Barn Owl
Not far away is a field of Fallow Deer. I thought these were fairly new, but a Hedon resident says they’ve been there three or four years. They are probably predominantly paler than truly wild herds.
Fallow Deer
It was too cold and/or windy for Stone Creek on Tuesday or Wednesday, so we switched to Tophill Low. This time it was worth checking out D reservoir as there was at least one drake Scaup and perhaps two pairs of Red-Crested Pochard. They weren’t easy to see, especially the former, but we remained in place until everyone had spotted them. They were even harder to see after lunch, as they’d moved away from Reception Hide. On Tuesday there was a Marsh Tit round the feeders, but we couldn’t find it on Wednesday am. The afternoon group did spot it.
The walk around ‘O’ reservoir produced a pair of Stonechats, which I don’t remember seeing in that particular area before. When we reached Reception Hide a low-flying Woodcock was a last-minute highlight.
At lunch time I drove just out of the reserve to try and photograph all the Redwings and Fieldfare at the edges of the flooded fields.
We walked all the way to Watton Borrow Pits, which looked very different because of the excess rainwater. Tony impressed everyone when he identified a roosting very distant drake Pintail floating near the distant hide. We looked for the Black-throated Thrush, but without any luck, and just saw Redwings, Fieldfare and Blackbirds. The walk up to the missing new hide produced a flying drake Pintail before lunch, whilst later in the day we had a Barn Owl in this area.
On Thursday we arrived at North Cave Wetlands only to be met with drizzle and grey skies. The latter lasted almost all day. Before lunch the camera stayed in the car because of the rain and lack of light.
We looked for Bramblings on Dryham Lane, but the feeders were empty. We carried on in a clockwise direction, overall we must have seen almost 50 species. There were quite a few Bramblings along West Path, which were quite tricky to observe among the many branches and twigs. There was also a relatively confiding Redwing, but he wasn’t as confiding as he was when it was icy last week. The best sightings of the Bramblings were under the feeders along the North Cliffe Road. A Marsh Tit also popped in occasionally to snatch a seed and vanish, and there were Long-tailed Tits in addition to the usual Greenfinches and Chaffinches. In the afternoon it was evident that one Greenfinch was suffering from that disease to which this species is especially susceptible.
The afternoon session walked in an anti-clockwise direction for the first time in years in order that the Bramblings could be guaranteed early in the walk. We saw Curlews near the entrance to the reserve. The Bramblings and a few Siskins were next. On the West Path a Song Thrush popped out right in front of us. There were still plenty of Bramblings flying up from the path.
On Friday we traversed the Humber at a reduced 30 mph to look for birds at a Barton Reserve. Unfortunately, the strong winds kept down many birds. Exceptions to this were at least 3 Marsh Harriers, plus all the wildfowl on Target Lake. This was the brightest day of the week with permanent bright sunlight.
Marsh Harrier
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