Getting Windy

 The strong winds forecast for Friday put a kibosh on the planned location, so we went to the trusty standby instead. On the walk down the lane we kept our heads down into the wind, but Caroline spotted a Yellow Wagtail. The first hide added a pair of Great Crested Grebe, and a couple of antagonistic Little Grebe. The Great Crested Grebe gave a flypast, which is not something we encounter very often.  Other birds included: some Pochard, Tufted duck and a single Common Sandpiper. A flock of 5 Wigeon flew in, and other dropped in or flew past as single individuals.

Great Crested Grebe

 ditto

 ditto

 Little Grebe

 Little Grebe Chick

On the circuit round the edge of the reserve Elizabeth found a Migrant Hawker resting on some vegetation out of the strong winds. We went on to locate several more - all identical apart from one greener individual - a female? There were also a selection of Common and Ruddy Darters and 2 Damselflies. There were very few birds in the hedgerow, but plenty of Coots, Mute Swans and a small family of Little Grebes.

 Migrant Hawker

 Migrant Hawker

 Migrant Hawkers

 Migrant Hawker [female]

  Migrant Hawker [female]

 Brown Hawker

 Darter

 Darter

The next pool had plenty of Gadwall and several of the usual suspects. The long hedgerow was almost devoid of birds but we did find a Goldfinch flock, plus one other bird seen briefly. There has been a Redstart in the area which is a possibility, but in size a Willow Warbler would seem to be a better fit.  3 rather out of place birds were seen on a 'T' bar.

 3 Brown Jobs on a 'T' bar

 Weird, they are Snipe!

Common Blue

The final hide seemed less interesting at first, although by this time the light was a lot better. 3 Geese flew past and one of them turned out to be a Barnacle Goose. It landed near some Greylags where it commenced to have a good preen. Everyone got onto it eventually - the first we have seen for quite some time, although I'm sure it's wild credentials are suspect, to say the least.  We couldn't find the Barnacle in the afternoon. However, there were lots of dragonflies in the sheltered section. The Migrant Hawkers were quite impressive, and then a Brown Hawker appeared - a massive dragonfly & very unusual during our classes.  Luckily, it eventually posed long enough for everyone to get decent views.  

Slim Pickings

On Thursday we returned to a venue we hadn't visited for 2 years, as they were insulting to us last time & demanded a months' notice before our next visit. Since our last visit someone seems to have physically removed all the birds. It could be the time of year, but there were very few birds of interest.

From the 1st hide we were told we had just missed a Bittern, but there were plenty of Coots and a very distant Little Grebe. A Gadwall flew in, but there wasn't much else to see until a pair of Great Crested Grebes made their stately way from the back of a reedbed and swam directly under the hide.

Great Crested Grebes (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Great Crested Grebe (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Great Crested Grebes

 House Sparrow (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

We left the hide and walked along the green tunnel, but this was also devoid of birds. We eventually heard some tits but even these remained out of sight. We bumped into a volunteer cutting back greenery, and he informed us that this path would be closed next week due to heavy machinery moving in to create a new scrape & install a new hide. As he was talking some migrating Pink-footed Geese could be heard, but they were hidden by the thick hedgerow. We climbed up the river bank and immediately located a pair of Redshank feeding on the mud. A closer inspection led us to find 4 Black-tailed Godwit probing the hinterland between river and mud. They are a lot larger an Redshank, but they had lost their breeding colours so blended into the background much better.

Black-tailed Godwit

 Black-tailed Godwit & Redshank (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Sparrowhawk (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 We carried on to the next hide. Again it was very quiet from here, but Richard spotted a Sparrowhawk flying low over the water before it landed in a tree opposite to us. It stayed in the area for 20 minutes from where we were able to see its bright pinkish undersides. While we were observing the male Sparrowhawk another tiny raptor raptor swept over the area. On closer inspection it turned out to be a juvenile Hobby. Unfortunately, only a brief glimpse was permitted before it flew over the receded & then over the hedgerow which obscured it from our sight.

A walk round the perimeter of the site brought the contact calls of Willow Warblers to our ears, but the most constant sounds were the melancholy songs of several Robins. At the final hide there was very little to see beyond a Migrant Hawker, some concealed Moorhens and some fighting Coots. 

There were even fewer birds to see in the afternoon, but we did see one of our earliest juvenile Goldeneyes ever, and a soaring Buzzard over the Lincolnshire Wolds. I'll have to see if this venue improves during the next few weeks, as otherwise it may be worth dropping this venue completely from the itinerary. 

Common Blue Damselfly

 Record shot of Cormorant (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

 Record shot of Juvenile Goldeneye

 Ruddy Darter

 Migrant Hawker eating a fly

A Beached Grebe

Today we ventured into North Yorkshire to a site we've only visited as a one off special in the dim & distant past. There was the call of a Bullfinch near the car park, but it remained hidden. Everyone arrived on time & we shared cars to the ultimate destination about a mile or so further up the road. After lunch the 3 at the front had a brief glimpse of a Kingfisher, as it took off on sight of us and headed away along the stream. This was quite well screened from the strong winds, so we could hear juv Willow Warblers & the alarm calls of Blackcaps, Robins & Wrens, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker called as it flew behind the hedge. Even the frog-like croak of a Gadwall carried against the wind to where we were standing. In the afternoon there was a massive flock of Long-tailed Tits with a few Willow Warblers, Blue Tits and Great Tits also part of the gang.

Little Grebes

 Willow Tit

 Commas

 Comma

 Looking through the gaps in the hedge we could see Mute Swans, Greylag Geese, with plenty of Lapwings accompanied by a few Starlings. Ducks included: Mallard, Teal, Shoveler and Gadwall. There were large numbers of House Martins flying high after insects with just a few Swallows in tow. 

From the hide we had great views of a family of four Little Grebes, plus Herons, Cormorants, Lapwings & a single Redshank. John or Steve spotted a flock of Canada Geese coming in to land across the road onto some far pools. Then John spotted a very distant Great Crested Grebe, which remained long enough for everyone to find it. The only bird of prey was a distant hovering Kestrel. 

Migrant Hawker

 Migrant Hawkers

 Ditto

 Red Admiral

 Ruddy Darter

 Common Darter? [female]

 Common Darter [male]

We carried along the path until the railway bridge, at which point we saw at least 3 Willow Tits, plus a few skulking Blackcaps and Whitethroats. On the way back a female Bullfinch was spotted, but she disappeared into the hedge pushed on by the strong winds. On the pool behind the path I spotted a tiny distant bird struggling against the wind - this was a Kingfisher. Luckily, it first landed on a stout, short post then flew high into a Hawthorn bush where it sat long enough for everyone to see it. This was a new location for Len & he was especially pleased as it was his first Kingfisher for 20 years.

Speckled Wood

 Green-Veined White

 Meadow Brown

 Chickory

 Amphibious Bistort

 A return to the Visitor Centre saw plenty of Tree Sparrows on the feeders, plus Greenfinches & Goldfinches, but the visit to a screen was less productive with nothing new to add apart from a pair of scruffy moulting old Pheasants. A Marsh Harrier drifted west of the car park at lunch time, but not everyone managed to get on to it before it disappeared. The day went quite well, and would have been even better without the awful wind!

In the afternoon we had a look at the Kingfisher Screen, but there wasn't a single bird of any description. However, it was a bit better for butterflies and dragonflies. We found a pair of Migrant Hawkers resting on a bare twig, and back at the dog muck walk we saw a pair of Commas. These didn't interact at all, so it was impossible to say if they were 2 males, 2 females, or one of each!

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.