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.   

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.

Kingfisher saves the Afternoon

Wednesday was a rerun of last Tuesday with the long slog to Castleford. We were leaving our cars at the Lin Dike car park when a Jay flew over - little did we know that would be one of the best sightings of the whole morning! There were no sign of the Little Grebes from the hide this time, so we had to put up with some nearby Lapwings instead. We could also see Teal, Cormorant, Herons, Mute Swans, Great Crested Grebe, Shoveler and Gadwall. We carried on to another pool we didn't visit last week. There were better views of all the same birds here, with the addition of Little Grebes. A cream crown Marsh Harrier flew fairly close to the hide and we saw at least 3 Buzzards all in the sky at the same time.

Record shot of Kingfisher

 ditto

 Lapwing

 Marsh Harrier

We headed back to the visitor centre and passed a parked car on the road with the distinctive figure of a bird forum member standing next to it. He was staring into the sunshine through his scope and was about to fix on to an eclipse Garganey. It seemed a rather dangerous place to leave 3 more vehicles, so we carried on to the visitor centre. When we get there we had a look at the kingfisher screen with no result, and had a scan from Pick-up hide, but there was little of excitement to see there either.

 Siskin

As last week the Lin Dike area was much less productive in the afternoon, and it was so poor this morning I thought I'd better not go there again after lunch. The afternoon group had a look from Pick-up Hide where there wasn't a great deal to see, but Les did very well to locate a distant Snipe, but his young Moorhen wasn't anything to write home about. A possible Little Owl wasn't definitely confirmed. We went to the Kingfisher screen, and sure enough after only a few minutes we saw a very active immature male Kingfisher. Eventually, it flew very close to the hide, perching only a few feet away from us. Some people had only seen them whizzing past, so this was their best ever sighting, and I think it's the best example I've seen this year.

 Record shot of Willow Warbler

 Shoveler in Eclipse

 Comma

 Unusual Bee Species

We carried on the long hike to Bob Dickens hide. This was almost completely bereft of birds, though we did encounter a Long-tailed Tit flock which were accompanied by a single bright yellow juvenile Willow Warbler. When we got to the hide there was an enormous flotilla of Coots, plus many of the same water birds we'd seen in the morning. There was an eclipse Shoveler, which displayed some extraordinary colours because of a large number of missing feathers. Eileen and Sally both shouted out at the same time when they spotted another Kingfisher flying low over the water on the far side of the lake.

Wolds Walking Festival

This weekend was the Wolds Walking Festival, and I was involved in at least one event on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  On Saturday 5 individuals turned up in beautiful warm and sunny weather: one couple from Helmsley, another from Beverley, and one local inhabitant of Thixendale.  We walked down the hill from Robert Fuller's Gallery, but were unable to find the Tawny Owls, which usually inhabit these sycamores.  In fact any sort of birdlife was noticeable by its absence.  I had to fill in by talking about our local Swallow behaviour, plus the latest news of what was happening on the birdfront at Spurn, Blacktoft and other East Yorkshire sites. Needless to say there was no sign of the local Little Owls either.  The only birds seen at this stage were Woodpigeons flying over.  However, flying closer to us was a Migrant Hawker Dragonfly, which did give good views as it hunted for insects along the hedgerow, and almost seemed as large as a Goldcrest!  We were a long way from any appreciable water, but these can be long distance fliers.  

Barnacle Goose

 Red Kite being mobbed

 At the bottom of the hill we took a right turn on to the Wolds Way.  A tilled field was covered with Red-legged Partridges - possibly as many as 10.  The Yellowhammers, and Meadow Pipits which had been so vociferous in the Spring and Summer had all gone quiet, and it wasn't until we went through the second gate that things picked up.    We were watching a hovering Kestrel as it hunted for voles in the long grass in the steep slopes of the dale.  It plunged into the verdure several times, but when it rose again, there was nothing in its talons.  As we observed this young bird, I could hear the high-pitched telltale sounds of a Treecreeper in the mature Ash trees behind us.  We swung round and everyone was able to spot the bird as it inched its way up the main trunk of the tree, before it spiralled round to the back of the trees, and it was lost to sight.  

Cream-Crown Marsh Harrier

 Migrant Hawker

 Bracket Fungus

 Stoat

 Stoat

We hadn't gone much further when there was a strange sound above us.  At first the only birds I could see were a couple of gulls flying north, but then I spotted a bird of prey.  A Buzzard seemed to be the most likely candidate in this habitat, but through the binoculars it was uniformly dark brown despite the tattiness of many of its feathers.  It was a Marsh Harrier.  Later, we heard that the gulls and the Harrier had been in a brief skirmish, which was the origin of the unusual sound.  We carried on to the sight of a baffling turf sculpture, which apparently looks much better and explicable from the top of the hills.  While the turf sculpture was being explained to us by the local inhabitant a bright orange Comma butterfly flew south.  Fairly soon after this a genuine Buzzard came into view - its mixture of dark wing edges and central white patches were in marked contrast to the earlier bird.  On the return journey we could hear Swallows twittering and House Martins "farting", but our best birds had definitely been on the  Wolds Way.  We passed BBC Look North's Simon Clark and  friend making the most of the nice weather by walking part of the Wolds Way.  The Cirrus clouds looked fine against the blue sky, but they didn't bode well for the weather on Sunday...

5 individuals again turned up for the Sunday Wolds Red Kite Roost event.  Unfortunately my sat nav led the attendees from Robert Fuller's Gallery on a circuitous, but picturesque route seemingly all over the wolds.  However, we did eventually arrive at the viewpoint.  At first it seemed very few birds were present apart from some very noisy female Mallards opposite our site.  However, a Heron flew through, which was a sign of better things to come.  Unfortunately, it was spitting with rain, so I didn't expect too many birds of prey.  It wasn't too long before our first Red Kite appeared to the right of the site, spotted by a Pocklington couple.  It flew over the woodland and disappeared to the left and below a very distinctive tree.  We then enjoyed sightings of several lone birds, sometimes they appeared distantly over the brow of the wooded hillside.  On other occasions they began to emerge in the far distance in the north, but always making for the same general area.  At least 2 birds showed interest in a green field, which may have hosted some carrion, but the roost site seemed to be the favoured area with all the other birds.  

Another Heron made its distinctive slowly flapping flight over the  woodland - seemingly with a wingspan only marginally greater than some of the Red Kites we had been watching.   Unfortunately, the lowering clouds began to look ever more threatening.  At one time 4 birds could be discerned in the northern distance through what looked like mist, but this was the first sign of a more significant shower of rain moving in.  We decided to call it a day, but we had seen over 10 Red Kites flying into the woodland.

On Monday we revisited Friday's location in worse light, so there were fewer photo opportunities.  North Cave Wetlands seems to be a fairly well-known site locally, so it was an unusual experience to introduce the venue for 5 people (100% of the attendees) who were trying it out as part of the Wolds Walking Festival.  The birds and dragonflies we saw today were very similar to those last week.    A mammal highlight were 2 Stoats - one running towards us, and another running away.  The Barnacle Goose showed really well, but seemed a very isolated individual, and was virtually the last bird we saw, so brought the session to a fitting end.  Please see Friday's photos here: Friday

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.

Tales From the Riverbank

The first Thursday of the new term saw us visiting a estuary location at full tide. Unfortunately the tide was so high in the morning there was very little exposed mud available for waders. There were a few Pied Wagtails here instead. There a few Mallards about, some Black-headed Gulls and a few Teal, but little else. We walked along the river bank for the majority of the time. It started off very quietly with hardly a bird to be seen. At this time of year we used to encounter Stonechats along here, but they've been absent since the recent spate of severe winters. However, just as the industrial buildings were coming to an end, we saw a very smart Wheatear on the flood barrier. This kept us coming for the next 1/4 of a mile as it flew along ahead of us. The sunlight was against us for really excellent views, but these were the best views of this species we've managed for quite some time.

Wheatear

Marsh Harrier [with Carrion Crows]

ditto

Charm of Goldfinches

 ditto

We carried on to see charms of Goldfinches on the thistles and other seed-bearing plants. There were also a smattering of Linnets. Some of these were males as they were still singing, but they had moulted so there was no trace of their bright spring colours.

 Grey Pates

 Small Tortoiseshell

Near the marsh was a flock of more an 100 Lapwings accompanied by 3 Starlings, and in the corner of the field were six strange, grey hunched figures. These turned out to be Herons. One flew off west & another east, but most of them stood their ground. Not too far away were 4 smaller shapes, and as we neared them their curved bills could be glimpsed - Curlews.

Over the marsh itself a cream-crown Marsh Harrier was seen flying towards us with 4 crows in hot pursuit. It eventually came to rest in the tall reeds in the marsh, but only after disturbing the few Gadwall on the water. Phil G saw the tail of a small mammal disappearing in the grass, which on investigation turned out to be a young Wood Mouse. We left it in its nursery. A few geese flying over we're not identified, but from the poor view I got I don't think they were Pink-footed Geese, which have just started to return to this part of the world.

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!