The Cuckoo and the Nightingale

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Organ Concerto No 13 in F 'The Cuckoo and the Nightingale'

The plan was to get up really early and go to Scaling Dam using the back roads across the moors. Saw lots of pipits and red grouse. Once I was in the hide I saw the wood duck straight away. Shortly after a cuckoo began to call. I spotted him in a tree at the far western end. Scaling reservoir is very deceptive: it runs east-west, not north-south as the main road at this point although taking you north or south is actually running east-west. The Yorkshire-Cleveland boundary is roughly where the lane to Scaling village meets the main road.

Back to the point. I am sure many of you [if anyone at all reads this!!] are tired of great close-ups of birds and long for more distant views. So especially for you here goes. No laughter, please. First of all the wood duck is on the bank asleep behind the three gulls!

Wood Duck And my first cuckoo of the year, at the Cleveland end, is in the centre of the picture:

Cuckoo Can you see it? My cuckoo shots need further work I think!!

The morning got off to a good start. It was quite pleasant. The black-headed gulls thought it was all right.

Black-headed Gulls A mistle thrush was in a nearby field and tree sparrows were on the grass in front of the hide.

Mistle Thrush

Tree Sparrow

A couple of lady birders from Cambridgeshire said that they had to go to special places to see tree sparrows whereas they said that everywhere they had been birding this holiday in Yorkshire they had come across tree sparrows. I said they started coming to my garden in the first bad winter but they have remained and are still seen most days on my feeders here in York.

I spotted a distant greenshank on the far bank. A cormorant - they remind me of broken umbrellas - was hung out to dry in the sun.

Cormorant I had spotted a common sandpiper soon after my arrival. Soon I had at least three in view and possibly two pairs of little ringed plovers.

They all came quite close eventually.

Common Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper Common Sandpiper

Little Ringed Plover Little Ringed Plover Eventually as the wood duck refused to come closer I decided to go down to the Yorkshire end. Another cuckoo appeared in the pines beyond the car park. It was being hassled by a group of small birds. Time for another distant [i.e. rubbish] photo!

Cuckoo A redshank and a lapwing provided better views, as did a nice peacock butterfly.

Redshank Lapwing

Peacock Butterfly

Finally I was entertained by a couple of willow warblers who were busy pairing I assume. Certainly there was a lot of chasing about. They didn't want to sit still for a photo!!

Willow Warbler Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Saltholme & Cowpen Bewley

A man in the hide at Scaling Dam reminded me there was a nightingale At Cowpen Bewley. I decided to go for it. Saw it quite soon deep in the dark undergrowth on the floor. Good views but impossible to photograph. It sang off and on quite wonderfully. Garden warbler was heard by some. I wasn't sure. Certainly there were blackcaps, chiffchaffs and whitethroats.

Before coming home I went to North Gare area looking for whinchat. By the electricity substation at NZ511261 I saw two smart male stonechats.

Stonechat Then I called at Saltholme before setting off home a little earlier than usual. It had been a long day. Two drake garganey were on the pool by the Phil Stead hide.

Garganey All photos taken 9.5.12 except the last two. The stonechat is Welsh and the garganey was in Scarborough earler this year. See blog post 20.03.12

4 ticks.  218. Yorkshire 100.