26th April 2022 ff
I was standing at a bedroom window when suddenly...
Of which more later. First of all it's a look back to:-
April 26th: Saltholme roadside gave a very distant view of two sleeping Egyptian geese. It's a good year for photos of birds that are too far away!
Dorman's Pool had something a bit more recognizable.
April 30th: a long walk at Acaster Malbis. I don't think I went far enough or perhaps I went the wrong way and I saw few birds. Yellowhammers were very nice...
Eventually I reached a magical woodland with robins, tits and thousands of bluebells.
May 3rd: Fairburn Ings, Burlands Lane, Poppleton and North Duffield.
Cattle egret at Fairburn New Flash.
Wood sandpiper, Poppleton
From Geoff Smith hide at North Duffield: mute swan on nest and a male whinchat.
May 4th: Blacktoft Sands
Marsh harriers, shelducks
May 6th: Seaton Carew beach for the little terns.
May 9th: Bank Island and Wheldrake Ings.
First of all I walked in the direction of Cheesecake Hide. At one point I turned round and looked behind me. I don't know what made me do that but this is what I saw.
In case you were wondering, it's a stoat.
From the hide I spotted a drake garganey.
Walking back I froze when a hare vanished just in front of me in long grass. Camera ready. It soon popped up really close and stared at me as I took these photos.
I said: 'Hello there!' and it ran for its life!
I decided to take the path to Wheldrake Ings - something I'd not done before. Several good views of the river. A whitethroat on a dead branch and lots of orange tip butterflies.
I never saw the cuckoo which teased me all morning - sometimes very close by, sometimes quite distant. At Wheldrake Ings car park a pied wagtail was looking for food.
As for the opening title of this particular post: Swifts finally appeared over the garden this morning, 11th May - one day later than last year. They always make me feel happy as they screech across the sky.