Hilda's Muriel

On Thursday we had a walk along the Humber estuary. As we waited for Chris in the car park plenty of Fieldfare and a few Redwing were spotted collapsing into the hawthorn bushes around the fort. The miniature lighthouses were flashing, presumably because of poor visibility, although its the brightest its been all week. Alan suddenly spotted in the far distance between the 2 lighthouses that the air was swirling with birds. They were thousands of Golden Plovers. There were a few Curlew at the waters edge and 6 Wigeon, but the birds were in rather short supply.

No Comment necessary (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Wigeon (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Golden Plover (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Ditto 

 Grey Plover (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

At the tip of the old flood bank we saw quite a variety of waders. Jean spotted & correctly identified a Turnstone, but there were also a few Bar-tailed Godwits, a dozen Redshank, half a dozen Dunlin, and 30 Lapwing. We had just started to head back when I spotted a Swallow, then another and another. In total 6 Swallows were heading east.

 Turnstones (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Curlew (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Curlew

 The 'Maybe' with Humber Bridge

 Illumination

 The Grimsby Tower with Golden Plovers

In the afternoon the tide was coming in, but was still a long way out when we visited. We counted 150 Black-tailed Godwit, 112 Knot, and 8 Bar-tailed Godwit. We were standing near the breach when suddenly I spotted a Peregrine steaming in from the south-west. It made a bee-line for the Golden Plovers, and although they took some time to see it they all escaped. This remained the case even when a second smaller Peregrine see spotted by Eric all joined in on the action. After several stoops and swift changes of direction they failed to catch a single bird. However, one Peregrine moved quickly north, as it has spotted that a Merlin had just caught a small bird. The Merlin relinquished its catch, but the Peregrines seemed a bit fussy about picking something up from the estuary mud, and it took 3 attempts before it carried away the prize.




On the way back a Pipit flew up from the main path making an unusual 'tsskk' call. It was larger and paler than a Meadow Pipit, but still seemed to have white in the tail and in the wing. Although a similar colour to a Skylark its wings were much narrower than the large wing area of a Skylark. On returning home and playing the sounds of a Richard's Pipit and an Olive-Backed Pipit, the latter seemed a much better fit. Hopefully, someone is going to check out the area tomorrow, to see if they can relocate this intriguing bird.  Finally, in a Hawthorn bush near the entrance to the fort we found a Goldcrest, although it was shy about coming into the open!

Peregrine - the bane of Golden Plovers (c) 2012 Vince Cowell

 Merlin on Mudflats

Goldcrest

Juvenilia

The first Wednesday session of the Autumn term saw us venturing into Lincolnshire. We shared cars over the Humber Bridge at the recently discounted rate. The tide was still coming in when we were due to start, so I was hoping for some close views of waders, but the site has been silting up. 

 Yellow Wagtail

 Immature Swallow

 Immature Willow Warbler

 

 Black-tailed Godwits [mainly]

 Black-tailed Godwits [foreground]

 Little Egret

 Long-tailed Tit (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

 Long-tailed Tits

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Common Blue

Common Blue [female]

Record shot of Immature Water Rail

Ruddy Darter

 

From the car park I heard Whimbrel and Bullfinch, but couldn't actually see either of them there. Meadow Pipits were heard calling and a pair of Stock Doves flew over. Before we arrived at the 1st hide the class marvelled at a flock of Black-tailed Godwits as they circled the pool several times before coming in to land. There were a couple of Dunlin among the Black-headed Gulls. At the hide itself there were plenty of distant Teal, Shoveler, and a few Shelduck. An unusual call turned out to be a Spotted Redshanks, which landed for a few minutes before heading off with a bog-standard Redshank heading West. A Ringed Plover called several times before being lost to sight. The whole day was punctuated by the calls of Greenshank, but they weren't as easy to see as yesterday.







Along the high bank path we saw at least 10 Yellow Wagtails and a Reed Warbler. As we watched these about 50 Swallows were catching insects above our heads, and these had 2 House Martins in tow. A family of Long-tailed Tits were seen in some bushes along the path, and while we were observing these 3 very bright young Willow Wagtails were seen.









In the final hide Miles spotted something in the reeds, which seemed to be half a mile away. It turned out to be an immature Water Rail, and another passed through the reeds nearby.  The juvenile Water Rail was still there in the afternoon.





After lunch some very strange sounds seemed to emanate from a pair of Little Egrets - I've never heard them make a sound before.  the large flocks of Swallows had been replaced by 4 soaring Buzzards - one with very tatty wings.  

Somewhere Old, Somewhere New

This morning we met at Kilnsea and walked north along beacon lane.  Almost immediately after passing the House Martin colony we heard a Lesser Whitethroat singing.   The remainder of the sightings were almost identical to the last visit on 20^th June.  There were more butterflies this time with a Painted Lady, at least 4 Small Heaths and a few Common Blues.  When we reached the reedbed there was another Small Heath, a Cinnabar Moth & several Burnet moths emerging from their chrysalises.  

Cuckoo (c) 2012 David Tasker

 Painted Lady

 Small Heath

 Common Blue

 Burnet-Moth (c) 2012 Phil Hargreaves

 Little Tern (c) 2012 Phil Hargreaves

The best non-bird sighting from the hide was a female Emperor Dragonfly.  We saw the same birds from the hide as last week, and then we joined by Paul Collins and the Little Tern Warden and another helper. We heard that at present there are about 30 Little Tern chicks, so barring accidents of weather and the intervention of the usual suspects of Fox, Merlin, Kestrel, and crows it could be a successful year for these scarce breeders

 Swallow

 Meadow Pipit (c) 2012 Phil Hargreaves

 Sandwich Terns

 Curlew

 Little Egrets

In the afternoon we risked going somewhere new: Kilnsea Wetlands. A flock of 30 Sandwich Terns were seen from the car park.  There was an Avocet on eg~Greenshank had flown into Beacon Ponds since our morning visit and there were more Sandwich terns, but there were few other differences.  The new area had potential, so will probably host a lot more species in subsequent year

Record Shot of Cuckoo (c) 2012 David Tasker

 Tadpoles

 Water Plant

 Whitethroat

 Juvenile Pied Wagtail (c) 2012 Phil Hargreaves

 Cattle (c) 2012 Phil Hargreaves

Red Stars

Male Redstart [at this location 3 years ago]

 Female Redstart

 Spotted Flycatcher

 Mayflies

 Micromoth

Rockrose

Yesterday afternoon was the first of the daytime wildlife events organised to coincide with Robert Fuller’s summer exhibition.  Four people met in the gallery from where we shared cars, and another 2 were waiting for us at the destination.  I also brought along my nephew who was often able to spot things quickly for the attendees.   On the journey we nearly slaughtered 8 Red-legged Partridges and an escaped lamb, but we managed to successfully avoid adding blood stains to the road.  Along the way there was a singing Meadow Pipit which I actually managed to spot on the return trip.  

From the car park we could hear a Yellowhammer singing just across the road, and this bird flew right over us and landed in the hedgerow we were shortly to walk past.  Here were also Goldfinches around the car park, but the usual Linnets were absent.  We plunged down the valley, and from the scrub there were distant Blackcaps and Willow warblers, but a more vibrant Song Thrush whilst another was visible on top of the Hawthorns.  One thing I noticed straight away was how noisy it is on weekends when there are a lot more non-birdwatchers in the area.  There was one family in particular of about 8 daughters, only half of whom were dressed in the compulsory pink who dawdled & made a hell of a lot of noise, and made my task that bit more difficult.  It was noticeable that Ben (12) did most of the complaining at the behaviour of the public, and came across as an old man!  

In the valley bottom I could hear a male redstart singing.  We went through a handgate an almost immediately I spotted a bird going into a cavity where Redstarts had nested 2 or 3 years ago.  I couldn’t believe they were using the same dirty old hole, but they were.  Both parents were going in and out regularly, so it was clear that their young were being fed.  We remained there for about half an hour, and although the Redstart’s movements at first were too quick for some of the viewers eventually both genders sat perched long enough looking for most people to get decent views.  This was a more colourful female than many, as a definite peachy blush could be discerned on her breast.  A Spotted Flycatcher also appeared briefly, and some Bullfinches flew over, and there were some Goldfinches perched on one of the dead Hawthorns.  

When we left the Redstarts and began to walk along the old railway line I could hear the very distinctive ‘chup’ of Crossbills, so these must have been in the stand of conifers which had been behind us when we were watching the Redstarts.  Along the early part of this walk we heard both a Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler, and the latter was even spotted with its wings outstretched.  We also heard a Blackcap, but this could only be glimpsed among the thick hedgerow, although it was seen in flight, as it flew from one side to the other.  A Mayfly was clinging to a nettle, and when I looked at the photo there were actually 2 mayflies there.  There were singing Chaffinches, a Wren and another Chiffchaff near the quarry.  Meanwhile we had Swifts, House Martins and Swallows flying over us at various times.  

On the return to the gallery there were almost as many red-legged Partridges dicing with death, but the only new birds seen were a pair of Linnets flew up as we drove back past a quarry.