The Power of TV

Grey Wagtail

On Tuesday we went to the southern wolds for the first time this year.  We almost immediately saw 2 Mistle Thrushes, whilst we were regaled with the tuning up of a Song Thrush.  There were 14 large raptors all airborne at the same time, which may have been a record for us.  There had been a devastating non-natural loss of trees, which strongly reduced the chance of seeing Treecreeper, Marsh Tit and Goldcrest.  In the end we only encountered the latter.

Record Shot of Mistle Thrushes

At the weir we enjoyed 2 better than normal views of Grey Wagtails, and we saw a third with a Pied Wagtail on the roof of one of the cottages.   

Male Grey Wagtail

Female Grey Wagtail

Male Grey Wagtail

On Wednesday we travelled just across the Humber Bridge.  We were still in the car park when a flock of c.30 Redwings dropped in quickly, before heading off towards Main Hide.  There wasn’t a lot of spare capacity in the latter, but we enjoyed good views of a Marsh Harrier.  A Snipe flew over, but was only seen by a tiny percentage of the group.  A Cetti’s Warbler flew low over the water from one line of reeds to another.  

Redwings Dropping inMarsh Harrier

Ditto

From Target Lake the best birds were a pair of Goldeneye, with Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal and Cormorant.  It was high tide, so the only birds near the river bank was a flotilla of Wigeon.  The sun was difficult from Reedy Hide, so we didn’t see a great deal there.  We heard Cetti’s from the screen, and a swimming Water Rail was spotted, but again it was rather quiet.

Drake Goldeneye

Female Goldeneye

Goldeneye (c) 2025 Symon Fraser

Wigeon

There was a similar story across the road, with a distant Great Crested Grebe being the best observation.  However, when we approached the car park again, a soaring Peregrine brought the session to a fine climax.

Peregrine

Ditto

In the afternoon from the large Main Hide there were fewer birds than in the morning, but there was an Otter in bright sunlight busy behind an island.  Luckily, it came out a few times for almost everyone to admire.     

Otter 

Ditto

Ditto

Ditto

At lunchtime the national nature reserve car park was absolutely stuffed to the gills, and the normal car park was also at capacity.  It’s amazing the effect of a TV programme on a less-popular channel can have.

Little Grebes

Ditto

Chaffinch

Dunnock (c) 2025 Symon Fraser

Ditto

Long-tailed Tit (c) 2025 Symon Fraser

Dunnock

Ditto

Blackbird

Goldcrest (c) 2025 Symon Fraser

Treecreeper (c) 2025 Symon Fraser

Ditto

On Thursday we went to RSPB Bempton as planned.  As we walked towards the sea a singing male Reed Bunting was spotted.  A few Stock droves flew along hedges in the distance.  Then we reached the sea.  If we’d gone a week earlier we may have seen a Puffin, but all the Auks had forsaken the cliffs.  I did see 3 Razorbills on the sea near a raft of Kittiwakes.  We went south first for the best views of Gannets.  On the way we saw Linnets, Skylarks, a Pied Wagtail and semi-parachuting Meadow Pipits.

An Over-Exposed Reed Bunting

Jackdaw

Fulmar

Ditto

Gannets

Ditto

Fighting Gannets

We retraced our steps and visited each of the Grandstands.  One had disappeared.  We saw more or less the same sort of things, although from one we saw quite a few Harbour Porpoises.  Then at the most northern viewpoint we saw at least 2 Shags - one floating on the sea, and another which flew along the cliff below us.  We had a brief view of a Peregrine, which drifted in a southerly direction.

Kittiwakes

Shag

Shag with Crest

In the afternoon we only looked at the north part of the site.  However, this time we had a pod of Dolphins, which was a great sighting for all concerned.  There were several Hares running around the concrete blocks, and an exaltation of Skylarks just north of the final platform.

Grey Seal

Harbour Porpoise 

Bottle-nosed Dolphins [Library Photos]

On Friday we went to our second venue of the week to have been featured on this week’s Countryfile.  This venue hasn’t been as busy, but it has been busier than normal.  The better weather than normal could have had an effect.  When we left this morning the car park was once more stuffed to the gills.  One reason that the venue may not have been quite so busy was the fact that since a high tide mid-week two of the best hides were only accessible in wellies.  Unfortunately, not enough class members had those, so we had to miss out on Marshland & Reedling hides.  We went to Ousefleet first.  As we approached the hide we could hear 3 different Cetti’s Warblers each belting out their song.  There was a lot of flood water, but not that many birds.  The best birds were several Whooper Swans.   We also had a Heron fairly close to the hide, and further out some Teal.  

Whooper Swans

Heron

First hide had Coot and Gadwall, but not a great deal else.  Townend had a pair of Goldeneye with the male throwing his head back in display.  We also had our first much-delayed Marsh Harrier from here, plus more Gadwall, and a species we don’t mention.  A Little Egret also flew up from here.  The bright Pheasant was also present.  Singleton had more birds in both quantity and variety of species.  Our first Snipe was sleeping on the water’s edge, there was also a single Whooper Swan, plus both common species of goose.  There were also more Whooper Swans on adjacent fields.  

Pheasant