G'day Pom

Today saw my annual voyage on the RSPB Bridlington Skua Cruise.  I would usually call them Shearwater Cruises, but they were noticeable by their absence today, apart from a very distant view of a dark example, which was called as a Balearic Shearwater.  

In the harbour there were some Purple Sandpipers on the wall, with a Turnstone, some Mallard and Herring Gulls nearby.  A Wheatear nearly landed on the quay wall, but saw us at the last minute and promptly flew off.

Pomarine Skua

A crab in the harbour

We had only set off when someone spotted a large crab in the harbour.  It seemed to be swimming, but that may have been the action of the swell from the boat - it was probably dead in the water.  There were a few scattered Auks as we left the harbour with a few Guillemots showing really well.

 Guillemot

Graham spotted some Gannets plunge-diving and they continued to plunge for 5 minutes or more until the noise of the boat's engines seemed to frighten them off.  unfortunately, we weren't close enough for me to obtain any photographs of them in action.  

 Gannet

 Herring Gull

Not long after this our first Arctic Skua was spotted, but again it was camera shy.  Guillemots continued to heavily outnumber Razorbills, while there were no Puffins at all.  A few heavily-built Great Skuas or Bonxies were sighted, one of which was an immature bird.  

Arctic Skua

 Razorbill

 Great Skua

 Great Skua

 Ditto

Then there was an unfortunate incident with a possible Black Guillemot.  For reasons which remained unclear it was sighted, but the person with the microphone didn't give clear instructions as to its position.  In the end very few people were able to observe the bird, and then it dived and was never seen again, even though the boat continued to search for it for a quarter of an hour.  We moved towards deeper water beyond the very tip of Flamborough Head, but the birds began to thin out, and there were long stretches when nothing of any interest was seen.

Some birds were seen on the water, so the boat went closer to investigate.  A few Terns were seen flying about, and as we got nearer both immature Common and Arctic Terns were discerned.  One of them came very close to my side of the boat and I was able to get some decent pictures.  I believe these are of an Arctic Tern.  

Then the call went out that a light phase Arctic Skua was flying towards us.  At least 2 photographers were really pleased to have the chance of photographing a more attractive Arctic Skua then the dark phase we normally encounter, but they were to be rewarded with an even better photographic opportunity.  To the utter astonishment of everyone onboard it turned out to be a Pomarine Skua.  It may have been expected that it would remain distant with no one getting really close views, but this one exceeded all expectations.  It flew along the starboard side, and the port side.  It landed at the stern of the boat among the chum, it flew past again & then landed on the sea.  When we moved in its direction it promptly flew towards us and gave great views again.  Before the Pomarine Skua had been seen the collective spirits of the passengers appeared to be in the doldrums, but I've never seen the 'sick as a parrot' mindset change so swiftly, as by the time if had firmly been identified everyone was 'over the moon'.

Immature Arctic Tern

 Immature Arctic Tern

Pomarine Skua

 Ditto

 ditto

 ditto

Just a couple of young Puffins were sighted, and neither of these showed particulary well.  on the return journey a Shag and an immature gannet were the best sightings.  Some Red-throated Divers were sighted whilst one inexperienced birder kept identifying Cormorants as further Divers, but the rest of us weren't taken in.  

Record Shot of Immature Puffin

 Shag

 Immature Gannet

Ancient & Modern -Two Lighthouse Towers 

 At least one birder went home with 3 lifers and 3 year ticks under his belt, while others had at least one lifer and I'm sure most people went home very well satisfied with their day's birding.

Great White Cape?

 Today we were at a coastal site, but migrants were kept down by strong westerly winds just the direction you don't want on the east coast at this time of year.

There were plenty of Fulmars about the cliffs, and one particularly sheer cliff was covered with Shags. There were a couple of female Grey Seals in a little cove, and some Herring Gulls, but little else. A walk along the hedgerow got us out of the wind, but apart from the call of a Robin and the sound of a Linnets in the thistle field there was very little sign of bird life. One exception was the chattering House Martins, but then Andy spotted a Swift heading south.

Roe Deer

Roe Deer Doe [left] & Fawn

Speckled Wood

Great, White Cape?

The walk along the cliff edge was very windy again. We were accompanied by House Martins with the odd Swallow virtually all the way. In the ploughed field I located a Wheatear, and Caroline later saw another. A couple of Lesser Black Backed Gulls flew past at one point, whilst further out to sea I heard a Sandwich Tern, which was heading south. A pair of Red-legged Partridge were hunkered down on the edge of a field, and from their indistinct plumage they appeared to be moulting.






As we travelled to the woodland a flock of Goldfinches were observed flying over the hedge - they seemed to be trying to evade a Magpie. At the copse we looked back and saw a Kestrel effortlessly hovering in the strong winds. In the trees we eventually saw a juvenile Willow Warbler, and there was a brief call of something unusual, but we couldn't see anything apart from a Great Tit.



As we skirted the trees we flushed a doe Roe Deer and her fawn, which took off across the fields, but they did pose long enough for everyone to get a good enough view. Back on the path I noticed a pair of ears sticking up from the shade of a small bale of hay. It was a Hare. It lowered its ears, but remained hidden in the shade and all participants were able to observe it from the path before it zoomed off along a field margin. Just after this we saw a family of 6 distant Red-legged Partridge, but we only got a rear view as they carried on walking away from us.



The remainder of the walk was pretty uneventful - just a few Starlings on the wires. Not the most exciting start for Linda's first session, but she did enjoy the sight of the deer and the long look at the Hare.



In the afternoon we went through some woodland down to the beach, but the heat had brought out some day trippers and dog walkers, so there weren't many waders to see. There were a few Oystercatchers, and Turnstones ; plenty of Cormorants were flying back and forth across the surface of the sea, and at least 3 Sandwich Terns fished as they headed south. One of them caught an enormous fish, which it carried off with ease. It was lucky to get away with it because also heading south a few minutes earlier was our first ever Great Skua (Bonxie). This was a bird that some on the course had never heard of, and those who had didn't expect to see one on our shores - they had been up to Orkney specially to see them!


Hare






After the beach we climbed the steps to the top of the cliffs. From this vantage point we could see Redshanks and a Ringed Plover in the rock pools and a Curlew also flew in. A pair of Kestrels flew over the golf course, and continued to make a lot of noise for the next 10 minutes. The hoped-for Wheatears failed to materialise, so we retraced our steps to the woodland. In here we heard a few alarm calls of bramble-eating Blackcaps, a Treecreeper, and the plaintive cries of an immature Sparrowhawk, but there were precious few other birds to be seen or heard. However, it was a very pleasant walk in a fern-covered, verdant pleasure garden. Hopefully, there will be more birds for the newcomer from Bingley, as it's a long way to travel for only a few birds!

Tales From the Riverbank

The first Thursday of the new term saw us visiting a estuary location at full tide. Unfortunately the tide was so high in the morning there was very little exposed mud available for waders. There were a few Pied Wagtails here instead. There a few Mallards about, some Black-headed Gulls and a few Teal, but little else. We walked along the river bank for the majority of the time. It started off very quietly with hardly a bird to be seen. At this time of year we used to encounter Stonechats along here, but they've been absent since the recent spate of severe winters. However, just as the industrial buildings were coming to an end, we saw a very smart Wheatear on the flood barrier. This kept us coming for the next 1/4 of a mile as it flew along ahead of us. The sunlight was against us for really excellent views, but these were the best views of this species we've managed for quite some time.

Wheatear

Marsh Harrier [with Carrion Crows]

ditto

Charm of Goldfinches

 ditto

We carried on to see charms of Goldfinches on the thistles and other seed-bearing plants. There were also a smattering of Linnets. Some of these were males as they were still singing, but they had moulted so there was no trace of their bright spring colours.

 Grey Pates

 Small Tortoiseshell

Near the marsh was a flock of more an 100 Lapwings accompanied by 3 Starlings, and in the corner of the field were six strange, grey hunched figures. These turned out to be Herons. One flew off west & another east, but most of them stood their ground. Not too far away were 4 smaller shapes, and as we neared them their curved bills could be glimpsed - Curlews.

Over the marsh itself a cream-crown Marsh Harrier was seen flying towards us with 4 crows in hot pursuit. It eventually came to rest in the tall reeds in the marsh, but only after disturbing the few Gadwall on the water. Phil G saw the tail of a small mammal disappearing in the grass, which on investigation turned out to be a young Wood Mouse. We left it in its nursery. A few geese flying over we're not identified, but from the poor view I got I don't think they were Pink-footed Geese, which have just started to return to this part of the world.

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.  

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!