Cett Again

In May last year I located a singing Cetti's Warbler. He's back again in exactly the same spot. I guess my next goal should be to ACTUALLY SEE IT. To be fair it's pretty inaccessible / distant so I may have to admit defeat until another one pops up somewhere more accommodating. I'm not complaining :)

An otherwise fairly quiet weekend was mostly about checking in on some of the later migrants. It appears there are still arrivals to come, especially Swifts and hirundines. Full report of the weekend to come but instead here's a picture of the moon for no particular reason than it looked nice in Saturday's fading evening light.

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Lamp shade

An update on my previous post where I included a photo and comment about Lamprey's. Reality, it seems, is better than I thought due in no small part to my fishy observation skills. Credit to James & Chris on River Hull Birds Facebook group.

Apparently there are both River and Brook Lamprey present. The former is up to three times the size of the former.

I've set myself some homework reading http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.showFile&rep=file&fil=SMURF_lamprey.pdf 

This is the picture from the previous post. Most likely a Brook Lamprey.

This is probably the same one.

However, this one shows a River Lamprey on the right and a Brook in the middle. Size difference immediately obvious. Just above the two appears to be a Minnow, pointing right. I'm not sure why I thought the first photo was the best one and I didn't even notice the Minnow at the time. Always learning!

In other news, a Wheatear was on freshly seed-drilled field in Kelk last week... and therefore:

093 Wheatear

April

Highlight for April was undoubtely my 4th sighting of Osprey (3 in spring, 1 autumn). Apart from that it was all about arriving migrants. The weather was warm and many birds would have been fresh-in. However, while there was a good range of species clearly a huge number of birds are still to arrive. No Yellow Wagtails, only 1 Sedge Warbler and 2 Whitethroat.

Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd April

Mute Swan - 38 together at Wansford
Greylag Goose - 20+
Canada Goose - 4
Wigeon - 1 female Kelk Beck, with very ragged wings
Gadwall - 22 across 6 sites
Teal - 1 male Kelk Beck
Tufted Duck - 23
Red-legged Partridge - 7
Grey Partridge - 2
Little Grebe - 2
Cormorant - 1
Little Egret - none
Grey Heron - 5 incl 1 flying NE very high up
Osprey - 1 north over Harpham (my 4th record, 3rd in spring)
Marsh Harrier - 1 male
Sparrowhawk - 3
Buzzard - 17
Kestrel - 10 incl 2 together (see photo)
Peregrine - imm. trying/failing to catch a Feral Pigeon
Oystercatcher - 1
Lapwing - 30+ mostly being territorial
Curlew - 1 over Lowthorpe
Green Sandpiper - 2 at Wansford, prob wintering birds
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 6
Herring Gull - 130+
Cuckoo - 1 calling
Barn Owl - 1
Little Owl - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 5
Sand Martin - 17
Swallow - 30
House Martin - 9
Meadow Pipit - 1
Sedge Warbler - 1
Blackcap - 19
Lesser Whitethroat - 8
Common Whitethroat - 2
Chiffchaff - 14
Willow Warbler - 7
Linnet - 2 flocks totalling 150 (90+60)

Quite a few Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell about plus a bonus Brimstone.

Very high water levels at Kelk Beck. Not normal for April.

Greylag. Presumably there was a partner sitting nearby.

Grey Partridge, distant.

This pair of Kestrels were patiently watching a tractor harrowing the field.

I think this is a River Lampreys (Lampetra fluviatilis) but not 100% sure. There was a small shoal (if that's the right word?) of them in a few metre stretch of beck. I've certainly never seen them around here before. It looks the right kind of habitat.

Yearlist climbed significantly...

079 Swallow
080 Lesser Black-backed Gull
081 Curlew
082 Blackcap
083 Whitethroat
084 Lesser Whitethroat
085 Willow Warbler
086 Osprey
087 House Martin
088 Sand Martin
089 Peregrine
090 Sedge Warbler
091 Little Owl
092 Cuckoo