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On Thursday we had another sunny day on the wolds. What a difference from last week! We had only just left the car when I heard a Marsh Tit sneeze, and it posed long enough for everyone to get decent views. Last week the hedgerow was completely barren, but today there were singing Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits and at the furthest end a Song Thrush. On the way back there was also a wheezing Greenfinch. This could be glimpsed singing in the far side of a Weeping Willow. As we came into the open a stunning male Kestrel was seen, but on the return journey this had departed, to be replaced by a female.
Climbing to the hill top we saw a Red Kite, and halfway up the hill we came across a small Common Buzzard perched on a post. It and another spent the rest of the day in the area, apparently feeding on earthworms. The Pied Wagtail was quite a surprise - these insectivorous birds seem to have been in short supply this Feb, but maybe they are starting to return? When we reached the far gate we saw a couple of pairs of Buzzards soaring on a thermal. Just like last week there was no sign of last year's Little Owl. On the return journey a pair of Mistle Thrushes landed on distant telegraph wires. A debate was held if these tiny birds could really nearly be as large as Green Woodpeckers. The were a long way off though - shades of Father Ted?
On the way back I managed to pick out a distinctive sound above the cackle of voices. It was a flock of 100+ returning Pink-footed Geese heading North-west.
On Thursday we shared cars over the Humber Bridge. It was a full house with just one am member missing. There was quite a lot of noise and chatter from the car park feeding station, but mainly just Sparrows, Chaffinches,a Greenfinch & Dunnocks. We crammed into the upstairs of both sides of the large hide. There wasn't a great deal to see here apart from: Coots, and a Cormorant, but eventually Phil spotted a Tufted Duck, which actually became a moment of excitement, and 3 Teal left the cover of the reedbed & flew to another pool. We waited for a couple of wintery showers to subside before moving on.
RedshankThe Lord of the Rings tunnel was almost completely bereft of birds, and it seems too early for the chomping Bullfinches to be pecking on every bud down there. We reached a newish hide, but there were only a few Tufted Ducks and plenty of Pochard here. The riverbank yielded 7 Redshank and a couple of Dunlin. We trekked to the flood safety area, where we saw several Shelduck and a single Curlew. Despite the forecast the riverbank wasn't as perishing as it was supposed to be, but there weren't many birds to see, just a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls flying past. However, the cold wind had materialised when we reached this area in the afternoon. The wind had either picked up in strength or had just became a lot colder after lunch.On the way to the next hide one small bird flew up and perched briefly, it was a solitary Lesser Redpoll, but it didn't perch long enough for everyone to see all its details. The view from the hide was the reverse of the first hide, and the only new species was a sleeping drake Shoveler, which hadn't been visible from the green hide because it snoozed protected by the reeds. Brian was the 1st to spot this same bird after lunch when it was even more concealed. Ken was able to identify it in his 'scope.
There was nothing else to see here, so we carried on, and first discovered a pair of Song Thrushes, and then came upon a pair of Bullfinches demolishing Hawthorn buds. There was a lot of loud industrial noise coming from near the Hotel, and this may have been why there were no Goldeneyes to see there, so there was no chance of any Smew. The only other birds here were a pair of well separated Great Crested Grebes, but also a pair of Tufted Ducks.
Red Kite (c) 2013 MJFYesterday we met at a local linear nature reserve and walked for a longer period than normal. It was foggy during most of the car journey to the reserve, so I had sinking feelings about the sessions, but on arrival the fog cleared to leave just milky-white deposits in a few of the deeply-cloven valleys. At first there were fewer small birds than usual, but we soon found several Yellowhammers, which are always popular with classes - and these were the firs decent views Maggie had ever had. The Green Woodpeckers were absent, as was last time's Peregrine, but we did eventually find a Red Kite. Three hares were chasing each other before one lost interest and snuggled down into its form. There are usually plenty of Red-legged Partridges in the area, but again these were absent and the influx of Common Gulls wasn't really an adequate compensation.
Another disappointment were the Bullfinches which flew past us from time to time, including one flock of 6, but apart from a brief view in the pm, almost but not quite completely obscured by twigs, they didn't perch for the group to view them.A distant Sparrowhawk was seen by one student, and later I saw another near a group of soaring Buzzards, and a Kestrel was another raptor species that everyone managed to see. A Marsh Tit was heard singing in the am, but it remained concealed, and the Long-tailed Tits weren't as obvious as normal. One bird that was everywhere was the Chaffinch, which was probably benefitting from food left out for the Pheasants.
In the afternoon the small birds were even quieter, but we had better views of soaring Buzzards, but the wind dropped and the Red Kites failed to show.
