Humberston - Tetney....Sunday 28.04.2013.

After visiting Grimsby this morning i decided to travel the short journey over to Humberston and walk all the way up to Tetney sluice and back.I saw some nice bits,the best of which was a stonking male Redstart sheltering from the blustery south westerly wind.He was watched in flight and perched on 3 occasions before disappearing,what a lovely bird!.Along the same area of bushes and up to Tetney 10 Whitethroat,20 Swallow,2 Common Buzzard overhead and 5 Whimbrel were seen and another first for the year was seen at the sluice at Tetney,3 Common Sandpiper 'Teetering' along the shore there.They gave nice views,a lovely bird species and i always enjoy to see them whether in the uplands or on migration along the coast or wetlands.On the yacht club pools,a single Sand Martin hawked for insects and a couple of Drake Wigeon showed brilliantly along with a single Dark-bellied Brent Goose.A nice few hours,with a change of scenery.

Drake Wigeon,Humberston Yacht Club Pools.

Drake Wigeon,Humberston Yacht Club Pools.

Male Chaffinch,Tetney.

Swallow,Tetney.

Common Sandpiper,Tetney Sluice.

Mediterranean stunner.....21.04.2013.

After hearing the previous evening that a male Subalpine Warbler had been found at Gibralter Point..i had been determined to put the bird out of my mind,as i needed to add this super species to my Linc's List.So sunday dawned and i was happily working on the computer editing photos from the previous days outing when i received a text from Karen to say it was still there!.So i got the kit together and made the journey over to Gib through all the bloody Sunday traffic,that was entertaining to say the least,the only compensation was a Merlin dashing across the fields near Burgh-Le-Marsh.When i eventually arrived on site,i paid my parking fee and met up with Karen and Simon before we made our way over to Tennyson's north hide were the bird had been residing.Within ten minutes we were watching our first Subalpine Warbler for Lincolnshire.He showed admirably infront of the hide at first before moving further away,giving superb views of the birds salient features,but a nightmare for the AF on the camera to lock on as there always seemed to be branches in the way as the bird fed all the time in buckthorn bushes.I managed to get some record shots all the same.The bird was heard to call and also frequently sang as it looked for food,what a little cracker!!.I'm no expert but the bird looked like it may be a 2nd calendar year and not an adult male due to plumage characters.After getting our fill of this stunning bird,we walked around the reserve seeing and hearing a couple of 'Firsts' for the year in the form of Whimbrel and Lesser Whitethroat and 3 Jay were seen flying south along the dunes.The only other highlight was a 2nd calendar year Med. Gull which was also seen on Tennyson's.A good few hours out and great to see another Subalp.

2nd calendar year Med.Gull.

MSQ......What A Day!,20.04.2013.

As i have often done in the past,i finished nights today,went home had an hours kip and woke up to wall to wall sun,so i decided to head for Messingham again.At last spring had arrived properly and i parked a short way from the reserve to view the sheep fields and new sand workings.Highlights here consisted of two 'Firsts' for the year in the form of a Cuckoo and a lovely male Whitethroat.The Cuckoo was just observed in flight,but the Whitethroat performed admirably,catching insects and sub singing.Also on the nearby fields,several nesting and displaying Lapwings were seen along with 3 Yellow Wagtail,6 Common Buzzard taking advantage of the now rising thermals and a flyover Little-ringed Plover.So after this good start i made the short hop over to the reserve proper.As i parked up,a further 6 Common Buzzard were seen,with some of the birds being the ones i had seen earlier,but great to see in the fantastic light.A quick check on the Grebe lake revealed nothing out of the ordinary,but a little further on just past the dipping platform another 'First' for the year was seen,a singing male Reed Warbler.This bird didn't show particularly well,but later in the day another gave great views from the mound on the way down to the wader hide.Nothing unusual in the plantation today,but on the other side another singing male Whitethroat gave stunning views and i managed to get some great images of this individual.On arrival at the duck hide,i again managed to find the 2 female Scaup,one of which looked like it was paired up to a male Tufted Duck,that should make for some interesting young later in the year.The only other bird of note here was a single drake Wigeon.After a text from Dave we met up and carried on looking around this cracking reserve,eventually ending up down at the wader hide,on route seeing another 'First' in the form of a 2nd calendar year Hobby,my earliest personal record.It was watched hawking fly's,with fantastic aerial prowess,what a superb species they are!.Today was the best day i have had so far this year for insects,with the highlights being provided by my 'First' Brimstone and Green-veined Whites of the year,at least 10 Peacock and several Bee-Fly's.There were quite a lot of Toads active today and i also managed to see a couple of juvenile Common Frogs.So all in all,what a superb day and i returned home a bit tired,but very happy.

Bee Fly.

Defensive Common Toad.

Singing male Whitethroat.

Male Whitethroat.

Peacock Butterfly.

Distant Hobby.

Black-headed Gulls.

Reed Warbler.

Tophill visit cut short....and Flamborough Mega,15.04.2013.

With again the prospect of a decent forecast,i planned to spend a full day around the excellent Tophill Low in East York's...how things changed!.I arrived at Tophill nice and early and first of all i checked 'D' res to see if the Ring-necked Duck was still present,but i gave it a pretty good scan and couldn't see him.Birds present included at least 40 Sand Martin,3 Swallow and 2 House Martin taking advantage of all the flying insect prey and on the res itself,36 Goldeneye and a Drake Goosander were seen.I then did what i normally do on my visits and walked around the whole perimeter of the res and including Hempholme Lock.Plenty of warblers were present today around the res and in 'D' res woods and included 5 male Blackcap,3 Willow Warbler and 3 Chiffchaff and overhead the best included an adult male Marsh Harrier,flying south over the fields,2 Yellow Wagtail,4 Redwing,4 Siskin and 14 Lesser Redpoll.On North marsh i looked yet again for Otters,but again didn't see any,but some compensation was had in the form of my first Grass Snake of the year watched swimming across the pool here and in the adjacent scrub a singing male Willow Tit was nice to see and a ghostly Barn Owl was seen on a couple of occasions also.At Hempholme the best bird was a Peregrine flying over to the east,and a single Kingfisher and 2 Sand Martin were seen along the River Hull.I gradually made my way back and then went to look for the Red-necked Grebe on 'O' res.After bumping into fellow birder and photographer Dave Mansell,i picked the bird up distantly sleeping on the res and after speaking to Dave he said it had just caught a large Perch and thus was digesting it.We both went our separate ways until...bang!!,a text message from Karen said there was a Drake Baikal Teal at Flamborough!!.I then got all my camera gear together and dashed back to the car park,telling Dave along the way and we made our way to Flamborough as quick as we could.We got stuck behind every bloody red light,slow driver and roadworks possible,but eventually arrived on site.But the news wasn't good,the bird had flown off towards Old Fall and was on a roadside flash there.More panic ensued until i met a local birder and he said it had just flown back to Northcliffe Marsh...phewee.We all dashed down to the viewing screen and there he was,what a stonking duck!!.I then spent the next 2 hours watching this siberian stunner as it fed and loafed on the small marsh and pools along with 3 Wigeon and 3 Teal.Incidentally,the finder,Flamborough stalwart Brett Richards had seen a 'Funny' duck flypast him while seawatching and went to Northcliffe marsh were he had seen it head,imagine his surprise when he saw what it was..amazing!.This if accepted,will be a new bird for myself and the first record for Yorkshire of this supremely gorgeous duck.After all the excitement i made my way slowly back to the car park at North Landing,taking in the stunning cliff top scenery and seeing a few migrants which included my first Wheatears of the year(1 male and 2 females) and a cracking male White Wagtail,while on the sea 9 Eider were present along with the usual seabirds.So what a day,pretty hectic at times,but i'm a happy boy.

Lots of insect prey for the summer visitors at the side of 'D'Res.

Mistle Thrush,'D' Res.

Ghost in the 'D' Res Woods.

Coltsfoot,'O' Reservoir.

Drake Baikal Teal record shot,Northcliffe Marsh,Flamborough.

Drake Baikal Teal record shot,Northcliffe Marsh,Flamborough.

Breil Nook,Flamborough.

Breil Nook,Flamborough.

MSQ Again....

With the continuation of a Southerly air flow and some fairly decent weather conditions i headed for MSQ again today and it certainly proved a good choice.After meeting up with fellow birder Chris Atkin we had the fortune of seeing our only migratory eagle species.We were sat in the wader hide when all of a sudden all the birds present scattered in all directions,i then managed to spot the cause of their panic...a superb Osprey.We watched as it flew over the entrance to the sand works and continued steadily west being seen passing over the plantation and then sadly lost to view.Not the greatest views i have had of an Osprey,but beggars can't be choosers.We decided to look from the higher elevation of the duck hide just in case the bird reappeared again,but sadly it didn't.While we scanned the lake from our vantage point,several goodies were seen and included 3 Pink-footed Geese and a single White-fronted Goose,the Pinks probably being genuine wild birds,but the White-front is a feral bird and has been associating with the Greylag flock for a couple of years now.Two female Scaup were still present and a few hirundines which included 8 Swallow,10 Sand and 4 House Martin were hawking insects over the lake.A couple of first records for the year came in the form of 2 male Blackcap and 2 male Willow Warbler and straggling winter visitors still hanging on like the Scaup included a single Brambling,9 Redwing and 2 Siskin in the plantation.A few non bird highlights were seen today which included my first Comma of the year on the edge of the plantation and amphibians were well represented with about 25 Common Toad and a single female Smooth Newt.A cracking few hours again at this gem of a reserve.

Singing male Chiffchaff.

Singing male Chiffchaff.

Female Smooth Newt.

Messingham migrants......12.04.2013.

After having a particularly crap day at work,Trace and myself decided to have a wander around the reserve at Messingham before tea.The weather wasn't particularly brilliant again,but at least it was dry and a little warmer.Looking for the hoped for Otter's around grebe lake drew a blank,but nearby a northbound flock of 54 Redwing passed overhead.As we made our way past the dipping platform,my first spring migrant of the new season was encountered,a single Chiffchaff,singing its head off.It was a great chance to study its plumage characters in the not than ideal light conditions,with the new bins really showing why they are the best money can buy!.The Chiffie was the first of 8 seen and heard around the reserve today,but was the only warbler species observed,i guess that will all change as soon as we get some southerly air flow.We carried on through the reserve until we reached the main lake and it was here,as on most visits that all the best birds were observed.The best of the sightings here went to a mixed flock of hirundines,which consisted of 10 Sand Martin,1 House Martin and 2 Swallow,really nice to see at last after all the cold weather we have been experiencing.They were watched as they hawked for insects over the water,before they all headed in the same direction,west over the fields.Wildfowl wise,the best bird was a single female Scaup associating with the Aythya flock and gave distant views,but the white blaze at the bill base really stood out.A flock of 36 Wigeon were also present amongst the Teal and Gadwall.The only raptor seen was a single Common Buzzard over the fields to the west of the reserve.Non bird highlights today included some spawning Common Frogs and my first Buff-tailed Bumble-Bees.Some spring colour was provided by the first Marsh Marigolds beginning to flower.A nice visit again to this brilliant little reserve.

Stunning Oldsquaw And Bempton Seabirds.....06.04.2013.

With a decent forecast and a full day to myself i headed for York's and enjoyed a great day out with the camera.I started proceedings at a bright and sunny Hornsea Mere hoping to see the reported adult drake Long-tailed Duck.I spent at least 30 minutes looking for him to start with,but could'nt see him,so i concentrated on looking around the surrounding area before returning for another look.No real highlights were seen,but plenty of display and chasing was going on between the wildfowl and gulls present.At least 30 plus Goldeneye were still here and should be returning north in the near future along with the Oldsquaw.I returned back to look again for the main target and thankfully he was on view.As i watched him, waiting for him to move in closer,i bumped into Dave Mansell and we talked about hiring a rowing boat and rowing out to this cracker.It was a bit like a funny sketch from something like Monty Python as we made our way around the lake,but we did manage to obtain some decent shots of this cracking male,a big thanks must go to Dave for rowing and doing all the hard work.After enjoying the Long-tailed Duck i travelled the short journey over to Bempton RSPB and spent the remainder of the day watching and attempting to capture some images of the resident seabirds and the tamest Tree Sparrows i have ever come across.Some lovely views were enjoyed of the Gannets which included nest building,displaying and some nice,close flypasts and equally excellent views were had of Fulmar,Kittiwake,Guillemot and Razorbills,but no Puffins sadly today.A superb visit was enjoyed to this seabird city and the sights and sounds were brilliant.A great day out in the home county.

Male Pied Wagtail,Hornsea Mere.

Courting Mallards,Hornsea Mere.

Drake Long-tailed Duck,Hornsea Mere.

Tree Sparrow,Bempton RSPB.

Fulmar,Bempton RSPB.

Displaying Gannet,Bempton RSPB.

Adult Gannet,Bempton RSPB.

Adult Gannet with nest material.