Back To Winter.......

Pye's Hall.

Covenham Reservoir.

Well it felt like it first thing today as Chris and myself headed for the coast,with a chilly northerly blowing.The trip down to Donna Nook was livened up by a couple of great sightings in the form of a Badger crossing the road infront of us between Grainthorpe and Conisholme,giving good views and a Barn Owl hunting along roadside fields at Conisholme.So after these couple of superb sightings we reached our first destination and did some serious coverage of the NNR walking all the way to quad 3 and then all the way to Pye's Hall with very little return.The most notable sighting was a single male Ruff on the flashes at Quad 3,a singing male Corn Bunting,4 Chiffchaff and another couple of mammalian sightings in the form of a Fox and 2 beautiful Roe Deer,Chris also managed to see a Muntjac which i sadly missed.So after all this exercise,we made the short journey over to Covenham and completed the whole circuit of the Res,with the highlight being the long staying 1st winter Red-throated Diver,which spent all its time we observed it fishing in the centre of the Reservoir.Also seen here were 4 Goldeneye still hanging on,3 Common Buzzard and a decent count of 24 Pied Wagtail.It was great to see the Diver was still ok as their were reports that it was slightly oiled and he or she was very energetic in its feeding activity.Other commoner birds included some superb views of the now nesting Rooks at the Southern end of the res,with some of the nests not looking too safe in the blowy northerly.I love to hear their calls,one of the best countryside sounds in my book!.A very trying day today with the weather conditions,but you don't find anything if you stay in.

Barton and MSQ,28.03.12.

Far-Ings NNR.

Blackthorn Blossum,MSQ.

Comma,MSQ.

Common Dog Violet,MSQ.

Male Common Toad,MSQ.

Peacock,MSQ.

Speckled Wood,MSQ.

My last day off today saw me heading firstly to Far-Ings at Barton and then spending the rest of the day at MSQ.The day started again as previous days with a nip in the air,but it soon warmed up and before long i was enjoying my first goodie of the day,a single Crossbill flying north over the old cements,adjacent to Far-Ings.This is only my second ever sighting of this woodland wanderer at Barton,so i was very pleased.As i continued around the pits,it was apparent there were quite a few Chiffchaffs around and i managed at least 12 singing males,but it was a Sylvia warbler that was the highlight,a lovely male Blackcap.It is always a highlight of any spring day to see these cracking birds and this particular bird showed very well in the scrub and bushes next to the scrape hides,singing that distinctive spring song.Other highlights around the pits here included a small group of 5 Redwing and a single Comma.I then travelled over to Messingham and en-route saw a cracking roadside Peregrine flying over the fields near to Scawby Park.After arriving at the reserve i spent the next 5 hours in glorious spring sun where the highlights consisted mainly of insects,but at least 9 Chiffchaff were recorded.The previously mentioned insects consisted of mainly butterflies with my first records and earliest records ever of both Speckled Wood and Green-veined White,with a single of the former and at least 4 of the latter being observed.Other species included my first 2 male Brimstone of the year,10 Peacock and 3 Comma.Another great day enjoyed out and about.

Vipera berus revisited........

Half a day to myself today,saw me heading for the forest to look for those stunning zig-zag patterned vipers and today was another great encounter with them.I arrived on site at 08.00 hrs and it was bloody cold to say the least,with a decent frost and the temperature gauge reading -1.So i got wrapped up and decided to walk around the area to see what birds i could find.The best i could manage were a couple of Chiffchaff,a hand full of Siskin,Common Buzzard and 3 Grey Heron,but the best sighting was provided by 2 lovely Roe Deer,a Buck and a Doe.The Doe was scolding me with that very distinct 'Dog-like' barking call they have and she did a great impression of an african antelope as she vaulted over a fence and across the field to join her mate.I never tire of watching these lovely animals and can't comprehend why people want to hunt them.Eventually the temperature was getting warm enough and i managed to find some snakes at last,with 1 particularly confiding male and at last my first female of the year.The females obviously moult at other times of the year,as she was in pristine condition,unlike the males which are now getting ready to slough their skins.The female had some company with 3 males surrounding her,in total 5 animals were seen today.After enjoying the encounters with the snakes,i also managed some nice insect sightings which included 3 Orange Underwing and singles of Peacock and Comma.A lovely morning out in the eventual warm weather.

Cracking Kirkby........

Kirkby Moor LWTR.

Kirkby Moor LWTR.

Gorse Shieldbug,Moor Farm LWTR.

Comma,Moor Farm LWTR.

A trip out today with fellow birder and wildlife enthusiast Chris,saw us heading for the Kirkby-On-Bain area.The journey down looked like we had made a big mistake with thick fog all the way and when we arrived on site at the pits,but after a 2 hour wait it eventually began to clear.Avian highlights here consisted of 1 Little Egret,Kingfisher,3(very noisy)Egyptian Geese,3 Goldeneye and a couple of Chiffies.After we had a quick bite to eat,we made our way over to Kirkby Moor and at last the sun began to properly break through.We had made the journey primarily to see what reptiles we could see here,but it was fairly poor,with only a handfull of Common Lizard and 1 male Adder,but surprisingly today,no Grass Snakes!.I did manage to find a new species for Chris in the form of 3 Palmated Newt(1 male and 2 female) in one of the small ponds.These are a lovely,subtley coloured and marked species when compared to our other 2 native newts,but nice all the same.Insect highlights were provided by an unidentified white Butterfly,probably Small,1 Comma and 3 Peacock and several Bee Fly.Our last port of call was only just up the road at Moor Farm and by this time it was comfortably warm.A good mixture of sightings were enjoyed here and included a couple of mammals in the form of a single Fox and female Muntjac,both giving great views.Bird sightings included 2 Common Buzzard,at least 3 Green Woodies,drumming Great-spot woodie,10 Fieldfare and 3 Redwing,but it was again insects which featured here.Two species of shieldbug were recorded here and included 2 Gorse Shieldbug and a single Pied Shieldbug,the latter another new species for Chris.This site provided us with the most butterfly sightings of the day,with at least 5 Comma and 3 Peacock being seen.So all in all a great day was had again,with some nice varied habitats,weather and great company.

Messingham Sands bits.....

Coltsfoot.

Male Common Toad.

After finishing my last nightshift of the week and dropping Trace at work i decided to visit MSQ for a few hours.A few notable birds were seen today and included at least 8 Chiffies around the reserve,with one already nest building and 52 Wigeon and 14 Cormorant on the main lake and 2 Common Buzzard overhead.But,today was the first day i have seen good numbers of insects with the highlights being my first reserve Orange Underwing,my first 2 Comma of the year,3 Peacock,2 Kidney-spot Ladybird and at least 15 Bee-Fly.I also saw my first beautifully metallic Gymnochaeta viridis,with their bottle green abdomens and also my first Bombus pascuorum,with 2 being seen.There is a noticeable lack of flowers yet,but a few Marsh Marigold are starting to bud now and i also saw a few clumps of Coltsfoot.A nice few hours in the spring sun.

MSQ......A quick visit.

Lovely spring flowering Gorse.

Pestle Puffball.

A few hours around this superb reserve this morning,saw a few nice sightings in the lovely weather again.Highlights came in the form of a couple of drake Goosander heading off in a westerly direction over the reserve car park,no doubt heading towards the Trent and at least 6 Chiffchaff around the reserve making their welcome presence heard.Other sightings where more expected and included at least 3 Common Buzzard 'mewing' over the woodland with that lovely call and other sightings consisted of a pair of Siskin watched feeding in the plantation canopy and 7 north bound Fieldfare passed overhead.A gorgeous morning,with more lovely spring sunshine.

Local Bits....

Spent an hour down Bonby Carrs this afternoon in the glorious sunshine,playing with the new camera and managed a few nice sightings in the form of at least 12 Common Buzzard up in the air in the surrounding area and a nice group of 9 Roe Deer.I can remember a time when you would be lucky to see 12 Common Buzzards in a year never mind in an hours watching.It is a proper success story that this lovely raptor is now doing so well and thanks to the majority of gamekeepers long may it continue.The Roe's were watched snoozing in the gorgeous afternoon sunshine on the hillside above Saxby village,observing them at some distance through the scope,but nice to watch all the same.Other sightings consisted of the continuous melodic singing of several Skylarks,a couple of displaying Lapwing and a flock of 20 Golden Plover overhead.I also noticed on the way up Carr lane back to the village a large patch of Lesser Celandine,my first local ones.A nice hour or so in the great weather.

A day on the Moors......

Packards.

Ten Acre Lake.

Andrena Clarkella.

A day out with my regular birding mates Dave and Chris today to the superb NNR at Hatfield provided us with a cracking days birding,this is what we saw.We started off by looking around Boston Park,enjoying some nice views of the 15 White-fronted Geese on the adjacent fields.It is always a real privilege to watch this lovely goose species and they gave great views,although a little nervy,with this flock containing 8 adult and 7 1st winter's.Also around this area where 2 singing male Chiffchaff,2 Green Woodpecker 'Yaffling' away and more signs of spring in the form of a couple of singing male Corn Bunting,prospecting Little Grebes and displaying Lapwing and Oystercatchers.After enjoying this great start we made the long walk down to Ten Acre Lake,but it was worth the walk as we were treated to some superb views of the gorgeous male Red-necked Grebe as he swam around his summer home.He was watched catching a large Perch before settling down for a brief snooze,followed by more activity which included much calling,a superb bird!.After leaving this stunner we continued our journey seeing 4 Crossbill overhead,a single Peregrine carrying prey,2 male Adder,4 each of Green-tiger Beetle and Orange Underwing and a single Peacock.A walk over to Huggin Carr and running the gauntlet of 'Zoltan' we managed to see a single Black-necked Grebe and 3 Goldeneye on the now doomed lake.The Black-necked completeing our fourth species of grebe for the day,a commendable effort.There was also a few waders present and they included 5 Dunlin,Redshank and a single Ringed Plover and another Green Woodie called nearby.After making our way back to the car we drove around to nearby Wroot and parked up at Alderfen fishery,to be greeted by the pleasant surprise of 6 Bewick's and 9 Whooper Swan mixed in with the 60 strong Mute Swan flock.The Bewick's consisted of 3 adult and 3 1st winter birds and the Whooper's were all adults,a great sight to see.On the way home 4 Roe Deer where seen on roadside fields and was a nice end to another cracking day out.

Scarboro And Troutsdale,11.03.12.

Scarborough Harbour.

Mating Common Frogs.

Troutsdale Valley.

With the prospect of some superb conditions for watching raptors,Chris,Dave and myself made our way to North Yorkshire,firstly to Scarborough and then to the best place to watch raptors in Northern England,Troutsdale and Wykeham Forest.After arriving at Scarborough and parking up at Marine Drive,we firstly looked for the Peregrines on their breeding eyrie,but today couldn't see either of the pair.Fine compensation was had in the form of some fantastic views of at least 20 pairs of Fulmar which were now in residence on their cliff top ledges,with much calling and displaying being involved.Also nearby a raft of about 50 Kittiwake were calling and bathing on the sea and we also enjoyed some great views of at least 10 Common Porpoise,1 with a small calf.We then made our way to east pier to look for the roosting Purple Sandpipers and sure enough there were 38 birds all huddled on the rocks as on our last visit,abeit in smaller numbers this time,but a great sight all the same.Finally,before we left for Troutsdale,we had to indulge in our stop off at the 'Teapot' Cafe for a Hot Chocolate and bacon sarnie and very nice it was too.So after stuffing our faces we made the short journey to the beautiful Troutsdale.Who could ask for a more picturesque place to enjoy watching birds and wildlife and today in some cracking weather too!.It was only 10 mins in and we had just met up with our 'Scarborough area' contact Dave Mansell,when we were watching our first Goshawks,with first 1,then 2 and then unbelievably 5 birds over the valley,with one making a great,close flypast,stunning stuff!.This has to be the best place in the country to enjoy views of this majestic raptor and we soon managed a further 3 species with at least 8 Common Buzzard,4 Sparrowhawk and a couple of Kestrel thrown in for good measure.After our first stint,(no pun intended)at watching these avian predators,we decided to walk the short way down to the Derwent to look for Dipper and Grey Wagtail.With much searching we didn't see any Dippers,but found 3 Grey Wag's and 2 new fish,Stone Loach and the amazing,Prehistoric looking River Lamprey,of which i found 2 while searching for White-clawed Crayfish.The Lamprey where a real surprise and something i thought i would never see,truly amazing looking fish,more Eel like than anything else with those large sucker mouths,which they use to hold on to stones and their parasitic hosts,from which they feed.Other sightings around the river included several more Siskins of which we saw quite a few through the day,our first Butterflies,2 Peacock and 3 Small Tort and a mating pair of Common Frogs and a single male Common Toad.After our enjoyable diversion down at the river,we made our way back to look for raptors again,enoying 3 more Gos sightings and several more Common Buzzard and our first Chiffie of the spring,which gave superb views as it caught several flies.But before long,it was sadly time to leave this fantastic place and make our journey home.Another brilliant visit to this lovely part of the world,with some great company.

Spring is in the air.......

Coltsfoot.

Buff-tailed Bumble Bee.

A visit to the local area this morning at Bonby,saw some proper spring weather with the temperature gauge in the car reading 16 degrees centigrade.After getting the gear together it was apparent that there was a lot of birdsong and displaying going on.As i made my way towards the river,several male Reed Bunting,Yellowhammer and Skylark were in song and a few Lapwings were also beginning to display.As i stopped to scan around i spotted a gorgeous Barn Owl flying past me towards the river bank and he was then later seen hunting the river bank towards Worlaby Carrs giving superb views in the excellent light conditions.On todays visit no Harriers were observed,but at least 12 Common Buzzard were seen in the sorrounding area and i gained some cracking views of this my favourite bird.Today there was no sign of the Mink,but a few other wildlife sightings consisted of my first Buff-tailed Bumble-Bee of the year and my first proper wildflowers in the form of several clumps of Coltsfoot.A very nice spring morning on the 'Local Patch'.

A wet morning......

An early morning trip out this morning for a few hours,before the rain really came down properly,saw me visiting firstly South Ferriby and later Far-Ings at Barton.Highlights at the former included a big build up in the Avocet numbers to a guesstimate of between 700-800 birds.The reason i had to make do with a guess,was that the birds were tightly packed and too far away for my 27x eyepiece to accurately count them,but what a great sight they are.Some of the closer birds gave nice views with that distinct scything feeding action as they searched the mud for any tasty morsels,great stuff.Also nearby,10 Black-tailed Godwit swirled about with a flock of Dunlin and displaying Ringed Plover were watched with their little chests puffed out as they tried to impress their female companions and also feeling amorous were a pair of Lesser black-backed Gull.As i left it had just started to drizzle and i made the short journey to Far-Ings.As i got my gear out of the car it began to rain properly and i dashed to the hide.The best bird sighting here was sort of expected and was a single Bittern watched sat in the top of the reedbed across from Ness hide.It didn't stay put long,as the wind and rain got stronger and heavier and it flew into a concealed pool in the reedbed.I know we tend to take this bird for granted now locally,but they are a superb and special species still in my eyes.Other birds on Ness included a nice mixed flock of Shoveler and Gadwall,giving cracking views as they dabbled about in the heavy rain and a handfull of Goldeneye displayed and dived for food.A few nice sightings this morning,shame it was cut short by the expected rain.

An Afternoon in the Carrs......

After completing my nights this morning and a combination of a decent afternoons weather and her indoors being at work,i took the chance to visit the local raptor hot spot which is Bonby Carrs.When i first arrived the weather was a bit overcast,but it soon developed into a gorgeous spring-like afternoon,with plenty of sunshine,despite the blowy South Westerly wind.The first notable sighting went to a Green Sand feeding in the 'Old Ancholme',which i inadvertently flushed,but it soon settled back down again and carried on feeding.This bird is no doubt an overwintering individual,with more often than not at least one wintering down here in recent years.After taking position on the river bank i began to scan around quickly seeing a 2nd cal yr. female Marsh Harrier hunting the fields,i later saw a further 2 separate birds all eventually heading in the same direction to roost on the upper Humber at Whitton and Blacktoft.This species is becoming a more and more increasing winter sight as more birds spend the winter on the Humber,this year at least 45 have been roosting,impressive stuff.The main highlight of the afternoon,for me on a personal level was a cracking Hen Harrier,which i only got onto as it flew away from my position and was hunting in Appleby Carrs,being eventually lost in the direction of the village,possibly making its way to roost with all the Marsh at Blacktoft/Whitton.I had the feeling that this was a juv. male but couldn't be certain.The next goodie was a non-avian one and constituted a 'First' for the local patch for myself,a Mink!.It was pretty bold to say the least,walking right infront of me before dissapearing into the reeds.As i tried to locate it again,i heard a whooshing sound and a Peregrine shot past me at very close range along the river and was quickly followed by another,with both birds heading towards Broughton at great speed,fantastic!!.I again saw the Mink,swimming past were i stood and it quickly dissapeared again.The final highlights were 3 Short-eared Owl watched hunting the fields and river bank,giving some nice views as the sun began to set.Minor highlights seen included at least 8 Common Buzzard,35 Stock Dove,several singing male Skylark,130 Lapwing and 4 Kestrel.A great few hours out in the sun.