Tag Archives: birds

Well todays forecast was, Mist, however I walked out of the door to, sunshine. I was travelling back home today and I was making stop off’s at Hornsea Mere and North Cave Wetlands.

The Long tailed Duck was the attraction at Hornsea Mere, I arrived to no birders on site, only fishermen, who had just landed a magnificent Pike, I’ve never seen one of these, so it was a spectacle to see. Returning back to the birds, which there were a lot, I knew this was going to be long process in finding this bird, I started scanning.

Lots of Goldeneye were here, more than I’d ever seen in one place, a fantastic number. I started by looking thru the many Tufted Duck for the Scaup that were here, but it was becoming a pointless exercise, as they were all mainly at a great distance from where I was standing. Other birds around were, Gadwall, Mallard, a couple of Pintail, Shoveler, Wigeon, Greylag Geese, with Barnacle Geese way over in the far field, Gulls about were Black headed, Herring, Gret Black backed, and Common Gulls, by this time I hadn’t located the Long tailed Duck.

I kept scanning, moving around the area, after about an Hour and a half hours, it popped up pin front of me, couldn’t believe how close it was, I watched it for a good long time whilst it was feeding, then it finally settled down, it was good to have good views of it.

Setting off again, home bound, North Cave Wetlands was going to be my next stop, before the final leg of the day, Brambling were the attraction at North Cave. On arrival my first port of call, of course, was the Little Butty Van, food was needed. After food I got the gear together and moved out towards the feeders, stopping in a couple of places before hand to see House Sparrows, Bullfinch and then a fly thru Curlew.

At the feeders were Blackbirds, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Woodpigeon, Dunnock and eventually after the wait the female Brambling, then after what seemed an age the male Brambling showed up, sadly they weren’t together at the same time, a single Red Kite also flew thru.

I then decided on moving down to Crosslands hide, where Egyptian Geese had been reported, as I got nearer, I could see most of the pools were frozen over, I couldn’t see anything about, until I got nearer to the hide where there was a wood pile and a few small birds about Reed Bunting, Blue Tit and Great Tit. It was here that I met another couple, we got talking, they were out looking for the Little Owl, I took them down to where I had seen it last I was on a visit, it wasn’t there, we eventually found around the back, in a tree. Walking back to the car a Kestrel flying thru was the last been seen of the day, whilst a Water Rail was to be the last heard.

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

35 species seen today with 7 species added to the list Barnacle Goose/Brambling/Curlew/House Sparrow/Little Owl/Long tailed Duck/Red Kite

Birds at Hornsea: Barnacle Goose, Black headed Gull, Common Gull, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Great Black backed Gull, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Long tailed Duck, Mallard, Mute Swan, Pintail, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Wigeon

Birds at North Cave Wetlands: Blackbird, Blue Tit, Brambling, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, House Sparrow, Kestrel, Lapwing, Little Owl, Long tailed Tit, Pheasant, Pink footed Goose, Red Kite, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Teal, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (89/200)

Blue Tit

Brambling ♀

Brambling ♂

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Greenfinch ♂

Reed Bunting ♂

I was expecting sunshine today, but when I looked out this morning, it was all fog, and lots of it, the weather app was wrong again, but I was here so out I went, and my first port of call was the East Lea site, a members only site.

On arrival the fog was still hanging around, the pond was frozen over, only birds around the edge were Moorhen, birds in the air were, Herring Gulls, Woodpigeon, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wren, Goldfinch, and Long tailed Tit. I moved on around to the Filey Dams site, but it was the same problem here as East Lea. Birds in the trees were Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, and Tree Sparrow.

According to the weather app the fog was supposed to burn off at about noon, so I decided on going into Filey and around the Country Park Area. Oystercatchers were the first birds I saw at the park but looking thru them I saw, Redshanks and a couple of Turnstones. After parking up I headed out towards Carr Naze, I left the camera, thought it was too misty. Around the cliffs were Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipits.

I then I went down on to the beach, the mist had started to lift, I was hoping to get under the fog. There were Sanderling running around the beach, I had a great time with these little birds, watching them run around and taking photos, they came so close. I then went on to bay corner were there were Redshank, Turnstone and Purple Sandpipers, but sadly the tide was coming in, so I had to retreat, so I went back to the car and dumped the camera for the scope. Scoping the bay I picked up on two Great Northern Divers, a Canada Goose, Herring Gulls, Great Black Backed Gulls, and a few Shag.

After this I moved on back to the Country Park and walked on to the Rocket Pole field, after a tip off, so I finished the day on a couple of Fulmars, Sparrowhawk and sadly a brief Short eared Owl

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Birds Seen East Lea/Filey Dams: Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Stock Dove, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren

Birds Seen Filey: Black headed Gull, Canada Goose, Common Gull, Fulmar, Great Black backed Gull, Great Northern Diver, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Oystercatcher, Purple Sandpiper, Redshank, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Sanderling, Shag, Short eared Owl, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Turnstone (82/200)

Filey Dams

Filey Brigg

Sanderling

Sanderling

Well I thought I would hit Tophill Low at opening time, which was 9am, unfortunately due to heavy motorway traffic it was just after 10am. Settling in and getting the gear together, I then decided on doing the ‘D’ reservoir, with the scope first.

Lots of wildfowl were present on ‘D’ reservoir, so I started scanning, Pochard, Wigeon, Goldeneye, Shoveler, Gadwall in smaller numbers were Coots, Cormorants, Mallard, Little and Great Crested Grebes, Greylag and Canada Geese, it wasn’t until after about an hour of scanning that I found the Male Smew, been a while since I’d seen one of these, so good connect again, it was about dinner time now, so I moved out, stopping at the feeders first seeing Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbird and Robin.

I went back to the car had some dinner and swapped scope for camera, then headed off towards the ‘O’ reservoir. I took in all the various hides on the way, but there was nothing present, I managed to see a flock of Goldfinch, Robin and Chaffinch, but nothing on the waters, due to the ice, also heard a Cetti’s Warbler.

The ‘O’ reservoir held a large amount of wildfowl, just like the ‘O’ reservoir, there were good numbers of Teal on here along with, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, a few Pintail and lots of Coots.

I then walked around the ‘O’ reservoir hides and had the same problem here as with the previous hides, ice. I also moved on to the Watton Hide , here I found birds, Teal, Mallard, Mute Swan and a Male Goosander. Moving on then back to the ‘D’ reservoir and the newer hide, but saw nothing new from here, so I moved onto the North Marsh Hide, bumping into a couple of Roe Deer on the way, it was ice free here, but no birds. I went back too the Reception Hide and the feeders , adding Dunnock and Treecreeper to the list.

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Birds seen at Tophill: Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Canada Goose, Chaffinch, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Goose, Herring Gull, Little Grebe, Mallard, Mute Swan, Pintail, Pochard, Robin, Shoveler, Smew, Teal, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Wigeon (29) 68/200

Thought I’d go down to Old Moor, for a change, but mainly to get the bird tally up and running, and with the weather forecast for snow, I knew I wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.

The Tree Sparrow farm was the first port of call, with camera in hand, first glimpse around it looked like things had been updated a bit with new feeding areas, with new set ups, which looked a bit more photography friendly. There were a few photographers and a good selection of birds about with Pheasant, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, and Bullfinch.

My next move was the path down towards the Reedbed hide, down here I came across a few Redwings and a single Mistle Thrush. At the hide were Mute Swan, Gadwall, Wigeon, Little Grebe, a pair of Common Buzzard, Coot and Stock Dove.

My next port of call was the wader scrape hide, where I was hoping for Caspian Gull, unfortunately there were none, but on the mere were Herring Gull, Great Black backed Gull, and Black headed Gulls, also on the mere were Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Gadwall and Pied Wagtail.

The final hide of the day was Wath Ings hide, where I added Shelduck to the day list along with Little Egret, Grey Heron and Common Gull

Video of the Day can be seen HERE

Bird List : Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Black backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Little Egret, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Stock Dove, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (41) (43/200)

Redwing

Bullfinch

Reed Bunting

Blue Tit

Two weeks without birding and getting out is like chopping your arms off, I do struggle with my health during the winter months, I had to force myself to do it, it was Old Moor again, a safe place to be.

Plan of attack, after going thru the hub, was the Sparrow Farm first, due to a reported Brambling, thrn onto Reedbed Hide area for reported Bearded Tit, then dinner, then Wath Ings and finally Wader Scrape.

So Tree Sparrow Farm, alas no Tree Sparrows’ anymore, but there were Pheasants, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting ♂♀, Woodpigeon and Green Woodpecker, alas no Brambling.

So then it was on to Reedbed Hide with reports of Bearded Tit, still about and showing, but on approach, there was a good number of people about hanging around the reported area, too near I think, the birds weren’t showing, I hung back and settled on the nearby benches and waited, the people moved away and I waited more, unfortunately the birds didn’t show. I walked on down to the hide, were Gadwall, Wigeon, Shoveler, Coot, Little Grebe, Mute Swan were all viewable, also a distant Marsh Harrier and Sparrowhawk.

On my return walk, I saw that there were no people around the Bearded Tit site, so I had another go, it was a little windy now, so I concentrated on the reed bottoms, has I thought the birds would be remaining low due to the wind, the Bearded Tits, showed themselves eventually low down in the reeds, scurrying around the reed base.

After dinner, I moved onto the wader scrape hide, on my approach I saw a bird of prey going over the pathway on approach to the hide, I only saw the underside of the bird, I guessed at Sparrowhawk, however a guy in the hide said it was a Peregrine. From the hide the usual wildfowl were about, I’d already seen Shelduck, other species were Great Black backed Gull, Cormorant, and Teal.

Down at the Wath Ings Hide, highlights were a Green Sandpiper, Pied Wagtail, Lapwing with six Grey Herons

Bird List : Bearded Tit, Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black backed Gull, Great Tit, Green Sandpiper, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Little Grebe, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Teal, Wigeon (40)

Blue Tit

Dunnock

Reed Bunting

Green Sandpiper

Back to Old Moor, been about a month now since my last visit now, so was good to be back on site. Tree Sparrow Farm feeders was my first stop, seemed quiet on approach, then birds started to appear Pheasant, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Dunnock and Robin all putting in an appearance.

Moving off then and headed in the direction of Wath Ings, seeing a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying over the path, giving off that typical undulating flight path as it made its way across and into the trees. At Wath Ings were plenty of birds about, Lapwing, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Black headed Gull, Pied Wagtail. Wader Scrape Hide was my next stop where gulls were on the menu, Black headed, Herring, Common, Lesser Black backed and Great Black backed Gulls along with Cormorants, Little Grebe, Wigeon, Shoveler, Gadwall and Mallard.

After dinner Stonechat was my target bird, so I headed off in the direction of the Bittern Hide, has this was the area the birds were hanging around in. Viewing from the hide, a Kestrel was a nice find, sitting on one of the fence posts, before flying off, but no Stonechat from here, so I headed off along the path towards the Bus Stop hide.

Looking continually over the reeds and willow trees for any movement, after the “S” bends down and then along the straight, scanning again of the reed bed, then, it gave itself up. a male Stonechat, flicking up from its perch and landing nearby, a lovely sight, love a Stonechat.

Reedbed hide was my final stop of the day, there were lots of wildfowl from here, mainly, Gadwall, Wigeon and Coots, time was up coffee was calling

Bird List : Black headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Black backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black backed Gull, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Shoveler, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Teal, Wigeon, Woodpigeon (37)

Gadwall ♂

Wigeon ♂

Little Egret

Stonechat ♂

Stonechat ♂

A return to the local reserve, after a long absence, February I think was the last time I was here, so long overdue.

I did have a target species however and it was from the bridge, that I was hoping to see it , so that was the first port of call. I headed off, seeing very little on route as I made my way thru the reserve Robin, Crow and Magpies being seen. Viewing from the bridge, it was a few minutes before I found the target, tucked in on the left bank of the river, a single Dipper, there has been two about, but I only saw one today, then out the corner of my eye, a blue flash, going up the right side of the river, it landed in the river side trees, I was able to pick out a Kingfisher, distant, but a lovely sight to see.

Down at the ski lake, lots of Black headed Gulls, with Lesser Black backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and Common Gulls, Goldeneye were now present for the winter, along with Tufted Duck and Mallard, Down on the river again were a couple of female Goosanders, with Great Tit, Blue Tit and a Treecreeper in the nearby tree, and a flock of Long tailed Tit. It was also nice to find a Episyrphus balteatus Hoverfly along the riverside vegetation.

Bird List : Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Cormorant, Dipper, Goldeneye, Goosander, Great Tit, Kingfisher, Lesser Black backed Gull, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Robin, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren (20)

Episyrphus balteatus Hoverfly