A Testing Day.....23.11.2013.

A joint decision between Chris and myself to firstly visit the NNR at Saltfleetby/Theddlethorpe and then finish the day watching the gulls etc. at Covenham resulted in a tough days birding.The forecast had stated cloudy,but dry for the day and it pretty much drizzled occasionally right from the off and a persistent spell of drizzle gave us a proper soaking while walking back to the car park at Rimac....thanks BBC!.But enough whingeing about the weather now for the proper stuff.The drive to the coast got us a couple of notable sightings in the form of a single Barn Owl between Tetney and North Cotes and a flyover Woodcock as we drove through North Somercotes another Barnie being seen later in the day near to Covenham Res.On arriving at Rimac we made the decision to walk through the dunes to Churchill road and then south along the beach to the Brickyard lane area and then back north along the tide edge and back to Rimac car park,pretty much covering most of the NNR.The walk through the dunes provided little in the way of surprises,with small numbers of Blackbirds,1 Great-spotted Woodpecker,35 Chaffinch,1 Goldcrest a single Common Buzzard and a Chiffie calling which we never managed to see.As we walked out onto the beach at Churchill,we were greeted by the usual gathering of Corvids which inhabit this area in winter,but a thorough search revealed no Hooded Crow's.As we walked south a nice flock of 64 Twite were encountered and showed very nicely,a good look through them revealed no colour ringed birds.The only other highlight here being a single Lapland Bunting flying south overhead.We walked the relatively short distance to the tide edge and enjoyed a brief spell of sunshine and i tried my best to get some images of the hyper active Sanderling present.A few bits were seen over the sea and included several Red-throated Diver,a handfull of Common Scoter and Gannets and 5 Great-crested Grebe,but we didn't really give it much effort to be fair.A walk back towards land and through the developing foreshore revealed no Buntings surprisingly.Not one Lapland Bunting,this site used to be guaranteed for them once upon a time,all we managed was at least 10 Rock Pipits and a single Pintail for our troubles and then the rain set in.We finally made it back to the car,a little sodden to say the least,but at least the new Neoprene wellies had,had a good field test and passed with flying colours.We then drove over to Covenham and got wrapped up again and made our way around the res.The first good birds i came across were a couple of Common Scoter,1 an adult female with a bright white face patch,the other a juv. type with a much duskier face patch.We watched them as they dived for food,with that distinct diving action and their spiky tails showing on every dive.The impressive sight of 142 Cormorant flying around the res caught our eyes and made us think that their must some fish population in there.The sound of mobbing Corvids,saw us watching 2 Common Buzzards getting some unwanted attention from a flock of Rooks,with a further 2 being seen hunting patiently from their perches on the adjacent fields.Back to the res and several scans revealed no Red-necked Grebe nor Long-tailed Duck today,but some decent counts of wildfowl were logged and included 50 Great-crested Grebe,30 Goldeneye,176 Tufted Duck,8 Little Grebe,18 Redshank and 6 Dunlin.As time was wearing on the gulls began to arrive and as we scanned through them a Drake Goosander had appeared on the bank side,no doubt moving from the nearby Louth Canal.Much scanning of the gulls saw another Med Gull being logged,a nice adult and an unusual Common Gull with all white primaries on one wing and 3 adult Lesser black backed Gull's joined the masses of Common Gulls.A couple of Roe Deer on the adjoining fields was the only non-avian highlight here.As we journeyed home,we reflected on what a tough day it had been,finding little at a place where we expected to see some good birds,but such is birding and it's not always predictable.Thanks again to Chris for driving.

Sanderling,Saltfleetby and Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR.

Sanderling,Saltfleetby and Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR.

Sanderling,Saltfleetby and Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR.

1st calendar year Gannet,Saltfleetby and Theddlethorpe Dunes NNR.

Super Serin and Hornsea highlights......17.11.2013.

After hearing on the Bird Information Services that the 1st winter male Serin was still present near Flamborough village on Saturday,Chris and myself headed up to the Yorkshire coast in search of this little Mediterranean stunner.The journey up was pretty trouble free apart from a few misty patches and as we arrived it was just beginning to get light properly.After having a quick drink and something to scoff we made our way around to the birds chosen weedy field.At first no birds were to be seen for the first 15 minutes,but after a little encouragement the bird immediately appeared flying around calling.It eventually settled again,but out of sight in the tall vegetation and was loosely associating with a small flock of about 20 Goldfinch.We patiently waited as the bird occasionally called and then suddenly the whole flock flew up did a couple of circuits and luckily this time landed in the hedge bordering the field.At last we managed some good views as the bird perched in full view showing his streaky plumage and yellowish ear covert surround and face,a little beauty!.We walked nearer and managed some better views before all the birds flew back into the field to feed.After enjoying these good views of the bird and after seeing a female Roe Deer in an adjacent field,we made our way back to the car,when a fellow birder called out a Firecrest.It was watched feeding with a tit flock in the tops of the trees on the edge of the Millennium wood and gave some nice views before disappearing again,a very nice bonus.After our great start to the day we decided to celebrate with a visit to the Cliff end cafe...it had to be done.We planned to visit Hornsea for the rest of the day and that is were we headed next.The relatively short journey was only held up by the usual 'Sunday' drivers and on arrival at the main car park,the first goodie of our visit was seen a Black Swan...ahem!.We got the gear together and within 30 minutes we had seen the female Long-tailed Duck and 1 Great-white Egret and also a colour-ringed adult Black-headed Gull with the inscription Y20 on a white colour ring on it's Left leg,silver BTO ring on the right.The LTD we only managed distant views of all day,but the Egret showed pretty well and better was to come later.As we scanned around from Kirkholme Point we added a drake Goosander,10 Egyptian Geese and another Great-white Egret to the days sightings.The Egyptian Geese not being particularly common in E. Yorks.After watching the original GWE which was loafing on one of the islands it then flew and joined the second bird right in the far corner of the mere,two birds together was a first for both Chris and myself and was great to see.After spending a good hour from our viewpoint it was time for another cuppa and of course we had to have a cake as well,the cafe being well worth a visit in the future for the staff alone.We then made our way around to the far side of the mere and walk the fields to see what we could find.The first bird we saw as we walked through the gate was a cracking close flyby from one of the Great-white Egrets from earlier before it again disappeared later being seen perched atop one of the tall trees on one of the islands.Our walk along the fields revealed a single Chiffchaff feeding in one of the reedbeds and a single juv/1st winter Scaup flew in to join a mixed flock of Tufties and Pochard.As the afternoon progressed some decent numbers of gulls began to arrive to bathe and roost and Chris managed to pick out 2 Med Gulls,the first a 2nd winter bird flew in bathed and then flew north east out towards the sea,the second bird an adult flew in and remained on the mere to roost.It was great to see these two Meds and i always like to see them even if they are commoner nowadays.Much searching through the good numbers of larger gull species revealed nothing of note.As the light began to deteriorate we made our way back to the car after another great day out in this fine county.

1st winter Common Gull.

Record shot of one of the Great-white Egrets.

Messingham Bits....

After arriving home from our little trip to Manchester,the weather didn't look to bad,so i decided to have a wander around Messingham Sand Quarries.
 After getting a few layers on due to the Man flu,i began to explore this gem of a reserve.A quick look for the recent Otters that have been seen on the Grebe lake revealed nothing more than a couple of Mute Swan and a distant flash of electric blue as a Kingfisher flew around the bottom end of the lake.As i walked along the many paths i checked for any insects that may still be active and eventually found a couple of Troilus luridus soaking up the autumnal sunshine along with a Birch Shieldbug.Other insects seen included a hand full of Queen Common Wasps,no doubt feeding up before they're hibernation.While looking for bugs,a good sized flock of Redpolls were encountered around the heathy area,but were a nightmare to get to grips with,being very flighty,but all the birds i got good views of looked like Lesser's.After arriving at the main lake,the best of the birds present was a drake Pintail,still acquiring his breeding finery and he showed fairly well.Very little else was seen around the remainder of the reserve,but it made a nice change to visit this cracking little reserve again.

Shieldbug sp. Troilus luridus.

Birch Shieldbug.

Drake Pintail.

Super Tophill......09.11.2013.

A change of scenery today saw Chris and myself heading for the excellent Yorkshire Water reserve at Tophill Low.We chose this site as we always seem to have a great all round day when we visit and today was no exception.After arriving and paying for our day permits,a Grey Wagtail and a couple of Siskin flew overhead as we got our gear together and we then decided to began proceedings by looking on D-res.It was excellent light for searching through the good numbers of Wildfowl present with at least 100 Wigeon,an impressive 365 Tufted Duck,only 7 Pochard and 15 Goldeneye,my first of the autumn/winter period.In the D-res car park hide we found 2 Small Tortoiseshell and a single Peacock Butterfly hibernating,a nice sight to see.After walking down the side of D'res and into 'D' woods,it soon became apparent that there was some good numbers of small birds,with 2 Marsh Tit,1 Willow Tit and several Goldcrest and Treecreeper foraging together.Also in this area was a single Great-spotted Woodpecker,with his distinctive 'Tchick tchick' call.A look from North Marsh hide at first revealed what we usually see..nothing until an explosive,stuttering call revealed a female Cetti's Warbler which we got pretty good views of before she disappeared back into her scrubby marshland home,a nice surprise!.We had organised to meet local Mothers and fellow birders Martin and Doug to see what Moths they had trapped overnight and after looking through the traps,some pretty good numbers were revealed for the time of year and Chris and myself got a few new species to add to our personal lists.The species recorded included the lovely December Moth,Yellow-line Quaker,The Brick,The Chestnut,Large Wainscot representing the Macro families and from the Micro moths,two Caloptilia species,elongella and stigmatella and an Agonopterix alstromeriana.The three Micros were all new for me,as were the December Moths.I particularly liked the Caloptilia's,looking like they are on stilts when at rest,very smart!.Also noticed on one of the traps was a single Troilus luridus and on a nearby wall,the very distinctive Harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus was seen.This species rests with its legs at right angles from its body,an unusual resting pose for this family of Phalangids.This species is a colonist from the Western Mediterranean and is gradually moving north through the country.After enjoying our insect diversion with the local lads,we then decided to do our usual routine of walking down to Hempholme Lock,then up to Watton Nature reserve.Highlights seen at the two areas included 5 Little Grebe on the River Hull at Hempholme and Kingfisher at Watton and good numbers of waterfowl here,but little else.The day ended with us joining the lads again to watch the gull roost,a real treat for us as we don't really get to see such impressive numbers of gulls but after much searching,we couldn't find anything of note apart from a leucistic Black-headed Gull and a hand full of Lesser black-backed Gulls.As we wandered back to the car park in the fore casted rain,the sound of the gathering Corvid roost was a superb sound to end another great visit to this great place.A big thanks to Chris for driving and to Martin and Doug for showing us the superb moths.

Harlequin Ladybirds.

Harlequin Ladybird Pupa.

December Moth.

December Moth.

Feathered Thorn.

Feathered Thorn.

Harvestman sp.Dicranopalpus ramosus.

Shieldbug sp.Troilus Luridus.

Noon Fly.

Donna Nook.....A Cracking Day Out.....03.11.2013.

With the forecast looking good Chris and myself decided to have a full day at the superb NNR at Donna Nook and see what goodies we could turn up.
 We arrived just as the sun was rising,had a quick drink,got our layers on and began to walk North towards Pye's Hall.On the walk down to Pye's we saw our first flocks of Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans moving south totalling 53 birds and 7 respectively,3 Pale-bellied Brents were seen in with the Dark-bellied flock and a single Lap Bunt flew over calling,another single seen later on in the day and a single Pintail flew north over the beach.Two Peregrine,an adult and a juv. were perched on a wreck distantly out on the beach and shortly after as we neared Pye's,a single Merlin and male Hen Harrier were seen over Grainthorpe Marsh along with a scattering of Little Egret and Rock Pipit.As we walked out along the developing foreshore a pair of Snow Bunting flew up from our feet.They were watched distantly before flying off south along the beach,with another single seen later near Pye's.Also seen around this area was a lovely 'Charm' of 35 Goldfinch,the yellow in the wings positively glowing in the sun.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese.

South bound Pink-footed Geese.

Dark-bellied Brent Geese.

Male Snow Bunting.

Bull Grey Seal.

Whooper Swans.

Whooper Swans,showing the birds with the unusual bill patterns.

 After having a good look around the Pye's area,we then had a slow walk back towards the car and then had a quick look along the seal colony.There wasn't too many pups yet,being fairly early in the season,with only 36 being born up to date.A visit to the 'Tasty Treats' burger van was a very welcome diversion from the birding!.After a drink at the car and dumping the scopes we then decided to walk south to Quad 3.....or Area 51 as it is comically known.Very little was seen along the beach apart from small numbers of Grey Seals collecting to have their pups and we had the unfortunate sight of seeing 1 female guarding her stillborn baby from a gathering group of scavenging Great black-backed Gulls.When seeing something like this it really brings home the harsh side of the natural world,a side all the visitors to the seal colony don't often see.As we arrived at Quad 3,Chris spotted some Swans at the far end of the flashes,we quickly made our way down to see the welcome sight of a flock of 17 Whooper Swans resting and bathing on the water here.Two adult type birds had unusual bill patterns,1 confusingly similar to Bewick's Swan,with a nearly all black bill.The Swans gave superb views and it was nice to see them alongside their Mute Swan cousins,great stuff.We walked back north again the dune side this time,with the only highlights being a single Chiffie,2 Redwing and a Woodcock at Quad 2.As time was getting on we came to the decision of spending the remaining hours of sun watching from the dell,half way between Stonebridge and Pye's.As we watched both sides of the dune,the tide was beginning to rise and some superb views were gained of the massing flocks of waders and wildfowl on the incoming tide and on the land side we added more good birds in the form of another Hen Harrier,this time a Ringtail,a single Short-eared Owl,juv. Marsh Harrier and a Common Buzzard were added to the days sightings.Another 3 Whooper Swan came in off the sea and landed on the new pools along with masses of Teal and a further 36 Pinks flew south.Another Merlin flew along the fields and one of the Perg's from earlier followed in the same direction.In the distance,we watched as the Little Egrets that had been feeding on the marshes,gathered to roost,with at least 30 birds being seen,a great site to see and one i hadn't seen locally.Other interesting sightings seen during the day included 2 Brown Hare,a sun bathing buck Roe Deer and 3 Common Darter still holding on.As we drove through the outskirts of North Somercotes,the final sighting of the day a Barn Owl was seen and brought to a close another cracking day out!.