Welcome to my birding blog - first launched 12th March 2012...
Sunday 3rd June & Monday 4th June 2012
Sunday afternoon: to Danby Beacon
A dotterel had been reported for a couple of days at Danby Beacon with golden plovers. On Sunday it appeared to be alone but still present. Moreover a report said the bird was on a track just 100m from car park. I had assumed the beacon was a long walk uphill like Pendle and I had tried that once this year and failed [because the birds had gone]. I don't mind the walk/climb, the issue is more whether I feel I have the strength or stamina to lug the camera all that way. Now 100m is a different story. Barry said he'd drive: so off we went.
As soon as we arrived we saw two small groups of birders either side of a patch of dead or burnt off heather. I think we chose the wrong one. But eventually we changed ends as it were and here are the results. My first ever dotterel photos and not in the ''cuckoo category'!
Monday 4th June: Here, there and everywhere!
Good game this. How many birds can we see and how mant year ticks or even lifers can we get in one day and get Barry home for 4pm? We left at 715am, got diesel and headed up the old A19 to call at Cod Beck reservoir before dog time. In that respect we failed as there were already a few dogs with their owners and their cars. We set off to follow a stream northwards across boggy moorland. We crossed the stream on wobbly rocks. We saw many mipits, curlew, a pair of mistle thrushes, willow warblers, even a stonechat [missed by me]. We returned to the car without seeing our target bird, a whinchat. I commented; 'After all this it'll probably be on a post by the car park!' I was nearly right.
At the car park Barry headed towards the woodland around the reservoir. It began suddenly to hail and I was being bombarded with June hailstones! We sheltered under the trees as did a male whinchat. I went back for the camera but it flew. Oh well, we were still happy.
Back on the road to Saltholme: the long billed dowitcher had been reported on Back Salthome. This would be a lifer for Barry so we scampered north and soon saw the roadside birders and cars hauled onto the grass verge on the A178. The bird was only visible from the road on a small pool. No-one would see it from the reserve. We walked alongside the railway line from the bottom car park at Dorman's Pool. Sedge warblers and whitethroats were busy. The sedge was singing and the throat was feeding. Sedge was too distant so here's a couple of the whitethroat:
Next stop on the whistle-stop tour of North Yorkshire, Cleveland and East Yorkshire would be Flamborough Head for a red-backed shrike. But that meant negotiating Whitby and Scarborough first and any bank holiday traffic. We got to the lighthouse just after 1.30pm and soon saw the shrike. Very flighty and beyond my lens. Barry wanted some coastal ticks at Bempton as he hadn't had the chance to get there this spring so that would be our last call.
I left Barry to see his birds whilst I tried again to get awk bifs! Throw in a couple of gannets too and here's a nice set of images, some easy to get and one which has taken me many attempts. I'm very pleased with it: perhaps you can tell which one I mean, Barry!
Razorbill
Gannet
Guillemots
Makes flying look so easy....
Goodbye!
Yorshire 111; UK 234
Saturday June 2nd 2012
Guns, bombers, hurricane and roller - what a jubilee mix!
Gardening quietly when a text came from Barry: 'Spitfire flying round our house.' Gunfire in the distance was 3 guns firing the 21 gun salute for the queen. The spitfire was soon over us, then, unbelievably low came a hurricane, a giant Lancaster bomber and a spitfire! What a noise! I know this a birding site but a brief diversion - taken from our bedroom window.
After lunch I took Barry to see the roller. It was cold and windy so the bird was fairly inactive sheltering by the grassy bank in the lee of the wind.
So here's a not very good shot from the other day of it in flight. Focus your mind - I can't focus the photo!
Then we went on to Hornsea Mere; hundreds of swift, sand martin and house martins over the water. Egyptian goose in the distance. No sign of mandarin or the bird I wanted, the red-crested pochard. Curiously, both were reported yesterday afternoon but from where on the lake? So here are photos of what we missed, just to finish today's post.
Drake Mandarin Duck at Bolton Abbey on the River Wharfe.
Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina at Slimbridge.
Photograph by Adrian Pingstone placed in the public domain
All other photos by Chris Downes
29th May - 1st June 2012
Tuesday 29/5 - a lifer!
8am. Tea in bed, pager in hand. How sad is that? Oh well, Hartleppol Headland: 'Western Orphean Warbler trapped and ringed. Will be released at bowling green at 8.45am.' Humming and hawing. Eventually after doing a tiny bit of pointing on the side of the house [where I removed a satellite dish yesterday] I set off. To cut a long and very tedious story short I kept seeing bits of this bird in its sycamore tree. Eventually I saw most of it! The chap who got a photo is a miracle worker!
Decided to head home after a couple of hours. Saw a roller was at Spurn. 'Go for it!' came the text from home. So I went, I arrived and I didn't see it! Saw great views, unbelievably good views of a pair of golden orioles. Went home. Still happy.
One of what I might call my 'cuckoo category' photos. Distant view; rubbish photo but there on the top of that bush is... yes, a golden oriole! Honest!!
Wednesday 30/5
In the afternoon we went to Blacktoft as I had mentioned that a marsh warbler was, allegedly, 'showing well.' Not something really that marsh warblers do. Anyway we went. We saw the bird briefly from time to time. We heard it initially quite well, then silence. And that was about it. Even the marsh harriers were quiet - just one lone male seen. We tried for the grasshopper down by Marshland but no sound. By the reception building I photographed a young rabbit. Someone said: 'Have you seen the young leveret?' I went back. Not rabbit, hare. In the long grass nearby I spotted an adult. Never photographed a hare before. They make really nice pictures.
In the words of the song: 'If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hare.'
Thursday 31/5: Black to Backtoft!!
Marsh warbler showing well, allegedly, at Blacktoft. Ever get that sense of déjà vu? [Can now do accents! I've learnt how to paste from Word using Ctrl + V!!] Anyway, I went back. It rained and rained. I don't think I've ever been so wet whilst out birding. This marsh harrier female sat through it all.
A bedraggled whitethroat was still feedinng its young with nice juicy spiders.
I sat in Singleton hide and watched the rain. There wasn't much else to watch. A few shelduck splashed down.
Somethings enjoy the rain. I expect the reeds enjoy it. Magic growth from magic rain. Probably at least a foot per week.
A dirty little toad was out on the path having a shower.
Eventually I headed back to Tiggy for a drink and to warm up. I left her engine running to warm myself up and to enable contact with the outside world as my phone had died. Text from home promised weather would improve. By 2pm the light seemed better. It looked warmer if you know what I mean. Experts with great eyesight had arrived. They were onto the marsh warbler. I wish Barry had been there: someone mentioned subsong! I could hear it [the subsong!!!!]. Then, I could see it [the bird not the subsong], perched up.
As ever, let the pictures tell the story. Notice it is ringed: we were looking for an upright ringed bird with a different song to reed warbler as they look extremely similar. Apparently marsh are a bit more upright in stance and sit higher in the reeds for longer. Have a look. Photographic first for me.
By now the whitethroat had dried out a lot and was looking brighter. Still taking food back for its young.
On the way back to the car I met the leveret again. He looked pretty soaked too.
He scampered off. Great image this, thanks pal!
Later I saw him round the back end of the car next to Tiggy.
Friday 1st June: I'm on a roll!
No I haven't sat on my lunch, Barry. But on Thursday night the Spurn roller was reported 'outside Aldbrough by the B1242 still on wires over ploughed field just north of the village.' Still!! As if it's been there for days and I haven't been paying attention. So decision taken to go early. Very early left at 5.30am. Arrived at ploughed field with 3 parked cars at 6.50. Saw bird 6.52. Just like that. Lifer 379. 21 to go to reach that magic number...
The light was poor and the bird not especially close.
On wires it looked a bit bedraggled but it was finding worms.
The light was poor and it was still cold. I decided to wander down to Spurn for an hour. It wasn't too far. There was a tree pipit at the Warren. Reception information was barren again.
Apparently the long wing projection and pale area round the eye are diagnostic. A bit of supercilium present. And they'd ringed it.
I went back to Aldbrough. Three birders had become a major twitch of course. The roller was getting twitchy too. But the light was better:
This flight picture from behind shows how colourful a roller is in flight. Blues, brown, black, and white.
Whatever next?
Yorks 108; UK 231
Thursday 24th May & Friday 25th May 2012
A Quality Bird and then Grim at Grimsby, Failure at Flamborough
I was spending Thursday at home when Saltholme announced via my pager that a long-billed dowitcher was present visible from the bus stop on the A178. I decided to go for it as a quality year tick. I had seen a pair several times in Cheshire on different reserves [same pair? I don't know] and I had seen an individual at close quarters at Freiston Shore RSPB in October 2011. The bird at Saltholme had moved by the time I arrived and to see it I had to walk down to Saltholme Pools hide where I had good views [with a bit of heat haze 'wobble'] through the scope. Too far however for a photograph. You may wonder why I don't digiscope. I have tried to but I couldn't achieve the image quality I wanted and am happy where I am now with my Canon big lens. Could always fancy a bigger lens but it might end up too heavy for me over some of the distances I currently carry the 400mm.
Anyway, the l-bd was a nice bird and here's a photo just to remind us all of the Freiston Shore bird.
Some time remained that afternoon so I decided to try Dorman's Pool area for warblers. The walk along the railway line from the lower car park can be quite productive. There were no whinchats [my secret hope] nor real specialities. Sedge warblers posed along with whitethroats. A little grebe was seen from the main road near the bus stop.
For some reason there's always a twig just where you don't want it!!
225 UK; 103 Yorkshire
Friday May 25th
On the Thursday evening a bee-eater was reported at Scartho near Grimsby. This is the one bird I should most like to see. So I set off early. The location was a residential street with an alleyway through to a pleasant park with some fine trees. But, no sign of any bee-eaters. A greenish warbler was then reported at the bottom of Old Fall steps [the triple height style I fell down a couple of years ago!]. So I drove there, back over the now cheap Humber Bridge to Flamborough. A few birders were present but no sign of the bird. After an hour [only bird seen was a sedge warbler] I gave up. The bird was reported asgain after 3pm. I had long gone. I decided to improve the day - I don't believe in bad days - and go to Bempton again.
Bempton was busy. I took a picture of the people colony nesting noisily on the cliff top at Grandstand.
I also took a long-distance shot of the gannets on Staple Newk. It's a view I haven't seen before.
Gulls were following a fishing boat in the sunshine. Feral pigeons were flying about along with the fulmars. A nice bif of a guillemot to reward me for all the deleted blurred images I have consigned to the rubbish bin!
A skylark was singing overhead.
I shall end this post with a gallery of images of the gannets, a rock dove that seems to have all the features a real rock dove should show and some auks. I especially like the cheeky razorbill peering at me over the tufts of grass. Let's not forget the striking pose of the kittiwake who wasn't angry, he just heard some other kittiwakes making a racket so decided to join in!!
A great day - and no ticks. It doesn't matter in the slightest!!
Sunday 27th May 2012
Barry and Chris go to Spurn
Sounds like an Enid Blyton adventure, doesn't it? The weather was fine and I had it all planned. What's more it nearly all worked out as I hoped. First of all we went to North Cave where I hoped Barry might encounter a corn bunting. I found one in the very same little tree where I had seen one a few weeks ago. Perhaps there is just the one bird! We tried to find the woodsand on the reedbed but no sign. However as we got back to the car we saw some wader activity - a few views of redshank, so we persisted. By now we weren't far from the Wild Bird cafe. And we saw the woodsand creeping about in the vegetation on the south side of Dryham Lane. Here's a photo from Blacktoft a couple of years ago.
Next we went to Patrington Haven to show Barry a tiny reedbed along the Winestead Drain where you can easily see reed warblers. That was soon accomplished. We could hear a cuckoo. Soon we were treated to several long sightings of a pair of cuckoos chasing over the fields. Best views I've ever had. Camera was in the car!!!
On arrival at Kilnsea we set off on foot for Beacon Ponds. The hide was fairly busy and we soon had views of ringed plover and little terns. A few sandwich terns flew past too. They were my first tick of the day.
The little tern pictures were especially pleasing as in previous years I had never got them close enough to produce anything acceptable.
Having walked there along the shore [or as near as we could get to the shore as the tide was quite high] we walked back down Beacon Lane. That proved to be an excellent idea. I saw several orange tip butterflies and my first ever Wall Butterfly which, unlike the orange tips, agreed to be photographed.
We stopped to listen to a whitethroat chiding us from within a bramble. After a while the range of unusual sounds started us wondering if it was a marsh warbler. The longer we listened the more certain I became, especially when a very rufous bird flew off into another nearby bush. Marsh warbler had been reported at Spurn that weekend. In the car we listened to a recording I had on a cd of marsh warbler. This confirmed the sighting and it was further enhanced on the Monday by the capture and ringing at the Warren of a marsh warbler.
Two ticks for me. Barry was well ahead of me on 9, I think.
Next we drove down to the point having asked the girl at the hut what was where. I'm afraid she was as much use as a dead frog so we decided to press on. At the point we saw little. I photographed the dreaded brown-tail moth caterpillar [Euproctis chrysorrhoea].
Deep in the scrub we met a roe deer. I spoke to it which seemed to mesmerise it rather than frighten it off. I had time to point camera and shoot too.
At the end of our walk I found a spotted flycatcher. If you don't like spotted flycatchers please leave now as I am going to bombard you with my photos of this obliging bird. Cheerio! There's more to come!
228; Yorks 106
