Yorkshire Miscellany

Harking back

Barry and I went to Blacktoft on 2.11.12 and Barry photographed an insect on the glass in one of the hides. Later he e-mailed me the photo and those super naturalists at ispot identified it as a cinnamon sedge (limnephilus marmoratus). Here it is.

Cinnamon sedge (Limnephilus marmoratus)                                   © Barry Bishop 2012

ISO 1600

On Wednesday November 7th I went to Blacktoft again, hoping for barn owls in late afternoon. Unfortunately the weather forecast let me down and it became very grey - I had read that the Blacktoft barn owls show best on nice afternoons! - so dull I had to punch the ISO up to 1600: something I had never done before. There was little to photograph too. Snipe were buried in the grass with little visible other than the tops of their heads; the marsh harriers were distant and the male hen harrier, splendid though he was, was far away over the Trent near Alkborough. I took a few shots of a heron. Uncropped the graininess is not apparent and I was pleasantly surprised with the result. It captures the light that afternoon too. It did however teach me a lesson...

Grey Heron

Not Tiggy but Tiggywinkle?!

In our garden my wife found a tiny hedgehog on Saturday 10th November. She was sure it was too small to survive the winter and wanted me to find out what to do! I tried to phone the RSPCA but, as usual, no-one answered. Trawling the internet I eventually found a good website: the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. They have members across the country who take in injured or immature hedgehogs. I spoke to Julie who was wonderful and, putting Miss Tiggywinkle in Tiggy we all went to see her near Easingwold.   Soon we discovered that Miss Tiggywinkle was a boy! What's more, a boy with ticks and fleas. I iphoned some photos of Julie inspecting the little fellow and removing the two ticks.

Hedgehog sanctuary Hedgehog sanctuary

Hedgehog sanctuary

Julie confirmed that he was too small to survive the winter without help. She would feed him up and keep him warm and we hope he will wake up next spring. If he does Julie will let us know and we will collect him and return him to the garden! Here's hoping!

go to:-   http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk

Lesser yellowlegs: 2nd attempt

Just hoping for a good year tick. I've seen quite a few. My first was probably about 8 years ago in Thornham harbour, Norfolk when it was chased down a gully by over-excited photographers. The more they approached the bird, the further it went. I was quite new to obsessive birding then and was amazed because we were just exploring the harbour when lots of cars suddenly started arriving full of birders. Obviously I hadn't even heard of pagers then.

Anyway, I drove to Aldcliffe Marsh, just south-west of Lancaster. Congratulations to TomTom who took me, correctly, all the way to the quagmire car park! Lancashire roads were very often littered with enormous puddles. Mud was the only descriptor for the place. But, the yellowlegs was showing quite well. 278 UK 2012.

Lesser Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs

The quality of the photos was disappointing. Because the bird was some way off, I had to crop considerably. However, remember the heron? Well, I forgot to put the ISO back to 400, my normal setting unless the light is wonderful, so these were taken at ISO 1600 and when cropped the pictures soon fall apart. Still there'll be another yellowlegs one day...

'Perch, weed and grebe'

- a visit to Far Ings LWT Tuesday 13th November 2012

I went in hope of photographing a drake smew. No-one had seen it but I went to the hide where it had been reported. Two birders were there watching goldeneye. 'What's that down by the hotel?' I asked. They'd obviously been chatting too much. Drake smew. I took a long walk round to the hotel. Ground staff at Reed's Hotel were very helpful and basically said it was ok to wander. The bird had disappeared however down the other end in the reeds. Typical smew.

A flock of greylag came over. Greylag wallpaper for a computer screen?

Greylag Geese A magpie cackled but let me get unusually close.

Magpie I returned to the same hide after a long circuit of the reserve. I saw little other than a young girl from the hotel having a quiet smoke behind a bush!

A great crested grebe swam into the small pool in front of the hide. It caught a perch! All photos are of the same bird.

Great Crested Grebe Great Crested Grebe Great Crested Grebe

The plan that day was to see a white drake smew, then go to Alkborough for the long-billed dowitcher and then finish the day at Blacktoft - yet again in hope of barn owls.

I didn't see the dowitcher and my camera battery died at Alkborough so I didn't bother going to Blacktoft. The day was fading anyway. I did have an interesting time at Alkborough however.

On the scrapes on the left as you approach the first hide I saw some waders with yellowlegs. Ruff!

Ruff There were lots of waders, hundreds of lapwing and golden plover. From the hide I photographed a lonesome dunlin...

Dunlin ..and a very co-operative shelduck.

Shelduck Some curlew flew past several times. I noticed that I often heard a curlew call just before they took off. So, I was ready next time as these birds came towards me.

Curlew Curlew Curlew Another birder with a big camera said: 'You were quick! They'd gone before I was ready!' You can't do what I manage hand-held if you are tied to a tripod - that's the one big advantage of the 400mm lens over the real big boys.

The battery having died, I decided to head for home. As I left Alkborough in the wrong direction [something always baffles me about the place! Although I did find it ok this time, Barry!!] I saw an information board in the middle of a piece of fenced off ground. I stopped, reversed a little and drove into a brand new car park, big enough for about 30 cars with a path down to the eastern section of the reserve - a part I had never been to. Perhaps that's where the dowitcher lives!! I used the phone to capture these images which made the visit a useful 'recce' for the future.

Alkborough Monthly notes on what's been seen...

...and a nice reserve map. There are 3 hides on the map too. I think a whole day visit might pay dividends!

Alkborough

St. George's Field, York

The pager claimed 200+ waxwings in the car park at 1pm so after lunch and after digging up a large clump of tree poppy romneya coulteri [Great plant by the way. Hard to establish, hates being moved and then after a decade goes mad!] I went to the recycling depot via the aforementioned car park.

Romneya coulteri Romneya coulteri in the garden September 2011

The waxwings - about 50 - were high up in the trees or flying around so no great shots but here's a couple of views plus a nice grey wagtail that was on the lockside of the Foss at Castle Mills.

Waxwing Waxwing Grey Wagtail What's the pink thing?