And Now for the Good Smews

Today's reserve failed to live up to the quantity and variety of species compared with more than 2 years ago and further back in time.  However, there were Pochard, Shoveler, Teal, Gadwall, Tufted Ducks, a Great Crested Grebe and an obscene number of Coots from the first hide.  

Smew (drake) [2nd winter?]

The walk down the green tunnel yielded very few birds, although plenty of shy Redwings could be seen leaving the tree-tops as we made our way over the yellow leaves.   There was nothing at all to see at the new hide, but when we reached the embankment we could see some Wigeon as we looked West.   

 From the rickety hide we saw the same species as the first hide, but we did get a much better view of a female Goldeneye.  Meanwhile Aileen manage to photograph a Goldcrest directly outside the hide, which was in the company of some Long-tailed Tits

All remaining pics (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

Goldcrest

 Cutting across the meadow I heard and then we all glimpsed a Willow Tit.  There were calls of a Bullfinch and some of the afternoon session managed to get their binoculars on a stunning male, but he quickly flew off again.

Willow Tit

When made our way to the deeper pools and on here were at least 3 drake Goldeneyes, and some Tufted Ducks.  A flock of Goldeneye could just by made out through the hawthorn hedge as they flew past, and with them was a drake Smew.  Unfortunately, it spotted us, and flew away again.  However, luckily for us it alighted directly in front of the final hide.   

Mute Swan

Some of us were able to sneak up to the hide and carefully lift up the flaps to get a better look.  It was an extremely nervous bird and almost immediately swam towards the channel leading out of this pool.  It must have later flown away from the main water while no one was looking, as it later turned up on a lake a quarter of a mile away.  

Drake Smew [White Nun] (c) 2012 Tony Robinson

The Smew was replaced by a pair of Great Grested Grebes, which came and fished for both groups.  Both sessions also had very good views of a female Kingfisher from this hide, especially the afternoon gang, as it perched within about 6 feet from the hide.  It was an excellent way to bring the Wednesday Autumn sessions to a conclusion.

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.

Kingfisher Comes to the Rescue

There were a lot more ducks around at this venue than there were 3 weeks ago.  A female Goldeneye was the highlight with very smart Shovelers, plus Gadwall, and a couple of Pochard and a single drake Teal and 2 females.

At the brand new hide there was a single Redshank, but the site has been beautifully landscaped, so has great potential for the future.

On the river there were a few more Redshank, and in the afternoon through John's scope we saw five Black-tailed Godwits, a couple of Dunlin, some Wigeon & more Redshank.

There were Long-tailed Tits, Goldcrests, Bullfinches and Redwings among the Hawthorn bushes, and a couple of drake Goldeneyes near the hotel.  However, the highlight for both the morning and the afternoon was a male Kingfisher near the hotel hide.  However, Maggie went back at lunch time & managed to photograph a very close female Kingfisher.  A pair of Great Crested Grebe were also pretty confiding from the Hotel Hide.

All photos (c) 2012 Maggie Bruce

Female Kingfisher

 Ditto

 Ditto

 Ditto

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

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

Getting Windy

 The strong winds forecast for Friday put a kibosh on the planned location, so we went to the trusty standby instead. On the walk down the lane we kept our heads down into the wind, but Caroline spotted a Yellow Wagtail. The first hide added a pair of Great Crested Grebe, and a couple of antagonistic Little Grebe. The Great Crested Grebe gave a flypast, which is not something we encounter very often.  Other birds included: some Pochard, Tufted duck and a single Common Sandpiper. A flock of 5 Wigeon flew in, and other dropped in or flew past as single individuals.

Great Crested Grebe

 ditto

 ditto

 Little Grebe

 Little Grebe Chick

On the circuit round the edge of the reserve Elizabeth found a Migrant Hawker resting on some vegetation out of the strong winds. We went on to locate several more - all identical apart from one greener individual - a female? There were also a selection of Common and Ruddy Darters and 2 Damselflies. There were very few birds in the hedgerow, but plenty of Coots, Mute Swans and a small family of Little Grebes.

 Migrant Hawker

 Migrant Hawker

 Migrant Hawkers

 Migrant Hawker [female]

  Migrant Hawker [female]

 Brown Hawker

 Darter

 Darter

The next pool had plenty of Gadwall and several of the usual suspects. The long hedgerow was almost devoid of birds but we did find a Goldfinch flock, plus one other bird seen briefly. There has been a Redstart in the area which is a possibility, but in size a Willow Warbler would seem to be a better fit.  3 rather out of place birds were seen on a 'T' bar.

 3 Brown Jobs on a 'T' bar

 Weird, they are Snipe!

Common Blue

The final hide seemed less interesting at first, although by this time the light was a lot better. 3 Geese flew past and one of them turned out to be a Barnacle Goose. It landed near some Greylags where it commenced to have a good preen. Everyone got onto it eventually - the first we have seen for quite some time, although I'm sure it's wild credentials are suspect, to say the least.  We couldn't find the Barnacle in the afternoon. However, there were lots of dragonflies in the sheltered section. The Migrant Hawkers were quite impressive, and then a Brown Hawker appeared - a massive dragonfly & very unusual during our classes.  Luckily, it eventually posed long enough for everyone to get decent views.