Swallows & 'Silver Plovers'

It felt like a winter's day at Spurn at 8 this morning.  It's felt like winter most of the last 3 weeks, so I questioned my sanity to be encountering it again on my day off!  The tide was only just receding, so there were some nice views of some very handsome 'Silver' Plovers on the tideline.  However, there didn't seem to be much else about.  The Canal Scrape Swallow was confiding as always, but that was about it.  A male Black Redstart was reported from the Point, but I was already heading back to the entrance.  I considered going to Sammy's Point, but thought worse about it.  Later, David Ware went there & managed to see a 1st-summer Golden Oriole after it was flushed by a woman with 3 noisy dogs. That would have been a great sight, but he wasn't able to get any photos.  http://woldsbirding.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/golden-spurn.html

I returned the slow, long way back & had an encounter with a Hare at Patrington Haven.  There was a cold, strong wind and the small birds were few and far between.  A Reed Bunting & a Skylark were perched precariously on the oilseed rape, but they weren't close enough for pictures.  I came back via Stone Creek and flushed a Cuckoo (female?), which was being mobbed by a Meadow Pipit.  Later, I saw a Swallow resting on the road, as I approached it fluttered to a Bramble spray by the side of the road, but it didn't appear to be 100% healthy as I parked alongside it, to take some photos.

Swallow [male]

 ditto

[above] 'Silver' Plovers, Dunlin & Ringed Plovers

 Hare

 Meadow Pipit

 Moribund? Swallow [male]

Going for a Toddle

Reed Bunting

Friday was a rerun of last Sunday, and 2 Wednesdays ago.  In the car park we saw a Kestrel hovering some distance away, whilst a pair of Linnets flew over & young Starlings were squawking all around us.   I was also vaguely aware of parking next to a small hatchback parked at awkward right-angles which had heavily condensed windows.  As more people arrived & car doors banged the young couple under the duvet began to wake up.  More of them later...

The morning especially was bitterly cold, and there was a biting easterly wind all day, but it was less penetrating in the afternoon.  We followed the same route & saw Carrion Crow, Goldfinch before we reached the first fishing Lake.  We heard the distinctive, tedious song of a Reed Warbler, and tried looking for it.  Although the band of reeds was fairly narrow, this was much easier said than done.  The bird that came in with food in its beak turned out to be a Willow Warbler, which had a nest between the bank and the reedbed.  The Reed Warbler was actually much nearer the water, but was very difficult to see.  When we reached the first alley we were immediately greeted by a singing Chiffchaff, followed by a Blackcap, Wren, and a wheezing Greenfinch.  The latter were visible on the wires once we emerged into the open again.  In the afternoon its place was taken by a Tree Sparrow

Chiffchaff

 Reed Bunting

 A Lesser Black-backed Gull flew over as we moved towards a very confiding Reed Bunting.  As we crept ever nearer a male Kestrel flew fairly close to us, closely followed by some Swifts and we flushed a Song Thrush which dived into a hedge.  We hadn’t gone much further when we heard a scolding Whitethroat swiftly followed by a singing Sedge Warbler.  This was the first of many Sedge Warblers which had flooded into the site since Monday.  The rest of the birds were similar to previous visits with extra Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers.  Richard picked up one of the presumed Short-eared Owl pellets, which consisted largely of fur and one tiny bone.  So, the SEO supposition seems to be correct.  

Whitethroat - against a dull background

 Whitethroats - against an OTT background!

 Orange-Tip - now you see him

 Orange-Tip - Going

 Orange-Tip - Gone - Now you don't see him - almost!

 We trekked to the pumping station & I slithered down the bank where I could see a distant kingfisher, but before the 1^st of the am group joined me it had moved off, presumably heading in a northerly direction.  When I tried to repeat the experience in the afternoon an angler had been down the bank and opened a "Go Fishing" Jelly Fishing Lure & just thrown all 3 pieces of unused plastic packing down at the water’s edge.  Apparently, this isn't an isolated angling behaviour.  I was regaled by stories of fishermen on Beverley Beck having lunch at the water's edge & then throwing the plastic containers in the beck.  They don't appear to realise that if everyone followed their example there wouldn't be any fish for future anglers!   I carried all the rubbish back to the car park for disposal where it would hopefully cause less harm to the environment.  A Great Spotted Woodpecker was present on both occasions.  In the afternoon it was perched on a double telegraph pole before flying into one of the pumping station’s gardens.  There were several Tree Sparrows in this area, and a single Moorhen.

Possible Short-eared Owl Pellets

 Willow Warbler

On the return journey a Magpie was the final bird seen flying over the playing field.  I returned home for lunch, but when I arrived back most of the pm crowd were already assembled.  The ‘courting couple’ had driven off in my absence, but had already returned & legs were seen pointing towards the car’s roof!  When we returned 2 hours later they had finally gone for good, after presumably spending the previous night in the car park as well as at least 5 hours since I was there.  I'm sure they found the car park much busier than they had expected.  The pm session was pretty much a repeat of the am session, although there were slightly less small passerine birds in evidence & the Reed Warblers were impossible to see.  One highlight was a Sedge Warbler, which flew around is in a near perfect circle, without perching in the open too prominently.  A final highlight was a confiding Willow warbler singing clearly in of all things...a Willow.  The general consensus was that this was a very interesting location, and most people were keen to return and it is to be hoped the next visit will coincide with more amenable weather conditions. 

A Game of Chess

Crossbill - a Queen?

On Thursday we visited somewhere we had never been to before. The arcane rules of this forested site meant we could only move diagonally, but we seemed to manage OK as we negotiated our way through the different patches of habitat.

The am session was accompanied by light drizzle through 90% of its tenure.  This was another bad site for dog mess, but it wasn’t a patch on Allerthorpe Woods.  In the car park, newcomer Chris had already identified a singing Chiffchaff, and this area also held a Mistle Thrush and a Goldcrest.  We hadn’t started long when Maggie identified a Blackcap by song.   On the woodland path which was predominantly coniferous we had only common birds with scolding Blue Tits, and singing Wrens & Robins being the most obvious.  In other words there were plenty of pawns on site.

Then we came to an area which had been cleared 20 or 30 years ago, and this had become very thick Birch scrub.  As we watched a singing Willow Warbler, and a young Coal Tit, a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew silently overhead.  We heard another Chiffchaff here, but we didn’t see a great deal of other birds.  Other birds heard included a singing Blackbird and a very cross, scolding Wren.  A distant Song Thrush was heard singing. 

Garden Warbler - just about!

We made a right diagonal turn and this wide avenue yielded several singing Garden Warblers, but they refused to emerge for very thick birch scrub.  While we were listening to the Garden Warblers and Bullfinch flew behind us out of sight behind yet more birch scrub. A left diagonal turn resulted in some strange sounds, but the only birds seen here were Dunnocks, and nesting Willow Warblers.  There were also Garden Warblers at both sides of the path, and eventually one of these perched in some Oak twigs and sang for several minutes, allowing most people decent views.

Possibly Ichneumon fly Protichneumon pisorius

Later, we stopped to listen to a Mistle Thrush, and after that had flown, we tried to spot a Goldcrest.  While we were looking up a medium-sized flew overhead uttering a really strange sounds – this turned out to be a Jay.  A second one was spotted briefly but we didn’t get really good views.  This was the nicest section of the woodland for flora with some fantastic Early Purple Orchids, plus Bluebells, Bugles, Wood Anenome, Lesser Celadines, Primroses.

On the way back another swiftly-disappearing Jay and a pretty confiding Blackcap were the highlights.  Although we didn’t encounter the number of species we are used to, the participants were impressed with a wooded site they’d never visited before.  

Early Purple Orchid

 Bugles

 Cowslips

 Bluebells

 Greater Stitchwort

 Yellow Pimpernel

 Wood Anenome

 Bank? Vole [yes, there is something there!]

 Crossbill [left] & a Siskin

There may have been a Jay’s nest just over the road from the car park, as there was a strange series of noises emanating from there.  The afternoon got to a good start when I noticed a slight movement out of the corner of my eye.  A vole/mouse was moving among the leaf litter under some bramble stems.  Then we turned a corner & were walking on when I heard a distinctive chup-chup & there were a few Crossbills at the top of a conifer.  After 5 minutes or so 11 flew off followed by 5 or 6 Siskins.  The remainder of the session was very similar to the morning & even the Orchids, Bugles, Bluebells & Primroses were exactly where we left them in the morning!  A pair of duelling Garden Warblers were a delight to the ears, but only glimpses of them could be discerned in the birch thickets.

Crossbill

 Crossbill

 There was no sign of the Crossbills on the return journey, but we found a family of Long-tailed Tits and then Peter tracked down a couple of Treecreepers.  Finally, as we approached the car park we could hear a distant Cuckoo.   Then it came a bit closer, before it finally flew over our heads indulging in a bit of brief gowking as it did so.  We were nearly back at the car park when we saw a Mistle by the side of the road.  These are normally fairly wary birds, but this one made only half-hearted attempts to hide in the trees.  It even allowed its photograph to be taken.  A fitting conclusion to the end of the game.

Mistle Thrush

Coal Tit (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

Willow Warbler (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

Chiffchaff (c) 2012 Richard Whateley

Snake in the Grass

Today was a rerun of last Tuesday & Thursday.  On the way to the start point we had a Tree Sparrow & Yellow Wagtail, whilst the pm group had a pair of Red-legged Partridge and a White Wagtail.  As we began the walk we were serenaded by a Blackcap first thing, but in the afternoon this had been transformed into a Song Thrush.   A pair of Song Thrushes left the area of the new hide and flew into the trees on the left, where they continued to scold for some time.  There was no equivalent in the afternoon.  Both visits had a pair of Lapwing displaying over the River Hull, and a Whitethroat dancing in the air in front of the Pumping Station.  There were quite a few white butterflies around, and an Orange Tip.  There were no Owls apparent during either session, but a Brown Hare was running through the field during the morning.

Yellow Wagtail

 ditto

 White Wagtail

 New Hide

 Tufted Duck

Birds flying over at this stage included a Shelduck and a Gadwall plus a pair of growling Tufted Ducks, whilst closer to us were Swallows, Swifts, and a couple of Sand Martins.  At the pumping station were Goldfinches, Chaffinches, whilst we saw a pair of Wagtails on the return journey and a single Linnet.  We crossed the rickety-looking bridge and immediately a Sedge Warbler could be heard, and we hadn’t gone far before we saw a female Grass Snake basking.  She remained stationary the whole time we were there, and everyone was able to get good views and many people took photographs.

 Grass Snake [female]

 ditto

 Cuckoo

 Cuckoo

During the circular walk we first heard and then saw a Cuckoo – it spent its time commuting between a poplar plantation and a single Ash tree on scurf Dyke.  We found several eggs which may have been predated including Mallard, Coot and Pheasant.  There were a lot of Crows in the area and these were probably the main culprits.  The pm group heard a male Tawny Owl and 6 Tree Sparrows flew out of a Hawthorn bush.  Birds singing within the shooting estate included Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, and a Reed Bunting.  Unfortunately last week’s Grasshopper Warbler was neither heard nor seen.

 Mallard Egg? [predated]

 Moorhen Egg? [predated]

There weren’t as many Skylarks as last week, but a few did punctuate the morning with their popular song.  Other aerial sightings included a Kestrel seen very early in the morning & then at about the same time as the Skylarks a distant Buzzard was seen soaring.  A few minutes later, but 180 degrees from the Buzzard a very distant Cormorant was seen following the River Hull south.  It was in this area that both am & pm sessions saw a Stock Dove.  Songbirds numbers began to pickup along ‘Dandruff’ Dyke with a Blackcap, at least 3 Sedge Warblers, another Willow Warbler, and in dense cover a Garden Warbler.  A dabbling Mute Swan was seen with a ring, which could be read only when the Swan almost completely up-ended - No Y267 

Mute Swan Ring - Y267

 Sedge Warbler 

 Green-Veined White (c) 2012 Aileen Urquhart

 Azure? Damselfly (c) 2012 Tony Robinson

It wasn’t long after this that everyone in the afternoon saw a flash of blue and then a Kingfisher perched on an old plant stem before it carried on south down Barmston Drain.  Shortly after this we almost tripped over a pile of large fish scales, which may have been the leftovers from an Otter feast!  The pm session had great views of a singing and displaying Sedge Warbler.  Although we had seen several Pochard last week, it was only at this point that the am group saw their first one today.  Meanwhile in the afternoon an apparently aimless Lesser Black-Backed Gull went over in a northerly direction.  A walking couple along the main way back ensured that there were no birds on the reservoir walls.  However, there were plenty of birds on the remainder of the reserve, so hopefully, some of the ‘students' stayed behind to catch up on those.