A quick visit, today I was meeting family at Pugneys CP, so I had limited time, did see Orange tips, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White and some lovely Green Longhorn Moths, dancing with the sunlight. Birds were mainly Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Blackbird, Robin, and a Garden Warbler which was only a glimpse
Birds Seen : Blackbird, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Garden Warbler, Robin, Willow Warbler, (168/200)
Butterflies See : Green veined White, Orange tip, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White
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A call into North Cave Wetlands on the way back home from Bempton, always a good place to be, with of course a great Butty Van to boot.
Started off walking down Dryham Lane and to East Holm hide for the reported Black Tern, I found out later, when I couldn’t find it, that it was only a fly through. On the walk down were, Orange tip Butterflies, Peacock Butterflies, and a couple of Dark edged Bee Flies. At East Holm, the Little Owl was in its favourite tree, loads of Black headed Gulls, Wigeon, Teal, Great Crested Grebe, Shelduck, down here also I got talking to a fellow You Tuber, Stuart Abbott of Derbyshire Bird Tours, who put me onto the Mediterranean Gulls and I put him on to his first Common Tern of the year.
From the hide, itself, I managed to find a couple of Little Ringed Plovers, as well as closer views of the Common Terns, dinner was now calling, so I made a stop at the Butty Van, well eventually, I made a stop off first, on a footpath, one I hadn’t been on before, on here I found a Sedge Warbler, Linnets, Common Whitethroat, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, and a heard Garden Warbler.
After dinner, I came back to the footpath and took some photos, rather a few, really, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, and Linnets, the Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler were a bit skulky, but I had a good time
Birds Seen : Avocet, Black headed Gull, Blackcap, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Garden Warbler, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Great White Egret, Green Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Little Owl, Little Ringed Plover, Mallard, Mediterranean Gull, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied wagtail, Pochard, Red Kite, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Ringed Plover, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon (47) 167/200
Linnet
Common Whitethroat
Arriving at the car park in sunshine and a low wind, it seemed a good start to the day. After getting the gear together, I headed on down to the cliffs, picking up Tree Sparrow on making my way around the visitor Centre, a Common Whitethroat gave off a quick call, but not seen, a Sedge Warbler called further down the pathway and gave a quick fly display, before hiding again in the scrub.
Down at the cliffs, the usual subjects were hanging out Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Razorbills, Guillemot’s inc. a few bridled form, Puffin’s however were harder to find, with only a couple seen in flight and not seen on the cliffs.
During the morning the sea fret rolled in, so I moved away from the cliffs and moved up towards the visitor centre, seeing Blackbirds, Linnets, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove, Stock Dove, Robin, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Jackdaw, and a Common Whitethroat, this time was briefly seen, before disappearing once again, into the scrub.
The sea fret finally lifted, giving way to grey skies and cold wind, it felt like winter again to the point I had to get the winter woolies out of the car, but the day ended well with a couple of Short eared Owls.
Video of the day can be seen HERE
Birds Seen : Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collard Dove, Dunnock, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldfinch, Guillemot, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Linnet, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Puffin, Razorbill, Reed Bunting, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Sedge Warbler, Short eared Owl, Skylark, Swallow, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer 165/200
Fulmar
Pied Wagtail
Gannet
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Another early start today, today we were inheading into Shropshire for the reported Black Kite. We arrived at Wood Lane NR a small members site, the hides have combination locks on. On the walk in, we heard Chiffchaff, Great Tit, and a fly over Oystercatcher, on of the lads picked up on a kite, we could see it was the Black Kite due to being in the air with a few Red Kites, we could clearly see the difference. We walked in further to the area that overlooks the landfill, where the Kites could be seen better, various Kites were still in the air, mostly Red Kites but the Black Kite was still amongst them, it was good to still be able to compare these Kite species together. The Black Kite appeared smaller than the Red in size overall, shorter wing length and tail showing a shallower, one of the lads managed to get a photo, Cleary showing the six fingers the Black has compared to the Red having five.
Other birds around the hide area were Black headed Gull, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, Oystercatcher, Blackcap, Reed Warbler, Garden Warbler (H) and Buzzard. Dinner at another hide, after we had our fill of Kites, birds we saw here were Robin, Blackbird, Sand Martins, Moorhen, Kingfisher, Raven and Blue Tit.
Whixall Moss was our next stop, plenty of Brimstone Butterflies were about, there were also a few Click Beetles and a Green Tiger Beetle, birds were Kestrels and Buzzards.
Our last stop of the day was in the Strines at a place called Cut Throat Bridge, where we saw Red Grouse, Wheatear, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Stonechat a few Curlew, and finally after failing on the Ring Ouzels a lovely male Whinchat which was sat up singing away. Finally Woodcock on the way over towards home
Birds at Wood Lane: Black Kite, Black headed Gull, Blackcap, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Garden Warbler (H),Great Tit, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Raven, Red Kite, Reed Warbler, Robin, Sand Martin, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren (22)
Birds at Cut Throat Bridge: Curlew, Meadow Pipit, Red Grouse, Skylark, Wheatear, Whinchat, Woodcock (7) 158/200
Black Kite being a UK first
Wheatear
Click Beetle
Green Tiger Beetle
Whinchat
A brief visit out to Pugneys CP again, this time for Common Scoter, that has been here for a few days now , on the main lake. On arrival Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Robin, were singing around the car park area, around the lake edge were the usual Mute Swans, Black headed Gulls, and Mallards, on the jetties more Black headed Gulls along with Lesser Black backed Gulls and Herring Gulls. The Scoters, I could see from here, they were sat out in the middle of the lake, the sun was in my face, so I made my way around to the other side side so it was at my back, and situated myself in the main lake hide.
From the hide I could Great Crested Grebe, a female Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Pochard, a calling Reed Warbler near the hide, and of course the Common Scoters, Male and Female
Birds Seen : Black headed Gull, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Lesser Black backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pochard, Reed Warbler, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler, Wren (22) 155/200
Butterflies Seen: Orange tip, Peacock, Speckled Wood
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Early start today due to the draw of Flycatchers in the area. I arrived in the Langsett barns Car park at about 8:20am, to a nearly empty car park, good timing on my part, got the gear together and off I went.
On route to the Flycatcher area I passed a singing Chiffchaff and a Goldfinch, I didn’t find anything on the reservoir or the dam wall. Eventually I got to the wood, starting here with the sound of Nuthatch, Blue Tits and Great Tits. I made my way slowly thru the wood, stopping occasionally, to look and listen, but no Flycatchers. A small group of people had started to follow me, presumably with the same goal in mind, one lady finally found our quarry, a single female Pied Flycatcher, going into a nest box, a distant one, well away from the path.
We watched for a while, people eventually started to drift away, leaving me to myself, so I settled in and continued to watch. I watched the female Pied Flycatcher come and go, with nest material, with the Male Pied Flycatcher popping in occasionally, due to the distance I couldn’t get any decent photos, the Nikon P950 is good for reach, but the AF is awful. Other bird highlights were Nuthatch and a Great spotted Woodpecker.
After dinner I went around to the other side of the reservoir, after parking up and getting out of the car I heard Raven, suddenly they were overhead, three birds in total, they stayed around for about fifteen minutes, flying around and calling, a great sight to watch, there were also in the area, Swallows, Red Grouse, Skylarks and Willow Warbler.
On then to Wombwell Ings, a friends birthday, we ended up at Adwick Washlands seeing, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Dunnock and Robin on our way into the reserve. At the first pool were plenty of Avocets, a few nice looking Black tailed Godwits, Redshank, a few Black headed Gulls, Teal, Gadwall, Lapwing, Moorhen and Coot.
On then to the lookout area, after watching a showy Cetti’s Warbler, to hopefully find our target birds Yellow Wagtails and Wheatear, we saw neither, we moved on further down the lane to another pool, this one was half dry, but Yellow Wagtails were eventually seen, at least three birds seem, maybe four.
After a tip off, we went back down to the lookout area, seeing a few Swallows overhead and a Little Egret dropping in. At the lookout area, back looking for the Wheatear, a no show, but a Sedge Warbler made a quick burst of song, just to say it was there, attention went back to the Wheatear, which eventually popped up into view
Birds at Langsett : Blackbird, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Kestrel, Mallard, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Flycatcher, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Grouse, Song Thrush, Swallow, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon (23)
Birds at Adwick : Avocet, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, lapwing, Little Egret, Little Ringed Plover, Long tailed Tit, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Reed Warbler, Robin, Shoveler, Skylark, Song Thrush, Stock Dove, Swallow, Teal, Wheatear, Willow Warbler, Wren, Yellow Wagtail (42) 154/200
Another sunny day and another day at Old Moor, the draw today was a pair of Black necked Grebes, they would be a new species for me at Old Moor (121), for this location. It wasn’t long before stepping into the reserve, that I was distracted by the song of a Reed Warbler (149), near the crossroads, so I stop in the hope of seeing it, maybe a photo too, I saw it moving around in the reeds, then it flew out seeing off a Blue Tit.
I made my way down towards the wader scrape, stopping first at the lookout hide, in the hope of yesterday’s Mediterranean Gulls but no joy, after looking thru countless Black headed, Lesser Black backed and Herring Gulls, other birds were Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Teal, Moorhen, Coot, Mute Swan, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, and Cormorants.
Moving on then to Wader Scrape via Green Lane, overlooking the mere as I went, Redshank, Oystercatcher, seen, then I saw the Black necked Grebes but try as I could I couldn’t get a photo, think it was low down and heat haze that was the problem, I also had the problem with a Little Egret in the same area. After the Grebes I decided on putting my concentration in to the insects, seeing, Common Wasps, Bees, Spiders, Gorse Shieldbugs, Butterflies around were Brimstone, Green veined White, Orange tip, Peacocks, and Speckled Woods and also a Willow Warbler.
After my time at Old Moor I called in at Wombwell Ings, to see the male Garganey, took some finding, it was at the far side of the lake, need help in doing so, also on show were Skylarks, Little Ringed Plover, Ruff, Greenshank (150), Redshanks, Canada and Egyptian Geese
Birds Seen : Black headed Gull, Black necked Grebe, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Egyptian Goose, Gadwall, Garganey, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenshank, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Long tailed Tit, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pochard, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Robin, Ruff, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren (43) 150/200
Butterflies Seen : Brimstone, Green veined White, Orange tip, Peacock, Speckled Wood
Little Egret
Weevil Species
A new Reserve today, I thought I would give it a call as I was in the area for a couple of days. A great day lovely and sunny, the site is virtually next door to the Ripon Racecourse, which seemed to have a lake in the centre of the course, here I could see, Mute Swan, plenty of Greylag Geese, with a few Oystercatchers.
Walking further in to the reserve, there were Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps calling from the bushes, I soon came across on of the reserve lakes, however the sun was shining straight in to my face across the water, making it difficult to see anything. It was good to hear hear Chiffchaff and Blackcaps again, I finally made it around to the canal side of the reserve, where there is kind of a hide come screen setup, I could see a bit better here as the sun was now side on, birds here were Mute Swan, a male Goldeneye, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, a pair of Common Buzzard, it appeared the Buzzards had made camp on the Osprey platform, I also heard a booming Bittern from here.
After dinner, I went over to the river side of the reserve and found an area with Primrose, a few butterflies down here with, Orange tip being the common one, also Brimstone, Peacocks and the Dark edged Bee Fly, with my first Willow Warbler of the year
Video of the Day can be seen HERE
Birds Seen : Bittern, Black headed Gull, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Great Black backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Reed Bunting, Robin, Rook, Ruff, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren (33) 148/200
Butterflies Seen : Comma, Green veined White, Orange tip, Peacock, Speckled Wood
Chiffchaff
Comma
Dark edged Bee Fly
Seems a waste if I didn’t go out in this nice sunny weather, so I forced myself to go down to Old Moor, there was a report of a Little Gull on site this morning.
Arriving at 9am, I seemed to have the reserve to myself for a while, I didn’t come across anyone, which was unusual, anyway first stop was the feeders, Reed Bunting, Bullfinch, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, and Blackbird, the usual crew for here. I then moved, heading towards the Wath Ings Hide direction, calling in at the Lookout Hide first to look thru the Gulls, Black headed, Lesser Black backed, and Herring Gulls were present, no Mediterranean present and no Little Gull.
On to Green Lane were you can look over the Mere at head height, depending on how tall you are, looking thru the gulls once again, talking with another guy, he had just found a first winter Little Gull, not the reported Adult of earlier. Other birds here were Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Moorhen, a Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, two Buzzards overhead, a calling Cetti’s Warbler from the nearby bushes with a Chiffchaff giving the “chiff” “chaff” type call.
Popping in to Wader scrape hide, saw no waders and very little birds, I moved on to Wath Ings hide, seeing a couple of Butterflies on route Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell, only thing new at Wath Ings, was a Goldeneye ♀, Cormorants anbd a calling Little Grebe.
Down on the loop, I came across a few Gorse Shieldbugs, Common Wasps, and various species of Bees, a small fly with nicely marked wings (Tephritis crepidis), Brimstone Butterfly, calling Oystercatchers overhead with Lapwings on the East Pool.
Birds Seen : Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Grebe, Little Gull, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pochard, Red Kite, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon (34)
Butterflies Seen : Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood
Tephritis crepidis
Redshank
Peacock
Huddsbirder 