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.  

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!

Going for a Toddle

Reed Bunting

Friday was a rerun of last Sunday, and 2 Wednesdays ago.  In the car park we saw a Kestrel hovering some distance away, whilst a pair of Linnets flew over & young Starlings were squawking all around us.   I was also vaguely aware of parking next to a small hatchback parked at awkward right-angles which had heavily condensed windows.  As more people arrived & car doors banged the young couple under the duvet began to wake up.  More of them later...

The morning especially was bitterly cold, and there was a biting easterly wind all day, but it was less penetrating in the afternoon.  We followed the same route & saw Carrion Crow, Goldfinch before we reached the first fishing Lake.  We heard the distinctive, tedious song of a Reed Warbler, and tried looking for it.  Although the band of reeds was fairly narrow, this was much easier said than done.  The bird that came in with food in its beak turned out to be a Willow Warbler, which had a nest between the bank and the reedbed.  The Reed Warbler was actually much nearer the water, but was very difficult to see.  When we reached the first alley we were immediately greeted by a singing Chiffchaff, followed by a Blackcap, Wren, and a wheezing Greenfinch.  The latter were visible on the wires once we emerged into the open again.  In the afternoon its place was taken by a Tree Sparrow

Chiffchaff

 Reed Bunting

 A Lesser Black-backed Gull flew over as we moved towards a very confiding Reed Bunting.  As we crept ever nearer a male Kestrel flew fairly close to us, closely followed by some Swifts and we flushed a Song Thrush which dived into a hedge.  We hadn’t gone much further when we heard a scolding Whitethroat swiftly followed by a singing Sedge Warbler.  This was the first of many Sedge Warblers which had flooded into the site since Monday.  The rest of the birds were similar to previous visits with extra Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers.  Richard picked up one of the presumed Short-eared Owl pellets, which consisted largely of fur and one tiny bone.  So, the SEO supposition seems to be correct.  

Whitethroat - against a dull background

 Whitethroats - against an OTT background!

 Orange-Tip - now you see him

 Orange-Tip - Going

 Orange-Tip - Gone - Now you don't see him - almost!

 We trekked to the pumping station & I slithered down the bank where I could see a distant kingfisher, but before the 1^st of the am group joined me it had moved off, presumably heading in a northerly direction.  When I tried to repeat the experience in the afternoon an angler had been down the bank and opened a "Go Fishing" Jelly Fishing Lure & just thrown all 3 pieces of unused plastic packing down at the water’s edge.  Apparently, this isn't an isolated angling behaviour.  I was regaled by stories of fishermen on Beverley Beck having lunch at the water's edge & then throwing the plastic containers in the beck.  They don't appear to realise that if everyone followed their example there wouldn't be any fish for future anglers!   I carried all the rubbish back to the car park for disposal where it would hopefully cause less harm to the environment.  A Great Spotted Woodpecker was present on both occasions.  In the afternoon it was perched on a double telegraph pole before flying into one of the pumping station’s gardens.  There were several Tree Sparrows in this area, and a single Moorhen.

Possible Short-eared Owl Pellets

 Willow Warbler

On the return journey a Magpie was the final bird seen flying over the playing field.  I returned home for lunch, but when I arrived back most of the pm crowd were already assembled.  The ‘courting couple’ had driven off in my absence, but had already returned & legs were seen pointing towards the car’s roof!  When we returned 2 hours later they had finally gone for good, after presumably spending the previous night in the car park as well as at least 5 hours since I was there.  I'm sure they found the car park much busier than they had expected.  The pm session was pretty much a repeat of the am session, although there were slightly less small passerine birds in evidence & the Reed Warblers were impossible to see.  One highlight was a Sedge Warbler, which flew around is in a near perfect circle, without perching in the open too prominently.  A final highlight was a confiding Willow warbler singing clearly in of all things...a Willow.  The general consensus was that this was a very interesting location, and most people were keen to return and it is to be hoped the next visit will coincide with more amenable weather conditions.