Ho-Hum

As we drove towards today's location many of the fields were under water. This would later come to haunt us. The morning started well with a Mistle Thrush and a Treecreeper singing outside the visitor centre. As we moved off we saw a pair of Siskins feeding on the alders, and a female Great Spotted Woodpecker in a nearby Poplar tree. Then came a long period of virtually no bird song and empty lakes and marshes. This dearth was remedied when we reached the hide overlooking the apparently almost empty reservoir. Here were several Great Crested Grebes and in the afternoon 5 drake Goldeneye displaying to 3 females. There were also plenty of Wigeon, and Tufted Duck, plus a few Pochard. 




Record Shot of Great Grey Shrike (c) 2013 Tony Robinson

 Lesser Redpoll (c) 2013 Aileen Urquhart

We walked through woodland and then scrub to another hide. This is normally the most productive hide at this time of year, but at first it seemed there were only plenty of Greylag Geese. A closer inspection revealed the odd Goldeneye, Gadwall, Teal, Pochard and wigeon, but the numbers were definitely down. The reason for this is the birds are normally concentrated on the lakes and reservoirs in the area, but now that they have so much flood water to chose from then they have become scattered throughout the surrounding water logged fields.

On the return journey we stopped off at South Lagoon and were rewarded with several views of a Kingfisher flying past the hide. A few minutes later we had close views of 4 rather drab Lesser Redpolls. In the end 5 birds flew off, but whether the 5th bird was also a redpoll remains a moot point. The visit to the larger reservoir revealed another depleted water resource, which sees very ironic when the surrounding fields were dripping with water. 

Lesser Redpoll (c) 2013 Tony Robinson

Meanwhile 3 morning students went off to look for roosting Kites.  It was while they were watching those they heard about a more interesting bird, and tracked down a Great Grey Shrike.  That is the only reason this bird appears at the head of the post.

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?

Surreptitious Shooters

Meeting on the Humber bank was a novel experience today for mid-November. It was actually warm and there was virtually no wind. Later, in the lea of a Hawthorn hedge we were plagued by dozens of mosquitoes, which attempted to exact their usual penance! There wasn't a great deal to see on the journey apart from the usual Fieldfare and Curlews in the fields. When we got to the inlet there was a single Bar-tailed Godwit, then a Black-tailed Godwit, with plenty of Redshank and a Curlew or two. A Common or Harbour Seal was guarding the creek entrance. 5 Siskins flew east in the morning, while after lunch 4 Redpolls went east. 

All wildlife pictures (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

Short-eared Owl

ditto

It was a bit of a trial trying to avoid the dog mess, and unfortunately Chris actually failed to avoid it completely. Walking along the flood bank we flushed a Short-eared Owl which managed to perform very well, landing on posts, hiding in the long grass, and then flying along the edge of the salt marsh/mudflat border. When we reached the newly fenced-off electrified area another flew up and they flew within metres of each other before going their separate ways. A Snipe called but it remained invisible. In this area in the afternoon a Chiffchaff was in the hedge, which Gordon was able to watch very clearly. 

Black-tailed Godwit

Grey Plover

Bar-tailed Godwit

Common Seal

There was a new YWT fenced off area with an electrified fence, and on the edge of this in the afternoon 2 semi-concealed people were acting suspiciously on the border of the mudflats and the saltmarsh. As we approached they bent down as far as they could in a vain hope to escape our notice.  However, once we had passed their position they thought they were safe and began to appear above the vegetation again.  The light was a bit tricky for us, but once we got past we could see through the scope that one had on a gauze balaclava, whilst the other with a very young face was wearing a typical hunter's cap. They remained in position for the whole 2 hours we were in the area.  As we were leaving, we'd just clambered over the 2nd stile when they let fly 4 shots frightening a Little Egret, but because they were no longer in view we never discovered what their quarry was.  I hope they weren't laying in wait for the male Hen Harrier, which has been favouring the area.







After a very dull few days the sun finally came out, resulting in an amazing sunset back at the foreshore.

The Beautiful Humber!

The Eternal Quest for the Nuthatch!

A World Without Love

This morning we tried the southern section of Tophill, mainly because a Bittern had been seen going in to roost yesterday evening, but we didn't have any luck. There were mainly Tufted Ducks with a few Goldeneye on 'O' reservoir, although a female Sparrowhawk flying just over the surface enlivened things. Watton Borrow Pits was the best for variety of species with: Curlew, Wigeon, Teal, Cormorant, Gadwall, and Jackdaw. Then 40 Curlew had just settled themselves on the green peninsula when the female Sparrowhawk appeared again & they all took off. They later landed among the safety of the Cormorants on the muddy strip.

All photos (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

Cormorant

 Curlew

 Shoveler

 Wigeon

 Gadwall (& Tufted Duck left)

 Teal

Things perked up again from D Reservoir where there were plenty of Shoveler and Wigeon, and suddenly Richard spotted 15 Swans & although they went out of sight without us gaining decent views, when we checked his photos they did appear to be Whoopers. They flew along the river Hull, so were soon lost to sight.







In the lunch hour I got out my spade and flattened a muddy area in the hope that either tonight or tomorrow night an Otter will leave some nice clear tracks to show for Sunday's Otter Walk!!

 Record shot of Whooper Swans

 Goldcrest

Coal Tit

It was the poorest turnout on Thurs pm we have ever had before with only 3 participants arriving. What a difference from the morning group, which is currently the largest of any of the groups, and ensure all the hardest are full. Nearly everyone had already sent their apologies ahead of the session, but the 60's pop duo who had their best hit with 'A World Without Love' hadn't let me know they wouldn't be coming, so let's hope they will still be performing together in the future. In the afternoon we took the risk of heading north through D woods. This was a risky strategy because apart from a flock of more than 20 Siskins we didn't see much of interest. We then surveyed D Reservoir & saw mainly the same birds as the am, but we did manage a count of 10 female Goldeneyes.

The Past Week

The past week wasn't the greatest for photo opportunities.  Tuesday should have featured a visit to the South Bank, but strong winds curtailed this trip, and North Cave Wetlands was lousy for taking pictures - none survive from that trip.  It was windy again at Tophill Low, so there weren't that many chances of taking photos of the best birds 300+ House Martins and 3 Chiffchaffs.  The wind was blowing straight into North Marsh, so there was very little chance that the Kingfisher would be on its perch, and we had a fruitless vigil.  As the morning session was about to end attention was drawn to a small feisty raptor attacking & being mobbed by Crows.  At first it seemed to be a young Hobby, but the wings weren't swept back enough and on one occasion its role was taken over by a male Sparrowhawk which was noticeably larger and broader-winged.  Then when the first bird passed behind some dark vegetation and flipped over, so we could see from its front that it was a female Merlin.  She then flew higher right through the large flock of House Martins a couple of times before she singled one out.  Needless to say the House Martin easily managed to evade her attentions.

On Thursday and Friday we travelled to Fairburn Ings.  The Lin Dike area was supposedly flooded, so we walked from the Visitor Centre to Bob Dickens Hide.  The Thurs pm & Friday am groups were the only 2 which were rewarded with the immature male Kingfisher, although a Thurs am 'student' remained behind if only to prove that Kingfishers aren't in the same category as leprechauns, fairies and pure moonshine - his life ambition achieved, I wonder what his next bogey bird will be?  The immature Green Woodpecker on Thursday am was a nice compensation.  

There were plenty of Redpolls and Siskins and a few Jays at Fairburn - all birds which are a little thin on the ground in East Yorkshire.  However, late September and early October, doesn't seem to be the best time to visit Fairburn, I wonder what is?

Immature Male Kingfisher - Fairburn

 Blackcap - in the garden

 Woodpigeon Squab - on the Fairburn Boardwalk

 Green Woodpecker - Fairburn (c) 2012 Phil Todd

 Lapwings (c) 2012 Phil Todd

Lesser Redpoll

 Record shot of Goldcrest - Tophill Low

 Comma - Tophill Low

 Common Darters - Fairburn

 Darter - Fairburn

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.

Final Visit to the Bog

Yesterday the ginger dwarf said the rain would get less the further north you went, so I took notice and didn't cancel today's session in North Yorkshire.  This morning's forecast on the TV looked quite different with rain shown on the graphics for North Yorkshire all day.  It was too late to cancel, so I drove north with a sinking heart.  The terrible traffic chaos just north of Malton didn't help, but on arrival the sky was very overcast, but at least it wasn't raining....yet.  

All pics (c) 2012 Tony Robinson

Whinchat (male)

 ditto

The first birds we saw were plenty of Meadow Pipits, which seemed to be very argumentative, and wouldn't leave each other in peace.  The path was much muddier than last week, which made the going much trickier between clumps of heather, sedges and the other specialised plants.  Despite the conditions we managed to get a little further than last week, and this was lucky because the Green Woodpecker family had moved several metres further south.  We also enjoyed much better views of Whinchats this time, and it was very heartening to find that they had bred successfully - there was a brood of well-grown youngsters.  There were also Reed Buntings in the area.

Lesser Redpoll 

 Lesser Redpoll

 Meadow Pipit

 We retraced our footsteps and returned to the gate, and from here we travelled down towards the railway line.  Another male Whinchat was perched on a post with a female nearby.  A Willow Warbler sang from the trees near the line but there seemed to be very few other birds about.  We were leaving again when suddenly I heard the trills of some Redpolls, which were very hard to locate in the leaves of a tree, but most people got to see them.

Later we tried another path through the bracken to try and get a view of a possible Stonechat.  Unfortunately, we didn't track it down, but we did find a Siskin.  It didn't rain at all while we were there, but some small biting midges made their presence felt, and were far from pleasant.   On the way back to the original car park we saw displaying Curlew, so presumably they are still nesting in the area, perhaps they lost earlier broods?  Apparently, not long after we left the rain moved in, so we were extremely lucky to remain dry.

Roe Deer