A nice steady morning down at the local Nature Reserve, Cromwell Bottom, first sightings were around the car park with Blue Tit, Great Tit, Bullfinch, Grey Herons, Blackbirds, Magpies and Woodpigeons.
On down at the canal were the usual Mallards but no Mute Swans this morning. On at the Visitor Centre feeders were more Stock Dove, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Nuthatch and Robins, with a single Grey Wagtail in the staff car park.
After about 30mins i moved on and headed towards the weir, down here i encountered a few Robins, heard a few Song Thrush, always proving difficult to get a photo of unlike the Robins, who to want photos taken.
On down at the large feeding area there seemed to be a bit more action, but this time I didn’t enter in to the seating area put stopped around the periphery were I saw Reed Buntings, Dunnocks, Blue Tit, Great Tits, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Long tailed Tit, and of course Robins, with Great Spotted Woodpecker and Goldfinch being heard.
I walked a bit further on and towards the Old Canal area alas no Kingfisher was sighted but I did manage to see a single Goldcrest. On then to view the Ski Lake area where there were plenty of Gulls to go thru these were, Black headed, Common, Herring and Lesser Black backed Gulls, wildfowl on here were Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen and a few Goldeneye, Cormorants were plenty as well.
I then worked my way back to the viewing platform overlooking the lagoon area where I saw a single Male Teal along with a Little Grebe. Walking back to the Visitor Centre, I finally managed to get a photo of a singing Song Thrush.
Bird list : Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey wagtail, Herring Gull, jay, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Grebe, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Nuthatch, Reed Bunting, Robin, Song Thrush, Stock Dove, Teal, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren (37)
Wykeham Forest and the Raptor view point was our first stop of the day with Goshawk in mind. We arrived at about 9am to an empty car park, we got our gear together to the call of Crossbills overhead and eventually settling in the nearby trees, a great start. Setting off then to the nearby raptor viewpoint, a short walk. We were soon joined by more Crossbill, giving off there distinctive calls, along with the Crossbills were Siskins, although the Crossbill were nice to see we were here for raptors, so we started watching the skies.
We soon picked up some raptors over the far ridge, these turned out to be Common Buzzards, along with them however were a couple of Goshawk, bingo. It was more of the same for the next hour with no ground breaking views of Goshawk all staying distant, the Crossbills however were different.
After an hour or so we moved off and headed towards the coast, for the reported Snow Buntings and Shorelarks. We stopped off at Filey Country Park first, in rain and wind, in the search of the Slavonian Grebe. Viewing from the Brigg we picked up Great Northern and Red Throated Divers, Gannets off shore, and a dark looking Rock Pipit at our feet, we eventually picked out the Slavonian Grebe, it was closer in shore than we expected. On the Country Park field were Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Turnstone, and Black tailed Godwits.
Our last port of call was Thornwick Bay Caravan Park, near Thornwick pools, after blots of walking we finally found the field were the Snow Buntings were, very distant, you could make out they were Snow Buntings, but too far to make out any Shorelarks, a pair of Stonechat on the way back to the car was a nice sight
No photos today due to weather but here a short video of a Male Crossbill, press THIS
Todays Bird List : Bat tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Buzzard, Crow, Chaffinch, Common Crossbill, Common Scoter, Coot, Cormorant, Fulmar, Gannet, Goshawk, Great Crested Grebe, Great Northern Diver, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Red Kite, Redshank, Shag, Siskin, Slavonian Grebe, Snow Bunting, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Turnstone, Woodpigeon (39)
Big day out on a vlog day hitting RSPB St Aidan’s and RSPB Fairburn Ings, St Aidan’s was first, hoping for Glossy Ibis, Stonechat and Little Owl.
I arrived at St Aidan’s at about 8:30am, got the gear together, then headed out to the dragline in search of the little Owl, which unfortunately was a no show, it wasn’t out on the sleepers around the back of the dragline, Stock Dove were about, so were Robin and Blue Tit in the nearby bushes.
Moving on then, I headed down onto the reserve and headed out towards the area I knew the Glossy Ibis and been hanging around in. I saw Kestrel, Red Kites, and Common Buzzards over the hill, on the lower slopes were a Male and Female Roe Deer. Arriving then at the Ibis location, I found out it hadn’t been seen for about a week now, so you say it had moved on, there were Moorhen, Canada Geese, Mallards, Shelduck, Cormorants in the area.
I walked on then down towards Lemonroyd and Main Lakes passing the eastern Reedbed. As I was passing the reedbed area, I had a quick look along the bottom of the reed edge and to my surprise I found a Water Rail, working its way along the edge, made up for the Ibis moving on. Other birds here were Shovelers, Tufted Ducks, Teal, Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, Greylag Geese, Mute Swans and Cormorants.
I moved on then hoping for Stonechat or linnets on the gorse bushes, alas not this time, down at the lakes I found a few Goldeneye Male and Female with many Black headed Gulls and a couple of Common Gulls, over on Lemonroyd Lake were Herring Gulls and Lapwings being the difference, I was surprised there were no Egret Species down here.
I made my way back up to the Glossy Ibis area again where there were more Common Buzzards over the hill, I took a seat to watch the Buzzards and in doing so a flock of Long tailed Tits came thru, then a pair of Stonechat popped up along the fence line. As I was walking back to café area, someone told me there had been two Short eared Owls seen that morning on the hill at about 8am, I missed that showing, but i may return later in the day around dusk time, they may come back.
Back up at the dragline the Little Owl had been located , apparently in one of its favourite hawthorn bushes, giving bad views, as it was right at the back of the area and it was obscured by all the branches, it was now coffee and cake time. I decided on sitting outside near the feeders watching Goldfinch, reed Bunting, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbirds, Woodpigeon, Great Tit, Blue Tit and Greenfinch, it was time now to move onto Fairburn Ings.
My first stop at Fairburn was down the Lin Dyke Area where there was a few Liottle Egret along with Shelduck, Teal, Mute Swans, and Tufted Duck but not the hoped for Cattle Egret, a nice surprise was a brief view of a Jay. I then moved on down to the Visitor Centre hoping for Willow Tit, which didn’t appear. The Visitor Centre feeders held Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, and Dunnocks, the Pickup Hide feeders was the place lots of action here, with plenty of birds, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Blackbirds, Robin and Woodpigeon, no Willow Tit.
I then after spending sometime around to go back down to Lin Dyke, reports of Glossy Ibis here, after looking and failing I decided on moving back to RSPB St Aidan’s in the hope of finishing the day on some Short Eared Owls. On spending about an hour in waiting for the Owls, which didn’t show, only seeing Red Kite, Common Buzzard and Kestrel.
Video Vlog of the Day can be seen by pressing THIS
St Aidan’s Bird List : Bearded Tit, Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Grebe, Little Owl, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pink footed Goose, Pochard, Red Kite, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Teal, Tufted Duck, Water Rail, Woodpigeon (45)
Fairburn Ings Bird List : Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jay, Little Egret, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon (24)
A Long tailed Duck was the draw down to Pugneys CP after the work shift, it was last seen on the main lake down near the beach area the previous day, so I was in high hopes.
After getting my gear together I bumped into a couple, birders by the looks, coming in my direction, I asked if they had seen the Long tailed Duck, but alas they hadn’t in the time they had been there, not to be deterred I set off in the direction of the beach. On the journey I saw Mute Swan, Wigeon, Black headed Gull, Common Gull, Mallards, Pied Wagtail, Canada Geese, Coots, Tufted Duck, and Lapwing.
Arriving at the beach area I scanned thro the assembled Black headed Gulls and soon enough I found the Long tailed Duck, a relatively small bird in appearance, this one looked like a winter plumage female, it was very busy diving and preening whilst I was watching it. I hung around this area for a while taking photos and video, mainly of the Black headed Gulls that were here.
After here I moved off towards the main lake hide, hoping for a Water Rail, which wasn’t to be today, but it was nice to find and watch a couple of Goldeneye from here. As I came back the same way away from the hide there were a few Blackbirds near the hedgerow. I made one last visit to the beach I watched the Long tailed Duck for a little while longer, then I hit the cafe for coffee and cake.
After the coffee and cake, I stuck around the car park area a little while longer taking photos of Pied Wagtails before setting off home.
A short video of the birds from my visit press HERE
Bird List : Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Long tailed Duck, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Pochard, Robin, Starling, |Stock Dove, Tufted Duck, Wigeon
I know, unusual for me to head west, but a new year and a new list, it had to be done, but the draw of some good birds, I had to overlook it. So it was the West Coast near Liverpool, our first call was to RSPB Marshside. First port of call on arrival was the hide, we were overwhelmed by the sight of so many Pintail present, other highlights were great numbers of Black tailed Godwits, Golden Plovers, Lapwing, Wigeon, Teal, Shelduck, Shoveler, Mallard, Gadwall, were also present, a fly over flock of Curlew, but also a single bird on the ground, but distant, a pair of Little Grebe seen close to the hide with a few Little Egret also distant. Gulls seen were Black headed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Great Black backed Gulls and Common Gulls, other birds seen were Redshank giving off their distinctive calls, and a few Ruff also distant and also a distant Marsh Harrier hunting the saltmarsh, with eruptions of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks as it passed over.
The news broke of the Black throated Diver down Crosby Marine Lake, we all pilled into the car and we were soon down at Crosby Marine looking for the Diver, it was still present we just needed to find it. Cormorants, Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron, Little Egret, where was the diver, conditions were difficult with the choppy waters, but eventually the call went up and we were soon onto it, however it proved difficult getting good views due to it diving and the choppy waters. The location of the Diver was distant but it appeared to be making its way towards us, continually diving and popping up closer and closer, it eventually popped up close by giving good views but briefly.
RSPB Burton Mere was our next reserve to drop into, busy here, we were here mainly for some woodland species. Burton Mere gave us Goldcrest, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Great Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Long tailed Tit, with fly over Pink footed Geese.
Our final call of the day was down to Parkgate for the Raptor Roost. We found our place to stand and stated watching, Marsh Harriers were plenty with a close by Stonechat, of which I didn’t see, Little and Great White Egrets. The stars of the show and the birds we had come to see eventually came in, the first being the Male, a grey bird flew straight across our field of view, Hen Harriers, very much and sadly one of the most persecuted birds in the UK, it took a while before the females showed, but all three birds gave us great views and it was fantastic to see such splendid birds in action.
Bird List for the Day : Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Black tailed Godwit, Black throated Diver, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Great Black backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Great White Egret, Hen Harrier, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink footed Goose, Pintail, Redshank, Robin, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Rook, Ruff, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (52)
An early start with the sunrise at RSPB St Aidan’s and what a sunrise, it was gear together on arrival and it wasn’t long before we were hitting the trails on route to our target bird for the day. No Little Owl on the dragline today, well no for us, only Woodpigeon and Stock Dove.
Moving on then, target bird calling, it was quite easy to see whereabouts the bird would be by the little crowd of people, along way off mind, so a little bit of a walk was in front of us. Very little to see on route, a Red Kite soaring over the hillside, with a Sparrowhawk giving good views, sat up in a nearby tree. Canada Geese on the ridge and furrows field, along with Greylag Geese, Moorhen, Coot. It wasn’t long before we were at the area where the Glossy Ibis was showing, we were soon on to the bird, giving excellent views and so close. It moved around undisturbed, even with the nearby crowd, giving great opportunities for photos and video footage.
We then moved on to the Eastern Reedbed area looking for other birds, the usual were all seen, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Shoveler, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan and a few Goldeneye were present. On then to Lemonroyd Lake where there were few Gulls hanging about, scanning thru we picked up Black headed Gulls in good numbers, also about were Herring Gulls, Mute Swans, Goldeneye and Goosanders.
We them moved on, along the tracks to Astley Lake, here we had a sit down and were soon joined by Blue Tit and Lesser Redpolls (5), these were in the nearby Alder trees, out on the lake were more of the same species we had seen in other places.
Back towards the hill Red Kite, Common Buzzard, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk again. Down on the ground among the shrubbery were Long tailed Tit and a single Male Stonechat. Back then at the centre with coffee and sandwiches in hand we watched a Kestrel hunting nearby. Out on the feeders Greenfinch, Great Tit, Woodpigeon and Chaffinch and one last look for the Little Owl, no reward on that one again.
On then to RSPB Blacktoft Sands and once again for the raptor roost, news on arrival was of a Ringtail Hen Harrier, which had just gone thru the reserve five minutes previous, fingers crossed then, but news of five Whooper Swans on Marshland hide had us moving that way first, and on arrival these were the only birds there, so we moved on, and moved off towards Singleton hide. We settled into Singleton, watching Marsh Harriers going to and fro, with no other raptors showing up, not even a Barn Owl, other birds here were Shelduck, Great White Egret, Little Egret and a Kingfisher.
A short video of a few birds from the day, press THIS
Bird List : Bearded Tit (Heard), Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Glossy Ibis, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Tit, Great White Egret, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Long tailed Tit. Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pink footed Goose, Pochard, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Whooper Swan, Woodpigeon
First call was down to Wombwell for the other members of the crew for toady’s outing, it was minus 5 degrees, I hate cold. our first port of call for the day was to Manvers Lake for the Great Northern Diver, an excellent bird giving fantastic views, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Pied wagtail, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Mandarin ♀, and Cormorant, were all added to the day list, the surprise however at Manvers were the group of swimmers in the lake, brrrr!
On then to target birds two and three at Crosspool in Sheffield, this again was a close encounter with our first target bird here, Waxwings, there was around about Fifty birds giving excellent views, plenty of people viewing and taking photos. After the waxwings we moved on then to the famous Crosspool Tawny Owl, once we found the tree, the Owl was easily found, sat out at the hollow, sunning itself in the winter sunshine. After a few snaps, we were again on the move, this time down to Ramsley Moor and Leash Fen for the reported Great Grey Shrike. There was a small crowd on arrival, which makes the job of finding the bird a little bit easier, it hadn’t been seen for at least Thirty minutes before our arrival, we waited, eventually giving itself up, in a different place, and distant, but we got good scope views.
On then to our last port of call RSPB Old Moor, we’d have about an hour and a half on arrival to find Bearded Tit and hopefully Bittern. We ventured down to the Reedbed Hide to stake out our quarries, we looked, but to no avail with the Bearded Tit, there was the usual wildfowl around Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Cormorant and fly thru Marsh Harrier and Grey Heron. Time was rolling on and hope was fading, I was scanning over the top of the reeds in the vain hope of a Bittern, when something caught my eye, there it was flying over the top of the reeds, a single Bittern, that will do nicely, ending a grand day out.
A video of a few of the birds seen, Great Northern Diver, Waxwing and Tawny Owl….Press THIS
The Days Bird List ; Barn Owl, Bittern, Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada goose, Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Grey Shrike, Great Northern Diver, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Little Grebe, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mandarin Duck, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Pochard, Robin, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shoveler, Snipe, Starling, Stock Dove, Tawny Owl, Tufted Duck, Waxwing, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (44)
Huddsbirder 