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.

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.

Twirling Moustachios

As we crossed the Humber Bridge the fog was so thick, I'm sure most people wondered if we were going to see anything.

One of the first birds we could discern was a very confiding Grey Wagtail, which was catching insects alongside the tiny creek leading to the hide.  Throughout the whole walk the air was punctuated by the croaks of flying Snipe.  Suddenly all the dabbling Teal took to the air and a long winged raptor could just be made out through the mist.  The wings looked too thin & narrow for a Marsh Harrier, so a Hen Harrier was the most probable answer.  There were plenty of Reed Buntings and Tree Sparrows in the bushes, whilst on the mud there were over a thousand Golden Plovers, plus Shelduck, a few Ruff, Curlew, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Herons, a single Spotted Redshank, and a Little Egret.

When we took the walk along the gravel path to the other hide it wasn't long before we heard some pinging and a pair of Bearded Tits showed very well, and these were lifers for about half the group.  On the return journey we came across 2 pairs together, and eventually Maggie was able to get a picture of a pair side-by-side.  Unfortunately, although they could be heard in the distance in the afternoon they refused to reappear.  The light was a lot better in the afternoon, and even though the Grey Wagtail was relocated the loss of the Bearded Tit was a large hole, which couldn't be filled.

Bearded Tits [male left] (c) 2012 Maggie Bruce

 Grey Wagtail

 Golden Plovers

 How Blots are Smuggled into the Landscape

A Tale of Two Site-ies

Today started off very badly just as forecast with heavy driving rain. The participants arrived in good time, and remained ensconced in their cars as the rain lashed down. From the look on everyone's faces they didn't expect it to clear up before the class was about to start. However, just as the class was due to begin the rain suddenly stopped and we were able to go ahead as planned. The weather continued to improve and after only 30 mins a large patch of blue appeared. Several 'students' had to pay the extortionate parking fees before we shared cars to a reserve hidden behind a housing estate. 




On arrival we repaired to the large 'L-shaped' hide. The best bird was a Black-tailed Godwit, but after half an hour an Avocet flew in. It's the latest I ever remember seeing one in Yorkshire. In the afternoon a Curlew was also seen from this hide. Other birds included several Teal, which had emerged from their eclipse plumage, but after checking thoroughly we couldn't find a single Snipe, which is normally common on this reserve at this time of the year.

Oystercatchers

 Ditto

 Turnstone

 Avocet (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

 Black-tailed Godwit (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

A visit to the smaller hide resulted in a few Wigeon, and a pair of Gadwall, and a few Tree Sparrows at the feeding station. However, the finest performance was put on by a female Sparrowhawk being mobbed by several Crows and Magpies.

In the morning we went on to the cliff tops where we added Guillemots, Gannets, Shags and Cormorants, and several exhausted Redwings arrived from the sea running the gauntlet of a hunting Peregrine. In the afternoon we walked on the beach where we enjoyed close views of Oystercatchers, Turnstones and Redshank. There were no other waders, which was rather surprising and the lack of Red-throated Divers, Eiders and Grey Seals was another disappointment.

Carrion Crow (too much white bread)(c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

 Sparrowhawk being mobbed (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

On Tuesday we were able to visit our planned location: Tophill Low, but we did so in the teeth of a ferocious wind. A hurricane hadn't been forecast for our visit, just as it hadn't 25 years before a previous non-existent hurricane, but the winds were certainly very strong. This can be seen in the water flying out of 'O' reservoir. Highlights included 2 female Sparrowhawks sparring over D reservoir for 5 minutes in the morning & 2 Chiffchaffs in the afternoon. The site exhibited strong apartheid tendencies with only Gadwall on North Lagoon, only Teal on South Marsh East, and only Tufted Ducks on 'O' Reservoir. However, there was plenty of racial integration at Watton Borrow Pits, which held several more species including Great Crested Grebe, Wigeon, Curlew, Cormorants and a few others.  One morning participant remained behind and was able to photograph a Willow Tit on the feeders 

 Great Crested Grebe 

 Great Crested Grebe

 Common Frog

 Drinking Water Blowing Away

 Record Shot of Grey Wagtail 

2 Female Sparrowhawks Sparring (c) 2012 Maggie Bruce

 Willow Tit (c) 2012 Maggie Bruce

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.

Raining on my Parade

Because of the bad weather my camera didn't leave the car - the pictures below were taken during better weather - honest!

Avocet

Avocets

Marsh Harrier

Yesterday didn't start well with a puncture caused by a screw stuck in my rear passenger wheel. I arrived at my local Savoy Garage shortly after 8am, in order to get it repaired well before my class, but they didn't have the electricity to repair it! They sent me to their Willerby outlet instead. I managed to get there but the rush hour traffic delayed my progresss. The repairs seemed to take forever when you are watching the clock. I was able to text 4 members of the Weds am group to warn them I would be late & where to go first for best views of Avocets.

Apparently, they were able to ID a Sedge Warbler by sound shortly after starting & there was plenty of action from the Avocets - even during the fairly constant rain. Luckily, Mike Andrews, one of the wardens, was in the hide & he was able to keep the class entertained with plenty of esoteric information about the breeding habits of these black-and-white favourites.

We went on to the next hide which had a single Shoveler, a single Teal & a single female Pochard, as well as plenty of noisy Black-headed Gulls. As we traversed the reserve we noticed that there were more Marsh Harriers perched in the open than usual. This seemed bizarre in the rain, but it is likely that their feathers will dry more quickly in the open among strong winds, rather than if they had been sat among soaking reeds protected from the wind. When the rain died away then the Marsh Harriers began to to perform some skydancing & interaction with each other. This was particularly spectacular in the afternoon & the raptors came closer to the hides than normal.

There were a score of hirundines, which were hunting for insects low over the water & readbeds. The vast majority of these were Swallows, but there were a few House Martins too. Although the flock was checked carefully we were unable to discern a Sand Martin among the other birds.

Overall the morning group saw 34 species with the afternoon session adding a Curlew to the tally. Of course when we went in one hide we were told that an hour ago there had been a booming Bittern, which had then flown through the area. We never caught up with this species, but we did remarkably well considering the dreadful conditions. The rain did ease off about 2pm, so the last hour of the pm session was much more pleasant.

The forecast over the next few days would seem to indicate we haven't done with the precipitation by a long chalk. Expect more of the same tomorrow...