Birding with Flowers: One Swallow ...

Friday 17 March 2023

One Swallow ...

Ringtail Hen Harrier

Last Wednesday afternoon at Wheldrake, it was while we were trying to get a better view of this Song Thrush that we got chance to look down on a flying Water Rail.

Last Week's Forgotten Photo of a Song Thrush

Monday was very windy, so most birds were hunkered down. One exception was a flock of Linnets near Nunburnholme.

Linnets

Rainbow over Castle Howard

White-fronted Geese at Patrington Haven

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SEO

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Hare at Cherry Cobb Sands

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On Tuesday we travelled to Fairburn Ings. An early highlight was a singing Skylark despite the strong wind. This was complemented by Red Kites flying at or just above eye level. Other than that it was a little disappointing: no Kingfisher, no GWE, no Little Egret, no Jay and no Lesser Redpolls. We did see a Shoveler, dancing Great Crested Grebes, Wigeon, Teal, plus plenty of Cormorants and Herons.

Skylark

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Red Kite

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On Wednesday we went to Potteric Carr as planned. This used to be a top winter destination, but it was rather disappointing. The first long walk added Reed Bunting, Goldfinch and Song Thrush, and as we left the pumping station a Kingfisher flew above our heads towards it. We were arrested in our steps at the gate to Black Carr when a shrieking Jay noisily rent the air with its harsh calls. It stayed within view for a good period.

Jay

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We trekked to Piper Marsh to see a large group of drake Shovelers chasing a single female. There were some Lapwings performing above one of the islands and Brian found 5 or 6 partially-concealed Snipe. In the afternoon a Swallow flittered in front of us for a good ten minutes.

Lapwings

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Lapwing

Studiously Ignoring the Flirt

You Having a Laugh?

Thingey

Snipe

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Record Shot of Swallow

We walked all the way to Hawthorn Bank Hide, from which we saw Wednesday’s first Avocet of the year, plus Great Crested and Little Grebes, plenty of Shoveler, and an Oystercatcher. On the return journey we found a Lesser Redpoll among a small group of Siskins.

Avocet

Wren

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Siskin [left] & Lesser Redpoll

Woodpigeon

Konick Ponies

Ear Fungus

On Thursday we switched to Blacktoft in the hope of catching a glimpse of Common Cranes, but apparently we missed those by a few minutes. Two of us went to the corner outside from which we could see Mute Swans, Canada Geese and Greylags.

Once everyone had arrived we tried out the new Hide first. Some people have called it posh, others salubrious - anyway it was solid, and looks as though it will last many years. There were lots of wildfowl including Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Teal, plus a nice wisp of Snipe on the water’s edge.

Snipe

From there we went on to Marshland Hide. Jan spotted a Snipe sat right outside the hide, but the remainder of the birds were pretty much what we had already seen. In the afternoon an immature Goosander was present.

Jan's Snipe

Immature Goosander

Pochard

We then walked all the way to Townsend Hide. It seemed rather disappointing at first, but then a Barn Owl flew past being mobbed by Black-headed Gull before perching on a post to recover. We were just about to leave, when a Goldeneye landed right in front of the hide, and then quickly performed its mating display before promptly falling asleep.

Barn Owl

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Drake Goldeneye

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Singleton seemed very average, as it was mainly populated by Greylags and common wildfowl. We checked on First Hide, where the habitat seems to have been improved, but as usual there was very little to see.

We walked all the way to Ousefleet, which contained a lot of long-staying telescope users. Here, the new birds were Dunlin and Avocets with harder to see Black-tailed Godwits. In the afternoon the Avocets had gone, and the other waders moved to the nearest island until they were flushed by Marsh Harriers.

Black-tailed Godwits

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Black-tailed Godwits & Dunlin

Redshank & Teal

Male Marsh Harrier

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Female Marsh Harrier

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Nigel took up position in the normally quiet side of Ousefleet hide. In quick succession he spotted and identified Stonechats, Pied Wagtail and then saw a Meadow Pipit. Finally, his best identification were 3 Lesser Redpolls quietly eating seeds on the ground adjacent to the hide.

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat

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Pied Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

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Lesser Redpolls

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Fieldfare

If you are interested in White-fronted Geese, we arrived one day too late, as just 24 hours earlier a small flock was present.

ditto

On Friday when we arrived in the Wheldrake car park the silence was obliterated by a virtuoso performance of a Song Thrush. Before the class started a Kingfisher sped above the surface of the water, and headed in the direction we would be shortly taking. We could also hear Skylarks and Curlews, and these latter two became more obvious when we crossed the bridge. In fact several Curlews were displaying and performing their song flights. In the morning the Tawny Owl was still sat in the entrance hole of the former, and hopefully future, Barn Owl box.

Song Thrush

Record Shot of Tawny Owl

Heron

The most obvious birds were Reed Buntings which flitted ahead of us for virtually the whole of the outward journey. However, they were hard to see clearly as we walked towards the strong sun. There were also plenty of Long-tailed Tits.

Reed Bunting

Long-tailed Tit

There was a lot more water than the previous week, which meant the birds which remained were further away. It seems that many wildfowl have left the valley since our last visit. There were at least 3 drake Goldeneyes from the Pool Hide, plus displaying Teal, and Wigeon and Tufted Ducks, but all last week’s waders were also absent.

Displaying Drake Teal

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We then headed to Swallowtail Hide where we spotted 200+ Pink-footed Geese heading away from the reserve. From the hide itself we could see one Pintail near a Shoveler. There was a Curlew in a field to our right, near which a bright wader flew in for a brief visit, but it couldn’t be viewed properly before it left again. Could it have been a Ruff changing into summer plumage?

Pink-footed Geese

On the return journey near Pool Hide I heard a nasal “chay, chay”, and sure enough we located a Willow Tit, which was perched high in its appropriate tree. It was joined 5 minutes later by its partner. About 15 minutes later we heard our first Chiffchaff of the spring, and we managed to find it moving swiftly through several Willow trees.

Willow Tit

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Chiffchaff

In the afternoon there was no sign of the Willow Tits, but as we were about to leave Swallowtail Hide the long-staying Ringtail Hen Harrier was spotted. Eventually, it flew directly towards the hide.

Ringtail Hen Harrier

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One of the Many Dead or Dying Toads

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Spring Course Details

Bookings for the 10-week Spring term have started. At the time of writing there are most vacancies on Tuesday & Friday mornings with a couple of spaces on all other sessions. If you are interested in another session, please ask. For at least 2 hours a week encounter the natural world as a completely new sensual experience. You'll be amazed what you'll find just by listening, and not only by looking! In the Spring we'll be paying special attention to finding and identifying birds by their songs and calls. Summer visitors we are hoping to track down include: Turtle Doves, Redstarts, Cuckoos, Yellow Wagtails and Spotted Flycatchers. We will be visiting venues in East Yorkshire with a couple of ventures into North Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire. So, if you are interested in learning more about your local wildlife in beautiful and secluded venues for less than £12 a week, contact me for more details! We visit a different local hotspot each week and identify all the birds and as much other wildlife as we can. This also includes mammals, and fungi with butterflies, and dragonflies in the warmer months. The course runs twice daily Tuesday to Friday. Please note it is not appropriate to bring your dogs with you. If you are interested in more details of the course, or wish to be placed on a waiting list, please leave a comment next to one of my posts or email me on mflowers81@live.co.uk

Terms and Conditions

Birding with Flowers

Terms and Conditions

1.0 General

1.1. Birding with Flowers organises birdwatching and wildlife walks and events to enable participants to learn bird identification, to gain knowledge of habitats and wildlife in general to enhance their enjoyment and appreciation of the countryside. These terms and conditions must be agreed by anyone joining a 10-week birding course or a special one-off event.

1.2 Birding with Flowers reserves the right to revise these Terms and Conditions at any time by updating these pages. It is your responsibility to review and understand the Terms and Conditions. If you are booking a course or event you will be asked to return a signed slip stating that you agree to these legally binding Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree to the Terms and Conditions please do not ask to participate in Birding with Flowers courses or events.

1.3 The Birding with Flowers blog HYPERLINK "http://www.eybirdwatching.blogspot.com" www.eybirdwatching.blogspot.com, the weekly East Yorkshire Birdwatching Walks and one-off special events are managed and operated by Birding with Flowers. The Terms and Conditions set out below constitute the agreement between you (the client) and us (Birding with Flowers or BWF).

1.4 Whilst we make every effort to provide you with up to date details for courses and events, it is ultimately your responsibility to check whether they have been cancelled or rescheduled by checking emails or, where applicable, text messages the evening before a session. We take all reasonable steps to ensure the information on the blog, in the course itineraries and for one-off events is accurate at the time of publishing and continues to be accurate. Liability for any loss or damage arising from inaccuracies, omissions or interpretation of contents is limited to the cost of the session. If you believe any content to be inaccurate please contact us on 07946 625677, or email us at mflowers81@live.co.uk and we will take all reasonable steps to correct it as soon as possible.

2.0 Payments and Bookings

2.1 For the complete 10-week course we require full payment in advance. If payment is not made before the date specified in the course particulars, your place may be given to another client.

2.2 One-off short (2-3 hours) walks may be paid for on the day in cash, but preference will always be made to those who pay in advance.

2.3 Except for payments for short walks (see 2.2 above), payments made by BACS are preferred by us as this is a safe, quick and easy method of payment. You will require the Birding with Flowers account number and bank sorting code. You will need to include your surname and the day you attend as a reference. If you require our bank details this will be sent in two separate emails, please do not reply to those emails for security reasons.

2.4 If you do not want to make a BACS payment you may still pay by cheque. Payment by cheque requires your contact details written on the reverse. If you pay by cheque, you should be aware that your cheque will take a few days to arrive in the post, and your payment will not be recognised as completed until the cheque has cleared, which will take several more working days. Please take this into consideration when sending your cheque. For details on how to pay by cheque please email us at mflowers81@live.co.uk

2.5 No cash payments should be sent to us in the post.

2.6 You are required to ensure, when booking a course or event, that there are sufficient funds to cover the cost of the service. Payment will be taken in advance for the services offered and if payment fails, bookings will not be made until an alternative payment has been made. If there are any changes to your details that may affect your booking it is your responsibility to inform Birding with Flowers by contacting us on 07946 625677, or email us at mflowers81@live.co.uk

2.7 It is important that you print the email of the confirmation of your booking for your own reference.

3.0 Data Protection

3.1 Birding with Flowers takes your contact details as part of the booking process. Your details will not be shared with any third party or organisation. If you request another member’s email or phone number for whatever purpose, your message will be forwarded to that client, but any reply will remain between yourself and that client.

4.0 Intellectual Property

4.1 As a member of the Birding with Flowers course you may be sent detailed itineraries, birdsong calendars, species location spreadsheets, bird identification flowcharts and other original items. Any items marked with copyright should not be shared with any third party, including previous members of the course. Once a person has left the course they are no longer entitled to receive further publications.

5.0 Changes and Cancellation: by Birding with Flowers

5.1 Birding with Flowers begins planning courses and events many months in advance. On occasions we have to make changes to details both before and after bookings have been confirmed. With outdoor classes and events, local weather, transport or a host of other uncontrollable factors can mean a change in the itinerary. Although we always take all reasonable steps to avoid changes, we must reserve the right to do so.

5.2 If we have to make a minor alteration to your itinerary or travel arrangements before departure, we will, if practicable, advise you before departure but we are not obliged to do so or to pay you compensation.

5.3 In the event of poor weather conditions which we consider will seriously affect the quality of a class or one-off event, we reserve the right to postpone or cancel the class or one-off event. In this case you will usually be offered alternative dates for the same or similar event from our programme of events.

5.4 If we have to cancel an individual class, or one-off event, completely due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness of the course leader, extreme weather events or major travel disruption, where possible we will offer an alternative date. If we have no alternative dates to offer, you will receive a full refund of all monies paid for that class or event.

5.5 If a major change is made (e.g. cancellation of all or more than 2 classes of your course or a one-off event e.g. because of the illness of the course leader), we will inform you as soon as possible. In this circumstance we will offer you the choice of the following options:

a) accepting an alternative course, part-course or one-off event arranged by Birding with Flowers and beginning on an arranged day; or

b) transferring your payment to a future course or one-off event run by Birding with Flowers of a similar standard to that originally booked, if available. We will endeavour to offer you at least one alternative course or one-off event of equivalent or higher standard.

In the event of no alternatives being available, or if you are unable to attend a future course or one-off event, a refund for the cancelled proportion of the course or for the one-off event will be offered.

5.6 The decision as to whether a change is minor or major lies with Birding with Flowers, who will act fairly in all circumstances.

5.7 No liability beyond offering the above-mentioned options can be accepted where we are forced to make a change or cancel as a result of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which we could not have avoided even with all due care. No compensation will be payable and the above options will not be available if we cancel as a result of your failure to comply with any requirement of our Terms and Conditions entitling us to cancel (e.g. not paying on time) or if the change made is a minor one.

5.8 In the event that a course or event is cancelled by Birding with Flowers because of insufficient numbers signing up for it, a full refund of monies paid by you will be made. However, no further liability will be accepted by Birding with Flowers. Usually an alternative course will be arranged.

6.0 Changes and cancellation by the client

6.1 You may cancel your booking for a course or one-off event at any stage; however, a full refund will not be issued if cancellation is notified to Birding with Flowers less than 7 days before the course commences or the event is due to take place. In the event of serious illness or a major change in your personal circumstance notified by you, any refund of some or all of the course fee or event fee would be at the discretion of Birding with Flowers.

6.2. You may request a change to a booking by contacting us by email or telephone. If possible, a request to change the day/and or time of a course or an individual class will be permitted, providing there is a vacancy for the replacement day and/or time.

6.3 Please note that failure to attend a course, a single class or one-off event without first informing Birding with Flowers cannot be regarded as a cancellation. Unless otherwise agreed, clients who fail to attend a class or event without prior notice will not receive a refund for the course, missed class or one-off event.

7.0 What is Included on BWF Courses or One-Off events

7.1 See the course itineraries or details of one-off events for what you can expect to be provided by Birding with Flowers.

8.0 What is Not Included on BWF Courses, or One-Off Events

8.1 Birding with Flowers does not organise or pay for clients’ travel expenses to and from events, such as public transport or car hire. We do not pay for telephone calls, snacks or any items of a personal nature.

9.0 Insurance

9.1 Birding with Flowers has taken out full indemnity insurance for events held in the UK.

10.0 Special Requests

10.1 If you have any special requests, you should inform us of such requests at the time of booking. We will try our best to accommodate your requirements but we cannot guarantee that such requests will be met. Furthermore, we have no liability to you if such requests are not met.

10.2 Confirmation that a special request has been noted or the inclusion of the special request on your confirmation or any other documentation is not confirmation that the request will be met.

10.3 If you have any medical problem or disability which may affect your course or one-off event, (e.g. heart condition, asthma, epilepsy, mobility problems, mental condition etc.) please tell us when making your booking so that we can advise as to the suitability of the chosen arrangements. In any event, you must give us full details in writing at the time of booking. If we reasonably feel unable to properly accommodate your particular needs, we must reserve the right to decline your reservation or, if full details are not given at the time of booking, cancel when we become aware of these details.

11.0 Behaviour

11.1 When you book with us, you accept responsibility for any damage or loss caused by your negligence.

11.2 You are respectfully requested to switch off your mobile phone, or switch it to silent mode, for the duration of the birdwatching session. If you are expecting an urgent call during any particular session, please let the course leader know before the commencement of the class. Otherwise if your phone rings without arrangement during a session, do not be offended if you are asked to switch it off.

11.3 You are respectfully requested to wear muted colours for birdwatching sessions. Dark colours allow us to get a little closer to the birds and may prolong our observation of the wildlife. If you arrive wearing bright red, white, yellow or pink you must expect to be asked to cover up.

11.4 Birding with Flowers requests participants to observe the basics of fieldcraft. This means when we are approaching wildlife unnecessary noise should be kept to a minimum. If clients are talking loudly they may be asked to be quiet.

11.5 We expect all clients to have consideration for other people. The majority of Birding with Flowers clients are non-smokers. In order that they can enjoy their course or one-off event in comfort, we insist that smokers refrain from smoking or vaping in the proximity of all other group members, and while watching wildlife, at all times. Smoking indoors in any public space – e.g. bird hide – is illegal, while smoking in any confined space – e.g. at any other group gathering or in a vehicle – cannot be permitted. Additionally, Birding with Flowers implements a policy of eco-tourism and requests that smokers dispose of used cigarette ends, which contain non-biodegradable material, responsibly. In booking a course or one-off event you agree to accept these guidelines, and it is the right of our course leader to dismiss from a class, event or course any participant failing to respect them.

11.6 If, in the reasonable opinion of the course leader, you behave in such a way as to cause or be likely to cause danger, upset or distress to any third party (including the course leader) or damage to property or fauna (including the collecting of any specimen from the natural world, for example any plants or insects), we are entitled, without prior notice, to terminate your attendance on the course or one-off event of the person(s) concerned. In this situation, you will be required to leave the course or event immediately. We will have no further responsibility toward you including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination.

11.7 If, in the reasonable opinion of the tour leader you are asked to modify your behaviour in any way, that modification, once agreed, must be adhered to. Any failure to modify your behaviour as previously agreed will result in the immediate expulsion of that person(s) from the course. We will have no further responsibility toward such person(s) including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination.

11.8 The course leader reserves the right to bar any person that he/she considers is behaving in any manner detrimental to the smooth running of the course from attendance on any future courses or one-off events. In the first instance this will involve the lack of a renewal information for a future course or one-off event to the individual(s) concerned. Renewal emails/renewals will only automatically be sent to those whose behaviour has caused no problems to either the course leader or to other members attending the course or one-off event.

11.9 If any course member has a problem with the behaviour of any other course member this must be brought to the attention of the course leader, preferably in writing. The person(s) concerned will be questioned and the opinion of other course members sought. If the case appears weak the individual will be informed of his/her alleged behaviour, and warned that any future recurrence will result in immediate explusion. If the case against the individual appears strong then that person(s) will be required to leave the course or event immediately. We will have no further responsibility toward such person(s) including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination.

12.0 The course leader’s decision on any dispute is final.