Welcome to my birding blog - first launched 12th March 2012...
3rd February - 23rd February 2024
The Pain in the Neck
After the recent storms there was a lot of debris in the garden from a large eucalyptus tree that dramatically shed a large branch from high up in the tree. It hung there for some days - beyond the reach of ladders and we watched it every day to see if it had fallen to earth. Eventually it did. I spent a day and a half lopping and pruning to reduce it to bags for the tip but in the end Malcolm came to saw up the largest timber plus some mimosa branches and everything went in a small skip which we ordered.
I think the constant repeated actions of lopping and pruning had an effect on me and one night in bed I must have moved awkwardly and something went in my neck - tendon, muscle, I've no idea but it hurt a lot, I couldn't easily move my head to the right and I had trouble sleeping as I was so restless. This curtailed my birding somewhat and I am now some way behind last year's total at this time. But I am much better and will avoid using the loppers and pruners for some time as I have had relapses after deciding I could resume my garden jobs. It's called 'getting old' I suppose.
Still, here goes - the latest [not terribly exciting] news:
February 3rd: A cattle egret was hiding in the reeds at Phil Stead hide at Saltholme. I watched it for some time through the camera viewfinder as I wanted to catch the bird as it flew out of the reeds. It took longer than I expected but eventually it did fly across the pool towards the fire station area.
In the meantime I did manage to photograph a pair of shelducks and a shoveler.
Hiding!
Flying!
Spoonbill on pool across from electricity substation
February 4th: from our bedroom window we watched a small group of roe deer.
February 5th: St Aidan's and...
Blacktoft
February 7th: Back to St. Aidan's to see bearded tits - several attempts but none successful. Moorhen and female pochard instead!!
February 12th: Spurn for waders from the gate at the end of the public road. Grey plover, knot, dunlin and all sorts seen in the scope but few photos that day. Whooper swans in a field on Easington Straight didn't work out too well. Taken from the car but the engine was running and none of my photos was pin sharp due to vibration I presume.
I like shovelers so here's another one! [Canal Scrape]
February 16th: annual early visit to Bempton.
A very prickly thistle rosette attracted me.
More traditional stuff
Guillemot in very harsh light at Scarborough harbour.
February 20th: saw an american wigeon south of Bubwith bridge on a distant [definitely ephemeral] spit on the large flood right of the river. Later at Saltholme saw my first avocets of the year. Photos from Cowpen Bewley feeders.
February 23rd: Gosh, it was cold at Greatham Creek and on my walk down to the tidal pools with camera bins and scope to test out my neck muscles. Pleased to confirm that neck is ok this morning 24/2/24] A birder said the greenshank was present half an hour earlier but no sign when I reached the pools. Three workmen near the pools and a white van probably didn't help. The spotted redshank was still there and a bar-tailed godwit near the road bridge on Greatham Creek was a nice surprise. My highlight of the day was a single shag in breeding plumage with a nice crest showing on the rocks at Hartlepool Headland.
After a visit to Cowpen Bewley feeders I went to Saltholme. The feeders had several visits from siskins which I had only seen once before a few days earlier.
So, siskin at Cowpen Bewley, pussy willow, teal and marsh harrier at Phil Stead, Saltholme followed by avocets [14 present but one was way off to the right: a sort of Billy No Mates avocet!] and golden plover [including interloper] down at Saltholme Pools hide. And an egret.
This marsh harrier photo almost looks like a drawing!
121 UK 2024
04.01.24 ff
From St. Aidan's to Seaton Carew
January 7th: St. Aidan's
Hoping to see the glossy ibis again for a 2024 photograph. Luckily it was quite a bit closer than last time and a huddle of visitors spotted in the distance announced its presence well before the cattle gates. It seems unconcerned or unaware of the people watching it.
January 8th: Hartlepool
Cowpen Bewley woodland park feeder station. Pair of bullfinch, yellowhammer and a great spotted woodpecker
Ward Jackson Park: parakeet [looking into the sun unfortunately] and a muscovy duck
January 10th: Thorganby viewpoint
A distant drake smew
January 10th: Tophill Low
Red crested pochard from a long way off and a much closer gang of drake tufties.
January 19th: Bempton
Jackdaw and a kestrel hunkered down out of the wind. Also seen linnets and snow buntings
January 29th: Seaton Common, Saltholme, Newburn Bridge and Redcar
Newburn Bridge
Cowpen Bewley
Redcar beach
103 UK 2024
05.01.2024
2024: Another leap into the unexpected!
January 1st: A day around Hartlepool. Highlights for me were goosander and red-breasted mergansers; purple sandpipers, slavonian grebe and black-throated diver and a showy single waxwing at Saltholme. A few pictures follow showing goosander and merganser...
...goosander is smart; merganser looks like it's having another bad hair day!
Mute swan
It was hard work trying to get the siskins in a clear shot at Saltholme until one was found high up enjoying the sunshine.
Saltholme's solitary waxwing enjoying all the attention!
Off the Headland
Pied wagtail and common scoter in the bay.
January 3rd: North Duffield; North Cave and Blacktoft North Duffield was like an ocean as far as I could see. Lots of wlidfowl but no sign of any swans. A few fieldfare were about the roadside hedgerows. North Cave was quiet: little grebe, collared dove but lots of bramblings busy round the feeders.
Blacktoft had snipe, marsh harriers and a barn owl that woke me up with a start: wrong ISO, so wrong shutter speed but I tried!
...and a pheasant!
64 2024 UK
18th-19th December 2023
That's all folks!
[for 2023 I mean...]
December 18th was my third visit to Swillington Ings to try for the glossy ibis. I set off from the 'Crane' end as I usually refer to it as opposed to the causeway end because the later is still flooded. On my walk birders coming back had good news if the ibis would only stay out in the open until I got there! It did.
Stonechat on my walk back plus Welsh mountain ponies and some seasonal rose hips.
December 19th: a fairly long excursion to Crosby Marine Lake near Liverpool to try to see a black-throated diver. Up close and personal if possible! On arrival I realised that in the cold wind it was quite unpleasant and the lake seemed fairly deserted apart for an area at the North end where gulls and coots were clustering. I guessed they'd found a sheltered spot. Bleak and uninviting. I scanned the area with my bins. I headed back towards the South end of the lake where I spotted a small group of three birders. The chap in a wheelchair was chatty and had a Canon R6 with a lightweight 600m lens. For once because I suspected the bird might be distant I reverted to the 7D camera plus my old 500mm lens with a 1.4 extender giving me 700mm reach. Good decision.
First view after which the bird kindly came a lot closer.
227 UK 2023
9th November to 11th December 2023
Anything about?
Not a lot, I feel, as the year draws inevitably to an end. But then there's another year and there's only one thing I can be sure of: something unexpected will turn up somewhere. Let it be in Yorkshire!
November 11th: reports of up to 6 red-crested pochards drew me to Tophill Low and to D reservoir. I realised I would have a better view if I walked through the woodland to the new hide.
November 11th: a trip to Swine Moor and a walk along the bank that runs alongside the River Hull in order to look for a lesser yellowlegs. I met two birders who said they'd seen it and told me where to look. I couldn't find the bird although I found a lot of redshank where they had said I should look. Unfortunately the light was very difficult as many birds were silhouettes and, worst of all, a large white horse kept putting everything up. I did see a good number of barnacle geese which surprised me.
November 12th: Swillington Ings. I parked by the crane and set off to walk to Middle Ings in search of the glossy ibis. This was my second attempt and although I met a group of birders who told me where the bird was [a mere 30 feet in front of me deep in the marshland scrub] I never saw it and the people drifted away.
A great crested grebe in unusual light.
Consolation was a chance to photograph a covey of grey partridges.
November 17th: Hartlepool harbour and Ward Jackson Park. I had seen the slavonian grebes a few times but this time they were together which was nice. Also close by drake and duck eiders. I like the duck photo very much.
Ward Jackson Park had little to offer until I spotted a great spotted woodpecker high up in a tree by the lake.
Also seen:
December 12th: Scarborough and Bempton. To stop incipient madness I knew I needed to get out in the fresh air and go birding. So I went to Scarborough and parked on Marine Drive. The parking meters had their winter coats on so that was a good start. The peregrine up on the cliff was not feeling very active as when I returned later from my walk round the harbour it hadn't moved. Second photo shows a great northern diver far out in the bay at Scarborough followed by another in the harbour itself.
I drove next to Bempton. Short-eared owls were active but distant but a thrill to watch as usual especially when two were in the air together. Spot this one on the ground - the R7 did well to get a reasonable focus [cropped image].
225 UK 2023