After months away - a new post

We moved from West Yorkshire to East Yorkshire late in 2014 so my time was required elsewhere rather than posting in my blog.

We have settled very well here in Hornsea so I thought I'd try a few blog entries to see how things go.

Yesterday (1 May 2015) I walked around a new area for me consisting mainly of scrubland, but also cliff tops. The weather was fine, sunny and dry but at 07:00 it was very cold (just 3 degrees) so I had to dig my gloves out again.

 I went specifically looking for Cuckoo and after just 20 minutes I heard my first Cuckoo of the year. It was quite distant but repeated calls showed it was approaching. I saw it flying on my left side with a couple of passerines mobbing it to move it on.

The number of Whitethroat in the square mile or so that I covered was impressive - I stopped counting at 20! There were also 2 Lesser Whitethroat singing though I didn't manage to see one.

Other warblers present were Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and just a single Grasshopper Warbler reeling. Here's a photo of a Gropper taken last week:

After a pleasant and quiet mooch around and another good sighting of the Cuckoo with 6 passerines mobbing it, I left to visit Hornsea Mere.

For those who aren't familiar with Hornsea Mere, it is the largest natural freshwater lake in Yorkshire, which in turn is the biggest county in England. It provides a good mix of habitat with open water, reed beds, woodland at the Western end, fields with grazing sheep and arable fields close by.

I only called in at the place that most people go to when they visit the Mere which is known as Kirkholme Point, although the OS map marks it as Kirkholme Nab. There have been good numbers of wagtails passing through so I was hopeful of catching up with some.

There were 5 Pied Wagtail (but no White Wagtail) and 2 Yellow Wagtail feeding on the putting green - although in the afternoon 7 Yellow and 2 White were seen.

The best birds though were out on the water, with distant views of a female Common Scoter and the male Red Necked Grebe in full summer plumage that has been hanging around for the last week or so. No photos to go with the sightings as they were too far away for my camera.

Warland to Mankinholes this morning

A good morning for a walk so I set off from Warland and walked up to the reservoir. All was very quiet until I spotted 5 waders on the opposite shore of the res. No scope or long lens as they are too heavy for my old legs on a long-ish walk, so I had to rely on the bins but I'm sure they were Ruff. They took off and flew over the water and landed further down the shore, and shortly after they flew off towards Whiteholme res. I took a few photos but they aren't very clear even after cropping:

 

 

 

There were plenty of Red Grouse about and good numbers of Mipits too between Warland res and Withens Gate. There was even a Wren in the heather and a butterfly shot past, but I couldn't get an id.

Warland Drain and Stoodley Pike

Just off the Pennine Way near Withens Gate there were about 20 Mipits flying through and 2 Wheatear which was a nice surprise. A Raven was cronking over Langfield Common.

Down the Long Causeway to Lumbutts there were a few more Mipits but little else until I reached Lee Dam.

Lee Dam and Lumbutts chapel

The 2 female Goosander that have been there for a few days were still in residence, as were 2 Dipper near the outflow and a few Mallard. Best of all though was a Kingfisher which flew from the north corner to the south corner but then disappeared and I couldn't relocate it.

Over in Lumbutts churchyard a Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling from the top of a sycamore and a single Mistle Thrush flew out from another tree. The usual Little Owl was sitting on the wall at Mankinholes and 3 Pied Wagtails on the roadside wall at Cross Lane finished off the tally of birds for the morning.

Pectoral Sandpiper at Blacktoft and Smew at Hornsea Mere

My wife and daughter were having a baking day at home - a perfect opportunity to bugger off and have a day's birding and walking. So I did.

The weather was cool as I set off but it developed into a cracking day with 16 degrees the high temperature. I was glad I decided to stay in shorts!

I drove over to Blacktoft Sands RSPB first and spent a happy few hours there, seeing Pectoral Sandpiper, 18 Ruff, lots of Snipe, 6 Dunlin, 2 Spotted Redshank, several Redshank, Bearded Tits or Reedlings or whatever the latest name is, Marsh Harrier, Pink Footed Geese overhead and a Water Rail. Took plenty of pics but only one or two are reasonable enough to post here.

Pint Footed Geese

Cream crown Marsh Harrier

I set off towards Hornsea and stopped for lunch at The Wild Bird at North Cave Wetlands (it has to be done, it just has to be done!) then had a wander round the reserve afterwards.

The sun was out and was really warm on my legs, though it looked strange with almost everyone else wrapped up with coats, jumpers and hats - one chap even had gloves on?!?

There wasn't anything outstanding about but there were plenty of birds and dragonflies.

Common Darter

The highlight was a low fly-over by a Common Buzzard.

Buzzard over North Cave Wetlands

The sun was still shining brightly when I left and headed off to Hornsea. Should I go to Kirkholm Point first or to the hide at Wassand? Kirkholm then as the sun would be lower if I left it too late.

There were lots of people at Kirkholm but nothing was showing other than the usual suspects so I drove back to Wassand and walked round to the hide. I was the only occupant so I settled down to watch the comings and goings.

Cormorants were the most numerous and noisiest. They flew in, bathed for a while perhaps getting the salt off their non-waterproof feathers (?) by splashing about energetically, then flew off to their evening roost in the Cormorant Trees.

Great Crested Grebes joined numerous Wigeon, Coot, Tufted Duck and Mute Swan feeding and preening on the calm water. A small flock of Black Headed Gulls flew in and made a racket for a few minutes before leaving towards Swan Island. A Grey Heron drifted over and landed in the field next to the hide. All very lazy summer afternoon really. Then I saw something different - a small duck! It turned out to be a redhead Smew, my first here on the The Mere. It stayed in view for a few minutes giving good views through the bins, but it dived too often to get the scope onto it.

 

 

 

Shoveler and Smew

There were a few pairs of Shoveler swimming about too:

So a really good day around and about East Yorkshire. I could have gone on to a coastal site to see even more birds but I was hungry and in need of a long drink, so I went to the caravan to eat and drink my fill and to spend a lovely quiet evening.

A morning at Flamborough

Although it was raining when I sent off from Hornsea and the sky was still grey and overcast with a strong wind blowing when I arrived at Flamborough it was still good to be out and about after a busy week at home with little opportunity for birding or walking.

Walking to the outer head from the car park I planned to walk along the coast path, then inland to Old Fall plantation, checking for migrants as I went.

There was very little activity along the coast path and hedgerows but on the water just off the beach there was a single male Eider, in moult. A good start then!

There were lots of gulls, Oystercatchers and Cormorants on the rocks below the cliffs so plenty to look at on the way to Old Fall. Meadow Pipits flitted about in the stubble fields before I turned inland.

In the hedgerow leading to the plantation I saw 2 Redstarts along with a few Chiff Chaffs, Blue Tits and Great Tits. I hoped for Red breasted Flycatcher (still a missing bird on my British List despite the best help from Nick and Andy over the years) and for Yellow Browed Warbler once I got to Old Fall. The wind was straight in my face coming up the field so it was a relief to reach the stile into the field surrounding the plantation and get into the lee of the worst of it.

Straight away Chiff Chaffs were evident, feeding in the bushes. One adult still had a youngster in tow and fed it several times while I was there. A single Willow Warbler was singing feebly and showed itself for a short while but the morning was dominated by Chiffies. The first sighting of a Spotted Flycatcher brightened things up so much that the sun burst through and a blue sky lasted for all of 20 minutes

Things went quiet when the sun went in but another 10 minutes later it came out again and birds were active once more, with Chiff Chaffs a Redstart and a Spotted Flycatcher all showing well.

Chiff Chaff

Chiff Chaff

Spotted Flycatcher

Redstart

Redstart

After a couple of hours waiting and watching for my hoped-for birds I decided to move on and walkind on up the hedgerow to the road then turned towards the lighthouse and a cuppa in the Cliff End Cafe.

Refreshed, I drove down to South Landing and parked in the pay and display car park near the Living Sea Centre. The parking machine wasn't accepting coins so I parked for free :)  I walked down to the beach and found a throng of people and dog walkers, a large group were merrily clearing the beach of rubbish (I thought initially they were fossil hunting) and there seemed to be dozens of families enjoying themselves, and a boat was being launched. I doubted there'd be many birds about with all the noise and disruption but I was wrong - a small mixed flock of Dunlin and Sanderling fed for a while then flew off and landed elsewhere when disturbed but never left the beach all the time I was there; Rock Pipits did the same but gave up eventually and disappeared after 15 minutes; an Oystercatcher and a single Bar Tailed Godwit dodged the dogs for a while; Pied Wagtails were all over the place and 2 Wheatears flew from the rocks to the cliff and back again a few times.

Sanderling in winter plumage

Sanderling

Bar Tailed Godwit

Dunlin

Dunlin

Wheatear

So I'd had a grand day despite not seeing the hoped-for warblers. Although it was windy it stayed dry while I was walking and I would certainly have settled for that while I was driving north earlier in the day.

A few hours gardening in the afternoon ensured that I ended the day tired, but content.

Little Owl

The Little Owls have been absent from Mankinholes for a few days so it was good to see one again over the weekend.

Lancaster bombers over Stoodley Pike

I heard the sound of approaching aircraft engines and ran inside for my camera as the sound wasn't the usual jet engine or single engined private plane. Here is what I heard - 2 Avro Lancasters flying over the house and passing Stoodley Pike. Magnificent sound and sight!

 

Fairburn Ings or a trip to the Med?

As I was going over Selby way to collect my good lady from her sojourn in Thorpe Willoughby I thought I'd call in at Fairburn Ings. I haven't been there for ages and I'd also seen that a Glossy Ibis has been there for a while. So I packed my bins, scope and camera and set off early to get some birding in before leaving for taxi duties.

Lin Dyke hide was where the Ibis had been seen last so that was where I headed and I could see it from the path as it was right in front of the hide. Unfortunately for me the sun was behind it and no matter how I tried, a back lit black bird was still a silhouette to the camera even though I tried over exposing by many stops.

I also counted 7 Little Egret there, so with Glossy Ibis and Little Egret and with the sun beating down from a clear blue sky it was more like being in the Med than Yorkshire!

Speaking to one of the RSPB guys he told me that Avocets were breeding and could be seen down at Pickup hide with their chicks so I went down there and spent some relaxing time watching them, and also the Sand Martins flying in and out of their nests in the Sand Martin wall.

There were many species of birds seen during my time there and also several butterflies. The pick of my photos are these two - a Robin and a Ringlet:

Mankinholes, Lumbutts, Langfield and Gaddings Dam

Time for a local walk and I've been missing the local patch, so I spent a few hours wandering around and catching up on what's about.

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1 at Mankinholes
Linnet - 4 (2 juvs)
Little Owl -1
Song Thrush - 1
Lesser Black backed Gull - 1 over Lumbutts
Willow Warbler - 2 at Lee Dam
Blackcap - 1
Reed Bunting - 3 at Langfield
Stonechat - 2
Kestrel - 1
Ringed Plover - 2 at Gaddings Dam
Dunlin - 1
Swift - 5
Mallard ducklings - 6, downy but no sign of adults

Lots of Mipits, Skylarks and Swallows.

Song Thrush

Ringed Plover and Dunlin

Dunlin at Gaddings Dam

Dunlin in flight