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

Visit to the Dentist Required

Wednesday saw us return to last Tuesday's venue. However this week it was low tide, so the birds weren't as close to the hides as last week. We sheltered from the heavy rain in the Visitor Centre where we saw several Ruff and 5 Dunlin towards the left, and Teal, Shoveler and a single Wigeon on the right. Tony saw what he thought was a Marsh Harrier flying east, which the young Scottish RSPB officer was too polite to correct. On investigation it proved to be a Bittern, which was much more exciting for everyone. We had already seen a bona fide Marsh Harrier too, so we had the best of both sightings. A Long-tailed Tit flock passed by and some of the group saw a small, sharp-billed bird in tow, which was probably a Willow Warbler.

Konik Pony

 Long-tailed Tit

 When the rain stopped we set off to last week's premier hide. There was plenty to see here again, but nearly everything was much further away. The nearest bird was a juvenile Redshank & a couple of Snipe flew in. Spotted Redshank and Ruff were already in situ, but a couple of Greenshank flew right into the back of the site and shortly before we left 3 Black-tailed Godwit arrived - one of which still had plenty of breeding colour.  One surprise was an adult Avocet with 3 youngsters in tow, which were seen from 2 hides before setting off west.  Perhaps they were breeders from further north on their way south - but records this late in September are rather unusual at this reserve.  In the afternoon a distant Great Crested Grebe was sighted from the most easterly hide.

Juvenile Redshank

 Snipe

 Black-tailed Godwits (far left & far right)

The far hide was less profitable with mainly the odd duck species, a distant Marsh Harrier and a family of Little Grebes. We retraced our steps, but the hide near the visitor centre was very poor. The photocopying hide was a little better, but didn't add any new species. The main entertainment was provided by the fierce marshland ponies. 

 Spotted Redshanks & Lapwing

 Marsh Harrier

We then tried the one hide on a different alignment to the others. Here were 15 or so roosting Spotted Redshanks, which were later joined by a very white-headed male Ruff and a couple of others, plus plenty of Lapwings. A total of 6 then 9 and later 15 & eventually as people got their eyes in 18 Snipe were asleep at first, but then set about stitching for food. In the heavy rain the afternoon group saw 6 Ringed Plovers, a fairly unusual bird at this site - they had obviously dropped in to refuel in the bad weather.

2013 Calendar Ready!

Now Available for £8 (incl P & P) UK only

Below front cover

[Photos (c) 2012 Jeff Barker (Bittern), Jim Welford (Wood Warbler), 

Vince Cowell (Little Owl), & Alan Walkington (Honey Buzzard)]

Below - July (Honey Buzzard)

[photos (c) 2012 Mike Day]

Discover where & when to see specific species

16 colour photographs

Nearly 300 lines of information & suggestions

Now revamped to include sites from all over Yorkshire

& more info on mammals & other wildlife

Below - Waxwings (December)

[(c) 2012 Marcus Conway]

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!