CENSORED!

Mystery Bird

Being mobbed by Carrion Crows
ditto

Sorry to be so circumspect with this post, but I've already been censored on this issue, and I don't really want it to happen again. The previous version of this message was posted within minutes of the events it described, but must have been so explicit it disappeared down a black hole in space!!! What follows, is a more longwinded version which hopefully will be so boring you won't get to the bottom of the paragraph, to find out what I'm attempting to explain!

Yesterday morning at 9.30 I was washing my hands at the kitchen sink & staring out the window, as you do, when I noticed the sky outside was swirling with birds which tend to make their homes on large and often unoccupied buildings. In this case it was over a large penitential institution in a fairly large city, which until fairly recently has always had a deeply disappointing football team. Please don't try & work out what these are, as that may help you to identify the mystery bird, and even worse, where I saw it. This nuisance bird played about in the sky for a short time with these town birds, but didn't seriously harm any. It then settled on a large yellow structure, which tend to be more common in towns and cities with large waterways. It stayed on there for at least 15 mins, and through a telescope you could see the glint in its eyes as its head moved from side-to-side. A pair of crows (which in this particular case nest in a wooded place where dead people are buried) started moving closer until they eventually started mobbing this now static bird. The said bird (which often has rather fraught relations with other birds) then took flight & after a bit of mid-air skirmishing it decided to take off at a high rate of knots (but I won't say it was quick, as that would be too obvious a clue) along a major waterway in a direction which would have taken in to the coast if it continued flying at that same speed & direction for another 30 mins. That's the end of War and Peace, it's not my fault if you can figure out what the bird was & where it was, as you must be Einstein to work your way through all that obfuscation. Luckily, the pics are also so poor, they will be no help to you either. Although I enjoyed watching this bird, I hope it never reappears, as I don't wish to inflict such a verbose text on you again, or go to the effort of writing it!

"ee, so that's a Yorkshire Birder!"

Little Egret (c) 2009 Marcus Conway http://www.ebirder.net/

Yesterday afternoon I met up with award-winning photographer, bird forum poster, e-birder, and all-round good egg, Marcus Conway. My mission was to show Marcus the birding delights of the wide-open featureless landscape of Holderness - to those not in the know, the Netherlands of East Yorkshire. We headed up to Welwick Saltings to see the 3 Short-eared Owls, the 2 Ringtail Hen Harriers, and the Merlin. Of course, we dipped on all of these, but we did see the above Little Egret (please left click on the image, to see it to its best advantage), a Woodcock and a very busy, if apparently unsuccesful Barn Owl. We also bumped into a very friendly local birder, who even knew Marcus's latest award-winning picture of Black-headed Gulls. If you thought you'd seen everything there is to see about these ubiquitous birds - glance at last week's Birdguides picture of the week!

http://www.birdguides.com/pictures/default.asp?mode=potw&v=1&q=

From Welwick we nipped into the back lanes of Patrington & connected with at least 5 Barn Owls, and although they occasionally flew very close to our vehicle the light wasn't as bright as forecast, so there are no images to share. Apparently, it's not quite so easy to trip over Barn Owls in West Yorkshire as it is in the depths of Holderness, so Marcus was well pleased with his owl encounters, and he was able to see the potential of the area, plus the possibilities for other species which may lay in store during the frenetic period of the breeding season. If he can find his way back down these anonymous meandering lanes, then I'm sure Marcus will return, and will stun us with the resultant pictures. In addition to the Barn Owls we saw over 10 Roe Deer, a possible male Peregrine, and small flocks of Redshank, Golden Plover, Lapwing & Curlew. Overall, an extremely enjoyable afternoon in very affable company. Eee it makes tha' proud to be Yorkshire!

Drunk & Disorderly - a Tale of an Unreformed Alcoholic!

There were no photographs from today's session, so I'm featuring some kindly sent to me in the past week!

This close-up view of a Fieldfare may seem rather strange, and almost ashamed of itself (& well it might) sat in a fork of this garden cherry tree. Why is it there? On Sunday it was found lying in the middle of a Kirk Ella road. Had it been hit by a car? No, it kept falling over, and almost appeared to be drunk! It was carefully placed in the finder's garden, and when it began to recover it flew into the tree, hence the picture. It remained there a while, but eventually flew off. What had happened to it? I suggested it may have been feeding on rotten apples, which had been fermenting, and therefore it was actually over the limit! This may seem to be a trifle far-fetched, but a neighbour has come forward with the remaining photographs. These show a Fieldfare gorging on rotten apples, case proved, QED!!!! My thanks to both photographers for donating their pics!

Fieldfare (c) 2009 Nigel Ward

Fieldfare (c) 2009 Mike Robinson
Fieldfare (c) 2009 Mike Robinson

Fieldfare (c) 2009 Mike Robinson

Winter Term - Friday 5 - North Cave Wetlands

There was quite a lot of snow and ice remaining this afternoon at North Cave Wetlands, so no sign of the usual highlight: the Green Woodpecker. The group had to make do with a Barn Owl which kept them entertained for nearly 30 mins hunting between Reedbed Lake & Far Lake. Not a bird I've been lucky enough to see at this location before!

Winter Term - Thursday 4 - Sewerby Beach/Gardens

All pics (c) 2009 Jackie Dawson

Pheasant

Not a Glaucous Gull
Purple Sandpiper
Redshank

Ringed Plover

Redwing

Velvet Shank

Turkey Tails

The morning session arrived at Sewerby, only to find the car park locked against them! We sneaked our way in round the side instead. It was a very calm, if overcast morning, but snow showers were forecast, so this afternoon's session was deferred. Although everyone left home to no snow there was a covering at Sewerby, plus black ice, which is why the grounds were closed. We got down to the beach & enjoyed a good variety of waders, although Curlew & Sanderling were missing this time. Virtually all the thrushes were in the deer enclosures, with only Fieldfare being absent. A Glaucous Gull was reported at this site last week, and this abnormally white-plumaged gull had us going for a while, but black tips can be seen in Jackie's picture, so it must be an aberrant Herring Gull. At least it took everyone's mind off the impending snow! The Stock Doves showed well in the grounds, but no food had been put out for the birds on a day when they needed it!

Winter Term - Wednesday 5 - North Cave Wetlands

Siskin (c) 2009 Tony Robinson

Siskin [female] (c) 2009 Tony Robinson

Rooks

We were frozen out of today's original venue, but the substitute was almost as bad! The bird of the day was the Green Woodpecker, which showed well for both sessions. A female Goosander flew over in the morning, but most of the other wildfowl were standing on the ice, including: Shelduck, Shoveler, Teal & Gadwall. We had Snipe on both sessions, but the Redshank were easier to see in the morning. Of the passerines the Siskins showed better in the morning, but winter Thrushes were easier to see in the afternoon. The only raptor we saw was a juvenile male Kestrel.

Winter Term - Tuesday 5 - Far Ings

Record shot of Bittern [archives] (c) 2008 Michael Flowers

Redshank (c) 2009 Phil Hargeaves Great Crested Grebe (c) 2009 Phil Hargreaves

Goldeneye (c) 2009 Phil Hargreaves

Curlew (c) 2009 Phil Hargreaves

The bird of the day was undoubtedly the Bittern: we had 3 sightings of 2 flying individuals in the morning. We also had excellent views of 3 Treecreepers (am), plus good sighting of Bullfinches (am & pm), and the floodwaters had forced Teal, and Gadwall off the main lakes and onto the field before the Main Hide. A flock of Linnets kept flying round this field in the morning, whilst both sessions had a Meadow Pipit flock feeding with a single Pied Wagtail in the same area. We heard Bearded Tits in the afternoon, and Chris probably spotted them heading over the tops of the reeds. There were plenty of Shoveler early on; whilst in the afternoon we saw Pochard on the Hotel Lake & a group of confiding Long-tailed Tits. Luckily, the showers only took place before & after we were looking for birds, instead of during the sessions - something must have gone wrong somewhere!

Extra Curricular Activity

Barn Owl

ditto
ditto

Curlew

ditto

After the recent reports of Hen Harriers, I thought I'd check Welwick Saltings out. The appalling weather lately, meant that the lane was rutted and full of ice, plus deep puddles with slippery mud as an added garnish. Compensation came in the form of a nice male Bullfinch along the lane. Before I reached the bank the obligatory off road motorbike was riding on the flood defences from west to east. It looked like a teenager, or even younger, but he had a dark helmut on, which completely obscured his features. He also seemed to have a minder in tow. Unfortunately, the tree where the Hen Harrier used to perch adjacent to the path seems to have been washed further along, and is no longer approachable. Managed to see a Barn Owl quartering the Saltmarsh & had a distant view of a Merlin landing on the washed-up tree, but a heavy sleet shower set in. It looked as though it was going to last the rest of the afternoon, so I would have legged it back to the car, but it was too muddy, so I carefully returned to the car instead. Went back home via Sunk Island & Stone Creek, where this very confiding Barn Owl allowed me to approach very close - its feathers had presumably got damp in a shower, so it wasn't bothered about trying to escape. Must revisit Welwick when no showers are forecast, maybe in 2010!

Winter Term - Friday 4 - Tophill Low

Today all record shots (c) 2009 Michael Flowers

Barn Owl

ditto
Water Rail

Goldfinch

Brambling

Winter Term - Wednesday 4 - Tophill Low

Orange Morph Great Spotted Woodpecker (c) 2009 Pat Crofton

Treecreeper (c) 2009 Michael Flowers ditto
Great Crested Grebe (c) 2009 Michael Flowers
Song Thrush (c) 2009 Aileen Urquhart

Orange Morph Great Spotted Woodpecker (c) 2009 Aileen Urquhart

The long winding road to THL was very treacherous this morning, but everyone negotiated it safely - depite a fox running in front of Susan & Michael. Watton Borrow Pits was frozen over this morning, as were most of the marshes, so the best wildfowl tended to be on the large reservoirs. The best of these was the pair of Pintail on 'O' reservoir & some displaying Goldeneye. We spent some time in the visitor centre trying to track down last week's confiding Woodcock, but the layer of snow put paid to that. Funny there's no snow elsewhere locally, just in the exact place you don't want any! 2 Bramblings performed underneath the feeders & some of this morning's group saw some some Siskins here. A bonus for the morning group was the sunbathing Barn Owl in a larch south west of 'O' reservoir. We owe the best sighting in the afternoon to James Spencer (aka YBF's 'Hotspur') who told us where to find a small flock of Siskin. Although they had moved slightly to trees behind the bat boxes we probably wouldn't have located them without his help - cheers James! I owe you one!

Winter Term - Tuesday 4 - Sewerby Beach/Gardens

Wigeon [captive] (c) 2009 Michael Flowers

Sparrowhawk & Carrion Crow dogfight (c) 2009 Phil Hargreaves

Goldcrest (c) 2009 Phil Hargreaves
Stock Dove (c) 2009 Phil Hargreaves

Mixed Waders [Mainly Oystercatchers & Redshanks] (c) 2009 Michael Flowers

A gorgeous day after the snow of yesterday - just a shame so many people were put off from turning up by yesterday's weather! The morning highlight was the dogfight between the female Sparrowhawk & the Carrion Crow, which continued off & on for at least half-an-hour; whilst in the afternoon the Treecreeper within touching distance was probably the best sight. We also had excellent views of a Goldcrest (am), Stock Dove (both), Redwing (pm), and most of the common birds mentioned on previous posts from this venue. We had incredibly close views of Turnstones in the afternoon, so if Richard sends his pics, I will add them to this post. Let's hope that's the last of the snow this winter!