Tag Archives: birding

Hornsea/Flamborough

First port of call today was Hornsea Mere, viewing from Kirkholme Point, closet to the point were Mute Swans, Mallard, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Little Grebe, Gadwall, Shovelers, and a fly past Kingfisher which landed briefly on the Island.

Further out were a couple of female Goldeneye, nearby was a flock of Tufted Duck, doing there synchronized diving, looking closer thru these “Tufties” a few female Scaup could be found. Even further out we found a couple of Marsh Harriers.

News then broke of the Little Bunting up at Thornwick, that was to be our next destination for today, off we went. We found the area it was last seen and settled in, it gave us the run around, with a female Reed Bunting giving us the run around for a bit, but eventually gave itself up as it flittered from one bush to another, giving us good side on views. Other birds seen were, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long tailed Tit, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Magpie and Robin.

After this we went onto Flamborough, having got Little Bunting in the bag and on the Yorkshire List, it was Yellow browed Warbler time. The Motorway Hedge was where it was last seen, so it was there we headed, great and close views of a Male Stonechat was well received whilst we waited for the Warbler, Linnets flying over, a Wren giving us the run around in the hedge, eventually the cry of Yellow browed Warbler, we soon got on the bird and watched it for a while, eventually giving the best views I’ve ever had of this species. On then for a sea watch, seeing mainly Gannets, Little Gulls, Common Scoters, Shag, Arctic Skua (Not me), We moved onto the headland, where someone put us onto a pod of Dolphins moving south, a wonderful sight to watch as they broke the surface, approx about ten in all.

Hornsea Bird List ; Black headed Gull, Canada Goose, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Greylag Goose, Kingfisher, Little Grebe, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Mute Swan, Scaup, Shoveler, Tufted Duck (14)

Flamborough Bird List : Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Linnet, Little Bunting, Little Gull, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink footed Goose, Red throated Diver, Reed Bunting, Robin, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Starling, Yellow browed Warbler (33)

Bempton Cliffs and Filey

I was having a couple of days away up on the Yorkshire East Coast, with the first stop being RSPB Bempton Cliffs, after a long summer, I decided to take no camera with me this trip, would I live to regret that.

We arrived at Bempton Cliffs at about 9am to 4°, dry and calm weather, whilst I was waiting for a friend to turn up, I had a quick look around the visitor centre feeders and dell area, seeing Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, plenty of Pink footed Geese, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Great Tit and Blue Tit.

Moved on then, when my friend turned up, moving onto the Nature Trail first, seeing a Barn Owl in flight first and a fine Male Stonechat, which was near to the long hedge that runs down to the cliffs, a Yellow browed Warbler had been seen, unfortunately not by us, seeing only Dunnock and Goldcrest.

The cliffs were now quiet only holding a single Great Black backed Gull, Rock Doves and still plenty of Gannets.

We moved off then and went up to Filey and onto the Brigg side, hoping to find the reported Snow Bunting, this turned out to be another bird that gave us the slip. It was also high tide so we viewed the Brigg from above, birds along the Brigg were Knot, Purple Sandpipers, Oystercatchers, Cormorants, two juvenile Common Terns with in the bay itself Shag, Great Crested Grebes, Wigeon and Eider Duck with Rock Pipits along the Brigg.

Then we had a visit down to a football field near to Filey to pick up on 2 Whooper Swans, however the highlight of the day were 12 Grey Partridge in the nearby field.

We then moved back to Bempton Cliffs hoping for some Owls and the Yellow browed Warbler, and still neither showed but a lovely female Sparrowhawk was nice to see

Bird List Bempton Cliffs : Barn Owl, Blackbird, Crow, Dunnock, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black backed Gull, Greylag Goose, Jackdaw, Pheasant, Pink footed Goose, Red legged Partridge, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Stonechat, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon Wren

Bird List Filey : Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Common Tern, Cormorant, Eider, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Partridge, Guillemot, Herring Gull, Knot, Meadow Pipit, Purple Sandpiper, Shag, Stonechat, Tree Pipit, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Wren

Old Moor

Sun was out again, so I was back on my RSPB patch site, hoping for the elusive Southern Hawker photo, which has been eluding me this year.

On arrival I called in at the bird garden (Tree Sparrow Farm) feeders where I found Goldfinch, Robin, Great Tit, and Greenfinch. Moving away from here I moved into the Kids play area bushes looking for the insects. I did find Common Green Shieldbug, a 22 Spot Ladybird, Scorpion Fly, Speckled Wood Butterflies, and a high up Great Spotted Woodpecker, which was busy contact calling before flying off.

I moved off out of the area and made my way towards the Bittern Hide, seeing lots of Common Darters littering the paths on my way. Viewing from the Bittern Hide Mute Swan, Coots, Cormorants, plenty of Gadwall, with a fly thru Little Egret.

After dinner I tried the wader Scrape Hide, lots of Shoveler, Wigeon, a few Little Grebe, brief sighting of Redwings going over, lots of gulls about Herring, Black headed and Lesser Black backed Gulls.

Down on Green Lane again, a few Common Green Shieldbugs, Gorse Shieldbug, Common Darters, and Migrant Hawkers, also about were a few Nursery Web Spiders laying out on the bramble leaves, last highlight was a Grey Heron flying over the car park.

Bird List : Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jay, Kestrel, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Redwing, Robin, Shoveler, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (37)

22 Spot Ladybird

Gorse Shieldbug

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Jay

Kestrel

Weeting Heath

My last call on the way home was to Weeting Heath, for the Stone Curlews, of which I saw five birds from the West Hide, along with a couple of Curlew, lapwing, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove and Buzzard.

Down on the feeding Station were Blue Tit, Great Tit, Goldfinch, and Chaffinch, all present until, a male Sparrowhawk came thru. other things I noted were Meadow Brown Butterfly, Mother of Pearl Moth, and a Cinnabar Moth.

After Weeting I decided on a call to Paxton Pits, my final stop before home, what I thought was going to be a good visit turned out to be a disappointing one, Common Blue Damselfly, and a Variable Damselfly plus a single Common Darter,

The end of my holiday

Lists for Weeting Heath

Bird List : Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Curlew, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Lapwing, Pheasant, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Stone curlew, Swift, Woodpigeon

Butterfly List ; Meadow Brown

Moth List : Nettle tap Moth, Mother of Pearl, Cinnabar

A short video of the weeks highlights can be seen HERE, and the species list can be seen HERE

RSPB Minsmere

The weather has played a big part in my holiday week this week and today was no exception, with a mixture of sunny periods with wind and heavy rain showers.

I arrived at Minsmere at about 10:15am, checked in at the hub and made my way of course to the Dragonfly pool, which is near the Sand Martin bank. I soon picked out a Male Variable Damselfly and a Blue tailed Damselfly, numbers were very low, it was also good to see a couple of Four spotted Chasers, nothing else was found, the biggest surprise was no action at the Sand Martin bank.

On then to North Hide, here I saw plenty of Avocets, Black headed Gulls, Common Tern, and Sandwich Tern. After visiting the North Hide, I made my way back to the visitor centre and the cafe for dinner, stopping at a bramble patch on route, finding more Damselflies, mainly Blue tailed but also Azure Damselflies, also plenty of Helophilus pendules Hoverflies about too. On reaching the cafe area, I was greeted by a young Robin and a few Chaffinch.

After dinner I found a different bramble patch, along a footpath near to the visitor centre, I looked along, taking my time, all the way down to the Dragonfly pool, finding a new Hoverfly for the day Sericomyia silentis, but the star find was a male Norfolk Hawker, a real beauty and so close, I enjoyed watching it for quite a while. On then to the pool again and here was something I’d never seen before a Water Vole, and so close, a real treat.

My next port of call was the South Hide, it looked like the rain was slowly moving in again, the bird highlights from the South Hide were Oystercatcher, Little Egret, Black tailed Godwits, Redshank, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, and Sand Martin. Moving back on to the path, I scanned the skies towards the Bittern Hide, a good place for Hobby, I saw two birds in the air, although distant, the rain had moved thru and the sun had come out hunting, I decided on better views and headed out towards the hide. On arrival the hide was rammed of photographers, of course it would be, and they all seemed settled in, so I headed downstairs and got some great views of the Hobbies hunting dragonflies, they were having better luck then me. After getting some great views downstairs, some of the photographers left, so I went back upstairs and found a seat, a good move on my part as another band of rain moved thru, after the rain moved thru, I hung around for a while only getting brief views of the Hobbies.

It was now 4:30pm, so I decided on leaving, a great day, my first Water Vole and super views of the male Norfolk Hawker, nature always throws in nice surprises.

Bird List : Avocet, Barnacle Goose, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gadwall, Great Black backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Hobby, Lapwing, Little Egret, Magpie, Marsh Harrier, Mute Swan, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Swallow, Swift, Woodpigeon

Dragonfly List : Azure Damselfly, Blue tailed Damselfly, Four spotted Chaser, Norfolk Hawker, Variable Damselfly

Norfolk Hawker

Water Vole

Sericomyia silentis

Young Robin

RSPB Titchwell Marsh

Day 2, Titchwell Marsh, always feels like coming home when I visit Titchwell, plan of attack today was to do the Dragonfly loop first then onto the reserve for the birdy part.

The day again was cloudy, with the occasional sun break, but it felt more like October/Novembrer than June, with the temperatures and the wind, not to be disheartened, I got my gear together and off I went exploring.

It was full stop, I hadn’t really left the car park, when I was distracted by a Robins and Blackbirds, these birds were so close it was hard not to stop, I ended up taking a few photos. After a while I moved on to the hub, to check in, and then onto the reserve, where I was soon distracted again, but this time by a young Wren and Blackbirds. I tore myself away and headed off onto the reserve and the Fen Trail.

Along the Fen Trail near the screen, I came across Reed Warblers, the sun had now come out a bit and I found a Wall Brown Butterfly resting on the bramble patch, Meadow Brown and Common Blue Butterflies, along with Common Blue and Blue tailed Damselflies. The sun decided on hiding again which resulted in me finding little else, so I decided an a lunch break.

After my lunch break, I headed down towards the see, along the East Bank footpath, the sun had once again come out and I stopped at a nettle patch, finding Azure Damselfly and soon after a Hairy Dragonfly, which finally settled for a while, great, photos galore. I finally made it to the Island Hide, after getting distracted again, this time it was a Reed Warbler, this one was in the bushes near to the footpath.

At the hide, I viewed, Black headed Gulls, Avocets mainly so decided on moving, and make my way down to the Parrinder Hide. There seemed to be more action from this hide, here I saw Little Tern, Common Tern, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Ringed Plover, Red Kite, Buzzard, Marsh Harrier and Mediterranean Gull.

Finally I made it down to the beach, down here I saw Oystercatcher, and Black tailed Godwits, not much down here so I had a final walk around the Dragonfly loop, seeing little for my efforts

Bird List : Avocet, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Tern, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Mediterranean Gull, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Pochard, Red Kite, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Ringed Plover, Robin, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren

Butterfly List : Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Wall

Dragonfly List : Azure Damselfly, Blue tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Hairy Dragonfly

Common Blue Butterfly

Hairy Dragonfly

Reed Warbler

Rutland Water and Beyond

The day started early at Rutland Water, on arrival we headed straight out to the Bittern Hide, it was now 8:15am, on entering the hide we found out that the Savi’s Warbler had been showing well, we settled in.We waited four hours, the Savi’s was not playing ball, it was heard ‘Reeling’ a few times in those fours hours, those that did get a view was very, very brief.

In those four hours there were other birds to see, Osprey gave good views has they came by, two birds on occasion, we had excellent views of Cuckoo, coming in close to the hide, Marsh Harrier came by on a couple of occasion, there was a a Reed Warbler continually calling next to the hide for all of those four hours. Other highlights too and from the hide were Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler, Common Tern, Swift and Sand Martin.

The plan was to see the Savi’s Warbler, then travel to the Great Reed Warbler site then on to the American Golden Plover. Getting back to the car, I decided on a toilet stop before travelling onwards, on arrival back at the car, then my colleague broke the news of a MEGA in Whitburn, an Indigo Bunting, a three and a half hours travel away, North, he needed it for is UK list, it would be a lifer for me.

It was thanks to a person in the area, that people got to see this bird as it was first ID on their bird feeders. They let lots of people into their house to be able to view this visitor, we didn’t see it from here but had views from other gardens nearby.

It wasn’t an exciting day, but there was a lifer at the end of, alas no pictures.

Padley Gorge

A very early start to arrive at the Gorge for 6:30am, the first noted was a calling Cuckoo from the nearby moor, I wasn’t heading that way, I was going down into the gorge itself, this was my first time here.

I was guessing where I was going, I chose the right hand path and headed down, I was looking for the Padley specials, namely the Pied Flycatcher and Redstart. I had parked up at the Ice Cream car park.

First encountered birds were Blackbird, Song Thrush, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Robin, Blackcap, and Wren, on my way down into the gorge, no Flycatcher’s or Redstart on this leg, so I headed back up.

The return journey held little reward, with Blue Tit, Crow, Treecreeper, Chaffinch and a heard only Pied Flycatcher. I found out later at Wyming Brook that the Pied Flycatchers nest boxes are near the top of the gorge and a little way in, about a dozen of them, try again next year.

I moved on from Padley Gorge to my next destination Wyming Brook, target here was Wood Warbler, I was having a bad morning, I drew a blank on this species too 😔. The species I did encounter were, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Green veined White Butterfly, Orange tip Butterfly, and a Silver Y Moth.

I was drawing a blank and needed a pick up, I thought Dragonflies and Old Moor 😊, I headed off, it turned out to be a good move. On arrival at Old Moor the weather had changed to warm and sunny.

I got my gear together and headed o to the reserve, stopping at the small pond near the visitor centre first, here I picked up on lots of, Azure Damselflies and a couple of Large Red Damselflies, moving further into the reserve, I decide on taking the the left path and to do a loop on these pools. I encountered the same damselflies here, plenty of Azure and a few Large Red, there was also about half a dozen Four Spotted Chasers and a single Hairy Dragonfly, a nice surprise was a Dingy Skipper Butterfly, I found nothing new moving around the rest of the pools. I moved onto the Toyota platform and here I found a lot more Azure Damselflies and also Red-eyed Damselflies.

My next move was to do the Green Lane loop and here I found a few Blue-tailed Damselflies along with a few Common Blue Butterflies. I decided now on having an Ice Cream, I headed back out to the visitor centre, on my way I saw Orange tip, Brimstone Butterflies also a Mint Moth.

Lastly, after the ice cream, I decided on one last look around the pools on the left side, a good move, I finished the day on my favourite Dragonfly, the Broad Bodied Chaser. 😊

Padley Gorge List : Blackcap, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Cuckoo, Nuthatch, Robin, Song Thrush, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Wren

Wyming Brook List : Blackcap, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Robin, Song Thrush, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Green veined White Butterfly, Orange tip Butterfly, Silver Y Moth

Old Moor Lists :

Butterflies : Brimstone, Common Blue, Dingy Skipper, Green veined White, Orange tip

Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly, Blue tailed Damselfly, Broad Bodied Chaser, Four spotted Chaser, Hairy Dragonfly, Large Red Damselfly, Red eyed Damselfly

Sliver Y Moth

Blue tailed Damselfly

Broad Bodied Chaser

Common Blue Butterfly

Pugneys

A late afternoon visit to Pugneys Country Park, first impressions on arriving was that it was very quiet. The first birds seen around the Jetty/Cafe area were Black headed Gull, Mallard, Canada Goose, and Great Crested Grebe being the most notable, it was quiet.

I walked around to the nature reserve hide, it was now open or I thought until I entered the hide, there was a lot of fire damage to the hide, I didn’t stop long, it was apparent that I shouldn’t be in there, I couldn’t get my head around, WHY, why do this, why ruin other peoples pleasures? and put their lives in danger in doing so

After the upset, I carried on my walk thru the small wood out towards the main lake hide, Blackbirds were about along with Blue Tit, Crow, Magpie, Wren, and in the nearby reeds were Reed Warblers, chattering away.

Back on the main path a flock of House Martins were hawking over the tops of the trees, the main lake hide had now been fixed, fire damage to the floor, but there wasn’t a lot to see from here, a few Sand Martins were present, along with Herring Gulls, Cormorants, and Tufted Duck.

Moving from the hide to the seat opposite, this overlooks the Nature Reserve Lake, from here I could see the Tern Raft, and here I saw three Common Terns, these were nicely flying around and landing back on the raft occasionally giving me good views of these birds, also seen from here were Teal.

Walking down to the beach a Male Reed Bunting was seen, giving its presence away by its calling, finally around at the kids playground was a good size flock of Swifts hawking low over the trees.

Birds Seen: Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Martin, Kestrel, Lesser Black backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Sand Martin, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren (31)

Robin in Full Song

The Langsett Area

Arriving at Broadstone’s Reservoir at 6:30am to the sight of a Barn Owl flying over the wall had me stopping, an unscheduled stop, but worth going after, so getting the gear together off I set.

Willow Warblers were very prominent and seemed to be calling from every bush. Moving further on into the heath, a few Linnets were moving about, no sight of the Barn Owl. Moving further on, Common Whitethroats got my attention, this also brought me into an area where there were a few Blackcaps and a Garden Warbler, good to hear these two confusion species together, still no sign of the Barn Owl, so I moved off back towards the car, picking up on Skylark singing away as I did so. On my way thru I stopped at an area good, in the past, for Grasshopper Warbler, but no evidence of one today.

Getting back to the car, I set off for Langsett, my original first stop of the day, and parked up at the Barns Car park on arrival. The time was now 8:30am, there were plenty of Blackbirds around the car park area, along with Chaffinch, and a singing Blackcap.

Gear together, I set off towards my target species here, seeing Song Thrush, and Oystercatcher, near the dam wall, but no Common Sandpipers’ this morning or Pied/Grey Wagtails. Down in the woods, the target area for today, the sounds of Nuthatch, Robin, Blue Tit and Great Tit. Looking thru the foliage, I eventually caught sight of a Spotted Flycatcher, which was nice to find.

Further into the woods, things became rather quiet in the wood, then a quick movement and I’d found the target bird, a Pied Flycather, male. After watching the male bird for a while, and occasionally losing it, I caught sight of the Flycatcher giving a Great Spotted Woodpecker a hard time, diving bombing, trying to move the Woodpecker on. I eventually traced the Pied Flycatcher and got sight of the female coming and going with nest material, with the male looking on and giving song on various posts, safely keeping my distance

It was time to move on and I found myself down at Manvers lake, looking for the male Garganey which had taken favour with a female Mallard. I eventually found it tucked away out of sight along with the Mallard.

It was then down to Edderthorpe Flash, here I saw plenty of Swallows and Sand Martin moving thru, but no sign of the bird I was looking for, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff, Reed Warblers, Shelduck, Oystercatchers, a pair of Common Sandpipers, lots of Avocets, Cormorants, but still no sign of my target bird for here. it was now moving on to 4pm, after talking with someone else, who decided to move on after I said I’d been there for an hour and a half and there was no sign of it, he moved on down to Old Moor. I however decided to stop for another thirty minutes, it took about ten minutes before I saw the bird in question, flying in from the right and landing down in front of where I was sitting, Black winged Stilt in the bag and giving good views. It was good to see it, after the one from Frampton where I only saw it from a video I’d taken, and to finish the day, a single Swift went thru.

Langsett Area Birds :Barn Owl, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Crossbill (H), Curlew, Garden Warbler, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Linnet, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Robin, Siskin (H), Skylark, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Treecreeper, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren (33)

Manvers and Edderthorpe : Avocet, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black headed Gull, Black winged Stilt, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Garganey, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Robin, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Swallow, Swift, Teal, Tufted Duck, Willow Warbler (35)

Pied Flycatcher

Garganey