Final Ever Nightingale Trip?

Yesterday I rose at 4.30, and was on the road for 6.25 to try & photograph Nightingales before the classes started.  There had been a severe frost for the first time, and it was perishingly cold, and this may be one reason why the Nightingales were noticeable by their absence.  I did find one however, on the southern edge of Coot Lake around the first bench.  Although the Nightingales continued to confound for the rest of the day, the Warblers did us proud.

Garden Warbler

 Nightingale

 Ditto

 Ditto

 In the morning Garden Warblers were chasing each other all over the place, and then were themselves chased by Blackcaps.  There were Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Lesser Whitethroats singing, but Common Whitethroats were imitating the elusive Nightingales.  

Garden Warbler

 Ditto

 Ditto

 Ditto

 Ditto

 Lesser Whitethroat

 Blackcap

 Chiffchaff

 Ditto

 Treecreeper

Before the afternoon group started we were buttonholed by an ancient "meeter and greeter", who pointed out 3 Mediterranean Gulls through his telescope.   He started talking about the Nightingales, which he insisted numbered 10 individuals singing on the reserve.  However, when I asked why on this particular occasion they were so reluctant to sing, he was lost for words until he stumbled out that it may be because they have only just arrived.    In the past I've found that is exactly when they are at their most voluble.  The Nightingale was as hard to locate in the afternoon, but we could hear another singing at the other side of the water.  Unfortunately, when we ventured over there, it had gone quiet again!  In the afternoon Garden Warblers actually posed out in the open, as did a single Lesser Whitethroat.

Mediterranean Gulls

 Comma

 Green-veined Whites

 Female Orange-Tips

Final YWT Spring Migrant Walk

On Saturday the final YWT migrant event took place. Although the most exciting bird we saw was probably a Rough-legged Buzzard, the most personally satisfying bird for participants was the less hyped male Ring Ouzel, which we enjoyed all to ourselves.

Ring Ouzel - realising it had landed too close to us!

We followed the same route as last week. The tide was coming in & we saw some waders, but the only new species was a very vocal Greenshank, and a couple of Wood Sandpipers, but the latter were just silhouettes in the particular light conditions from where we were standing at that moment. There seemed to be more Grey Plovers than last week, and these showed a little better as they flew along the riverside.  We also saw a Hare running towards us here, and just after Pallas's Pond a fairly smart male Linnet 

Record Shots of Grey Plovers (mainly) over the Humber

 Hare

 Hare

 Male Linnet

 Rough-legged Buzzard

 Ditto

There wasn't a lot more at Canal Scrape than last week, but it was here all the fuss about the Rough-legged Buzzard was overheard on the radio. It u-turned, but came back again. We left the hide to get a better view from it from the car park. The pale head was very noticeable as it attempted to come south the second time.  it was a lot better candidate for Rough-legged Buzzard than one called exactly a fortnight earlier, which was finally categorised as a pale Common Buzzard.  The Rough-legged Buzzard was a "lifer" for at least 3 participants, and possibly a 4th!  In the bushes in the area was a singing Willow Warbler, a distant Chiffchaff, and on the path to the hide a Sedge Warbler was singing noisily from the depths of the thickest shrub. 

Ditto

 Ditto

 Brent Geese

 Brent Geese

The Canal Zone was taking the brunt of the wind, so was rather bleak, and the best birds seen here were the Brent Geese, Oystercatchers and Redshank. A pair of Avocets were seen heading towards the south bank. There was very little in the pub car park or along the road, or along Beacon Lane until we found a strange aberrant female Reed Bunting with which another obvious male Reed Bunting was attempting to mate!  In the water at the end of Beacon Lane we saw Teal, Shelduck, Redshank, Greenshank and Gadwall, but the light was atrocious. 

Aberrant female Reed Bunting [ID thanks to Adam Hutt]

 Aberrant female Reed Bunting

 Aberrant female Reed Bunting

On the return journey we walked along the sea "cliff." There were at least 5 Yellow Wagtails in the sheep compound, and 4 Wheatear, one of which was an obvious stunning male, but some other males hadn't yet obtained their bluish grey tint on their backs. 

Record Shot of Two Yellow Wagtails

 Male Yellow Wagtail

 Male Ring Ouzel just landed too close to us!

 Ring Ouzel - on the far side of the field

 Ring Ouzel - note silver wings in flight

When we reached big hedge the only female participant spotted a Ring Ouzel on a fence ahead of us. It flew down and fed in the field, then disappeared into a thick hedge, but after we waited patiently it emerged again. This time it flew in a semi circle and landed in the hedge behind us. We turned to view it better when of course it flew across the field again and landed in the field to feed once more. This was a really fitting ending to the morning's birding and the end of these three events run by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. 

Ditto

 Ditto

 Ditto

 More Hares

Hidden Holderness

On Friday we made our one and only trip this year to a hidden little corner of Holderness. We shared cars to a remote lane. As soon as we opened the car doors I could hear a distant Lesser Whitethroat, and shortly afterwards a Yellowhammer towards us and landed in the top of a nearby bush. We walked down a thick Blackthorn hedge getting closer to the Lesser Whitethroat and passed a skulking Common Whitethroat. We were unable to locate either of these birds, but we did see at least 3 Hares. Linnets flew over us at times, and a Meadow Pipit too. 

Yellowhammer

 Sheep leading the Sheep

 Record shot of Marsh Harrier

 Meadow Pipit

The walk along a floodbank didn't add much, but we did see 3 Shelduck, at least 5 Little Egrets, and a Curlew. A female Kestrel flew overhead, whilst ahead of us we could just make out a male Marsh Harrier. We had to pass through a field of very noisy sheep. Ten minutes with them and we emerged with relief to a quieter piece of countryside. 

 Record shot of Marsh Harrier

 Sedge Warbler

 Willow Warbler

 Ditto

 Little Grebe

 Lots of Lipstick on this female Kingfisher

We arrived at a scrubby area, and here we heard and saw Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap. A little further on and we could just make out a distant Cuckoo, but unfortunately it came no nearer. We entered the hide four at a time. Here, we enjoyed good views of a Kingfisher, with the most striking amount of lipstick I've ever seen. There was a Greylag Goose on a nest, a pair and a single Little Grebe, and another pair of Mute Swans. A Goldfinch sang nearby, and then the strident tones of a Song Thrush rang out. We returned using a different way, but we hardly added any new species at all!