Tag Archives: wildlife

Bramblings Galore

Posted on January 7, 2024 | Leave a comment

I was a little bit stuck this time for my outing, due to the water levels and the floods, so I opted for North Cave Wetlands and hopefully share in the sightings of the reported Bramblings there.

I arrived on site at about 8:30am to a nice sunrise, so a dry day might be in favour. Got the gear together and set off down the East path towards the maize field feeders, but stopped off at the East Hide first, to very little excitement, Mute Swans, Teal and Mallards being of note. Carrying on then down to the feeders, and hopefully the target bird. On arrival I picked up straight away, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Tree Sparrow, Robin, Blackbird and Dunnock, no Brambling, so I waited, the feeders are near the road, so I thought that this may have sent the Bramblings elsewhere, but I needn’t have worried, ten minutes and the Bramblings showed up, and in good numbers too, a number I hadn’t seen for a long time.

After the spectacle of the Bramblings, I called in at the Turret Hide and hopefully a Bittern. The Bittern wasn’t to be today only Sheep, a Highland Cow, Dunnock and a Wren. So moving swiftly on and down towards the Reedbed and Far Lakes seeing Rooks, Crows, and Jackdaws for my trouble of negotiating the very muddy pathway, only birds seen down here from the hide were battling Coots. Moving on again and towards the Far Lake, I picked up on a Goldcrest moving along the nearby hedgerow, I stopped once again at the seat down here and the nearby feeders to enjoy Long tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Greenfinch.

A small crowd had gathered half way down the path, I pulled up to and started to watch more Bramblings, it was enjoyable here as the birds were more in their natural habitat, rather than around feeders. Moving on again I stopped down at the corner, where you can look over Crossland Lake, here I found Lapwing and an Egyptian Goose. Carp Lake held a good number of wildfowl namely, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Shoveler, Wigeon and Teal. it was dinner time.

After dinner I decided on walking down Dryham Lane and towards the new workings, Cell 1a and Cell 2a. I found a few new bird species for the day along here, Pochard, Shelduck. Little Egret, Marsh Harrier ♀, Kestrel and Bullfinch.

Video of the Day can be seen by pressing THIS

Bird List for the Day : Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Brambling, Bullfinch, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Dunnock, Egyptian Goose, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Kestrel, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pochard, Robin, Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shelduck, Shoveler, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren (42)

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Tagged birds, Brambling, goldfinch, nature, north-cave-wetlands, olympus-om1, photography, wildlife

West Coast Tour

Posted on January 1, 2024 | Leave a comment

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)

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Tagged birding, birds, black-throated-diver, general, hen-harrier, parkgate, rspb-burton-mere, wildlife

Glossy Ibis

Posted on December 16, 2023 | Leave a comment

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

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Tagged birding, birds, blacktoft-sands, glossy-ibis, sightings, st-aidans, wildlife

A New Reserve

Posted on November 25, 2023 | Leave a comment

Sprotborough Flash, managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, at Sprotborough near Doncaster, was to be my first port of call today, a new reserve for me and I was looking forward to the experience.

A small car park, fit about a dozen on estimate, located near the Boat Inn, I got the gear together and off I went. There is a well tarmacked path, this being the Trans Pennine Trail route, so with this comes a few cyclists coming thru, this is next to the river, where there happened to be Cormorants, Black headed Gulls, and a Grey Heron, a few Crows flying over. I was soon at the first screen , which overlooks the flash, where I didn’t see anything. I moved on to the next hide, which I think is called the Kingfisher Hide, the hides being more of an open hide, no back but seating, on my approach, I was beckoned over by one of the locals who put me on to a Kingfisher, goes with the name of the hide, it was in view but sat in the middle of the bush, very much obscured by branches. Other delights from here were Bank Voles, a lifer for me :), very near the hide, scurrying around in the bramble patch, Robin, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Mallard, Cormorants, Grey Heron, Greylag Geese, Mute Swan and Gadwall were all seen from here.

I moved on towards the next hide, Heron Hide, same arrangement here as with the Kingfisher hide, here I saw Jay, Great Tit, Blue Tit and heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker, not much action from here, so I decided on moving on to to get to now more of the reserve, the wooded side needed to be explored. Well the woods didn’t hold my attention, I was struggling for species, only coming across Robin, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Long tailed Tit and Great Tit, so on that note I moved on back towards the flash, especially the kingfisher hide, maybe better views this time.

The Kingfisher wasn’t about but the Bank Vole was more out in the open now, giving better views and better photo opportunities, also here were the Robins, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Dunnock and on the approach to the hide a flock of Siskins.

I had a great first visit to Sprotborough Flash, some nice wildlife and friendly people, but it was now time to head north to RSPB Blacktoft Sands for the raptor roost. i checked in at the reception hide and got the necessary info on the target species, Hen Harrier, there were three birds coming thru the reserve, including a Male bird, over the last two week, was my luck going to be in?

I firstly went to the new hide, Reedling, since this was my first visit since it was put in place. A big hide, two tiers, giving great views across the whole reserve. There was very little bird action, on my visit, there was however Mute Swans, Common Snipe, Little Grebe, Mallards, and Shoveler.

Time was moving on, so I decided on moving down to Townend Hide, to settle in for the roost. I waited in anticipation for the returning Hen Harriers, but it wasn’t to be, not on my shift, it was busy however with Marsh Harrier and I had a quick glimpse of a Barn Owl.

Video of the day can be seen by pressing THIS

Sprotborough Bird List ; Blackbird, Black headed Gull, Blue Tit, Crow, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Jackdaw, Jay, Kingfisher, Long tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Robin, Shoveler, Siskin, Teal, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon

Blacktoft Sands Bird List ; Barn Owl, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Gadwall. Little Egret, Little Grebe, Magpie, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Snipe, Starling, Woodpigeon