Tophill re-visited....16.02.2013.

Grey Heron,North marsh.

The 'Unusual' Common Buzzard.

Goldeneye,'D' Res.

Snowdrops.

Hempholme Lock and the River Hull.

Hempholme Lock and the River Hull.

Redhead Smew,Watton NR.

Lesser Redpoll,North Lagoon.

Lesser Redpoll,North Lagoon.

A full day out today with Chris,saw us making another visit to the superb Tophill Low near Watton village in East Yorkshire and it again paid dividends with some excellent birding and wildlife watching on offer.On arrival along the approach road we saw a single Barn Owl perched along a hawthorn hedgerow,probably the same bird as on my last visit and 3 Brown Hare were on the fields.After purchasing our day permits,we decided to make our way to D-res hide first to see if there was a remote chance the drake Ring-necked Duck may have reappeared.After much scanning of the res all we could find was the Lesser Scaup type hybrid still with his Tufted Duck buddies,3 Pintail(2m,1f) and 54 Goldeneye.As we left D hide the weather was beginning to brighten up at last and as we made our way around to North marsh it was positively spring like with much birdsong and good numbers of Snowdrops on show.North marsh was as productive as ever,with the only birds of note an adult Grey Heron flying along the river and 4 Redpoll.Hempholme Lock was our next destination and by this time it was wall to wall sunshine,with more signs of spring here including singing Skylarks and displaying Lapwings.Another Barn Owl was watched hunting along the nearby meadow and a couple of Common Buzzard took advantage of the available thermals,this included the unusually marked adult which is often seen in the area and 3 drake Goldeneye were on the river here.Mammal interest here,as on my last visit,included Roe deer,with only one seen on this occasion,always nice to see.As we made our way back towards the car park,a juvenile type Marsh Harrier flew steadily west,a nice addition to the days bird sightings.After taking off a few layers and a chance meeting with our friend Martin,we all headed for 'O' res after a local birder had found a Great-northern Diver.After much initial scanning we all eventually connected with it,but it wasn't an easy bird to observe as it constantly dived for food,the first record here since 2002 and a great bonus for us on our visit today.The reservoir was carpeted with Wigeon and we managed to see the Leucistic bird which has been around along with at least 6 Pintail and a good number of Teal also.The final area we looked at was the excellent Watton Borrow Pits reserve and there were lesser numbers of wildfowl here than on previous visits,but we did manage to see the Redhead Smew which flew in and preened,before heading for the bankside to rest.Also here were 46 Curlew and further signs of spring in the form of a pair of Oystercatcher and 3 Common Buzzard soared over the surrounding farmland.As we made our way back to the car park a small flock of about 20 Lesser Redpoll were encountered feeding on the roadside and in the roadside alders,giving superb views and allowing some opportunities to obtain some images.There were a few interesting individuals,but on studying the images were probably just Lesser type variations,not the easiest of subjects at the best of times.So what a great days birding this cracking reserve provided us with today and i doubt it will be long before we are back again,a big thanks to Catkin for driving.