without perching in the open for everyone to have a good look.  However, a Chiffchaff was more obliging as it sang much lower down than normal. Then we were back in the car park.  Despite the strong winds, I’m sure everyone learned something, and I hope they will return on a less windy day.

On the way back across the playing field to my car I saw a final new bird of the day: a Pied Wagtail.  This took the final tally of birds to exactly 40, which is quite respectable considering the lousy wind!