Worlaby/Bonby Carrs 30.10.10.

An all day effort today around the local patch revealed some good sightings over the 10+ hours i was on site.The most notable sightings went to the Owl's which decided to appear in daylight for a change,with us enjoying excellent views of both Barn and Short-eared Owls.A total of 4 Barn and 9 Short-eared were on show today,with the S.E.0. total being the most for many years.Other nice sightings to add to the notebook included 2 Peregrine,Merlin,2 Marsh Harrier,2 juv. Hen Harrier,female Stonechat,Brambling and a good total of 28 Cormorant watched flying south in one flock,the most i have recorded down here in one flock!.Unfortunately for the assembled photographer's,the Juv male Hen Harrier didn't show closely this afternoon no doubt due to them all standing relatively closely to where it hunts,perhaps a little field craft was needed as it showed brilliantly in the morning if you kept your distance!.Other sightings included 1 Grey Wagtail,103 Fieldfare,9 Common Buzzard,14 Siskin(South) and 320 Teal in Bonby Carrs which were flushed onto the river after being chased by a juv. Peregrine.Non bird sightings included 11 Common Darter still hanging on in the mild weather and 4 nice Roe Deer.An enjoyable day around the patch,but we need a change in the weather now to bring some new birds in.

Northumberland,25-29.10.10....

The River Aln at Alnwick.

Adult Herring Gull,Seahouses.

Male Eider,Berwick-On-Tweed.

A week away with Trace holidaying in Northumberland,using Alnwick as a base,resulted in us seeing some nice birds while we visited several sites around the county.The best birds were a few Waxwing sightings which started with a single flying north at Barnetby railway station on the 25th while we waited for the train and then later that day 6 at Alnwick castle,flying into the grounds,giving that distinct,bell-like trilling call.I then had a second sighting at the castle on the 27th with 14 birds being seen this time,great stuff!!.Other goodies included a female Long-tailed Duck and 15 Red-breasted Merganser at Berwick-On-Tweed in the harbour there on the 26th,2 Snow Bunting at Bamburgh and 17 Whooper Swan at Druridge Bay on the 27th,single Swallow south at Alnmouth and 324 Pink-footed Geese,south,Peregrine and 3 Goosander at Warkworth on the 28th.So a pretty productive trip considering it was a non-birding one and this coupled with some stunning scenery,will be a lasting memory for us both!!.

Local Patch.....

An all day effort around the patch today saw the best birds being a flock of 31 stunning Waxwing watched flying hurriedly north with a group of 10 Fieldfare,this is my second record on the patch after a flock of 4 flying north on the 22.11.08.Other good birds seen today included the 2 juv. Hen Harrier,a single female Stonechat,my first of the Autumn/Winter period,1 Kingfisher along the Ancholme and a good flock of 47 Yellowhammer.Non bird sightings included a couple of Brown Hare,a single Weasel and 3 Common Darter.An enjoyable day around the patch in some lovely weather. 

Cattle Egret.....

Pale-bellied Brent Geese,Donna Nook NNR.

Donna Nook NNR

A trip out to the coast today,saw me enjoying some nice views of the Cattle Egret which is residing in one of the local farmers fields with his herd of Lincoln Red cattle.It was watched as it fed around the cattle in usual Cattle Egret fashion,narrowly escaping one of the cows peeing on it,poor thing!.This is only the 4th record for Lincolnshire of this increasing visitor to these shores.After watching the egret,i walked from Stonebridge down to Pyes Hall and back and saw a few nice bits which included 2 cracking Merlin,1 Juv.Peregrine,733 Dark-bellied Brent Geese which also included 4 Pale-bellied birds and 1 Lapland Bunting.The latter species has reduced dramatically in numbers since the big influx a few weeks ago!.After my visit to Donna,i made my way to Covenham and after getting up onto the res,nearly got blew away,talk about bloody windy!.The best bird here was the reported female Long-tailed Duck,which i think is a juv/1st winter bird due to the amount of brown around the face and generally dull plumage.It showed nicely as it dived for food with that distinct wing-flicking diving action,a lovely bird!.The only other birds of note here were 2 Rock Pipit and my first Goldeneye's of the autumn/winter period,with me recording 13 birds.A decent day out today,despite the showers and blustery conditions.

Beautiful buteo.....

Had a few hours around the patch this afternoon and managed to find a superb Juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard watched hunting the fields between Worlaby and Bonby Carrs.It gave excellent views in perfect light conditions and allowed a  perfect chance to study the birds id features,how differant these birds look to Common Buzzard,with their sleeker,longer winged profile,a proper stunner!!.Unfortunately it was lost to view over Wrawby Moor after being watched for about an hour,see record shots by Graham Catley at www.pewit.blogspot.com of the bird.This is the second bird i have managed to find on my patch in 2 years,after another Juvenile on the 2nd January 2009 and is the 3rd bird i have seen overall,after the famous Juv that wintered in 2002/03.Other goodies seen today included a cracking Juv female Hen Harrier,adult female Merlin and 11 Common Buzzard.I also recorded my first winter flock of Fieldfare today,with 68 being seen.Non-bird sightings included a single Common Darter hanging on.A cracking 4 hours out today.

Scarborough.......

A visit today to one of my most favourite areas in the country,saw me having a pretty good day,despite the abrupt end due to the inclement weather.The reason i had travelled up to North Yorkshire today,was to try and see another siberian waif that had been blown across the north sea from it's asian breeding/wintering grounds,a lovely little Dusky Warbler.It was a little skulker to say the least,probably due to the windier weather conditions today,but myself,along with a handfull of other observers,enjoyed brief views on several occasions as it flitted about in some Sycamore's and hawthorn scrub,a little teaser!.It was heard to call on several occasions,with it's distinct tongue-clicking 'Teck,teck' call,not unlike that of a Lesser Whitethroat.This is my seventh sighting of this species and my second at Scarborough!,the last being on the 24th October 2004,along with a cracking Pallas's Warbler!.Also seen today and a nice find for me,was a cracking Yellow-browed Warbler,which was watched on 3 occasions as it gorged itself on aphids,a little beauty!!and a nice bonus.Other species observed today included a couple of Grey Wagtail,Brambling,several Chiffchaffs and 2 adult Med.Gull's nearby at the Holbeck car park.An excellent day,despite the afore-mentioned weather.

Part 2 Webs Count and Big Fall,Saturday 10th October.....

1st Winter Red-breasted Flycatcher,N.Genn.

As i was unable to do my Webs count on Sunday due to visiting my Mum-in-law in hospital,i completed section 2 of my webs count this morning in the same misty conditions as yesterday.No real highlights were seen today,but a good count of 220 Turnstone was pretty impressive and a nice flock of 44 Black-tailed Godwit flew east down the estuary.After completing my survey i decided to go to Spurn as there had been a few goodies there the previous day,imagine my surprise when i met up with Nige and he told me what had been seen,female Rustic Bunting and not one but two Little Buntings also!!!,bloody hell and i was stuck doing a survey,typical.Thankfully i had seen both species before,but it would have made for good reading in the notebook!.It was obvious,as yesterday at Donna Nook,there had been a huge fall of migrants,with Thrushes everywhere and amazingly Song Thrushe's were the commonest species,a great sight to see,these birds being darker than our native birds.Also in the same fields were Redstart,4 Ring Ouzel,Wheatear,Whinchat,Brambling,Chiffchaff's and Meadow Pipit's an amazing sight!.The first goodie was seen here,a Great-grey Shrike and it was watched perched atop a Hawthorn hedge,adjacent to the Church field in the usual Shrike style,my second of the autumn after last weekends bird at Donna,great to see. After this beauty,Nige and myself continued to walk the Triangle,seeing more migrants,which included a couple of Wheatear,roadside Siskin's which were oblivious to the strange humans looking at them as they fed on dandelion heads and 2 smart Mealie Redpoll which gave lovely,close views.We eventually made it back to the car and a message came over the radio that a Red-breasted Flycatcher had been found at Easington,so we went to have a look.After a bit of confusion as to where the bird was,it showed brilliantly,as it flicked about along the hedgerow it was feeding along,giving it's wren-like rattling call,a little stunner! and also along this same area was a 1st winter Pied Flycatcher,which showed equally as well, perching on an adjacent fence,lovely stuff!.The five hours i spent in the Spurn area today were amazing and to see a big fall like this was a truly special spectacle and one i will remember for years to come!.

Webs part 1 and Donna migrants.....

Pleated Inkcap,Goxhill Haven.

Grassland Puffball,Donna Nook.

The first part of the day today was spent doing the first part of my two part Webs count,seeing me walking from Goxhill Haven west to New Holland bulk terminal.The weather was fairly crap to say the least and a bit misty,yet fairly good numbers of birds were seen,the highlight being a single Ruff which flew east down river.With the easterly strengthening and thoughts of what might be arriving on the coast,i decided to drive down to Donna Nook.An hour later i was at Stonebridge and it was apparent there had been an arrival of migrants.The best bird was a Wryneck which i saw in the same area as last Saturday,this time i enjoyed much better views,actually seeing the bird on the ground on a couple of occasions,a lovely bird.Thrushes were arriving all the time along with several flock's of Brambling and one bird arriving in off the sea attempted to land on my scope as i was trying to re-locate the Wryneck!!.Migrant totals were as follows:73 Song Thrush,186 Redwing,36 Brambling,39 Goldcrest,3 Fieldfare,8 Chiffchaff and 3 Redstart,one of the latter showing nicely,a gorgeous bird!.Other birds included a juv. Peregrine watched carrying some prey,Little Owl,256 Dark-bellied Brent Geese and a cracking juv. Little Stint.A great day out again!.

Covenham And Donna.....

Covenham Reservoir

Golden Waxcap

Grey Phalorope

With the prospect of a decent days weather and the hope that some of the weeks goodies may still be present after yesterdays deluge,Dave and myself made our way to the coast at Donna Nook stopping en-route and on the way home at the excellent Covenham Reservoir.Our first visit to the reservoir from 07.00-09.45 produced some good sightings,with the highlight being my first Slavonian Grebe this year and it showed very well in the early morning sun,a lovely bird,with it's striking red eye.Other highlights included my latest Swift record for a long time,with 2 watched feeding along the east bank,giving superb views,with other minor highlights in the form of a female Pintail,2 Wheatear,Black-tailed Godwit,14 Siskin and a Kingfisher.On our second visit on the way home,we added two more goodies in the form of a cracking Grey Phalorope,which showed typically well and a far more elusive adult Red-necked Grebe,which showed more distantly,but still nice all the same.At Donna Nook we put in some serious effort,walking all the way down beyond Pye's Hall along the developing foreshore out towards Grainthorpe and then back all the way to the RAF base and we were pretty successfull adding Barred Warbler,Great-grey Shrike and Wryneck.The Barred Warbler,showed very well in the garden adjacent to Stonebridge car park and was watched munching on Elderberries and sunning itself,a lovely bird and my fifth of the autumn so far!.The Great-grey was watched feeding along a hawthorn hedge between Stonebridge and Pye's Hall and we saw it perched atop the hedge and mobbing and chasing a Magpie,great stuff.Unfortunately,the Wryneck was only seen in flight twice,as we inadvertantly flushed it on two occasions along the newly developing foreshore out from Pye's Hall,my first in Lincolnshire for many years.Other goodies included at least 52 Lapland Bunting,this autumn/winter period is going to be an exceptional one for them,Juv. Peregrine,2 Snow Bunting,12 Wheatear and my first Dark-bellied Brent Geese of the autumn,with 137 being recorded.Non-bird highlights today included,a handfull of Common Darter and Migrant Hawker,Small White,Small Copper,Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies.A cracking day out with some great company through the day.