Birds in the Kelk Area

Twelvety

2012-02-08T01:23:00.000Z

So here's a rewind for January twenty twelve. Given the short days I figured I'd treat myself to a long weekend. Of course Sod's Law states all the action would be on Saturday and Monday would be hopeless. The truth wasn't far away but it was nice anyway. As per my last post the highlights were a Hooded Crow and a Bean Goose, with not a great deal else to get excited about.

Saturday 28th January

Harpham - Lowthorpe - Little Kelk : 20 Greylags, 8 Grey Partridge, 1 Heron, 3 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 300+ Woodpigeon, 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Redwing, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Coat Tit, small flock of Siskin heard at Harpham and the Hooded Crow flying over as we were trying to locate them. Pretty much the last bird of the day was the Bean Goose heading over with a few Greylags just before dusk - picked up on call before flying overhead.

Sunday 29th January

Kelk - Kelk Beck : 4 Mute Swan, 7 Greylags, 2 Wigeon, 9 Teal, 14 Mallard, 4 Grey Partridge, 4 Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 6 Coot, 1 Snipe, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Redwing, 46 Yellowhammer (a very large local count!), 9 Reed Bunting.

Gembling - Foston : 2 Mute Swan, 17 Greylags, 1 Wigeon, 23 Teal, 54 Mallard, 2 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Cormorant, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Kingfisher, 43 Fieldfare. A herd of 27 Mute Swans (see pic below) were in a field toward Wansford.

Kelk Lake : 3 Pochard, 25 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, 6 Coot,

Monday 30th January

Little Kelk - Gransmoor - Harpham : 21 Greylags, 1 Gadwall, 8 Mallard, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Cormorant, 12 Moorhen together near Kelk Beck, 35 Lapwing, 1 Woodcock flushed by a shooting party, 160+ Feral Pigeons, 1500+ Woodpigeon toward Burton Agnes, 20+ Collared Dove, 5 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 9 Fieldfare, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Coal Tit, 45+ Goldfinch, 1 male Bullfinch, 22+ Siskin at Harpham (same flock as Saturday).

A few photos, starting with a Wren, a species I've somehow managed not to get on film before.

Herd of swans at Wansford - Mutes not Whoopers!

Part of the local corvid pre-roost flock that must have been spooked by the farmer - suddenly the sky was filled with hundreds as they retreated to the safety of the trees.

A caterpillar. In January. A bit of a surprise. Not sure what the appeal of the mole hill was.

My January visit racked up 65 species for the new year list, a marginally better result than the previous two years which suffered snowy conditions.

Hug a Hoodie

2012-02-01T23:51:00.003Z

2012 has got off to good start - with a new bird for the area!

A single HOODED CROW flew south-west over Harpham on Saturday. These are fairly scarce in Yorkshire with around 10 per year, mostly along the well watched coastal strip.

Following the Bean Goose flock in November last year, another one was seen on Saturday making a local flight with a small party of Greylags over Kelk.

Having said that it was actually a quiet weekend for birds the best of the rest being a Woodcock, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Kingfisher, and a flock of Siskin.

More later plus a few reassuringly rough pictures.

Cattle Egret relocated

2012-01-14T12:01:00.001Z

So it seems the Cattle Egret has been hanging out at Hempholme near Tophill Low since it left Kelk - about 5 miles as the egret flies.

I hadn't realised that presumably the same one had been seen in November near Spurn. Maybe it was flushed from its favoured field at Hempholme and flew up to Kelk on 18th Dec, decided it wasn't as good and went straight back the following day.

2011 Summery

2012-01-04T17:12:00.000Z

Looking out of the window at the miserable murk that passes for weather today I was reminded of a work email I received late last year which contained the timely typo "And so in summery..."

Anyway that's the title explained. I thought a review of 2011 might pass some time. First some numbers...

2011 year list - 116
Past 3 years - 117, 114, 115
Total last 5 years - 140 (-1 if I'm not allowed Ruddy Shelduck)
Since 1990 - 179 (at least 175 without dodgy wilfowl).

January to March

The first visit of the year was during the remnants of the hardest winter for a generation. And it showed. Most birds had cleared out of the woods and hedges, some into gardens, some out of the county, but no doubt many lacking the migratory instinct had perished.

A Little Egret was the fourth record for the area. Also in January were 91 Pink-footed Goose, a Water Rail, 2 Woodcock and 2 Green Sandpiper. February was positively Spring-like and there was a lot of water on the fields; 14 Wigeon and 140+ Teal were in the area. 3 Treecreepers together at Harpham made quite a sight. A herd of 15 Whooper Swan flew in from the south and spent an afternoon in Kelk in March. Other goodies in this month were 23 Wigeon on a flooded field, a Curlew and the first Chiffchaff.

April to June

Migrants were arriving early in April with several warblers breaking their own records and an unprecedented number of Yellow Wagtails joining them. There weren't many scarce birds to admire though a fine male Wheatear in Kelk was very welcome as were the pair of Little Ringed Plover in April and May. A Whimbrel heading east was probably the best of the bunch.

Good numbers of singing warblers were doing their thing, especially Blackcap and Whitethroat. Single Grasshopper Warbler and Garden Warbler were a joy to hear. The first sightings of Hobby and Marsh Harrier for the year did not hint at what might happen next.

July to September

The first surprise of the summer was an influx of Quail with birds noted calling at four sites. I even got a brief glimpse of a bird near Gransmoor Lane. This can only have been a sample of the birds present and surely many must have passed unnoticed.

A female Pochard was noted with young in June - the second such event in recent years. Later in the summer the Marsh Harriers had two young on the wing and Hobby looked to have been successful too. Our Buzzards keep being productive - 11 were seen on one day in September. How the Buzzard-free past seems a long time ago!

Scarcer birds were in fairly short supply, understandably, but a Spotted Flycatcher put in an appearance and a surprise flock of 12 Greenshank flew along Kelk Beck. Bizarre. It was left to gulls to provide the summer highlight - 2 Yellow-legged Gulls feeding behind a working tractor with a large number of other large gulls.

October to December

The latter months started to hot up with a Ring Ouzel, a Crossbill, a Redpoll and a Mediterranean Gull in October. There were plenty of common farmland birds too - flocks of 80 Tree Sparrow and 90 Goldfinch are significant local counts.

November tried to calm down a bit but a national influx of grey geese made sure it didn't - Kelk played host to 11 White-fronted and 25 Bean Goose. Truly remarkable stuff, it's just a shame they were only seen through thick fog. A healthy 'corvid' roost at this time held around 1000 Jackdaw and 2000 Rook.

Despite all the scarce birds this year - Little Egret, Quail, Yellow-legged Gull, Crossbill, Ring Ouzel, Bean Goose - there was one thing absent, a first for the Kelk area. So as if by magic a Cattle Egret apppeared in December, a first and the rarest bird I've ever seen locally.

December 2011

2012-01-02T22:36:00.000Z

Quick write-up from last month - a couple of frosty days with a light but still biting breeze.

Saturday 17th December

Harpham/Lowthorpe: 2 Kestrel, 2 Buzzard, 2 Golden Plover, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3+ Skylark, 6+ Goldcrest, 2 Redwing, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Treecreeper at New Road (photo below). A squirrel was in the Church yard at Lowthorpe.

Green Lane / Kelk Lake: the CATTLE EGRET aside... 2 Mute Swan, 7 Tufted Duck, 3 Teal, 1 Gadwall, 1 Goldeneye, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 12 Lapwing, 700+ Woodpigeon, 3 Stock Dove, 6 Yellowhammer.

Sunday 18th December

Green Lane / Kelk Beck: the Egret was seen again over Little Kelk as it flew toward Foston. Otherwise the morning saw 1 Little Grebe, 1 Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron plus 15 over the heronry, 11 Greylag Goose, 5 Mallard, 6 Teal, 2 Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 12 Grey Partridge, 2 Snipe, 1 Meadow Pipit (scarce in winter), 1 Grey Wagtail, 9 Redwing, 120+ Fieldfare, 40+ Chaffinch, 5 Reed Bunting. A group of 4 Roe Deer were feeding happily toward Millingdale.

Foston / Gembling: 13 Teal, 1 Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel.

Tree Sparrow, Blue Tit and Starlings on feeders at Lowthorpe. There's a reasonable sized colony of Tree Sparrows here but they're a devil to see as they keep to the gardens and hedges.

A not quite in focus Redwing by Kelk Beck. This is the first one I've managed to get a picture of.

Starlings in the morning light. Noisy buggers.

Spot the Treecreeper competition!

And that was my final view of Kelk for 2011. Here's to 2012.

Cattle Egret

2011-12-28T15:37:00.000Z

A CATTLE EGRET was in Kelk on 18th and 19th December. This is the rarest bird to have been recorded in the area by myself. Formely considered a national rarity it has become a more regular visitor to southern England over recent year. However it is still a rarity in Yorkshire with less than 20 ever recorded. Stunned was not the word when it appeared at the end of an otherwise mediocre day.

More about the rest of the weekend later but here's a little detail about the bird (sadly no photos).

We first saw the bird flying north toward the pastures in Little Kelk. It was obiously an egret (first though was, naturally, Little Egret) but the view from behind as it flew meant that was all I could say. Toward the end of the pasture the bird came down among the grazing cattle and started to feed with short dashes. Overall the bird looked more compact, with a shorter neck/legs and bigger head that a Little Egret would show - we were almost certainly looking at a Cattle Egret. A closer look to confirm the bill shape/colour and leg colour would have been nice.

After a couple of minutes the bird got up and flew on north but appeared to come down again somewhere near Kelk Lake or the farm. There was little option but to divert and head around to the lake. An hour or so later we had walked along the length of the road to the end of the lake and were heading back having had no sign of the bird. Suddenly the egret appeared about 20m in front of us flying north-east over the road. It went almost overhead at about 10m distance - at which it the short and relatively thick yellow bill was obvious, as were the shorter dark legs. Definitely a Cattle Egret. The bird carried on only to land in the grounds of Little Kelk Farm for a couple of minutes before heading off along Gransmoor Drain and out of sight. It was dusk by now and with the identification sorted it was time for home.

In the morning the obvious thing to do was to see if the bird had returned to the pasture field. No sign. However as we walked away toward Gransmoor Lane we picked up the bird in flight heading south from the pasture. Had it been there all along? Anyway it flew purposefully south and tracking it into the distance it was heading toward Foston before becoming a tiny dot.

The news was put out on Sunday but as far as I can tell it has not been relocated. A fuller account has been submitted to the county bird recorder and hopefully it will be accepted as part of the scientific record for rare birds in Yorkshire.

Whatever next, eh?

Beans Talk

2011-12-28T14:25:00.000Z

A couple of pictures of the Bean Goose flock from November.... for what it's worth. Crikey, the fog really was dense.

An, er, close up. Can just about make out them out as Beans.

Most of the Bean flock together. Stay tuned for December's report!

I can haz photoez

2011-11-30T23:14:00.001Z

Woo, I'm back in business!

An 'atmospheric' shot looking through Lowthorpe Church Wood into a mix of bright sunlight and fading fog.

More when I've got time to look through them.

Bean and gone

2011-11-29T13:09:00.001Z

My November visit was 19/20th so I am catching up! Still no photos but with confidence of a coalition government I will deliver. The weather was lovely and mild but Sunday was almost impossible for birding with a dense blanket of fog that only part-lifted in the afternoon.

A large influx of wild geese had taken place across the region in the previous week and Kelk dragged in some representatives - 11 White-fronted Goose and 25 BEAN GOOSE. Remarkably quiet otherwise.

Saturday 19th November

AM - Harpham/Lowthorpe: 9 White-fronted Goose flying west from Little Kelk with 50+ Greylags, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Woodcock, 18 Collared Dove, 6 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 30+ Skylark, 1 Grey Wagtail, 16 Mistle Thrush (a good local count), 2 Golgcrest, 20+ Linnet, 2 Bullfinch.

PM - Gembling/Foston/Cattleholmes/Millingdale: 2 Mute Swan, 7 Wigeon, 36 Teal, 3 Tufted Duck, 3 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Cormorant, 12 Grey Heron, 2 Buzzard, 9 Coot, 13 Stock Dove, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, two parties of Long-tailed Tit. A remarkable record of 16 Curlew were together in a field at Brigham - will have to check but possibly my first 'winter' record.

At dusk approx 3000 Corvids were attending the roost - the largest number for a while. Although it was practically dark the balance appeared to be about 2-1 Rook-Jackdaw.

Sunday 20th November

AM - Kelk Beck: 30+ Mallard, 60+ Teal, 'white-front/bean' goose flock heard through fog heading toward Foston, 2 Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron, 4 Grey Partridge, 1 Woodcock, 150+ Fieldfare, 1 Redwing, 11+ Long-tailed Tit, 4 Reed Bunting.

PM - Little Kelk: 1 Buzzard, 14 Grey Partridge, 1 Kingfisher, 25+ Skylark, 2000+ Corvids, 60+ Linnet, 30+ Yellowhammer.

With good timing we approached Green Lane as the fog was lifting (it came back down again by dusk) and into view came a flock of geese - "Whoa, they're not Greylags". No they weren't, if fact it was 11 White-fronted and an amazing 25 Bean Goose. Actually, that's a wee lie, there were 2 Greylags with them. I have some pictures when I finally get around to sorting them out but to me all the Beans looked like the 'Tundra' race rossicus, which are the commoner of the two in Yorkshire. I have seen two Beans in the local area before but never more than one at a time.

My best recent year-list was 117... it's going to be close.

114 White-fronted Goose
115 Bean Goose

October - Part 2

2011-11-28T17:27:00.001Z

Well would you look at that, nearly December and I haven't said anything since October. Alas I've been without a 'puter for a while.

As per the previous post there were four scarce birds noted on that visit, and thus four to add to the yearlist.

110 - Common Crossbill
111 - Lesser Redpoll
112 - Ring Ouzel
113 - Meditteranean Gull

Soooo.... for what it's worth, a belated roundup of the rest of the weekend.

Saturday 22nd October

AM Harpham/Lowthorpe: 30 Lapwing, 1 Green Sandpiper, 17 Collared Dove, 15+ Skylark, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Redwing, 15 Fieldfare, 4 Goldcrest, 5 parties of Long-tailed Tits, 1 Bullfinch. A single COMMON CROSSBILL flew into the pines at Lingholmes and a Lesser Redpoll flew overhead at Lowthorpe.

PM Gembling/Foston: 35 Teal, 7 Grey Heron, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Little Owl (Gembling).

Dusk, Little Kelk: 6 Mallard, 1 Buzzard, 6 Red-legged Partridge, 5 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Meadow Pipit, 8 Linnet, several Tree Sparrow (heard only). Star of the show was a RING OUZEL in the big hedge along Green Lane - very elusive but calling regularly.

Other than birds, I noted about a dozen Red Admirals (no other butterflies), 2 Squirrels and a single 'Hawker' presumably a Migrant Hawker at Brigham Quarry.

Sunday 23rd October

AM Kelk Beck: 1 Mute Swan, 4 Greylags, 60+ Mallard, 90+ Teal, 1 Tufted Duck, 4 Cormorant, 3 Grey Heron, 3 Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Kestrel, 5 Lapwing, 8 Golden Plover, 5 Great Black-backed Gull, a flock of 400+ Woodpigeon, a daytime-hooting Tawny Owl, 45+ Skylark, 1 Redwing, 1 Fieldfare, 80+ Tree Sparrow (record count), 90+ Goldfinch, 28 Linnet, 8 Reed Bunting, 10 Yellowhammer. Another look for the Ring Ouzel at lunchtime was successful - views that could just be called 'reasonable'.

PM: Millingdale/Cattleholmes/Kelk Lake: 1 Goldeneye, 14 Grey Heron (Cattleholmes), 4 Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 9 Grey Partridge, 11 Golden Plover, 80 Lapwing, 1 Green Sandpiper, 300+ Woodpigeon, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Grey Wagtail, a very large but uncountable party of Long-tailed Tit at Kelk Lake (min 30), 90 Linnet, 1 Bullfinch. At least 1000 Corvids were gathered at the traditional pre-roost site at Kelk at dusk.

Club Med

2011-10-25T10:05:00.001+01:00

What a superb weekend. Proper autumnal feel about it. Except for the warm dry weather. And the lack of winter thrushes. Ha!

I jest, it was a really corking weekend, with lots of migrants about, including a single CROSSBILL (only my 2nd local record), RING OUZEL (also 2nd record), a Redpoll , and an adult Mediterranean Gull.

More later but here's a couple of just-about-tell-what-it-is record shots of the Med - all white wings and a heavy black smudge behind the eye.

Eleven

2011-09-20T00:01:00.002+01:00

If you blink in September, as a birder, you miss the action. This weekend had that feel to it but with only two days to play with I had to grin and bear it. Ultimately however there was scant evidence of migrants but a couple of Hobbies, a Marsh Harrier, Spotted Flycatcher, and Corn Bunting were some reward. Two Swifts represent a late sighting and - hence the title - a new record area count of 11 Common Buzzards reflects their continuing success locally.

Saturday 17th September

Morning walk around Harpham and Lowthorpe: 17 Mallard, 11 Conmon Buzzard, 3 Sparrowhawk, 3 Kestrel, 2 Hobby, 3 Red-legged Partridge, 34 Herring Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, lots of small gulls, 2 Swift, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, several Skylark, 3 Meadow Pipit, 1 Yellow Wagtail, plenty of Chiffchaff including 2 singing, several Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Coal Tit, 3 parties of Long-tailed Tit, 4 Siskin flew south, 38 goldfinch, 1 Bullfinch, 4 Yellowhammer.

Butterflies were out in the sheltered sunshine in small numbers; 16 Whites, 11 Small Tortoiseshell, 8 Red Admiral, 6 Speckled Wood. Also 6 Hawkers, presumably Migrant Hawker. A young Roe Deer was on its own in Lowthorpe Church wood and a small/young dead Grass Snake was by the roadside in Kelk.

Below is the Spotted flycatcher busy feeding in the shelter of Lowthorpe churchyard. I had one here last September as well as in previous years. Perfect habitat, but curiously no sign of them in mid-summer.

Many people struggle with Hobby identification - not least because they're tricky to study and become familiar with. In silhouette the shape is distinctive - thin rakish wings and a relatively short tail (cf Kestrel). In hunting flight their wings often appear pulled back and scythe or anchor like. Although you can't make it out from the photo this one is a juvenile - quite possibly raised locally. I'm just chuffed to get a photo at all!!

Fairly brief afternoon dash around Gembling and Foston followed by a dusk walk around Green Lane: 2 Mute Swan, 9 Teal, 24 Mallard, 2 Tufted Duck, 5 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Grey Partridge, 6 Little Grebe, 5 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 3 Coot, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Tree Sparrow. Also noted a fox by Gransmoor Drain and a couple of bats hawking along hedgerows.

Wiley old fox, taken in fading light hence the blurry quality.

Sunday 18th September

Morning walk along Kelk Beck: 2 Mute Swan, 2 Greylag Goose, 50 Mallard, 34 Teal, 2 Common Buzzard, juvenile Marsh Harrier, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 280 Lapwing in two flocks, 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Herring Gull, 2000+ small gulls, 1 Kingfisher, 5+ Skylark, 2 Meadow Pipit, 35+ Tree Sparrow, 53 Goldfinch (a very high count locally) and 20+ Linnet.

As yesterday small numbers of butterflies were out and about - 16 Small Tortoiseshell, 11 Whites, 5 Red Admiral, 3 Speckled Wood. A single Migrant Hawker was along Lynesykes.

Afternoon ride around Millingdale/Cattleholmes and Kelk Lake/Gransmoor: 2 Mute Swan, 10 Mallard, 9 Grey Partridge, 2 Common Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 2 Coot, 50+ Lapwing, 8 Golden Plover, 5 Great Black-backed Gulls (adults at Gransmoor), 1 Little Owl (Millingdale), 120+ House Sparrow (50+ Kelk, 30+ Millingdale, 40+ Gransmoor), 160+ Linnet (Millingdale), and a Corn Bunting at Cattleholmes.

Juvenile Grey Herons were evident all weekend, perhaps a sign of a good breeding season. The adults, typically, were nowhere to be seen.

Of the three regular big gulls the Great Black-backed is the least encountered around Kelk. Mostly seen in winter a typical sighting would be a few individuals moving south-west in strong winds accompanying Herring Gulls perhaps to the roost at Tophill Low or even further crossing the Wolds to the Lower Derwent. What one doesn't expect is to see several on the ground together. This freshly drilled field at Gransmoor hosted five of the brutes.

Despite the lack of classic autumn birds it will come thick and fast from now on. Next month only stragglers from summer will be left and winter thrushes arriving en masse. Brrr!

The only year-tick of the weekend was the migrating Siskin. Still a way to go compared to the last couple of years.

109 Siskin

Summer? Autumn? Impossible to tell with this weather

2011-08-30T23:57:00.000+01:00

Funny weekend that. Friday was all about the rain, then I got sunburned on Saturday, then blown about by the wind on Sunday. But anyway... not a great deal going on, lots of families of birds around and early flocking among some species. No real scarce birds but Marsh Harrier, Hobby were seen again and Greenshank was added to the yearlist.

Friday 26th August

It stayed dry until late morning then belted it down until after dark. Luckily I managed to get one walk, though still got a soaking on the way home.

Kelk Beck: 16 Gadwall, 11 Mallard, 9 Teal, 4 Grey Partridge, 1 Cormorant, 1 juv Heron, 230 Golden Plover, 120 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, 4 Green Sandpiper, 1 Swift (flying south), 2 Kingfisher, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 3+ Sedge Warbler, several Blackcap, 12 Goldfinch, and 50 Linnet. Also a Water Vole briefly.

A family of four Marsh Harriers (male, female, 2 juveniles) were hunting the general area - perhaps they have bred nearby. More remarkably was a flock of 12 Greenshank that flew north along the beck. Suffice to say this is a record count for the area. But... to where were they headed? From where?

Saturday 27th August

A much better day weather-wise, but a comparatively slower day for birds.

Lowthorpe/Harpham: 4 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 2 Hobby (possibly adult and juvenile but view too brief), 3 Green Sandpiper, 4 Stock Dove, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, several Blackcap and Chiffchaff, 1 party of Willow Warbler, 8+ Goldcrest, 40+ Goldfinch. Also a Grey Squirrel was noted. Butterfly numbers were low due to cool cloud; 19 'whites', 3 Peacock, 1 Red Admiral, 7 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Speckled Wood, 1 Small Copper.

Gembling/Foston: 4 Mallard, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Marsh Harrier (same as yestreday), 2 Kestrel, 5 Coot, 1 Little Owl, 1 Whitethroat, 110 Linnet at Foston Bridge, 410 Starling in one flock.

Green Lane / Barf Hill: 1 Red-legged Partridge, 17 Grey Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, and 41 Pied Wagtails on the pasture.

Finally at dusk; 3 Mute Swan, 1 Hobby, 1 Coot, 1 Reed Warbler all at Kelk Lake. 800 Corvids flew to roost. A half hour watch for gulls moving east to roost was disappointing - a mere 900 birds. Consider that approx 2500 were loafing on a field at lunchtime. Maybe the conditions weren't quite right, or maybe most of them had already moved through. Either way I sense I still have a lot to learn about them. Bigger gulls were few and far between over the weekend; 26 Herring and 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Sunday 28th August

Wind took over from sunshine or rain today. Not great conditions for farmland birding. But needs must...

Lowthorpe/Harpham: 32 Mallard flying over, 6 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Hobby, 3 Buzzard, 1 juvenile Kestrel, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 90+ House Martin (an excellent local count), 3 Meadow Pipit (first ones since spring), and 1 Bullfinch.

Millingdale/Cattleholmes: 16 Mallard, 1 Marsh Harrier, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 8 Stock Dove.

Gransmoore Lane/Green Lane: 1 Buzzard, 1 Marsh Harrier, 17 Grey Partridge, 150+ Starling, 300+ Corvid.

Now for some photos...

Common Gulls are the most numerous species visiting the area, especially in autumn when vast flocks feeding on the Wolds move to roost in Bridlington Bay. Later in autumn the birds shift to roosting at Tophill Low and so their route doesn't pass over Kelk. That said, large flocks can be encountered anywhere in flocks from now until early Spring, especially during ploughing.

Red-legged Partridges at Harpham - presumably a family party. They have been quite scarce this year, only being noted at two sites. This track has been a regular place to see them recently.

A flock of over 400 Starlings on wires at Foston. At one stage they all got up together, circled, then landed back on the wires. When they did they whole length between poles bounced up and down.

Juvenile Swallows on wires at Lowthorpe. In a month they'll have headed off to Africa. If we didn't already know this through scientific study it would utterly defy belief.

Finally a Crow doing what Crows do best - looking evil and suspicious.

And so that's yer lot. One addition to the year list with Greenshank. A Red Kite was reported to me seen in Kelk a week ago, so that's now 108 now.

107 Red Kite

108 Greenshank

Odd gulls

2011-08-06T13:51:00.000+01:00

Summary for last weekend. I had a couple of extra days to play with so it was actually Thursday to Sunday. The weather was variable between heavy cloud (no rain) and burning sunshine with light breeze swinging between northerly to southerly. Harvest had started with most barley already in and oilseed dessicated but not yet harversted.

Thursday 28th July

Harpham/Lowthorpe: very quiet. 1 Little Grebe, 4 Buzzard, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 40+ Swift, plenty of warblers including singing Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff plus a Sedge Warbler at New Road. 1 Bullfinch at Lowthorpe.

Gembling/Foston: 2 Canada Goose, 1 Kestrel, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 juv Grey Heron, 1 Hobby at Foston, 1 Oystercatcher, 2 Herring Gull, 1 Spotted Flycatcher at Foston Mill.

Little Kelk: pair of Mute Swan with a cygnet at Kelk Lake, adult Cormorant, 3 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 50+ Lapwing, very few gulls moving to roost.

This is one of the Buzzards seen on Thursday. Birds of prey carefully stage their wing moult so they are always capable of hunting but this adult seems to have gone rather full-on!

Friday 29th July

Just a short walk in the morning.

Kelk Beck: 17 Mallard, 7 Lapwing, 1 Kestrel, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Kingfisher, several Skylark, 5 Yellow Wagtail (2+ juveniles), 8 Pied Wagtail, adult and juvenile Lesser Whitethroat, family party of Common Whitethroat, and a flock of 90+ Linnet. A Water Vole gave reasonable views but not long enough to get 'papped'.

Saturday 30th July

Harpham: 6 Sparrowhawk in the air together (presumably some were juveniles?), 4 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Hobby buzzing the Buzzards, 3 Herring Gull, 70+ Feral Pigeon, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker. A water vole briefly appeared at New Road.

A juvenile Peregrine flew through New Road causing an almighty fuss among the crows. Where it had come from one can only guess but it's the earliest I've seen one locally and surely must be a local post-breeding dispersal rather than a migrant.

Gembling/Foston: 6 Little Grebe, 1 juv Grey Heron, 10 Coot including young, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 9 Stock Dove, 13 Tree Sparrow, 1 Bullfinch.

Green Lane/Barf Hill: 56 Greylag Goose, 3 juvenile Grey Heron heading over (photo below), 1 Kestrel carrying food, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker at Barf Hill, c60 Sand Martin holes at Gransmoor Quarry (photo below), 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Mistle Thrush, 26+ Long-tailed Tit on Green Lane plus another family party at Barf Hill, a whopping 48 Tree Sparrow on Gransmoor Lane, 1 Bullfinch and a singing Corn Bunting. The latter is only the second of the year, and possible the same individual as the first.

An hour looking for the gull roost flight produced c420 small gulls, mostly Common, which is typical for the time of year. Also 2 Grey Partridge and 2 Yellow Wagtail. No sight nor sound of any Quail.

Believe it or not the photo below is the singing Corn Bunting. You'll just have to trust me ;-)

Three juvenile herons going about their business together. Evocative is the word you're looking for.

Sand Martin colony at Gransmoor Quarry. Normally the nesting banks are hidden from the road so this is unusual. I suspect there might be more holes out of view but it looks like about 60 holes here.

Sunday 31st July

Harpham: 14 Grey Partridge (3 adults, 11 young), 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 20+ Long-tailed Tit, 1 Bullfinch.

Kelk Beck: female Tufted Duck, 1 juv Grey Heron, 1 Marsh Harrier (see previous post here), 1 Sparrowhwak, 2 Coot, 18 Golden Plover - nice and early for them, 26 Lapwing, and 16 Goldfinch.

The field south of Millingdale was being cultivated and hundreds of gulls were in attendance. What was surprising was the number of large gulls present and this demanded a closer look. There were c700 gulls present with approx 450 Common and 50 Black-headed, 160+ Herring Gull, 17 Lesser Black-backed Gull and amazingly 2 Yellow-legged Gull (adult and 4cy).

Although large gulls are regularly seen flying over in summer it is exceptional to see large numbers and they don't tend to gather on cultivated fields in this way. Seventeen is a very high count for Lesser Black-backed Gull locally and 160+ Herring Gull is a new record count. Perhaps the Yellow-legged Gulls offer a clue - these two are only the 3rd and 4th I have seen locally, so presumably there is a post-breeding movement occuring at the moment. When coming and going birds were mostly heading east. This is also unsual since large gulls tend to move south-west during afternoons.

Photo below is a Yellow Wagtail. This pair both have a preference for perching trees. Most other Yellow Wagtails seem to spend little or no time doing this. Odd.

So that's it. The year list goes up three to 106.

104 Spotted Flycatcher
105 Peregrine
106 Yellow-legged Gull

Argus Catalogue

2011-08-03T23:10:00.000+01:00

Killing time while putting together my bird notes. Butterflies are easier and quicker to account for. Apart from the whites there was a general lack in numbers but a reasonable spread of species, summarised as:

Small Skipper - 2

White sp. - 160+

Small Copper - 1

Brown Argus - 4

Holly Blue - 1

Red Admiral - 23

Small Tortoiseshell - 8

Peacock - 16

Speckled Wood - 8

Wall - 1

Meadow Brown - 13

Ringlet - 7

First up, a fine Brown Argus by Kelk Beck. I had never seen one before last August so discovering one at another site was a surprise. They are expanding their range in Yorkshire so presumably more should follow.

Below is the same individual showing the pretty underwing pattern.

A Small Skipper at Harpham. Easily confused as a moth on first glance, even in flight.

Holly Blue on ivy in Kelk. I only see odd ones in the area but they've been around since the 90s.

Definitely not a butterfly, this one. Twelve Hares had been forced out into the open in this cut grass field. This one let me approach closer than usual.

Birds up next...

Raptorial summer delights

2011-08-02T22:23:00.000+01:00

Blimey, is it really eight weeks?

July can be hard work birdwatching - breeding activity has died down and the crops and general undergrowth hide so much. Last weekend was typical with seemingly little on show. On reflection it was actually pretty good. Highlights were a male Marsh Harrier, 2 Hobby, juvenile Peregrine, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls, Spotted Flycatcher, and a singing Corn Bunting. Also a nice supporting cast of butterflies including Small Copper and Brown Argus.

Six species of raptor in any weekend is good, in July it's a wee bit special. I even managed a few distant record shots of the harrier.

Adult males are the easiest to identify, having a brown body, silver wings with black primaries.

The bird was slowly quartering it's way around field edges near Kelk Beck late afternoon Sunday.

Occasionally the bird would adopt a hovering pose but they don't really do much of that, it's more a 'pause' than anything.

Twenty years ago Marsh Harriers were more likely to be seen locally than Buzzard, but now the latter is the easiest of all raptors to see. If you saw the bird below in silhouette you should immediately think 'harrier' - Buzzards are rarely seen flying low down around here.

One last view - more typical quartering flight, low along a field drain or rough patch.

Report on the rest of the weekend later...

Family

2011-06-11T14:20:00.000+01:00

A quick roundup from last weekend.

I already mentioned the three Quail on Friday night. Also noted on my travels that evening were 1 Mute Swan, 2 Mallard, 3 Grey Partridge, 1 Tawny Owl and 1 Reed Warbler. A Roe Deer was feeding along a farm track and there were quite a few bats feeding - no idea what species though.

Saturday 4th June

Harpham and Lowthorpe in the morning: 2 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Buzzard, 4 Kestrel (3 together battling with one of the Buzzards!), 6 Lapwing, 1 Herring Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, plenty of Swifts, 11 Skylark, several House Martin, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Whitethroat, several Blackcap and Chiffchaff still singing but only 3 Willow Warbler all morning, and 1 Goldcrest. A squirrel was at Lowthorpe Church.

The sunshine departed in the afternoon and by evening it was cold. However the afternoon around Gembling and Foston produced: 2 Mute Swan, 6 Mallard, male Tufted Duck, 1 female Pochard with 3 young, 1 Grey Partridge, 5 Little Grebe, 1 Cormorant (year tick!!) over Brigham Quarry, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard, 5 pairs of Coot at Brigham Quarry, 1 Oystercatcher, 6 Lapwing, 8 Black-headed Gull, 20+ Common Gulls, 23 Herring Gull, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 8 Stock Dove, 1 Cuckoo, 2 Yellow Wagtail and several small flocks of Starlings with juveniles.

I tried for the Quails again in the evening without luck but did also encounter 2 Oystercatcher, 32 Lapwing - looking like a post-breeding flock of presumably failed breeding adults, 5 Mallard, 14 Greylags, 2 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Cuckoo - including a female responding to the male's calling. Sweet.

Sunday 5th June

I had other commitments in the morning but after lunch we headed down Kelk Beck and around Great Kelk: 2 Gadwall, 23 Mallard, 3 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Kestrel, 4 Buzzard, 8 Lapwing, 2 herring Gull, 200+ hirundines feeding in the lee of Turtle Hill Wood, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 8 Whitethroat, 1 Bullfinch, 2 Reed Bunting.

The only other chance to get out was an hour from 6-7pm around Harpham. Nothing much to add except 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker (at 3 locations).

Some photos...

A baby Blackbird that had still to grow a tail and most of its wing feathers. Bobbing around on the grass verge is a risky strategy when you can't fly - let's hope he didn't become a trophy kill for a bored cat!

Collared Dove on nest. Not quite well enough hidden if you ask me!

The second year I have found breeding Pochard at this site, though not last year. These are quite a scarce breeding bird in UK so it feels an honour to be able to watch them as a young family.

Beautiful male Greenfinch at Harpham. They're common enough, especially near gardens but still well worth a close look.

Leaving the comedy photo until last. I've never tried to snap a swift before so I'm just delighted that one made it into shot. There were several blank blue sky photos accompanying this one. Must try harder.

Butterfly totals for the weekend as follows:

'Whites' - 7
Large Skipper - 5
Small Tortoiseshell - 4
Speckled Wood - 4
Common Blue - 3
Peacock - 1
Wall - 1

With the addition of Quail and Cormorant the year list is now 103.

102 Quail
103 Cormorant

Quail of a time

2011-06-06T20:49:00.000+01:00

For once my timing was perfect. A warm day and still air in summer is precisely the cue to go out listening for Quail. And so that's what I did last Friday evening. And I located three different calling birds in a couple of hours or so cycling around the lanes. Excellent!!

The first was near Kelk Lake, calling from a field of spring corn along with a couple of Grey Partridge. I spent a while listening to it calling every minute or two, hoping that it would stray into the tramlines for a quick view. It didn't. The second bird was close to Great Kelk coming from somewhere in one of two wheat fields. This one was much closer (louder) but their voice carries so well it's difficult to know how close. Third and final bird was at Lowthorpe, also in wheat. It was 10.30pm by this time and I'd had enough. I tried again on Saturday, visiting two of the three sites again, this time it was much colder and rather breezy and there was not a squeak to be heard. Draw your own conclusions about when is best to hear Quail!

While it is clear there are a number of birds in the area to call this an 'influx' might be a bit over-egging it. I think it's luck and we get some every year. Quail are widely reported in Holderness each year with occasional 'influxes'. However, you need to get lucky and the evening weather conditions help greatly, not something I've had in my summer visits over recent years. My last record was in 2009 when I flushed a male at Harpham in August - blogged here.

Apart from this excitement the weekend was as you'd expect, summer in full swing, lots of baby birds and general family activity. A Hobby was seen hunting on Sunday lunchtime and after my grumbles about missing species in the previous blog post I managed to see a Cormorant briefly. More write up later.

Some photos first.

Female Common Blue butterfly. Aren't they fantastic? Early June seems rather early for them but maybe the long dry spring has moved the timing forward - will that mean a better or worse summer for them?

Large Skipper at Kelk Beck. I've not seen any of these in the last two years so it was very pleasing to see several this weekend. Their shape and flight is more like a moth but they're lovely little critters when you see them close up.

Male Azure Damselfly along Kelk Beck. I've never paid much attention to damselflys before and this is remarkably the first one I've properly idenfied in the area. Apparently they're very common. I've no reason to doubt that.

Female Common Blue Damselfly at Harpham. The greyer colour would be replaced by bright blue in a male. The tail pattern differentiates it from the Azure Damselfly.

Enough for now. Be back with a few birdy pictures.

Missing you already

2011-05-30T15:32:00.000+01:00

Something a bit different. A recent conversation got me thinking about birds that have gone awol this year. The harsh winter had a definite impact on a number of species but it's not always obvious straight away what the effect is since some birds just move on. However this winter many had nowhere to move on to. Here's a quick summary of my thoughts:

Wildfowl, Waders and other water birds:
Most waterbirds simply moved on but generally there's been little obvious impact. That said I'm missing Shoveler for the year list though they are quite scarce and unreliable in their appearance locally. No sign of Great Crested Grebe either, though the poor form of Kelk Lake is the obvious reason. More inexplicable is the complete absence of Cormorant. Very odd indeed. As for waders the number of Lapwing is down with c40 birds in April and May. Snipe have been very hard to come by - just 4 records - but I think we will have to wait until autumn to get a better idea of the extent of any losses. No records of Redshank yet but Spring passage never produces many, autumn and winter are better.

Raptors and Owls:
No apparent impact. I am yet to see a Peregrine this year but it's doubtful that has anything to do with the freeze. Barn Owls seem to have clung on though a few have clearly gone missing. Hopefully a decent summer with good productivity can go some way to restore numbers. Other owls seem ok though they're so hard to locate it's tricky to be sure.

Gulls:
Few were using the area during the worst of the weather and it's been a slow spring but again I doubt that's due to the freeze.

Near Passerines (pigeons, kingfisher, woodpeckers):
Kingfisher is the biggest worry in freezing weather - they can find themselves with nowhere to go. Fortunately there have been three sightings so there's reason to be cheerful. Pigeons are as numerous as ever and Great Spotted Woodpeckers are as they were.

Selected Passerines:
Skylark - plenty singing around Kelk Beck and Harpham where you would expect them. Meadow Pipt - only one record of two birds in March, which is a very poor showing. Grey Wagtail - just one record, earlier in May, a relief but unprecedented in recent years to wait so long for the first of the year. Wren - while I haven't been counting the impression is there are significant losses. Blackbird - gardens seem to have theirs, a sure sign human intervention in terms of feeding is a life-saver, but away from there the woods and hedgerows seem emptier than usual. A good summer should sort that out. Tits - Blue and Great Tits emptied out of the woods and into gardens and the return has not been as strong. Long-tailed Tits are only marginally down. Finches - the garden feeding finches such as Goldfinch and Greenfinch appear ok but Linnet flocks are much reduced with only two counts over 40 so far. No sightings of Siskin or Brambling in the winter, they will be very welcome year ticks in late autumn.

Crane

2011-05-23T23:55:00.000+01:00

3 COMMON CRANES were apparently seen in fields to the west of Kelk Beck on Sunday.

They're not a species I've yet encountered in the area but if I were drawing up a list of possible new birds they'd be on it. In East Yorkshire they're occasionally noted in ones and twos, indeed there have been several this year. Perhaps the biggest challenge is that they tend to be seen only in flight and less often on the ground so it's very much a case of right place right time.

Room 101

2011-05-17T21:03:00.000+01:00

While April gets the juices going with new arrivals I prefer May. There are still birds arriving but everything is in full swing, the spring greenery turns lush, and there's always a hint of unpredictability. Unusual birds might just turn up.

Well it wasn't quite to be but finding a Grasshopper Warbler will do me. Supporting cast of Marsh Harrier and Hobby make it alright.

Friday 13th May

With long daylight hours I was able to squeeze in a couple of hours on Friday evening around Little Kelk. Among the birds seen were 31 Greylags, 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Cuckoo, 19 Pied and 2 Yellow Wagtails feeding in the pasture, 1 Reed Warbler.

A couple of toads were walking across the wet road at dusk.

Saturday 14th May

Morning walk around Lowthorpe-Harpham produced: 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 26 Lapwing, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Herring Gull, 20 Stock Dove, 60+ Swift, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 20+ Sand Martin, 18+ House Martin, plenty of Swallows, 1 Sedge Warbler, several Blackcap, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Common Whitethroat, several Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, and 48 Linnet.

There would no doubt have been more warblers singing had it not been for the fairly strong wind keeping everything in the undergrowth.

Afternoon cycle around Gembling-Foston produced: 26 Greylags, 2 Canada Goose, 1 Gadwall, 4 Grey Partridge, 3 Little Grebe, 4 Grey Heron, a female Marsh Harrier at Brigham Quarry (photo below), 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Common Sandpiper, 30+ Sand Martin, 3 Yellow Wagtail, female Wheatear at Gembling (possibly a 'Greenland' type), 1 Sedge Warbler, 3 Common Whitethroat, and a Tree Sparrow.

In the evening I took a look around Little Kelk again and found: 4 Grey Partridge, 1 Oystercatcher, 2 Little Ringed Plover (same as Friday), 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 40+ Sand Martin near Gransmoor Quarry (presumably still nesting there?), 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 8 Common Whitethroat, and 150+ Corvid feeding in a fresh cut silage field.

Sunday 15th May

Morning walk along Kelk Beck and around Great Kelk showed up: 4 Greylags, 4 Canada Goose, 4 Gadwall, 9 Tufted Duck, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, female Marsh Harrier (same as Saturday), 1 Hobby briefly, 14 Lapwing, 2 Black-headed Gulls (scarce in May!!), 2 Herring Gull, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 6 Sedge Warbler, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 5 Blackcap, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Common Whitethroat, and 2 Reed Bunting.

A second lacklustre attempt at Harpham in the afternoon didn't see many new birds except 1 Mute Swan, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 1 Little Grebe, and a male Grey Wagtail at New Road - a long awaited year tick!

Despite the wind a few butterflies were noted over the weekend

'Whites' - 36
Orange Tip - 15
Red Admiral - 5
Wall - 2
Small Copper - 2
Speckled Wood - 1

Some photos. I put a photo of a single Stock Dove up last month but couldn't resist this one of a pair at Harpham. Just lovely.

A pair of Yellow Wagtails at Foston, neatly showing the difference between male (left) and female. Birds were seen at six sites over the weekend, an encouraging number.

Little waders can be a nightmare for the uninitiated. Small and brown and usually a long way away. If you squint you can make out a Common Sandpiper. Those colours aren't an accident.

Oh no, more tiny waders. These are the two Little Ringed Plovers at Little Kelk - the yellow eye ring is diagnostic in separating them from the slightly larger Ringed Plover.

Saving the worst of the best till last. Undoubtedly the most hopeless picture of a Marsh Harrier you'll see this spring. But it's still a photo of one. And I'm chuffed with it even if no one else is.

The year list is a 'ton up', actually 101. Additions were:

094 - Swift
095 - Reed Warbler
096 - Garden Warbler
097 - Common Sandpiper
098 - Marsh Harrier
099 - Hobby
100 - Grasshopper Warbler
101 - Grey Wagtail

And that's it. June and July will be slow for birds but plenty of butterflies and there should be some drangonflies to look at.

Ah, Grasshopper

2011-05-17T00:19:00.000+01:00

Despite battling the wind all weekend I have reached the 100 species milestone for the year. One more in fact. Highlights were a Marsh Harrier, a Hobby, 2 Little Ringed Plover (presumed same as in April), 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler.

The Grasshopper Warbler was the personal highlight despite, typically, not being seen. Just a few bursts of song in the morning.

Enough. A few non-birdy photos for amusement before I get the rest of the details ready.

Not an everyday sight - a steam engine. This one is owned by a local steam enthusiast. Occasionally they get them out in the fields in autumn to do a bit of ploughing, which involves one engine at each side of the field pulling the plough on a wire back and forth.

An Orange Tip butterfly. Damn difficult things to photo, or at least for someone with my pitiful patience. When they do rest they usually do so with closed wings. Double bonus!

Small Copper walking on bird poo. Erm. Delightful little butterflies, and not at all common locally. This one was in a spot I've never seen them in before near the houses in Little Kelk.

Not the most popular farmland mammal but aaah you have to admire their cuteness. These two were happily hopping around in a gateway at Foston.

More later...

Friends Reunited

2011-04-25T13:06:00.004+01:00

Finally. The weather has remained hot and dry for the best part of the month which has resulted in early migrants across the region. Over the weekend 16-18th a number of species had already made touch down including a record number of Yellow Wagtails, and earliest records for Sedge Warbler, Common Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat. Other good birds included 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Whimbrel, 1 Wheatear, and 1 Corn Bunting (1st of the year!).

Saturday 16th April

Harpham-Lowthorpe: 2 Greylags, 1 Sparrowhawk, 4 Common Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 14 Lapwing, 6 Stock Dove, 1 Tawny Owl (calling), 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 8 Swallow, 20 singing Blackcap (also 3+ females), 9 Chiffchaff, 4 Willow Warbler, 1 Goldcrest, 4 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Coal Tit, 1 Tree Sparrow, 110 Linnet (2 flocks; 70+40), 1 Bullfinch.

Gembling-Foston-Wansford: 24 Greylags, 2 Canada Goose, 2 Shelduck, 2 Teal, 8 Gadwall, 10 Mallard, 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Grey Partridge, 6 Little Grebe, 12 Coot, 1 Oystercatcher, 2 Green Sandpiper, 30 Sand Martin, 5 Swallow, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 10 Pied Wagtail, 4 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, 15 Tree Sparrow, 30 Linnet, 1 Reed Bunting. Activity at the heronry is in full swing at one point a pickup drove along the track next to the wood and put up the adults - 32 in total wheeling about above the heronry at once!

Green Lane-Kelk Lake: 2 Mute Swan, 3 Shelduck, 7 Grey Partridge, 1 Coot, 1 Barn Owl, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Blackcap.

Sunday 17th April

Kelk Beck: 2 Mute Swan, 2 Greylags, 1 Canada Goose, 2 Teal, 2 Gadwall, 10 Mallard, 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Common Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 3 Coot, 10 Lapwing, 1 Curlew flying north, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Tawny Owl (flushed from hedgerow!), 2 Sand Martin, 10 Swallow, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 6 Pied Wagtail, 1 Sedge Warbler (heard since 14th - earliest ever record), 3 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 8 Willow Warbler, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 30 Linnet, 3 Reed Bunting.

Green Lane-Barf Hill: 2 Greylags, 5 Shelduck, 2 Teal, 2 Gadwall, 8 Mallard, 4 Sparrowhawk, 2 Common Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper, 15 Herring Gull, 21 Yellow Wagtail, 12 Pied Wagtail, 2 Blackcap, 1 Common Whitethroat (earliest record), 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Tree Sparrow.

Kelk Lake at dusk: 2 Whimbrel flying east were a huge surprise - the first for many years and only my fifth record. Also seen 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 30+ Sand Martin, 10+ Swallow, 1 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Long-tailed Tit.

An exceptional movement of gulls was noted - 1540 Common, 3 Herring and 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls. In winter such a number of Common Gulls would be expected but they typically become scarce by April. Around 90% were immature (2CY/1st summer) birds which is not surprising. Not a single Black-headed Gull could be picked out. Where these birds are feeding during the day is a mystery but presumably they went to roost in the bay, as they do in autumn. How long these flights have been taking place is also unknown - could they have been preparing to leave for northern Europe?

Monday 18th April

A third day gave me the chance whizz around the best bits one more time. Not as successful as hoped but I did find a pair of Kestrels mating at Harpham plus a Sedge Warbler nearby. On the Yellow Wagtail hotspot the numbers had fallen to 12 but there was also 5 Golden Plover, 22 Lapwing, and 1 Wheatear (another year tick!). 1 Lesser Whitethroat at Gembling and a second Common Whitethroat of the weekend, this one near Kelk Lake. 2 Bullfinch in Little Kelk and, finally, a singing Corn Bunting. The latter was a most welcome year tick, shockingly there was only one bird noted in the whole of 2010.

A few more photos...

Plenty of butterflies have emerged including this fresh Speckled Wood at Barf Hill.

Wheatear in Little Kelk. I failed to find one at all last year so this is very pleasing. I've never had one at this location either, and Spring birds tend to appear on bare & freshly prepared spring crops.

One of the Yellow Wagtails. As above these birds often appear on bare fields in Spring but these were all in the pasture - some even feeding around the feet of cows! In addition to the 21 in this field a further 6 were found. Quite exceptional numbers.

Two of the five Shelduck seemingly resident this Spring. One of the pairs has even been found prospecting for nest sites at a farmyard!

Finally - a Grass Snake, deceased. Not clear what killed it, certainly not a road kill. Fully stretched out it was about 3 feet long.

As mentioned earlier a good number of butterflies were on the wing including; 3 Holly Blue, 4 Orange Tip, 29 Peacock, 19 Small Tortoiseshell, 3 Speckled Wood, 28 'White' sp

Other sightings were the dead snake, a dead Mole, 4 Roe Deer and 1 Water Vole.

So where does all that leave us? Additions to the year list were, in order of appearance:

079 Swallow

080 Sand Martin

081 Blackcap

082 Willow Warbler

083 Yellow Wagtail

084 Sedge Warbler

085 Little Ringed Plover

086 Common Whitethroat

087 Whimbrel

088 Lesser Black-backed Gull

089 Lesser Whitethroat

090 Corn Bunting

091 Wheatear

In addition to these House Martin has been seen, and Cuckoo put in an appearance on Tuesday 19th - yet another earliest record!

092 House Martin

093 Cuckoo

The Whimbrel are the 135th species since I started the 'once a month' survey in January 2007.

Shine on

2011-04-22T13:56:00.002+01:00

Another interim post I'm afraid. The sun is still cracking flags and the birds are still pouring in. Since leaving on Monday I've missed out on Cuckoo (Tuesday morning - earliest ever record) and House Martins (several on Thursday). Oh well.

Here's a few more photos.

Buzzards were especially active in the warm breeze, enjoying the thermals to allow them to soar. Territorial birds were quick to mount a defence of their airspace against wandering birds. This first pic shows one getting a serious talking to by one of the regulars.

It's interesting to compare the different patterns of the two birds together. On the left is a typical bird with fairly even brown across the front of the wing and body. In front is a paler bird with contrasting 'elbow' patches and a hint of a dark band on the chest that could fool one or two people into considering Rough-legged Buzzard. The bird on the left has white undertail coverts which contrast with the dark body, where the paler bird actually has a brown undertail.

A better shot of the darker bird. They're a huge favourite of mine and a great success story since the first pair arrived in 2005. There were odd records in autumn/winter before that and as such a sought after sighting. Now you can see them easily any day of the year and about 6 pairs overlap with the area. Despite that it's still exciting to see them and long may it continue.

See what I mean. Here's another one. This looks like a young bird in active wing moult - the primaries (outer wing) are complete but the secondaries (inner wing) are still coming through. Adults are in complete plumage at this time of year. Another clue is the lack of a clear black trailing edge to the wing which is clear in the previous two photos.

Our most overlooked pigeon but for many people the prettiest is the Stock Dove. They're quite shy and tend not to flock in the way Woodies do. Unlike the latter, these tend to feed on weeds and their seeds rather than corn, making them a freindlier prospect for farmers. It also makes them considerably less common.

Ok, this last one is just for the silliness factor. Male Chaffinch stood on the road sign at the Gransmoor Road junction.

Phew what a scorcher!

2011-04-20T00:22:00.004+01:00

I don't care how many Swallows make a summer that was a HOT weekend. While I get my crap together to write up some sightings here's a few snaps of some common residents acting all summery and territorial.

First up a Long-tailed Tit. This one was not at a regular site but clearly being territorial. And the best photo I've managed of these hyperactive beauties.

I have discovered Chaffinches can hear my camera bleep - well, normally they to fly away when I switch it on!

Day flying Barn Owl - this is a particularly pale one, presumably a male, and has been seen in the same area through the winter so he's either super hardy or lucky enough to find a regular supply of food through the ultra freeze.

Hedge Sparrow or Dunnock. This one was singing furiously all weekend in the hedgerow opposite the house.

Finally, a male Blackbird at Harpham. They seem to have suffered in the winter but that could change by autumn if the summer plays ball.

Everybody loves the sunshine

2011-03-24T13:50:00.002Z

Signs of Spring everywhere though it's still early days. Highlights from the weekend were; 2 Shelduck, 23 Wigeon, 2 Goldeneye, 9 Common Buzzard, 2 Oystercatcher, 8 Golden Plover, 5 Fieldfare, 24 Redwing, 1 Chiffchaff, 4 Coal Tit. And of course the 15 Whooper Swans!

Saturday 19th March

Harpham-Lowthorpe: 8 Greylags, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Kestrel, 4 Lapwing, 1 Herring Gull, 1 Barn Owl, 1 GS Woodpecker, 14 Redwing at Lowthorpe Church, 1 Goldcrest, several Long-tailed Tit, 4 Coal Tit including one in song, 2 Tree Sparrow, 4 Bullfinch (2 pairs), 1 Reed Bunting. Also one Roe Deer and a brief encounter with a Stoat. The first two butterflies of the year appeared in the morning sunshine, Small Tortoiseshells. Highlight of the morning were 9 Common Buzzards in the air - the most I've seen at once in the area.

Green Lane-Barf Hill: On the semi-permanent 'flash' were 2 Shelduck, 23 Wigeon, 4 Teal. Blimey, whatever next? Elsewhere were 4 Greylags, 6 Mallard, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 10 Lapwing, 300+ small gulls were on one field (mostly Commons), 3 Herring Gulls, 10 Redwing at Barf Hill, several Long-tailed Tit, 1 Reed Bunting.

A quick look at Kelk Lake at dusk produced 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Goldeneye including a fine drake, 2 Coot and a Little Grebe. Nearby also a Kestrel, 6 Grey Partridge, and 8 Golden Plover (year tick!).

Sunday 20th March

Kelk Beck: 9 Mute Swan, 6 Teal, 36 Mallard, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 2 Coot, 8 Lapwing, 1 Snipe, 1 Barn Owl, 2 Meadow Pipit (year tick!), 2 Long-tailed Tit, 4 Linnet, 3 Reed Bunting. The 15 Whooper Swans were first noticed from the beck - far in the distance heading north before dropping down. I wasn't 100% they were Whoopers on such a view but it seemed most likely they should be. A detour along Green Lane found them on the pasture near the flash - also 2 Oystercatcher and a Green Sandpiper.

Gembling-Foston: 4 Teal, 8 Mallard, 1 Sparrowhawk (Kelk), 3 Kestrel, 8 Coot at Brigham Quarry but nothing else as someone was riding a quad bike around! Also 1 Curlew and 5 Fieldfare. A singing Chiffchaff was in Kelk as I returned.

A few photos although the birdies were generally being uncooperative all weekend. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Now this is easy. It stayed still and posed well. Erm... a new Barn Owl box by the road bridge at Foston.

Reed Bunting on Green Lane - not a spot I normally see them at.

These little buggers flit about too much and I have no patience. Rubbish shot, but still a Great Tit for the archive.

Robin serenading me at dusk. What a charmer.

Lovely male Pied Wagtail posing on wires in Kelk. They have a strong preference for farmyards in the area but you can pick them up calling as they fly over almost anywhere. Occasionally in autumn they will form flocks especialy on pasture or freshly ploughed land.

Yearlist up to 78. I missed Great Black-backed Gull off the last count and there were 6 more in March. Still way behind 2010 with 87 at this stage.

072 Great Black-backed Gull

073 Shelduck

074 Golden Plover

075 Meadow Pipit

076 Whooper Swan

077 Curlew

078 Chiffchaff

Whoop! Whoop!

2011-03-21T23:33:00.003Z

"Unremarkable" was how I was preparing to describe this weekend by lunchtime on Sunday. Not a sniff of any migrants and frankly not alot else to write home about. And then BLAM, a very distant party of 15 Whooper Swan appeared heading north over Kelk village. I tracked them for a minute and to my surprise they lost height and were gliding. Were they going to land in the pastures? That would be unheard of!

This was the view from a kilometre away...

I decided to calmly plough on with my walk rather than divert on the off chance. An hour or so later I find myself face-to-face with the flock on the pasture in Little Kelk. Superb!

Several hours later after returning from my afternoon trip the same flock had relocated two fields north, next to Little Kelk Farm. All my previous records of Whooper are either flyovers or at Kelk Lake when it was still attractive to wildfowl. Not once have I seen any in a field.

This final shot gives some idea of how ridiculous this sighting was. A herd of swans having a bit of a rest. In a corn field. Note the absence of evocative winter wetlands. I guess they'll be headed for Scotland to fuel up for the trip to the tundra in Iceland (or arctic Europe) some time in April.

More write up later in the week :)

Febuluos

2011-02-28T20:27:00.002Z

It's nearly spring, isn't it? A proverbial game of two halves this weekend. Warm sunshine hinting at the months ahead on Sunday morning but when the northerly breeze got up and the clouds came it was most definitely still February.

As for the birds, there was nothing much to raise the heartrate though it was good to hear plenty of early bird song and the recent rain has left patches of water that could prove interesting going into spring. Highlights were; 14 Wigeon, 140+ Teal, 3 Oystercatcher, 300+ Lapwing, 1 Green Sandpiper, 3 Treecreeper.

Saturday 26th February

Lowthorpe/Harpham: 4 Greylags, 2 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 4 Kestrel, 2 Tawny Owls calling, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, several singing Skylarks, 26 Fieldfare, 1 Goldcrest, 3 Treecreeper chasing each other around at New Road, 11 Magpie, a flock of 27 Greenfinch, 2 Bullfinch.

Green Lane/Barf Hill: 72 Teal, 12 Mallard, 7 Wigeon, 2 Grey Partridge, male Sparrowhawk, 5 Buzzard, 300+ Lapwing, 4 Bullfinch, 4 Yellowhammer.

Sunday 27th February

Kelk Beck: 11 Mute Swan, 6 Wigeon, 23 Teal, 42 Mallard, 3 Tufted Duck, 4 Grey Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, female Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 3 Coot, 1 Green Sandpiper, 10+ Skylark, 8 Reed Bunting. 5 Roe Deer was nice - see photo.

Green Lane: another look at the floodwater on the pasture revealed 89 Teal, 8 Wigeon, 1 Oystercatcher, plus 7 Buzzards in the air over the woods.

Gembling: 17 Greylags, 36 Mallard, 31 Teal, 3 Tufted Duck, 11 Redwing, 8 Fieldfare.

Brigham Quarry: 4 Gadwall, 2 Tufted Duck, male Pochard, 5 Little Grebe, 10 Coot, 2 Oystercatcher.

And now for some photos. Relative close up of some Teal, the males are really smart little fellas when you see the detail. They love shallow flood water on grass.

More teal. And two Wigeon. Oh, and an Oystercatcher. These are all on a small patch of water in Kelk that regularly forms in one of the pastures, though it's never really attracted more than a few Teal before.

I think I've been spotted. Love the colours on the back and greyish neck.

All five Roe Deer crossing the next field, making heavy going across the newly ploughed ground. Oddly, they didn't seem too spooked by my clumsy attempt to get a good view.

And speaking of not being scared, Mute Swans appear to have no concept of Scarecrows being dead scary. Not even ones dressed as Police. Mute Swans don't get out of water much around here, pretty much the only time they do seems to be to munch on oilseed.

Yearlist creeps up slowly to a very modest 71 (compared to 80 last Feb).

065 Snipe
065 Canada Goose
066 Linnet
067 Greenfinch
068 Red-legged Partridge
069 Wigeon
070 Oystercatcher
071 Gadwall

Local web birding

2011-02-08T12:18:00.003Z

Lazy me. It's taken me a couple of years but I have finally added a few links to local birding blogs and web sites - motivated partly by the recent appearance of the East Yorks Birding forum here. I'm sure there's others and I'll add them eventually.

No actual bird news to report.

Silent

2011-02-01T21:44:00.004Z

Heck, February already. Time for a brief summary from January and a few photos.

Friday 21st January

Taking a day off work paid off - Friday was by far the best birding weather. Or at least the morning was. A skein of 91 Pink-footed Geese flew north over Harpham but otherwise is was fairly predictable. It was comforting to get Treecreeper on the to the yearlist so early - I had to wait until November a couple of years ago!

Bleak weather has clearly pushed many birds out of the countryside - the woods in particular were at times silent, even the hedgerows hid little. Surviving Barn Owls were out an about in the afternoon, one each in Kelk and Gembling. At least 1500 Corvids moved to the roost at 5pm.

Saturday 22nd January

Around Kelk Beck a Water Rail was welcome, though almost familiar after a good year for them. Once again it was very quiet but 123 Mallard were around Cattleholmes and a 'herd' of 11 Mute Swan were feeding on an oilseed field - not at all a typical sight here. Two Green Sandpiper and another Barn Owl were the best of the rest. Afternoon was lacklustre - 18 Yellowhammer was a welcome sized flock of this declining species.

Sunday 23rd January

Another crack and Lowthorpe and Harpham revealed little new and the afternoon around Gembling wasn't much better. A quick look at Kelk Lake revealed single Goldeneye, Pochard, Tufted Duck and 4 Coot - all last minute year ticks!

For reasons I can't explain I have a track record of getting a good bird right at the bell. And so it was - the Little Egret in a drain near Kelk Beck just as I was heading back to base at dusk, almost literally the last bird seen of any species.

A pair of Grey Partridge looking splendid in the frosty morning sunshine.

Bullfinches are splendid little birds. This female was one of four eating Ash keys.

Fine as the females are, it's the male that stands out.

Apparently this skein had already flown right along the line of houses in Kelk before they went over my head at Harpham. Always a superb sight.

Erm, some mushies. Dunno what they are, they just looked pretty.

Totals from the three days across the area:

Mute Swan - 15

Greylag Goose - 33

Pink-footed Goose - 91

Mallard - 132

Teal - 51

Tufted Duck - 1

Pochard - 1

Goldeneye - 1

Little Egret - 1

Grey Partridge - 13

Little Grebe - 3

Water Rail - 1

Coot - 4

Common Buzzard - 5

Sparrowhawk - 2

Kestrel - 4

Grey Heron - 4

Lapwing - 44

Woodcock - 4

Green Sandpiper - 2

Great Black-backed Gull - 4

Herring Gull - 17

Stock Dove - 8

Collared Dove - 22

(flock at Harpham - others not counted)

Barn Owl - 3

Kingfisher - 1

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 3

Skylark - 2

Mistle Thrush - 4

Blackbird - many less than usual

Fieldfare - 119

Redwing - 16

Wren/Dunnock/Robin - very few!

Goldcrest - 2

Long-tailed Tit - 19+

Coal Tit - 2

Blue & Great Tit - widespread

Treecreeper - 1

Magpie - 4

"Corvids" - 1500+ at roost

House Sparrow - 80+

Tree Sparrow - 3

Yellowhammer - 38

Reed Bunting - 1

Yearlist = 63

Return of the Egret

2011-01-26T23:34:00.005Z

This corking Little Egret was the singing fat lady of last weekend. It was in a field drain near Kelk Beck at dusk on Sunday. Not far from where I saw one last January and February. You have to wonder - same one or not? And how many more must there be hiding away in the mass of Holderness drainage channels?

Either way, they're still far from regular here yet - this is still only my fourth sighting relating to either two or three individuals. No doubt they will become more regular as their expansion continues.

Other goodies from the weekend: 91 Pink-footed Goose flying north, a Goldeneye, a Water Rail, 4 Woodcock, 2 Green Sandpiper. Three Barn Owls were most welcome after the doom-laden reports coming from elsewhere.

That'll do for now, further detail later...

2010 rewind

2011-01-16T13:38:00.004Z

Before I get 2011 up and running - next weekend hopefully - here's a recap on last year.

Snow began and ended the year and January sightings reflected these extraordinary conditions - my first Bittern and second Little Egret along with Merlin, Peregrine, Water Rail, a couple of Green Sandpipers, several Woodcock and the only Brambling of the year. February was quieter though the Little Egret put in another appearance and a Jack Snipe was by Kelk Beck. Two Goldeneye at Kelk Lake was a good record.

By late March the awful winter was no more, quite the opposite in fact. An early Swallow was noted on 28th - my earliest locally. Two Sand Martin passed through on 27th, though that's a fairly typical date. Several Chiffchaff were already in. 480 Golden Plover resting in a field in Little Kelk is a record count and continues a trend of flocks staging before migration in spring - we get very few in winter. By far the best sighting was the Osprey heading north - my second following one last April.

Spring migration was in full effect in April including useful sightings of Yellow Wagtail, a White Wagtail (continental subspecies of Pied Wagtail), an unseasonal Peregrine, and 75 of the Golden Plover still hanging around. The raptor theme continued with a Red Kite drifting north west.

More migration in May with a Grasshopper Warbler at Harpham and a Ruddy Shelduck at Gembling. Warblers were generally well represented with a very high number of Common Whitethroat, though only a couple of Lesser Whitethroat.

June and July were very quiet. Welcome sightings included one each of Corn Bunting and Spotted Flycatcher, both at Foston. Hobby's appear to have bred at Kelk though no young were seen to confirm this.

More Spotted Flycatchers in August, two together at Lowthorpe, was very encouraging. Not a lot else going on in August though the local Buzzards seemed to have had a good year - seven soaring together over Harpham was a beautiful sight. It was not a good year for butterflys though 4+ Brown Argus at Harpham represented a new species for me locally.

September turned up a massive surprise in the form of a Long-eared Owl. Not just a difficult species to observe but thought to be genuinely scarce in the region. Elsewhere two lots of Pink-footed Geese were noted (40+ south, 4 stood in a field), a Great Black-backed Gull was a first for the year, and another Spotted Flycatcher was seen at Lowthorpe.

October didn't produce much of note - a Water Rail being the best. Tree-roosting Cormorants were discovered at Kelk Lake in October, the first such recorded locally. They were there again in November, up to 8 birds. Also in November were a Goldeneye at Kelk Lake and 19 Siskin flying south. A national influx of Rough-legged Buzzards deposited one in our area - a really cracking bird and one kind enough to let me take a few photos.

December ended the year as it had begun - under a covering of snow. More Woodcock and Water Rail were not such a surprise, but it was a delight to have two Whooper Swan fly over.

I visited on 29 days over the year and managed 114 species, one down on 2009. The Bittern and Ruddy Shelduck were both new species for the area. Which just leaves me to say "2011, bring it on!"

Gimme Shelter

2010-12-21T15:32:00.004Z

Nowhere to hide for the birds at the moment. Having said that lots of them appear to have evacuated long ago - not a single Skylark, Lapwing or Fieldfare were seen and generally very few songbirds anywhere except around gardens. Despite this is was a reasonable weekend with one new for the year - 2 Whooper Swan, and a supporting cast of Water Rail, 11 Woodcock, Green Sandpiper, an unseasonal Lesser Black-backed Gull, and 2 Kingfisher.

Saturday 17th December

With so little daylight it's tough to know how to get the best out of a weekend in December. Worse when the birds aren't likely to be where they usually are. Decisions decisions. Anyway, a traditional Harpham-Lowthorpe walk always works so we spent most of the day on that.

3 Mute Swan, 2 Teal (plus several shot - see previous post 'Shoot!'), 20+ Mallard, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Sparrowhawk, 3 Buzzard, 3 Kestrel, 1 Water Rail, 2 Snipe, 8 Woodcock flushed by the shoot, 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull flying west, 20 Great Black-backed Gulls east, 14 Collared Dove, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Redwing, 1 Goldcrest, 14 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Coal Tit, 3 Tree Sparrow and 1 Bullfinch.

That walk followed by lunch left us with only a couple of hours, which we used to have a look around Gransmoor Lane: 2 Greylag Goose, 1 Teal, 6 Gadwall flying NW, 17 Mallard, 7 Grey Partridge, 1 Buzzard, 2 Snipe, 2 Woodcock, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Yellowhammer.

Below is the Water Rail at Harpham, feeding alongside the beck. This was in exactly the same spot as the first Water Rail I ever saw locally back in the early 90s.

So good it deserves a second picture. What a beauty.

Long-tailed Tits are impossible to photograph, though it doesn't much help that I have no patience whatsoever. This is the best I could do - they just won't sit still!

Sunday 19th December

Bright sunshine on Saturday had led into overnight snow which continued through Sunday morning. We held off until late morning hoping it would give up, realising that a walk along Kelk Beck was going to be the limit today.

3 Mute Swan, 31 Teal, 7 Mallard, 9 Grey Partridge, 6 Little Grebe, 1 Cormorant flew over, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 4 Snipe, 1 Woodcock, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 2 Barn Owls, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Bullfinch, 2 Yellowhammer, 1 Reed Bunting.

In addition to these slim pickings were 11 Roe Deer including a party of 9, at least 30 Hares easily visible in the fields, and two Foxes one of which had caught a rabbit and had a small gathering of attendant Corvids harassing it.

Below are 6 of the deer just visible through the snow!

Arty landscape shot along Kelk Beck... this was around midday and it looks dark!

The day was concluded by a quick dash to Kelk Lake. Completely frozen over with a layer of snow on top. Nothing to see here. Oh, except 35 Greylags flew north toward Burton Agnes. In the distance two ghostly white swans flying south, high up, eventually showing themselves to be Whooper Swans. A year tick with the final throw of the dice - nice!

So that brings the year total up one...

114 Whooper Swan

Shoot!

2010-12-20T18:22:00.004Z

December visit done. Details later but first...

Bitterly cold it may be but that was never going to prevent the local shoot from one last outing. I usually try to avoid them but they arrived at Harpham at the same time we did so there was not much choice. Still one man's sport is another's opportunity so we thought we'd see what they flushed from the wood. Loads of Pheasants obviously, maybe 50+, but also 8 Woodcock and a few Teal (there's a drain runs through the wood). One of the Woodcock was killed it but the others got away.

Pheasant shooting is part of the landscape, they're farmed intensively, so you can't really grumble, but I'm not a fan of Woodcock or 'wild' game/wildfowl being shot. In such cold and difficult weather for birds didn't make it any easier to witness.

As you can see below a fair few Pheasants and Teal had already been bagged.

Eat lead, Pheasant!

One of the Woodcock that survived, and a rare (rubbish) photo opportunity without the benefit of a hide.

Enough of guns, though. Here's some local Collared Doves doing their best against the weather, part of a loose flock of 14 at Harpham.

Butter wouldn't melt

2010-12-14T18:40:00.003Z

Kelk has been under snow for three weeks and the birds will have been suffering, or the ones that haven't already shipped out will be. I haven't made a visit yet and the only news I've heard is of a Jack Snipe visiting an unfrozen drain/outflow on several days recently.

Brrr. As respite for the cold weather I have been looking at my butterfly records for 2010. I almost wished I hadn't as it was a pretty poor year - both a lack of butterflys and my timing mostly coincided with less than ideal weather for them. The light amongst them all was my first local record for Brown Argus.

Anyway, for what it's worth...

Small Skipper - 1 at Harpham on 8th August.

'Whites' - all three species noted occasionally but usually lumped together as just 'whites'. Common and widespread between April and September with a peak in August of "treble figures".

Orange Tip - 13 at Harpham on 15th May. 8 at Harpham and 2 at Gembling on 5th June.

Small Copper - 10+ in one field at Harpham on 8th August. Not noted in 2009. Photo

Brown Argus - 4+ in same field at Harpham on 8th August. A new species for me locally!

Common Blue - 1 at Harpham on 18th September. Not noted in 2009. Photo

Holly Blue - 1 at Harpham on 15th May. 1 at Foston on 5th June. Photo

Red Admiral - 5 noted in July. 1 at Harpham on 8th August. Very poor year!

Small Tortoiseshell - noted March-May, July and September. Peak count of 28 in April. Photo

Peacock - 5 noted in April and 12 in August. Photo

Speckled Wood - 1 at Kelk Beck on 16th May, 1 at Gembling on 5th June, 1 at Kelk on 8th August, and 10 across the area in September.

Wall - 3 noted in June and 12 in August. Photo

Meadow Brown - 13 noted in July, 1 at Harpham on 8th August. Photo

Ringlet - a very high count of 60+ in July plus 3 in August. Photo

So there were are, a grand total of 16 species. A few notable absences, most surprisingly not a single Painted Lady.

Nottalot

2010-11-21T19:15:00.002Z

Ok, third time lucky. Highlights were: the aforementioned ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD, a Goldeneye, 9 Cormorant (record count), 32 golden Plover, a Green Sandpiper, 2 Kingfisher, and 19 Siskin.

Saturday 13th November

Harpham-Lowthorpe (morning)... 5 Teal, 28 Mallard, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 32 Golden Plover, 22 Lapwing, 5 Snipe flying over together, 1 Green Sandpiper at New Road (not a typical place to see one), 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Kingfisher, 9 Skylark, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Goldcrest, 2 parties of Long-tailed Tits, 20 Linnet, 19 Siskin flying south and 1 Bullfinch.

Also a Grey Squirrel at Lowthorpe Church and a very late Common Darter at Lingholmes (picture here).

Gembling and Brigham Quarry (afternoon)... 27 Greylag, 7 Teal, 2 Gadwall, 9 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Barn Owl, and 2 Redwing.

Kelk Lake (dusk)... at least 7 Cormorants roosting in the trees again (see October writeup), 2 Mute Swan, 1 fem Goldeneye, 1 Sparrowhawk, 90 Lapwing in a nearby field and 80 Starling in a pre-roost display flight.

Sunday 14th November

Kelk Beck (morning)... 3 young Mute Swans flying overhead toward Wansford, 23 Greylags, 34 Mallard, 11 Grey Partridge, 9 Cormorant flying high up south along the beck together - a new record count, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrohawk, the RL Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 2 Snipe, 4 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 12 Skylark, 2 Meadow Pipit, approx 60 Blackbirds in the hedgerows, 32 Fieldfare, 3 Redwing, 1 Mistle Thrush, 90 Starling, 1 Tree Sparrow, 30 Chaffinch, 15 Yellowhammer, 3 Reed Bunting. Also a Roe Deer racing across one of the fields.

Green Lane and Barf Hill (afternoon)... 15 Mallard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 44 Stock Dove - highest count this year, 1 Tawny Owl, 5 Meadow Pipit, 15 Fieldfare, 2 Redwing, a party of Long-tailed Tit, 60+ Chaffinch in one flock, 2 Bullfinch (pair) and a flock of 40+ Yellowhammer - also the highest count of the year.

Good to see plenty of the typical farmland birds, esp Yellowhammers. Let's hope there's more through the winter.

Yearlist up one...

113 Rough-legged Buzzard

Get flocked

2010-11-20T17:20:00.003Z

Like I was saying, not a particularly eventful visit last weekend. But more of that later, instead here's a few more photos.

Greylags doing their best to look like wild geese. You're fooling no-one.

Now here's a surprise - a Common Darter. Don't think I've ever encountered one of these in November. This one was near Harpham, a good spot for this species.

A young Grey Heron standing horizontally into the wind. No doubt it'd have been blown into the next field if it had tried to adopt the typical vertical pose. Looks kinda weird, doesn't it?

Dunnock or what most folk still call Hedge Sparrow. Not a bird that many people spend time looking at but I think they're delightful. They're common enough but a bit skulky so not as obvious as other garden birds such as Blackbird. This particular one was being very territorial along Kelk Beck.

Bit of a common birds theme developing, here's some Starlings. I had toyed with the idea of Photoshopping this to spell out rude words but that would be childish. Another day perhaps. Starlings love these wires as they provide a view across many of the gardens in Little Kelk.

Rough times

2010-11-17T13:25:00.005Z

Last weekend's visit was a game of two halves if ever there was one. For the most part distinctly ordinary and uneventful, with one major exception.

I'll review the remainder later but here's some detail on the biggie: a ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. The bird was present in rough ground adjacent to Kelk Beck on Sunday morning - we watched it for around 20 minutes. In that time it only flew a couple of times spending most of the time on the ground, occasionally hopping about - perhaps looking for voles? Unlike most raptors this one did not seem at all bothered by our presence and at one point we were about 40-50m away.

This photo shows the characteristic underside pattern - dark 'elbows' and a solid dark belly against otherwise pale underparts - both features of a juvenile RLB. The white patches on the wings are also typical.

Wow - look at that tail. Although some Common Buzzards show white in the tail the band would not be this well defined especially combined with the features noted above. Solid band also indicates a juvenile bird, adults tend to show multiple bands.

On the ground the pale head was striking, even with the naked eye. You can make out the white tail band here. A pale Common Buzzard would not show such contrast between pale and the brown body.

Another shot on the ground. Again note the striking pale head, but also the pale throat and bib - another feature of juvenile birds.

Finally, this was actually the first shot I took, in a frantic attempt to get it on record in case it flew off immediately. It's harder to get an identification on this view as it's facing away, you can't see the tail and the head doesn't look so pale. What would raise the alarm for me in this photo is how uncommon it is to see Common Buzzards perched on the ground, especially at such close range. The bird had actually flown over us and landed here just before this shot was taken - I was already happy with the identification by the time the camera was ready, give or take shaking with excitement!

Rough-legged Buzzards are scarce visitors to the UK, with less than half a dozen in Yorkshire in a typical year - most of those either along the coast or in moorland. Two winters ago three birds were present in the dry valleys around Millington.

In 2010 a national influx (late October) has taken place with dozens of birds noted along the coast from Scotland to Kent. Locally birds have been seen at Barmston, Tophill Low, Leven and Hornsea Mere.

During summer these birds are in the Scandinavian arctic where they feed largely on lemmings. Winter forces them down into Europe but it takes extra pressure to push them across the North Sea - such as a lack of small mammals in southern Scandinavia.

Rewind

2010-11-09T22:46:00.006Z

October briefly. It was the weekend of 23rd and 24th. Weather mostly rubbish. Highlights were few and far between. The first record of tree roosting Cormorant was to put it mildly, a surprise. On Sunday a Water Rail made bird-of-the-weekend with a supporting cast of Green Sandpiper, Kingfisher, and Grey Wagtail.

Saturday 23rd October

Lowthorpe-Harpham (am): 21 Mallard, 3 Common Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 6 Skylark, 2 Goldcrest and 40 Tree Sparrow (largest flock here for a long time).

Great Kelk (pm): 1 Common Buzzard, 12 Fieldfare, and 3 Redwing.

Brigham Quarry (pm): 5 Teal, 3 Wigeon, 1 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, and 3 Coot.

Kelk Lake (eve): 2 Mute Swans, 5 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Common Buzzard, 60 Lapwing, and 16 Redwing

Approx 200 Black-headed and 800 Common Gull during the day.

Sunday 24th October

Kelk Beck (am): 5 Mute Swan, c50 Teal, c70 Mallard, 2 Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Water Rail - in the same spot as one last winter, 2 Golden Plover flying over, 1 Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper, 5 Herring Gull, 1 Kingfisher, 18 Skylark in stubbles, 2 Meadow Pipit, 15 Redwing, 22 Long-tailed Tit, 20 Tree Sparrow, 1 Bullfinch, 12 Yellowhammer, 8 Reed Bunting.

Harpham (pm): not much new but 40+ Pheasant wandering around in one field, 1 Little Grebe on the beck, 1 Grey Heron, 4 Sparrowhawk, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Grey Wagtail, 3 Goldcrest, 15+ Long-tailed Tit, and 32 Linnet.

Green Lane (eve): 1 Greylag, 22 Mallard, 1 Grey Partridge, 8 Cormorant roosting in trees at Kelk Lake, and 1 Kestrel. A total of 33 Hares were in fields either side of the lane. Around 1100 Common Gull moved through to roost with c1500 Corvid going in the other direction to Lingholmes Plantation.

And finally a quick look at some deeply ropey photos.

A young Common Gull, born this summer, probably in Scotland or northern Europe. The intensive arable areas of Holderness and the Yorkshire Wolds are one of the most important regions in the UK for wintering Common Gulls.

Looks like a Marsh Harrier at first glance, but no, it's just a Common Buzzard caught in an odd pose.

Beware men with guns! They don't look well prepared for what is to come, do they?

Well would you have it - tree roosting Cormorants. A first for the area. I didn't make an evening visit in September and didn't see these earlier in the year. The photo above, taken at great distance, appears to shows a fair amount of poop on the branches so they've probably been doing this for a short while. My hastily put together but fairly obvious theory is that these birds are all using Kelk Beck to feed in during the day and have discovered a new place to roost much nicer than out to sea and closer than either Tophill or Hornsea Mere. To put this in context, the previous maximum day count in the area is 7.

Last but not least a composite study of two Reed Buntings. On the left a typical 'female' bird, though the amount of black suggests a young male. On the right a superficially similar bird but look closely and note the chestnut rather than black cap, likely indicative of a young female.

Rain or shine

2010-10-28T15:41:00.003+01:00

No doubting autumn is here... Brrr!!

A full review of the weekend will appear later but in short there was not a great deal to report. The weather was downright silly, as can be seen in the photo. Most of Saturday was rained off, otherwise the wind just made it hard work. But then that is autumn, really.

Best bird was a Water Rail by Kelk Beck. An elusive species at the best of times but especially so this early in the winter. Also a Green Sandpiper, Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail.

Thrushes were notable by their absence, though a couple of small parties of Fieldfare and Redwing were tracked down, just. Local hedgerows can be weighed down by arriving Blackbirds at this time of year but they're either not here yet or have already moved on.

Blue, Brown, Pink

2010-09-22T20:26:00.006+01:00

A few photos from the weekend. Too breezy, too rainy, not enough birds showing etc. But enough with the lousy excuses. ;0)

First up a Common Blue at Harpham. This is the first one in the last two years, clearly they're not finding much suitable habitat - such as unimproved grassland.

A female or young Kestrel in familiar hunting mode. You can't properly see here but it was hovering barely above head height.

Juvenile Great Crested Grebe at Kelk Lake. It had been actively feeding before I got my camera out, then decided to have a nap.

From biggest to smallest on the grebeometer - 3 Little Grebes together on Kelk Beck. Two or three pairs breed along the beck but it's not the easiest place to see them.

Unexpected goose action! Four grounded Pink-footed Geese in Little Kelk. A few migrating skeins of pink-feet will move through in the next couple of months but very few birds will touch down. I think these are the earliest I've seen in Kelk.

And there we have it. Summer moves into autumn. Bring on October!

Long time no see

2010-09-21T20:49:00.004+01:00

A tale of two halves. Summer. Autumn. Saturday was good, Sunday spoilt by constant rain. Highlights were a first LONG-EARED OWL for nearly two decades, a Great Black-backed Gull was new for the year. Also rans; 40+ Pink-footed Geese, a Great Crested Grebe, a Yellow Wagtail, a Coal Tit and a Spotted Flycatcher.

Saturday 18th September

Morning...

Breezy but quite warm and sunny. A good show of birds in the Harpham/Lowthorpe area - 26 Mallard, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhwak, 6 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 290 Lapwing plus c300 distantly toward Burton Agnes, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Herring Gull, 9 Stock Dove, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 male Yellow Wagtail (a late bird, probably a migrant), 7 Song Thrush, 2 Mistle Thrush, a Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrest, 1 Spotted Flycatcher at Lowthorpe Church - latest record for area, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Tree Sparrow and 1 Bullfinch.

Surprise of the morning, weekend, and pretty much the whole year so far was a LONG-EARED OWL in Lingholmes Plantation. The bird was flushed at the edge of the wood and flew into the thicket, just enough to get a positive ID but not enough to really enjoy such an elusive bird. Significantly this is only the second or third one I've seen in the area - several sightings in winter 1991/2 were thought to be two different birds but could have been just one. September seems a very early time for a migrant but the alternative, a local resident bird, seems equally unlikely. Could the location be a clue - roosting next to a path - to it being new to the area?

Afternoon...

Gembling / Foston / Brigham Quarry was disappointingly quiet with just 1 Red-legged Partridge, 3 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, 8 Coot, 90 Feral Pigeon, and 40 Linnets. A consolation appeared in the form of an adult Great Black-backed Gull heading toward Tophill Low - a year tick, no less.

Kelk Lake - male Pochard, 7 Tufted Duck, 1 juvenile Great Crested Grebe, 1 Cormorant. A loose flock of 8 Pied Wagtails were feeding on the pasture by the Turkey Farm.

A Common Buzzard was hunting around Green Lane about 6.30pm. Later were c40 Pink-footed Geese flying south along Kelk Beck at dusk while approx 300 Rook and 600 Jackdaw went to roost. A Tawny Owl was heard after dark.

Not many Swallows around, perhaps high double figures over the day, I guess many moved out in the last week or so. No Sand Martins seen all weekend and only a handful of House Martins.

Sunday 19th September

Nothing doing in the morning due to other commitments and the afternoon was almost rained off. However I braved Kelk Beck and managed to find; 4 Mute Swan, 65 Teal and 75 Mallard at Cattleholmes, 3 Little Grebe, 3 Cormorant, 7 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 62 Lapwing, 1 Snipe, 4 Green Sandpiper, 3 Meadow Pipit, 1 Grey Wagtail (first since last winter!), 21 Long-tailed Tit, 20 Chaffinch, 30 Goldfinch and 2 Reed Bunting.

Last throw of the dice was a quick scan over the grass fields in Little Kelk. Nothing except more rain. Oh, wait, hang on, there's 4 Pink-footed Geese in among the sheep. Huh? One can only guess they were decked by the rain. Photo to follow.

Aside from birds there's very little to report except a Squirrel at Lingholmes, 2 Roe Deer. Butterflies were only seen on Saturday and little variety to note, just 10 Speckled Wood, 3 Small Tortoiseshell, and 'low double figures' of Whites. There was one big surprise though - a Common Blue at Harpham - the first of the year (none seen last year).

Yearlist...

111 Long-eared Owl
112 Great Black-backed Gull

Flycatcher, spotted

2010-08-13T23:52:00.004+01:00

Righty ho, as you were...

Saturday 7th August

One of the highlights of the weekend was the two Spotted Flycatchers, at Lowthorpe. I'm not 100% but I'm fairly sure one was a young bird. However the other bird performed marvelously while I was sheltering from a shower.

This was on the Saturday afternoon. Other sightings around Harpham-Lowthorpe on the same walk were; 1 Gadwall, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Hobby, 1 Kestrel, 30+ Common Gull, 20+ Black-headed Gull, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 28 Skylark in one loose flock, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Coal Tit.

Also a Grey Squirrel in Lowthorpe Church Wood - my first one of the year.

In the afternoon I headed around Gembling and Foston, which was rather productive. In the Gembling area were 3 Teal, 1 Grey Heron, 7 Grey Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Common Buzzard, 8 Snipe, 7 Green Sandpiper, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Bullfinch and a Reed Bunting.

At Brigham Quarry, 3 Gadwall, 2 Pochard, 1 Tufted Duck, 13 Little Grebe, 10+ Coot (4 pairs), 4 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, 17 Stock Dove and 12 Swift.

On the way back 50+ House Sparrow were noted in Great Kelk. Finally in the evening, 22 Greylags were in Little Kelk plus 25 Mallard, 1 Little Grebe and 2 Kingfisher at Kelk Lake. A Grey Heron flew over and a small flock of Golden Plover were calling in a field - I couldn't see them but it sounded like only a few.

Sunday 8th August

Morning - Harpham and Lowthorpe: 2 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Sparrowhawk, 7 Common Buzzard (see photo in previous post), 1 Hobby, 75 Swift, 2 Kingfisher, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Willow Warbler singing, 8 Tree Sparrow.

Late afternoon - Kelk Beck and Cattleholmes: 1 Mute Swan, 1 Teal, 1 Tufted Duck, 3 Green Sandpiper, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 2 Herring Gulls (adults moving SW), 1 Kingfisher, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, two parties of Long-tailed Tit. Also a Water Vole in Kelk Beck.

With no new bird species for the year, that leaves the year list on 110. Now just time for some smaller flying creatures.

Butterflies

Not a great weekend in terms of numnbers but a few gooides. Totals were; 1 Meadow Brown, 12 Peacock, 1 Red Admiral, 3 Ringlet, 1 Small Skipper, 2 Speckled Wood, 12 Wall, 'three figures' of Whites. However the best bay far was on Sunday when we found 10+ Small Copper and 4 Brown Agrus at Harpham. The latter a new species for me within the area.

Also several noted dragonflies noted; 6+ Common Blue Damselfly, 2 Ruddy Darter, 4 Common Darter, 3 Migrant Hawker.

Call the coppers

2010-08-11T22:59:00.008+01:00

Is it late summer or early autumn? August is such a transitional month it's hard to know from one day to the next. When it's sunny it's definitely summer... and then the clouds gather and suddenly it's back-end-ish.

My August visit took place at the weekend and on balance it was more summer than autumn. Harvest has been slow to start which is one point for summer, but migrants have started to move through; one point for autumn.

Highlights from the weekend were; 7 Common Buzzard together (photo below), Hobby, 10 Green Sandpipers, 5 Kingfisher, Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Coal Tit. Butterflys were not especially active but three species for the year were added; Small Skipper, Small Copper and Brown Argus - the latter I have never seen in the area before. Excellent!

Anyway, until I get chance to write a review here's a few pictures.

Small Copper at Harpham. I didn't find any of these last year but on Sunday found 10+ in a small area of flowers along a hedgerow.

A lovely fresh Peackock, in the same area as the copper.
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A Common Blue Damselfly. These delightful little critters are surprisingly local within the area, almost more so than the bigger Darters and Hawkers. Brigham Quarry was the hotspot at the weekend, where this one was snapped.

One of the three Coal Tits seen together at Lowthorpe. Although not rare they can be damned elusive in the area, and it's a while since I've seen any juveniles - two were noted.

Last but not least, a group of seven buzzards soaring overhead. We think there were two family parties; three birds (probably one juvenile) were joined by the other four (probably two juveniles).

A Tale of Two Hobbys

2010-07-29T22:19:00.006+01:00

Three days of July about to whizz past... don't blink!

Friday 16th July

Cattleholmes: 6 Canada Goose (4 young), 4 Gadwall, 7 Mallard, 2 Tufted Duck (female and duckling), 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Reed Bunting.

Harpham: 1 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Kestrel (1 juvenile?), 8 Lapwing, 2 Barn Owl, 80 Swift, 1 Common Whitethroat, c500 Corvids.

Kelk: 32 Greylag Goose, 1 Barn Owl, 60 Swift, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Common Whitethroat, 1 singing Chiffchaff, 1 Bullfinch.

Saturday 17th July

Gembling: 4 Teal, 5 Little Grebe, 1 Gembling, 1 Hobby, 1 Curlew (flying west), 4 Green Sandpiper. Teal in July is rather unusual anywhere in the area.

Brigham Quarry: 1 Pochard (female), 13 Coot, 6 Lapwing.

Foston Mill: 2 Blackcap (female/juvs), 1 Spotted Flycatcher. The flycatcher is a year tick, and at the same site where one was seen two summers ago.

Kelk: 1 Grey Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 300 Swift moving south away from rain, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 8 Long-tailed Tit.

Kelk Lake: 3 Little Grebe, 5 Coot (1 brood of 3), 2 Reed Warbler.

Harpham: 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Common Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Hobby, 5 Stock Dove, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Tree Sparrow.

Sunday 18th July

Kelk Beck: 2 Mute Swan, 300 Swift moving south away from weather, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Reed Bunting. A nice though brief view of a Stoat was one of the highlights of the weekend along Lynesykes Lane - my first of the year!

Gembling: 15 Canada Goose, 2 Shelduck, 2 Grey Partridge, 170 Feral Pigeon.

Kelk: 1 Buzzard, 3 Kestrel (1 juvenile), 1 Kingfisher, 1 Yellow Wagtail.

Harpham: 1 Kingfisher, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

You wait for months for a Kingfisher and three come along at once. Really, they're my first sightings since the winter and I was getting most concerned they'd been wiped out by the freeze.

Gulls

Small numbers of gulls were moving around all weekend, mostly flying rather purposefully south-west. It was too early for any serious numbers of small gulls as breeding birds would still have been at their colonies and there was no ploughing activity to draw them in. By the end of July, i.e. when I'm writing this, the situation will be changing quickly.

Totals for the weekend: 26 Black-headed Gull, 15 Common Gull, 11 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 28 Herring Gull. The vast majority were adults.

I only noticed when writing this post that I still haven't seen a Great Black-backed Gull this year. A most unusual situation, though no panic, the best months for these beasts are Oct-Dec.

Butterflies

Poor conditions for butterflies; mostly windy, cloudy or drizzly. Most obvious were 'whites' and Ringlet were very widespread along hedgerows.

Totals for the whole weekend across the area are: 13 Meadow Brown, 5 Red Admiral, 58+ Ringlet, 8 Small Tortoiseshell, c100 'white' sp. All this brings the total species for the year to a disappointing 11.

Also noted were a 'blue' damselfly and a Common Darter at New Road.

And the two Hobbies tale?

Having missed out on Hobby in May and June I was determined to track one down in July - hardly the best month but needs must. The plan was simple; spend loads of time around Harpham where birds were seen last year. Friday drew a complete blank despite regularly scanning the skyline during 4 hours. Saturday morning looked more promising but after 2 hours we were still empty handed.

Quite suddenly large numbers of Swift began to move through at the front of a wave of rain cloud, about 300 inm total. Despite all the fast food going by, not a sniff of a Hobby. Five minutes later the distinct scything sillhouette of my favourite falcon whizzed across the top of the treeline and dipped behind. It had gone as quickly as it had appeared - absolutely typical. Never mind, I was still delighted. I'm glad I have enough experience with these falcons to be sure of the ID! Grief though, six hours in the field and barely as many seconds of action.

Later in the day when at Gembling I had just sat down for a breather when a group of Swallows began shreiking... hello, what's going on here... wowser, a Hobby flew right over my head and I was able to watch it move away for 20-30 seconds. Possibly the closest view I've had of one in the area, certainly the most satisfying.

The lesson? You need to try really hard to see a Hobby here but you just might get lucky.

So, with this and Spotted Flycatcher my yearlist moves to 109. A Turtle Dove was seen in Kelk in May so the recorded total reaches 110.

108 Turtle Dove
109 Hobby
110 Spotted Flycatcher

Jooooo-ly

2010-07-21T22:31:00.008+01:00

Here a few bird photos from the weekend. Nothing special just a few ropey shots including species I've not snapped before. Better than a kick in the proverbials, so to speak.

Why did the Collared Dove cross the road? So I could get a better picture, obviously.

Two Goldfinches at Harpham, doing what they do best - demolishing seed heads.

Three Green Sandpipers at Gembling. Out of shot on the left was a fourth bird, not a bad local gathering for late summer.

A Sedge Warbler out in the open by Kelk Beck, having a burst of morning song. They're usually moderately elusive so I'm actually quite pleased to get this shot without having to stake it out.

Male Reed Bunting by Kelk Beck, perched on oilseed. There are not many of these lovely buntings in the area and they are pretty unassuming so it's lovely to get any photo.

Last but not least a juvenile Swallow. Adult Swallows are quite obviously spectacular birds, no doubting that, but I have a real soft spot for the young birds.

Weekend report to follow...

Blow

2010-07-19T20:46:00.005+01:00

My attempt at a lazy summer weekend was thwarted by strong winds for most of the weekend. Despite that a few goodies were seen including 2 Hobbys, 4 Green Sandpiper, 3 Kingfisher, and 1 Spotted Flycatcher. More of that later with some birdy pics in the meantime here's some photos not of birds.

Ringlet. This rather tatty one has a huge split in the wing.

Another Ringlet, showing the underside pattern, and more tatty wings.

Meadow Brown, showing the leaf-like underwing pattern. Normally the outer wings are visible and they show an 'eye' on an orange background.

A very very scruffy Small Tortoiseshell. Not much longer left for this individual.

Finally, not a butterfly but a tame Hare which allowed me to approach to a few metres. There were three others, presumably a family, close by.

All quiet

2010-06-20T15:09:00.005+01:00

Slight time delay getting this short review up... ok, two weeks to be precise. As you'd expect there's not a great deal happening in June, though birdwatching is still a joy while the vegetation is at peak lush.

There was only one day to play with this month as I was busy elsewhere on Sunday morning and it rained for the rest of the day. Never mind though...

Saturday 5th June

Morning around Harpham; 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 2 Oystercatcher, 5 Great Spotted Woodpecker (4 together at New Road - presumably 2/3 juveniles), 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Goldcrest, and at least 30 Long-tailed Tits in one loose flock.

Arfernoon around Gembling and Brigham Quarry; 2 Grey Partridge, 4 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Kestrel, 11 Coot plus 5 young at Brigham Quarry, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Common Whitethroat, 2 Tree Sparrow, 1 Reed Bunting and 1 Corn Bunting (Foston bridge - as in May). Approx 30 Sand Martin holes at Brigham Quarry, though it's not obvious how many are in use.

Evening around Lowthorpe; 8 Mallard ducklings, 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull heading north east, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Barn Owl, 2 Reed Warbler (Kelk Lake), 1 Whitethroat, 11 Long-tailed Tit, 60 Starling on fresh cut silage.

Not many butterflies on the wing, a little disappointing - 1 Holly Blue (Foston), 10 Orange Tip, 1 Speckled Wood and 3 Wall.

This pair of Tree Sparrows have been using that old woodpecker hole - and for whatever reason I'd never noticed this hole before... doh!

Nice male Swallow on wires.

Wall buttrerfly at Foston.

Ruddy photos

2010-06-04T11:29:00.006+01:00

Finally, here's a couple of photos of the Ruddy Shelduck. Lack of a black neck band indicates this to be a female.

Another shot of the shelduck.

Oystercatcher at Harpham - an odd location for them. Look at the state of that puddle, yuk!

Female Yellow Wagtail in a paddock at Kelk. The male was a few yards to the right.

Pheasant looking at home in the yellow jungle.

Buzzard doing what buzzards do best - sitting about in the distance!

May I?

2010-06-03T00:58:00.008+01:00

If I leave it any longer there'll be no review of May at all so here's an abridged version. Time to move on!

Friday 14th May

Having traveled over in the afternoon there was still a couple of hours daylight left, not to be wasted. Around Harpham were a Cuckoo (seen and heard), a Tawny Owl sitting out in the open at dusk, 2 Barn Owl, a Sedge Warbler, 2 Blackcap, a Garden Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat - the latter two were the only ones of the weekend.

Best of the bunch was the GRASSHOPPER WARBLER at New Road which 'reeled' (song) for a grand total of about 30 seconds in the 20 minutes we stood waiting in the hope it would really get going. This is the first one I've heard locally for a long time, so while more than welcome it was a bit disappointing not to have a bit more of a show. Consolation while waiting was the 2 Barn Owls mentioned and a fox slipping through the rough grass - my first of the year.

Saturday 15th May

Harpham (morning): 3 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 2 Oystercatcher, the Cuckoo again, c20 Swift, reasonable numbers of warblers (summarised later).

Gembling/Brigham (afternoon): 3 Shelduck, 9 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 3 Pochard, 22 Tufted Duck, 7 Little Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 3 Grey Heron, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Common Buzzard, 12 Coot, 1 Oystercatcher, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Corn Bunting singing by Foston Bridge.

Strangest, though prettiest bird of the day was the RUDDY SHELDUCK at Gembling. Sightings in UK are typically considered escapees from wildfowl collections but there is discussion that a small number could reach us from either feral populations in western Europe or in exceptional circumstances from wild populations further east. In Yorkshire in mid-May... who knows?

Green Lane / Barf Hill (evening): buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 55 Linnet and 2 Bullfinch.

Butterflies today were; Holly Blue at Harpham, 13 Orange Tip, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 7 'whites'.

Sunday 16th May

Kelk Beck (morning): 2 Canada Goose, 1 Gadwall, 14 Tufted Duck, 1 Kestrel, 2 Coot, 1 Common Gull (the only one all weekend!!), 4 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Tree Sparrow, 4 Reed Bunting.

Gransmoor / Kelk Lake (lunchtime): 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhwak, 2 Commom Buzzard, 2 Coot, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Herring Gull, 1 Cuckoo, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Yellow Wagtail.

Lowthorpe / Harpham (late afternoon): 2 Common Buzzard, 2 baby Moorhen, 40+ Swift, 4 House Martin, 1 Tree Sparrow, 1 Bullfinch.

Butterflies today were; 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 1 Speckled Wood, 5 'whites'.

Warbler summary

Number of singing males across the whole area over the three days

Sedge Warbler............... 14
Reed Warbler................ 1
Grasshopper Warbler...... 1
Blackcap..................... 10
Garden Warbler............. 1
Lesser Whitethroat......... 1
Common Whitethroat...... 26
Chiffchaff.................... fewer singing than in April
Willow Warbler.............. 11
Goldcrest..................... 1

The number of Common Whitethroat is much higher than 2009 but the others are low, especially Lesser Whitethroat of which there were half a dozen last May.

Year list additions:

095 Cuckoo
096 House Martin
097 Swift
098 Lesser Whitethroat
099 Garden Warbler
100 Grasshopper Warbler
101 Sedge Warbler
102 Common Whitethroat
103 Marsh Harrier
104 Corn Bunting
105 Shoveler

106 Ruddy Shelduck (ooh controversy!)

107 Reed Warbler

True Blue

2010-05-19T00:54:00.008+01:00

No no no, not the new electoral map of England. A blue butterfly. Much nicer than all this unpleasantness they call politics :)

Ah, I digress.

Erm.

My visit for May was last weekend but I'm busy so this is a filler post until there's time for a proper report. I made nearly a dozen additions to the year list including a brief singing Grasshopper Warbler at Harpham - my first since the 1990s. Hurrah!

The picture below is a Holly Blue, at Harpham. Holly Blues are regular but uncommon in the area. Even by butterfly standards they're spectacularly beautiful - not that this woeful picture is going to convince anyone.

2004

2010-05-06T00:40:00.003+01:00

This evening I was looking through some books and a piece of paper fell out of the middle of one. On it were some handwritten notes of a visit to the Kelk area 11th-14th April 2004.

Why is that interesting? Huh? Well it isn't really but it predates my blog and it's a good excuse to fill a gap here before my next visit. Ha!

I used to live in Kelk in the early 1990s and was out in the field every day which means I have a fair chunk of data to help me put in context current records. However after moving to Liverpool my birding petered out while I spent ever more time doing the daft things people who live in cities do - mostly being indoors a lot and going to bed at the wrong end of the day. Fortunately the birding bug caught up with me again in the mid-noughties and from January 2007 I promised myself one visit a month. So that's where we are today. But my inner nerd gets very annoyed now by the missing decade. Data gap! Noooo!

Anyhow... what was knocking in mid-April 2004?

11th - at Kelk Lake a displaying pair of Great Crested Grebe, 2 very late Goldeneye, a pair of Ruddy Duck (the last pair were in 2005 - none since), 1 Curlew and 1 Redshank. Elsewhere a Kingfisher at Harpham, several Swallows, a male Wheatear in Kelk, and 2 Treecreeper at Harpham.

12th - much the same at Kelk Lake again plus 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Shelduck. Nothing notable elsewhere.

13th - at Kelk Lake 2 Teal, pair of Sparrowhawk, 2 Redshank, 1 Coal Tit (haven't noted one here since). At Brigham Quarry were 2 Gadwall, 2 Pochard, 3 Oystercatcher, 2 Willow Warbler. An extraordinary flock of c450 Golden Plover were at the south end of Kelk in the evening - see my March post for more about spring Goldies 'swallow-not-summer'

14th - only managed a quick visit to Kelk Lake but the grebes were still displaying, one of the Goldeneye was still there, as were the pair of Shelduck and Oystercatcher.

Fast forward to 2010

A Cuckoo has been regular around Kelk and a Marsh Harrier was near Gransmoor yesterday morning, and a 'probable' Marsh Harrier near Barf Hill late afternoon. 'Not many' is the verdict on the number of Swallows - perhaps they're spending more time away from nest sites due to the colder weather.

Can't wait to get back across, May is my favourite month for birding but painful knowing that every day you're probably missing some good birds. Gah!

Red Alert

2010-04-22T21:41:00.008+01:00

Right then, April.

Migrants had started to arrive including a Blackcap, 2 Yellow Wagtails and 1 White Wagtail, though only a few Swallows so far. Once again raptors were visible with the best two being an unseasonal Peregrine and a RED KITE. Also seen were 75 Golden Plover, 3 Green Sandpiper, and a Little Owl.

Good omen for the weekend was a Little Owl seen from the car on Friday evening at Harpham on the journey. A year tick before I'd even started!

Saturday 17th April

Much the better day for birding - light wind and sunshine. Around Harpham-Lowthorpe in the morning were 4 Greylags, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Sparrowhawk, 10 Lapwing, 6 Herring Gull, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Swallow, 2 Mistle Thrush, 1 Blackcap singing, 9 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler singing, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Coal Tit singing, 1 Tree Sparrow, and 10 Linnet.

Bird of the morning was a Peregrine, a first locally for April. This appearance even more so than the in winter poses 'where from?' questions - was this a 'local' breeding bird, perhaps from the coastal cliffs?

A good morning was followed up with a better afternoon. Immediately. Stood outside the house I picked up a large raptor flapping lazily around. It was nothing less than a RED KITE. Slowly the bird gained height and drifted north-west and after 10 minutes was gone. Although hard to tell for sure it seemd rather less 'red' than a typical adult so could well have been an immature bird, which leads one to consider it as a Wolds-born non-breeding bird wandering around - there was a post-breeding population of around 30 birds in 2009: http://www.yorkshireredkites.net/home.html

Gembling was the next stop after all the excitement; 1 Greylag, 2 Gadwall, 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Grey Heron, 4 Coot, 2 Oystercatcher, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 8 Sand Martin, 1 Swallow, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 White Wagtail (photo in previous entry), 5 Tree Sparrow, and 2 Reed Bunting. There was still quite a lot of flood water on the fields, left over from the previous autumn - receeding but could still be there into May.

Moving on to Brigham Quarry; 1 Mute Swan, 6 Gadwall, male Pochard, 4 Tufted Duck, 6 Little Grebe, 8 Coot, 12 Stock Dove, 21 Sand Martin, and 6 late Fieldfare. The most unusual sighting was a male 'green' Pheasant, not a different race as such but a genetic variant sometimes bred and released by shooting estates. I have seen odd ones locally before but this is the first noted for a while.

Not wishing to let a good day end there I took an evening walk around Green Lane and Barf Hill which turned up a few more goodies; 7 Greylags, 1 Canada Goose, 2 Shelduck, 4 Teal, 1 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Cormorant flying SW, 3 Kestrel, 2 Oystercatcher, 14 Lapwing, 2 Swallow, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 19 Chaffinch together in a freshly drilled corn field, and a Bullfinch.

The large flock of Golden Plover I wrote about last month was still present but has reduced ot 75 birds (photo to follow), though that's still a respectable number. My theory/guess is that these are Scandinavian birds which have wintered in the UK and are staging here before setting off for a direct flight to their breeding grounds. Many were parading their bright summer collection wardrobe.

Sunday 18th April

Inevitable really, but Sunday was an anti-climax. The weather took a turn for the colder and I had to spend the morning shifting furniture so didn't get going until lunchtime. Along Kelk Beck were 5 Mute Swan, 1 Canada Goose, 4 Gadwall, 16 Mallard, 3 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Cormorant (flying S), 3 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 2 Coot, 1 Curlew flying west, 30 Sand Martin, 5 Swallow, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Willow Warbler, 2 Long-tailed Tit, and 2 Reed Bunting.

To complete the weekend I had another go at Harpham-Lowthorpe but it was much less active though 2 Sparrowhawk, 3 Kestrel, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 5 Herring Gull, 4 more Swallow, 4 long-tailed Tit and 2 more Coal Tits were noted.

Among all this, during the weekend also were 1 bat sp, 1 Water Vole, and the first few butterflies; 5 Peacock, c25 Small tortoiseshell, 1 'white' sp.

Seven additions for the year:

088 Little Owl
089 Blackcap
090 Willow Warbler
091 Red Kite
092 Yellow Wagtail
093 Shelduck
094 Curlew

Speaking of numbers the kite is the 130th species in the last 5 years.

Addittion: Cuckoo heard in Kelk on Wednesday morning - a very early bird.

Wagtail lessons

2010-04-20T22:08:00.007+01:00

Visit for April done and dusted. More of that later, but as a stopgap here are some wagtail photos.

To start with a sparkling male Yellow Wagtail at Gembling. This species is a summer migrant that typically arrives at the front of the first big wave of migrants. Unfortunately they have undergone a serious decline in recent decades though we still get a few pairs in the Kelk area.

Same bird agian. Crikey, just how yellow are they?

This next fella was also at Gembling - it's a White Wagtail, the continental race or subspecies of the more familiar resident Pied Wagtail. In East Yorkshire these are uncommon passage migrants mostly in Spring. Not rare but always a bonus.

Another view of the bird. Features to note; pale clean grey back and clear dividing line with the black cap, rump same colour as back, and distinct white dividing line between the bib and back. They're a fairly classic identification problem for novice birders, personally I feel they're one of those "you know when you've seen one" birds. If it doesn't quite look right it's probably Pied not White.

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Here's a female Pied Wagtail for comparison; note the grey back is similar but slightly blotchy and messily extends into the cap, and there is no clear white line between the bib and back. You can't see it here but the rump is darker than the back.
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More pictures and a report from the weekend to follow...

Eagle Eye

2010-04-07T21:50:00.004+01:00

A couple of bits of news: first a WHITE-TAILED EAGLE that was seen a Bempton and Flamborough earlier in the week had made it's way to Tophill Low this morning... Kelk lies roughly in a line between the two!

Report here: http://tophilllow.blogspot.com/2010/04/sea-eagle.html

Oh boy, that would have been a wee bit special.

More mundane, a couple of Swallows were in Kelk yesterday, including one at a farmyard looking more like a local bird than an earlier migrant moving through.

Ok, an excuse for some piccies. These three were from the last visit. First up a male Tufted Duck from Burton Agnes pond. Unlike most birds these are an easy target, they come for bread with the Mallards.

Next, a nice pair of Red-legged Partridge at Harpham. Contrary to the above picture, these birds are not at all easy birds to see well so I'm quite happy with this murky shot.

Finally this is part of the record breaking flock of 480 Golden Plover at Kelk.

Swallow not Summer

2010-04-05T13:05:00.004+01:00

Better late than never. A quick round up of my March visit, 27th-30th. Saturday and Sunday were mostly sunny but very breezy while Monday and Tuesday were mostly wet. The highlights were an OSPREY heading north, 2 Woodcock, three Green Sandpiper, a new record count of 480 Golden Plover, the first Sand Martins and a lone Swallow, the first I've seen locally in March.

Saturday 27th March

Around Harpham were 12 Mallard, 14 Greylags, 3 Grey Heron, 2 Little grebe, 6 Moorhen, 2 Woodcock, a Green Sandpiper, 6 Stock Dove, 200+ Woodpigeon, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Sand Martin flying purposefully north, 3 Meadow Pipit, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 4 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Coal Tit, 40 Linnet, 1 Bullfinch.

One of the stranger bird sightings was a female Tufted Duck on the pond in Lowthorpe Church Wood - a new one for me!

The breeze and sunshine brought the raptors out in the late morning - once again there were at least 8 Common Buzzards, plus 4 Sparrowhawks and 4 Kestrel. Two of these buzzards circled up high to join a passing OSPREY, my second record after the first last April. What a piece of luck, I wouldn't have caught it had it not been for the buzzards.

In the late afternoon a trip around Green Lane and Barf Hill was rather productive; 12 Greylags, 2 Canada Goose, 3 Gadwall, 8 Mallard, 4 Red-legged and 2 Grey Partridge, 1 Common Buzzard over Gembling, 2 Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Barn Owl, 2 Mistle Thrush.

Surprise of the afternoon was a large flock of 480 Golden Plover on one of the fields by Green Lane. I say surprise but in fact Spring is the best time to see flocks of goldies in the area as it is unusual for birds to overwinter and they are regular but unpredictable on autumn passage. What was surprising was the number - treble figures is notable and the previous highest was around 350. The flock were still there on Tuesday though I was too distant to count them.

Sunday 28th March

Kelk Beck and Cattleholmes; 5 Mute Swan, 1 Canada Goose, 1 Gadwall, 9 Teal, 10 Mallard, 6 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Coot, 5 Meadow Pipit, and a Reed Bunting.

A detour on the way back around Great Kelk and Green Lane landed 2 Teal on a field flood patch, 2 Oystercatcher off Green Lane, 2 Mistle Thrush, 20 Tree Sparrow in the village plus 7 in Little Kelk, 2 Bullfinch and 2 Yellowhammer.

After lunch a bike ride around Gembling and Foston was unexceptional but still, at Gembling were 1 male Wigeon, 4 Gadwall, 2 Grey Partridge, 4 Moorhen, 6 Coot, 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Green Sandpiper, 35 Starling. At Brigham Quarry 14 Gadwall, 12 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 10 Coot and 2 Bullfinches nearby at Foston bridge.

There was still time for a sneaky peek at Kelk Lake where there was a Mute Swan, a young Cormorant on the water, 12 Coot, a very early Swallow flying around over the water, a Chiffchaff and 80 Jackdaw over the farm (a long-standing colony based there).

Monday 29th & Tuesday 30th March

My plan for a long weekend to mop up as much birding as possible hit a snag on Monday and Tuesday - awful weather. Even so it did allow me to get around a few far flung places I don't normally manage and a chance to revist a couple. Highlights as follows...

Gransmoor to Burton Agnes; 46 Greylags, 40 Mallard, 11 Tufted Duck, 2 Grey Partridge, 4 Coot, 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrest, 3 Long-tailed Tit, c50 nests in the Rookery near the railway, and a Bullfinch. The return journey via Harpham and Lowthorpe added a few birds to the weekend; 2 Red-legged Partridge, 4 Chiffchaff, 1 Tree Sparrow and 14 Yellowhammer.

In the afternoon rain I battled around the backroads around Nafferton and Wansford, mainly to take a distant look at the heronry. Not a lot to see but there were at least 15 nests visible and 11 herons around the wood. Other birds were 1 Black-headed Gull and 7 Reed Buntings together around a manure heap near Cattleholmes.

On Tuesday a return trip to Gembling and Brigham Quarry added a few birds. At Gembling 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Cormorant, 3 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 6 Redwing, 1 Bullfinch, and 1 Reed Bunting. At Brigham Quarry a Mute Swan, 2 Greylags, 2 Teal, 7 Little Grebe, 3 Oystercatcher, and 2 Sand Martins whizzing around.

Final throw of the dice was another attempt at Lowthorpe-Harpham but it rained most of the time and we got soaked. 2 Grey partridge, a Cormorant heading NE, a Grey Heron... was about yer lot. Bah.

A few other odds and sods to note.

1. Lapwings: perhaps they are late back on territory this year but it was noticeable how few there were - 16 'pairs' seen is around half expected.

2. Gulls: not many about though the first Lesser Black-backs were drifting through, 8 in total. Herring Gulls were also moving though, 18 in total. Common and Black-headed Gulls were virtually absent with only 8 and 1 respectively until I encountered a single flock of 120 Common and 4 Black-headed in Little Kelk right at the last bell on Tuesday.

3. Non-birds: plenty of Hares across the area plus 3 sightings of single Roe Deer. As seen in the pictures from the previous post we found a mass of frog spawn at Lowthorpe and a few toads were noted and several were road kill following the rain. Just two butterflies noted, both Small Tortoiseshell, one each at Lingholmes and Great Kelk.

Yearlist additions, in order of appearance (all were on Saturday!)

081 Sand Martin
082 Osprey
083 Lesser Black-backed Gull
084 Chiffchaff
085 Golden Plover
086 Oystercatcher
087 Swallow

Love is in the air

2010-04-01T00:17:00.007+01:00

Spring arrived last week, and then duly stormed off again. I was in Kelk for four days and will post a summary soon as I'm not so busy. In the meantime here are some pictures of horny amphibians, a hare, and some wood/heath to be getting on with.

Two amorous toads, for those who like the larger lady. And why not. This embracing couple were by Kelk Beck. Lord knows how far she'd had to carry the randy little sod!

If warty toads aren't your thing then how about some smooth frog love action? This motley crew were in my Dad's tiny garden pond (approx 6x6 ft). They've been coming back every year for the best part of two decades now.

And this is what happens when frogs don't practice safe sex. Thousands and thousands of not-yet-frog blobs. These were in a pond at Lowthorpe.

Right then, enough sexytime. Here's a lone Mad March Hare.

Ok, here's some curious former woodland near Gransmoor. It has the appearance of lowland heathland. It's at the edge of my area and I haven't been paying it much attention but it looks like just the spot for something unusual - maybe a passing Woodlark or Tree Pipit?

Tons of Buzzard... and a Robin

2010-02-24T22:26:00.006Z

The birds didn't want to pose on Saturday and I didn't take my camera out on Sunday so not a lot to show for the weekend just gone.

First up - Buzzard montage. There's two birds in this picture. The one in the main part of the photo is quite a distinctive individual with a white vent.

Better than my previous attempt at Robin but still so-so.

Final year tick of the weekend - two Goldeneye with a drake Pochard at Kelk Lake.

Here we snow again

2010-02-23T19:22:00.010Z

Third month in a row with snow. Once a year is about the going rate. I blame our kid for describing Saturday as 'the warmest day of the year'. Haha!

Winter has cleared out many birds but the LITTLE EGRET from January was seen again, with a Jack Snipe and Water Rail as supporting cast. Other hard to come by birds were - 2 Goldeneye a Woodcock and one each of Treecreeper and Coal Tit.

Saturday 20th February

In the morning Harpham and Lowthorpe were bathed in fine sunny weather. On the walk across the Harpham were 40 Lapwing, 5 Stock Dove, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming in Lingholmes, a Pied Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush and the Jay that has been around all winter.

New Road was fairly quiet but there were 10 Teal in the wood, a Kestrel, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Linnet and 2 Yellowhammer. Over in Church Wood were a Goldcrest, 2 Long-tailed Tit, a Coal Tit and Treecreeper. Quite a relief to get the latter on the yearlist after taking until November last year - elusive little buggers! The little pond in the wood had 2 Teal on it, which as far as I can tell is the first time I've seen any there.

A Grey Heron flew north along the beck at Lowthorpe and 21 Moorhen were noted between Station Road and the railway. On the return leg a LITTLE EGRET was in a field drain in Little Kelk - presumably this is the same bird that was seen near Harpham last month

Just a couple of hours for an afternoon walk - around Gransmoor Lane. A Fieldfare, 12 Greenfinch and 7 Yellowhammer were along the main road in Kelk. Around Gransmoor Lane 2 Red-legged and 4 Grey Partridge, plus a Woodcock flushed from the roadside on the way back at dusk!

Near Barf Hill were 174 Greylag Goose, 9 Wigeon, 4 Teal, 37 Mallard, a Barn Owl, a small party of Long-tailed Tits heard, and a nice male Reed Bunting. An impressive total of 28 Hare were in the fields around Gransmoor Lane. Back in Little Kelk around 1500 Corvid flew in to roost after dusk and a Tawny Owl was calling.

Last word to the local Common Buzzards. Fine conditions on Saturday lunchtime kicked the otherwise lazy birds into action. It has always been a challenge to work out how many individuals there are, since they obviously move around a fair bit. Getting them in the air together makes it easier but it doesn't happen often. Today we had 7 together at one time but at least 8 birds were involved. Last year at least two pairs bred so it looks like the expansion is continuing.

Sunday 21st February

Opening the curtains to the first flakes of a morning of snow was not part of the script. Fearing a whole day without going outside my nerve broke at 11.30. It was very hard going and all the sensible birds were well under cover. Even so, on the beck were 4 Teal, 10 Mallard, 2 Red-legged and 4 Grey Partridge, 2 Grey Heron, a Water Rail in exactly the same spot as one in December, 2 Snipe and a flock of 130 Fieldfare overhead toward Great Kelk.

Cattleholmes was mostly frozen but there were 28 Mallard on the ice, 2 Coot, 9 Lapwing, 4 Snipe, and a Barn Owl looking very frosty hunting over the snow. At one point it flew past at about 10m range - and yes, I hadn't brought my camera out! Better still it flushed a Jack Snipe which flew over my head and landed on the edge of the beck. Crikey!

On the way back I could hear some Canada Geese in the distance, though it was hard to tell where they were or how many. Six Roe Deer were heading along a hedgerow near Lynesykes Lane.

Late afternoon was filled with a swift ride to Brigham Quarry - only 8 Teal and 10 Coot as the water was mostly frozen over. In Great Kelk gardens were 20+ Tree Sparrow, 12 Greenfinch and 18 Goldfinch.

With just a little light left the last action of the weekend was a quick peek at Kelk Lake. It was much more frozen over than expected - only a small patch of open water left. I've still never seen it completely covered. Huddled together were 2 male Pochard, a female Tufted Duck, 2 fem / imm Goldeneye, 2 Little Grebe, 22 Coot. A Sparrowhawk went over and there was a Bullfinch in the hedge. There was only one record of Goldeneye last year so this is a welcome record.

January ended with a grand total of 71 and a further 9 were added in February, in order of appearance:

072 Pink-footed Goose
073 Cormorant
074 Treecreeper
075 Goldcrest
076 Coal Tit
077 Wigeon
078 Jack Snipe
079 Pochard
080 Goldeneye

Right then, hurry up, Spring!

Little Wag Piper

2010-02-02T20:37:00.008Z

Little Grebes with a pair of Mallard (and a Moorhen hidden behind the female). Interestingly the Little Grebe on the left has moulted into summer plumage already.

Grey Wagtail by Lowthorpe Bridge, a fairly regular spot for this one this winter. They're one of my favourite birds and it's so pleasing they have been a regular sight in the area in recent years. Slight buff colouring around the neck suggests a young bird, from last summer.

Two Green Sandpipers together is pretty good in winter. This duo were probably taking a break from feeding on the drain nearby, and would probably feed around this pool were it not frozen. It's encouraging they've survived here this long.

A lovely trio of Roe Deer - a stag in the middle. I don't know much about deer but these ones look in good condition so have perhaps not suffered too much with the weather. When I took this shot I was stood in a gateway when they appeared about 10 yards along the hedgerow - of course I fumbled with the camera and they were half way across the field by then!

Ok, struggling for wildlife shots now. A big mo0o0o0ker. It almost had my camera off me. There isn't a great deal of cattle farming in the area, and as a result not a lot of grass fields - the two main block are at New Road, Harpham and between Kelk Lake and the houses in Little Kelk.

As you can see, I didn't have a lot of success with pictures this month. Not much change there then.

Herons: 3 for the price of 1

2010-02-01T22:45:00.009Z

Wowser! What a corker of a weekend to open 2010 with. A personal first for the area in the form of a BITTERN, a second of LITTLE EGRET, plus a Great Crested Grebe, Merlin, Peregrine, Water Rail, 6 Woodcock, Redshank, 2 Green Sandpiper, 3 day-flying Barn Owl, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, a small flock of Siskin, and 3 Brambling.

It was a cold weekend with light north-west breeze and mostly bright sunshine. A half inch of snow on Friday night was a surprise and one which dominated the following days.

Saturday 30th January

Kelk Beck and Cattleholmes in the morning. 10 Mute Swan included the family of seven that bred last summer. Wildfowl and waders were otherwise mostly absent; 12 Mallard, 3 Little Grebe, 1 Coot, 4 Snipe and a Woodcock. Around the fields were 3 Grey Partridge, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Stock Dove, and a day flying Barn Owl. Song birds on the whole have cleared out (or died?) from the area but a few pockets of birds have stayed on; 46 Skylark, 1 Meadow Pipit, 83 Fieldfare, 1 Song Thrush, 3 Redwing, 3 Tree Sparrow, c20 Chaffinch, 42 Linnet, 3 Bullfinch, 11 Yellowhammer and 2 Reed Bunting. Best of the bunch were the 3 Brambling in the Chaffinch flock - a difficult year tick in the area - and a Merlin hunting near Cattleholmes was probably the same one seen in the same place in December. 5 Roe Deer were near Cattleholmes.

In the afternoon a walk around Green Lane, Barf Hill and Great Kelk proved fairly useful. Between Green Lane and Barf Hill were 26 Teal, 8 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, Kingfisher, 9 Yellowhammer, 4 Grey Partridge, a Buzzard (over Barf Hill), 3 Woodcock, a Redshank, 800 Woodpigeon and a Great Spotted Woodpecker (also Barf Hill). 6 Roe Deer and 9 Hare were around Gransmoor Lane. A remarkable flock of around 2000 Woodpigeon were up in the air distantly over the stud farm woods south of Burton Agnes.

Since there was a little daylight left we walked to Great Kelk to have a bit of a poke around the back of the village; 11 Red-legged Partridge, 5 Grey Partridge, Kestrel, Snipe, Barn Owl, Pied Wagtail, c50 Blackbirds in village gardens, 3 Fieldfare, 19 Redwing, 1 Tree Sparrow, and 5 Greenfinch. Not a bad haul!

Undoubtedly the surprise of the weekend, the year, and decade was a sighting of a BITTERN in a tiny patch of reeds by a small patch of water at a private site near Kelk away from public view. I thought I spotted something in the reeds from about 60-70m away but couldn't be sure. After a few minutes a Pheasant moved close by and as if by magic the reeds shuffled and for a couple of brief seconds the shape and colours of a Bittern were evident. And then it vanished behind some other vegetation and didn't come out the other side. We waited a few minutes but nothing, and there was no way I was going to get closer and risk disturbing it just for a better look. Like with the Osprey last year, the views weren't great, but - wow - what a massive buzz.

Given the cold weather this bird is likely to have arrived during January and is likely to have fled frozen habitat in northern Europe (Germany, Poland, Denmark etc). More than usual have been reported across Britain and it is not entirely unexpected for them to turn up in apparently unsuitable locations at such times. Even so. And once again - wow!

There is one 'possible' record from the early 1990s - a dog walker gave me a fairly convincing description of one flushed by their dog from the side of the beck at Harpham, also during January. But here it is, definitely on the local avifauna. No doubt it'll be another 20 years wait for another!

Sunday 31st January

Still very cold but sunny again though and extra spring in the step from yesterday's events. Around Harpham in the morning produced several Teal, 2 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Little Grebe, 5 Buzzard in the air together, 2 Kestrel, a Peregrine heading east toward Burton Agnes, a Water Rail on Lingholmes Beck, 2 Green Sandpiper also on Lingholmes Beck, 9 Black-headed Gull (often scarce in January), a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush, 10 Long-tailed Tit in three small flocks - their numbers have evidently taken a hit in the cold snap, a Jay was heard in Lingholmes Plantation, 4 Tree Sparrow, 16 Goldfinch, a party of Siskin heard calling in Lingholmes. Six Hares and 3 Roe Deer were seen from Station Road.

The surprise of the day, and under normal circumstances would have been the surprise of the year, came when watching the deer cross the fields. A large white bird caught my eye in the distance toward Harpham. It was obviously not a small or large gull, the flight was all wrong. As it flew across it became apparent it was a LITTLE EGRET - only my second record for the area, the previous being in July 2007 at Kelk Lake. Eventually the bird came down on the bank of a field drain. Incredible.

Although this species is nationally increasing, becoming more regular in Yorkshire (the first breeding was lat year), they are still fairly unusual in the local region. Perhaps this one had moved away from it's usual winter area due to the weather, but it's possible it has been in the area all winter - they can be shockingly elusive for a large bright white bird.

Gembling and Brigham Quarry were the targets for the afternoon. Quiet in comparison to the rest of the weekend: 3 Grey Partridge, a Grey Heron, 70 Common Gull, 10 Fieldfare, 4 Redwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, and a flock of Tree Sparrow heard in gardens.

A diversion on the way back to take in Barf Hill, Gransmoor, and Kelk Lake produced 2 Mute Swans, a Barn Owl and 3 Long-tailed tit at Barf Hill. A flock of 165 Greylag and 16 Canada Geese were heading over Gembling.

At Kelk Lake; 7 Tufted, a Great-crested Grebe, a Kestrel, 21 Coot, 2 Woodcock, 50 Feral Pigeon, 5 Fieldfare and 4 Long-tailed Tit. 19 Hare were in fields on Harpham Moor.

Yearlist: 71 - a mighty start.

2009 Review

2010-01-02T15:12:00.005Z

Happy New Year.

A recap on the last year would seem like a timely thing to do, and besides, it will fill a gap until I actually get out looking for birds again!

January to March

A party of three Egyptian Geese was a huge surprise in January, more so that they stayed until the first week of March. Suffice to say this was not an obvious candidate for an addition to the list of birds recorded in the area. Other goodies on this visit were 2 Pintail, 2 Peregrine sightings, and a Jack Snipe. Large gatherings of song birds were present across the area including; 175 Redwing, 60 Chaffinch, 75 Linnet, and 31 Corn Bunting (a record local count!)

Common Buzzards moved into the area as recently as 2005 before which seeing five in one day would have been silly talk but that's how far they'd come by February 2009. There were, it appears, two pairs breeding this year but there are clearly 'spare' birds waiting for a chance to increase the population. Despite this they remain site faithful and are unusual away from the north of the area.

Also in February were another Peregrine sighting, 5 Pink-footed Geese were the only ones seen on the ground all year, a Lesser Black-backed Gull was out of season, and a tantalisingly dark Barn Owl was seen around Kelk Lake but was likely just an extremely dusky female. A flock of 272 Fieldfare was a pretty repectable local count.

Spring began to emerge in March, slowly. Six different Chiffchaff had arrived by 21st and two Small Tortoiseshell and a Peacock butterfly were noted. A pair of Oystercatchers were the only other arrivals. An exceptionally large spring flock of 130 Linnet were gathered in the field behind Gembling School.

April to June

Spring got into gear in April, starting with an early Swallow at Lowthorpe on 5th. During my visit on 18-19th April migrants of several species had begun to arrive including earliest recorded arrivals for both Sedge Warbler (19th) and Lesser Whitethroat (18th). A late flock of 21 Fieldfare represented birds heading away for the summer. A singing Corn Bunting at Gembling was the sole 'key jangler' all year - a sad state of affairs.

The two stars of the show for April were much bigger birds; first a Short-eared Owl was seen by a farmer in the Great Kelk. It's been a long while since my last sighting and rapidly rising to the top of my hopes for 2010. Not to be deflated by such a miss I managed to pull a last minute Osprey out of the bag - an expected though long-awaited first for me in the area. Bird of the year on a personal level.

Another big miss for me was the Turtle Dove seen in May on two occasions - in the same spot as the only one seen in 2007. I did see one elsewhere in 2008 but they're are very much the proverbial rocking horse now, as they are right across most of northern Britain. That one has appeared three years running suggests there could be a pair clinging on somewhere locally.

My visit in mid-month was fairly unremarkable; Swift and Cuckoo were back and Garden Warbler was much welcome as they are rather unpredictable of late. The first Hobby of the year was noted.

I had decided to try and work out what the status of local butterflies was during 2009 - May threw up the only sightings of the year for Orange Tip and Holly Blue. In June the remnants of an unprecedented influx of Painted Lady could be seen - at least 50 noted across the area.

Birdwise June was typically quiet though a Marsh Harrier made a brief appearance. Two juvenile Grey Wagtails were at Foston Mill as was the only Spotted Flycatcher of the year. A pair of Mute Swans on Kelk Beck had 8 cygnets and is the first pair to breed along the beck for many years. They were clearly doing something right since all 8 fledged. As were the pair of Pochard which hatched a clutch of five ducklings at Brigham Quarry. Although a familiar sight in winter these are scarce as a breeding bird in England and are the first pair to nest locally - though Tophill Low has a long record of breeding Pochard.

July to September

As summer progresses birds stop singing as they tend to family and any hot days make most creatures keep a low profile. Still, a juvenile Cuckoo in July was a rare sight - I even managed a couple of snaps http://kelkbirds.blogspot.com/2009/07/nice-photos-shame-about-birds.html Other young included two juvenile Kingfishers on the beck, the closest I've come to proving breeding locally for several years (no doubt they do most years, though). Four pairs of Little Grebes hatched young at Brigham Quarry, now the best site locally since the desperately sad decline of Kelk Lake.

By August there was still time to discover evidence of breeding but the presence of several Quail was a shock. A farmer noted four birds in fields around Great Kelk and I spent some time there trying to hear any calling, but it was not to be. Then out of the blue I flushed an adult male in a wheat field at Harpham. Waders started to appear including Greenshank and Ruff but overall passage was light this autumn. A couple of Marsh Harriers were seen though it appears these were all passage birds and the likely breeding from 2006-8 has not been continued. The Quail was pretty incredible but for me the sight of four Hobbies together was more pleasing - at last it seems we have a breeding pair in the area.

Autumn was truly upon us by September. A few late summer migrants were still around including a Wheatear, a late Willow Warbler, while birds coming from the other direction included a Peregrine, 260 Golden Plover, 26 Pink-footed Goose, and an unexpected Jay. The number of Common Buzzards took another step up: six together in September. Post breeding flocks of song birds were on the whole unremarkable but 64 Pied Wagtails on one of the grass fields in Little Kelk fair hammered the previous record count.

My personal highlight was seeing a Badger in broad daylight - the first live one I've seen in the area. I even managed some pictures: http://kelkbirds.blogspot.com/2009/10/badger-badger-mushroom.html

October to December

The final chapter of the year was a mixed bag. Loads of Pink-feet headed south, several hundred in total. Very much a 'right-place-right-time' bird. A pair of Stonechat at Harpham were the first time more than one has been seen in the area. Another Jay in October was the first of three including one that visited gardens in Great Kelk through November and December - unprecedented according to the long-time resident who first spotted it. I've certainly never seen one down that end. Other autumn goodies were 19 Siskin over Cattleholmes and 290 Golden Plover in Little Kelk.

Not a lot happened in November though I was relieved to finally catch up with a Treecreeper for the year. A Green Sandpiper was presumably hoping to winter in the area, and indeed one was noted again in December.

Snow and freezing weather dominated late December and gave me a final exciting weekend of birding; two Peregrine - making it a record year, a Merlin, two Water Rail, three Kingfisher and maybe six Grey Wagtails.

Here's hoping 2010 can bring more goodies!

Whiteout

2009-12-22T10:25:00.003Z

Peregrine. Just about. We thought it was likely an adult male.

A suitably festive scene at Lowthorpe Church. Two Grey Squirrels darted out of the big Yew by the chuch door!

Sunday morning looking toward Lingholmes. Is this the most snow in Kelk in the Noughties?

I'm delighted with this shot. Not only lucky to get a picture of a Kingfisher but the composition is really pleasing.

Grey Wagtail feeding beside Kelk Beck - one of five or six seen over the weekend. The banks of the beck had pretty much the only greenery on show.

Life in the Festive Freezer

2009-12-21T21:29:00.007Z

Brrrr. It was hard work tramping through the thick snow but completely worth all the effort, a lovely end to the year for me. My only regret being unable to hang around for another day or two. Booo!

Highlights this month include: a Merlin, 2 Peregrine, 2 Water Rail, c40 Snipe, 3 Kingfisher, a flock of 74 Skylark and 6 Grey Wagtail. With Merlin and Water Rail the number of recorded species in 2009 stands at 115 species - just two behind 2008 but above 2007 (109).

Saturday 19th December

About an inch of snow lay on the ground from Friday and hedge bottoms and shaded areas were still free. On most fields you could see crops poking above the snow so although difficult for birds many had not been forced out yet. However the keen frost over the latter part of the week had clearly pushed some birds closer to open or running water such as the beck.

We started as normal in the morning with the Harpham-Lowthorpe walk. The wild open area to the east of Lingholmes to the village was suitably productive with 2 Lapwing, 16 Stock Dove, 1 Meadow Pipit (unusual, probably a recent arrival), 1 Redwing, 4 Mistle Thrush, a Jay in the plantation, Bullfinch and 3 Yellowhammer.

A couple of Skylark headed over south - the first of 30 or so over the weekend visibly migrating away from the harsh conditions - and then before we got to the church a flock of 74 rose up from the next field. They came down again quickly but I would guess they moved off on Sunday following the heavy snow at night. A total surprise to find this many together.

To top it off an adult Peregrine was sat in a nearby tree - now known as the Peregrine tree since we had one in the same tree two years ago! It didn't seem like a big bird so was probably a male. I managed a photo which I will post later.

Moving along to New Road it was fairly quiet but still 8 Teal, 12 Lapwing heading south, a Snipe, a Woodcock, 19 Collared Dove in the farmyard, 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Tree Sparrow and 5 Yellowhammer.

In Lowthorpe Church wood a pair of Moorhens were scratting around the edge of the frozen pond - I wonder how long they'll stick it out? A Woodcock flushed from the roadside and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was 'tchicking' away loudly. In the churchyard two Grey Squirrels came scampering out of one of the yew trees - there's definately more around in the last few years. I wonder if this is due to changes in 'keepering?

The remainder of the walk saw a Mute Swan, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, 3 Snipe, another Meadow Pipit, a Grey Wagtail on Lingholmes Beck, 6 Long-tailed Tit and 2 Bullfinch. In total I estimated that we'd seen 20+ Robins around Lowthorpe as well as at least 8 Song Thrush.

Short days. Bah. A quick shuffle around Gransmoor Lane and Barf Hill before dusk produced a single Greylag north, 4 Teal and 31 Mallard, 8 Grey Partridge, 3 Cormorant heading SE, 1 Buzzard being mobbed by crows, 3 Snipe, 27 Fieldfare and at least 16 Hare. A Tawny Owl hooted a couple of times just as I was taking my boots off back at base camp.

Sunday 20th December

Not long after sunset on Saturday it started snowing and continued until well into the night. By morning there were several inches of very powdery snow. It has been a while since there was this much across the area.

Heading off down Kelk Beck in the morning was a delight... but tough on the feet. One of the first sightings was a big Sparrowhawk making off with a Fieldfare - good to see at least one bird benefitting from the harsh weather.

Along the beck were 7 Mute Swan, 2 Gadwall, 8 Teal, 40+ Mallard, 1 Buzzard, 3 Kestrel, 2 Little Grebe, 4 Cormorant heading north, 3 Grey Heron, 2 Water Rail (1 swam across the beck toward us before vanishing into cover), 32 Lapwing heading south, 1 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Grey Wagtail, c30 Tree Sparrow, 1 each of Bullfinch, Reed Bunting and Corn Bunting.

As well as this impressive tally were a Peregrine hunting pigeons, a Merlin - quite large/brown so probably female, Snipe all along the beck (31 noted but some double counting), 3 Kingfisher, and a good count of 24 Yellowhammer. I didn't get a good look at the Peregrine so couldn't age/sex it. I guess it could have been the same one as yesterday but what is more likely, a second bird or seeing the same one twice two miles apart?

On the way back 6 Greylags headed south and 8 Fieldfare and 2 Mistle Thrushes were around Lynesykes Lane. Very few gulls were seen over the weekend, the only large gulls were a single Herring Gull and 5 Great Black-backed Gulls, all adults all headed SW.

A set of Fox tracks went along the bank for several hundred yards and many Rabbit/Hare tracks were noted everywhere in the snow right across the area.

Snow set in again in the afternoon but I managed an hour or so to whizz by Kelk Lake. Very little on show, as expected, but 2 Gadwall, 4 Tufted Duck, 11 Coot, 4 Snipe. Also a Woodcock flushed from the roadside, a Grey Wagtail on the roof of the turkey farm, 18 Tree Sparrow and 2 Bullfinch. The Grey Wag was the sixth of the weekend, though could have been the one from Lingholmes Beck yesterday - either way a very high number locally and perhaps evidence of a hard weather influx.

Another year gone. Can't wait for January!

Dead or Alive

2009-12-01T21:21:00.003Z

Views of Roe Deer are sometimes close and sometimes prolonged but rarely both at the same time. This one had appeared in view as we crossed a ridge and no sooner had I got the camera ready than it had popped through the hedge and gone. Actually there were two together but the first had moved before I was ready.

One of the local Sparrowhawks has been busy!

I don't know the first thing about mushrooms but - what a beauty!

Everyone's favourite garden bird, shame about the quality of the photo.

Opportunity knocks - not the easiest bird to photo without the benefit of a hide. This fine adult was in the beck just above Lowthorpe Bridge when we got to it. Just allowed enough time to get a few snaps before getting spooked. A Kingfisher also zipped past but I completely missed that.

Nearly December

2009-11-30T21:15:00.003Z

Here comes the November report: RAIN, BRRR, WET, DARK. What little dry daylight hours there were did not reveal a great deal of birdy activity so this will be a shorter than usual report.

Highlights: 69 Pink-footed Goose, 1 Green Sandpiper, 31 Stock Dove, 1 Treecreeper, 28 Tree Sparrow. The 'creeper is not a scarcity, but this one was a year tick!

Saturday 28th November

Morning: Harpham and Lowthorpe. On the way to Harpham there were 10 Greylags over Kelk Lake, 3 Grey Partridge, 1 Cormorant south, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Common Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 8 Golden Plover, 31 Stock Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 8 Skylark, 3 Fieldfare, 2 Redwing. In Harpham just 12 Collared Dove and 23 House Sparrow. 2 Roe Deer were also seen, near Lingholmes.

At New Road not a great deal but still the highlight of the morning. 12 Teal, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Herring Gull south west, Grey Wagtail, 4 Goldcrest, 7 Long-tailed Tit, Treecreeper, and a lone Tree Sparrow. From here onward around Lowthorpe; 3 Grey Heron, Kingfisher, 6 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Bullfinch (pair).

A comment about herons - most of the ones we see in the Kelk area are young birds, presumably these ones have to disperse further than the adults. Though adults aren't particularly scarce in the area they seem to be seen less often around Harpham and Lowthorpe. One of the birds at Lowthorpe was an adult which gave good views from the road bridge.

Kelk Lake; just 2 Mute Swan and 6 Coot. Really depressing stuff, there should be Pochard, Goldeneye and other wildfowl at this time of year. What have they done?

Afternoon: Gembling and Foston. With only a couple of hours daylight by the time I'd set off after lunch it was always going to be a tall order to see much. However, at Gembling were 69 Pink-footed Goose flying south west, 340 Greylag Goose south toward Lisset, 2 Grey Heron, and a Barn Owl.

Foston was equally quiet; 1 Pochard and 4 Coot at Brigham Quarry, 1 Green Sandpiper and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker near Cruckley. A Grey Squirrel was roadkill outside Cruckley.

Sunday 29th November

Water falling out of the sky was the theme for the day. We couldn't get out of the house until 11am and then only had two dry hours in the field for a brisk walk along Kelk Beck. Despite all this whinging we saw 11 Mute Swan (5+1 young), c90 Teal and c100 Mallard at Cattleholmes, a Cormorant, 2 Lapwing moving north, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls heading south west, a flock of 600 Woodpigeon, around 80 Blackbirds in the hedges (around half along Lynesykes), 20+ Fieldfare, 4 Redwing, 4 Mistle Thrush, 28 Tree Sparrow, 29 Linnet, 12 Yellowhammer and a Reed Bunting. Also seen were 4 Roe Deer moving arcoss toward Wansford and 10 Hare in one field in Kelk.

Half an hour before dusk without a downpour allowed for a quick scoot up to Green Lane - 200+ Common Gull on the grass fields, 1 Barn Owl and 4 Yellowhammer. And that was the end of the weekend.

Year list up one with Treecreeper, to 111 (plus the two recorded by others).

I'll throw a few dim and grainy pictures on later.

Bring on December!

Two for one offer

2009-10-26T22:21:00.008Z

Autumn is progressing at a frightening rate. Only a month ago there were lingering signs of summer while this weekend showed just how far toward winter we really are. All day dampness underfoot is the order of the day and the nights drawing in way too early. Summer migrant birds feel long gone though we're still awaiting the downpour of thrushes that leave hedgerows dripping with Blackbirds, Fieldfares and Redwings.

Highlights: 2 Shoveler, 290 Golden Plover, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Stonechat, 1 Jay, 19 Siskin, 26 Tree Sparrow.

Saturday 24th October

Awful start to the weekend - low visibility and the heavy threat of rain all morning. Heading to Harpham the birds weren't having any sympathy with us either - just a Common Buzzard, a big female Sparrowhawk, 42 Lapwing, 400+ Woodpigeon, 2 Goldcrest and 31 Linnet.

New Road as ever the hotspot was the highlight of the morning - 22 Teal, 65 Mallard, 1 Sparrowhwak, 80+ Pheasant, 1 Cormorant off the beck, 1 Grey Wagtail, and a female Bullfinch. Best of the lot was the pair of Stonechat feeding along the fence bordering the cattle field and the rough ground.

Stonechat is still a very scarce bird locally - these are only the fourth and fifth ones and the first instance of two together. All have been in autumn and none have hung around. Maybe this pair will show more confidence in this beautiful spot! Here's a rubbish record shot of the male...

Lowthorpe was about as quiet as I can remember - my only note was 3 Moorhens together on the roadside pool in Church Wood. Around Station Road were 1 Little Grebe, 1 Goldcrest, 2 parties of Long-tailed Tit, and a Jay - as the second of the autumn represents a mini-influx.

The remaining journey was a case of rain stopped play, just a Common Buzzard over Kelk Lake and a Grey Heron off Kelk Beck.

In the afternoon with just an hour or so of daylight left the sun came out so a dash round the Gransmoor Lane area seemed appropriate - alas all we found was 11 Red-legged Partridge, 11 Collared Dove (Little Kelk), a party of Long-tailed Tit, 330 Starling, 4 Yellowhammer. In the fields on either side of Green Lane we counted a whopping 34 Hares - quite probably the most I've ever seen in such a small area. Noticeably I saw very few elsewhere all weekend.

Sunday 25th October

Early signs on Sunday weren't good (pah - who listens to the forecast anymore?!) but the rain stayed away only to be replaced by a strong wind to keep the birds in hiding. Saying that it was a pretty good day, but so it should be in late October!

Kelk Beck in the morning: 6 Mute Swan, 6 Greylags flying east, 4 different Cormorants, 1 imm Grey Heron, 2 Common Buzzards (1 each over Lingholmes and Kelk Lake), 1 Kestrel was the only one all weekend, 6 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Kingfisher, 20+ Skylark, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Grey Wagtail (scarce in this part of the area), 1 Fieldfare (the only one all weekend), 2 Mistle Thrush, a party of Long-tailed Tit, 160 Starling, 26 Tree Sparrow and 25 Linnet. Further along at Cattleholmes were 2 Wigeon (year tick!), 60+ Teal, 75+ Mallard, a pair of Shoveler, 19 Siskin flew west (first site record) and 2 Reed Bunting. A pretty good morning when all considered.

In the afternoon I had a quick look around Gembling and Brigham Quarry. Very quiet at Gembling with just 2 Meadow Pipit, 3 Redwing (the only ones of the weekend), a party of Long-tailed Tit, a flock of Tree Sparrows hiding in some bushes, and 1 Bullfinch. A Mute Swan and a party of Long-tailed Tits were near Foston Mill.

Brigham Quarry seemed quiet but there were 9 Wigeon, 5 Teal, 1 pochard, 1 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 3 Coot, 1 Collared Dove, 1 Kingfisher. A couple of fields away toward Wansford were 80 Lapwing and 290 Golden Plover. Final word goes to one of the few non-bird sightings of the weekend - a Migrant Hawker dragonfly whizzing up and down the hedgerow of the quarry, a late individual.

Yearlist update: 112 recorded, 110 seen by myself.

Badger Badger Mushroom!

2009-10-06T23:53:00.005+01:00

In all the excitement I forgot to put these Badger pics up. Doh!

This was the anxious first shot - if it scuttled away at least I'd have one ropy shot. Not too bad considering. Spot the Woodpigeon.

Several minutes later...

And now some at full zoom, featuring Woodpigeon... again.

Hardly any of the shots show the head, since it was snuffling along the ground the whole time.

One more just for good measure :-)

News just in: c250 Pink-feet over Kelk on Monday in two skeins plus a few Swallows still about. Oh, if you're wondering what mushrooms have to do with anything then you need this http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/badgers/ (don't ask!)

Random stuff that doesn't fly

2009-10-02T00:17:00.008+01:00

Autumn is a such great time for colours in the countryside so I'm not surprised I got a bit carried away on my last visit. Wel at least plants stay still.

Hawthorn is the most common hedgerow trees in the area - this one along Lynesykes Lane is typical of this time of year. In another month Blackbirds will be all over them!

Here are some Sloe berries, from another locally common hedgerow tree. These aren't so popular with the birds but everything has its value.

Not many Grey Squirrels are resident in the area and they can be devilishly hard to locate but the woods around Harpham and Lowthorpe do hold a few.

Ha! Not even plants or animals now... a massive piece of cheese instead!

Ok, we've had the moon, how about some landscapes. This was the view west from Harpham Moor on Saturday evening about half an hour before sunset. The whole sky went a weird pinky-orange, not the greatest conditions for birdwatching but a pretty picture no less.

And this was the last gasp of the sunset over Harpham village and the Wolds in the distance. Behold the orangey goodness.

Yet. More. Butterflies.

2009-10-01T23:47:00.002+01:00

Comma feeding on Ivy flowers in a hedgerow in Little Kelk - there were four of these along the same hedge, the only site where this species was located during the September visit.

Painted Lady in the same hedge as the Comma. Not a very bright individual but still in quite good condition. It's been an incredible year for this species following the influx in May.

Red Admiral underwing - while the upperwings are more orange the little flash of proper red on the underwing justifies the name. Guess which hedge this was in? Correct.

Red Admiral again, same hedge - there were 12 in total. The little iridescent blue spots at the tail end of the wings are easy to miss but really complete the look for me.

Speckled Wood. Not in the ivy hedge. This fairly worn individual was along Station Road, Harpham which has been one of the better spots for butterflies in the area this year.

Photos... of birds this time

2009-10-01T00:34:00.007+01:00

The Mute Swan family on Kelk Beck - all eight first seen as small cygnets in summer are still going strong.

Half of a skein of Pink-footed Geese which flew south on Saturday morning. Presumably these ones were enroute from Scotland to Norfolk.

Part of a flock of 31 Tree Sparrows at Gembling. An excellent count of a species that can be quite tricky to study in the area.

This Common Buzzard landed about 30 feet below me at Brigham Quarry and allowed one photo before whizzing off. But oh what a shot!

Cormorant flying overhead. Not everyone's cuppa but no doubting they look kinda kooky. Although more than three in a day is unusual they appear to be more regular than during the 1990s.

Come in number nine

2009-09-30T21:49:00.021+01:00

My September visit took place last weekend. I took a flyer from work on Friday afternoon and managed to get out in the field for a couple of hours. The weekend was generally quiet with nice warm weather but at least that made it good for walking about in.

That said I added two species to the year list; a Northern Wheatear in Little Kelk on Friday and a Jay at Lowthorpe on Sunday. Other goodies were a skein of 26 Pink-footed Geese heading south, a Marsh Harrier, a Peregrine, six Common Buzzards, 260 Golden Plover and a few late migrants in the shape of single Sand Martin, Yellow Wagtail, Blackcap and Willow Warbler.

Friday 25th September

I decided to try to count the gull roost movement, having not had chance in good conditions for a couple of years (good light & light breeze in early autumn). On the way the grass fields in Little Kelk held a single Northern Wheatear with a massive count of 64 Pied Wagtail. This is by some distance the largest count made in the area and from what I could make out of the nearer ones they were all British 'yarrellii' wagtails, as opposed to continental 'alba' subspecies.

Also seen were a few Swallows, 2 House Martin, 4 Mistle Thrush and a pre-roost gathering of several hundred Corvids. 40 Greylags flew over toward Kelk Lake with a single Canada Goose tagging along. 21 Long-tailed Tits were in the hedge near Little Kelk Farm, a reasonable autumn count. 3 Tufted Duck and 1 Little Grebe was all that could be seen on the lake, now that a large fence has been constructed to block off the main viewpoints!!

After passing Kelk Lake I started watching for gulls but it seemed that relatively few were moving through and I got a bit bored after 30 minutes so decided to call it a day. A few hundred gulls had passed over but no big groups - a sure sign that either it wasn't going to be one of those days or they had already mostly passed through.

Around 2,000 Corvids went to roost as I was heading home - noisy buggers.

Saturday 26th September

Kelk Beck and Cattleholmes in the morning; the Mute Swan family still number 10 birds, a magnificent achievement for the parents especialy so given the previous lack of success. Along or around the beck were 4 Little Grebe (together), 3 Cormorant (1 on the beck, 2 flying north), 2 Common Buzzards over Lingholmes, 1 Kestrel, 180 Lapwing, 1 Kingfisher, 8 Skylark around Lynesykes, 3 Meadow Pipits, 110 Linnet, and a Reed Bunting. At Cattleholmes not a lot going on but 1 Gadwall, 38 Teal, 12 Mallard, a Marsh Harrier, a Grey Heron and 2 Coot were noted.

A skein of 26 Pink-footed Geese flew south at 10.30am. These birds probably set off from Scotland the previous evening and will have been in Iceland or the Arctic a week or two ago. Migration in action - always magnificent to witness.

Gembling and Foston in the afternoon; 95 Lapwing, 1 Green Sandpiper, 31 Tree Sparrow and 35 Linnet were around Gembling. It is noticeable that the previous weeks have been unusually dry, there was practically no water in the flood areas.

At Brigham Quarry were 7 Red-legged Partridges, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 juv Herring Gull over. The Buzzard came in low and didn't see me at first. It perched on the ground only 30 feet away and I managed to get a single shot off the camera before it flew. Possibly the best view I've had of one in the area, and coincidentally the first Buzzard at this site - they really are getting everywhere these days!

A single Grey Wagtail was at Foston Mill. On the way home a flock of 260 Golden Plover had gathered on a field in Little Kelk, a very good count for the area.

Determined to count some gulls (stop laughing!) I made my way around to Harpham Moor again, and this time it was much better - about 9,000 passed through in about an hour. The light was not great with an orange/pink haze and I found it difficult to guage the ratio of Common to Black-headed Gulls but it's typically between 20-40% Black-headed. Also seen were a Kestrel (looked like a young bird), 9 Collared Dove, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Sand Martin with 60+ Swallow at Little Kelk. The most remarkable sight was a Peregrine silhouette which zipped through heading south bang on sunset - it continued over Harpham Moor, Kelk Lake and into the distance. The fifth for me this year, considering how rare they used to be where do these recent ones come from?

Two Tawny Owls were heard on the way back from the pub!

Sunday 27th September

Harpham and Lowthorpe in the morning; 13 Skylark, 1 Blackcap, 1 very late Willow Warbler and 1 Coal Tit around Lingholmes. At New Road 11 Teal, 28 Mallard, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 1 Grey Wagtail and 2 Chiffchaff (song heard briefly at one point). At Lowthorpe were 3 Goldcrest and a year tick in the form of a Jay - something of a surprise!

Green Lane and Barf Hill in the afternoon; 7 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Grey Partridge, 3 Cormorant over, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Common Buzzard (5 over Kelk Lake, 1 over Lingholmes), 2 Kestrel, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 8 Herring Gull flying South-west, 1 Great Black-backed Gull in a field toward Gransmoor/Lisset. The best bird was a late Yellow Wagtail near Barf Hill (a new late record, I think). Finally a family of Long-tailed Tits were near Centre Farm - this species seemed rather elusive all weekend, though maybe I wasn't paying attention.

And that was that, until October.

Oh hang on, what about non-birds?

Butterflies: noticeably few with most being either 'whites' (I think mostly Large White?) or Small Tortoiseshell - low double figures of each. The only other species were 5 Painted Lady, 2 Speckled Wood (Harpham), plus 4 Comma & 12 Red Admiral (all in the same hedgerow in Little Kelk).

Dragonflies: only one noted, a Migrant Hawker near the bridge at Foston Beck.

Mammals: 4 Grey Squirrels - 1 collecting conkers at Foston, 2 collecting pine cones in Lingholmes and 1 along Station Road, Harpham. My Dad saw 5 Roe Deer near Kelk Beck on Monday morning. The true star of the weekend was the astonishing sighting of a Badger crossing a stubble field on Sunday afternoon. We watched it for about 10 minutes as it snuffled along no more than 100 yards in front of us. No other words for it, just, Wow!

Birding year-list is now 108 species (+2 seen by others).

August, let's try again

2009-09-02T20:06:00.003+01:00

So anyway what was I saying? Ah yes, my August visit.

Saturday 22nd August

Two visits to Kelk Lake. Once in the morning and then at dusk to attempt to count gulls moving to roost in the bay. 2 Mute Swan, 22 Mallard, 1 Red-legged Partridge (calling at dusk), 2 Little Grebe, 1 Cormorant (SW), 1 Grey Heron, 3 Common Buzzard, 5 Coot, 3 Green Sandpiper (at dusk, flying over), 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Tawny Owl seen well sitting in one of the Ash trees, 1 Kingfisher, 8 Yellow Wagtail (on the raft at dusk - a record count here, see also below), 1 Reed Warbler, 500+ Corvids gathering around Little Kelk Farm pre-roost. 15 Mistle Thrush flying from Lingholmes on my way back at dusk was a decent local count, but to be expected at this time of year.

The gull roost flight was very disappointing - in better years there would be a few thousand flying through by late August. Today only 400+. Peak movements occur during the peak ploughing period, and it is late this year, almost none so far, so I guess that's the explanation. The only big gulls of the weekend were 3 Lesser Black-backed and 24 Herring Gulls (mostly flying SW).

Harpham and Lowthorpe late morning. 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 2 Stock Dove, 1 Swift with the local hurindines, 1 Kingfisher near Lowthorpe Bridge was the first I've seen there for a while, 1 Grey Wagtail at New Road, 1 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, a family of Long-tailed Tit, 18 Linnet.

In the afternoon I visited Gembling and Brigham Quarry. For once Gembling was well worth the ride out with some real goodies. 1 Gadwall, 8 Teal, 26 Mallard, 1 Shoveler (eclipse drake), 1 Kestrel, juvenile Peregrine, 2 Ruff, 3 Common Snipe, 1 Greenshank, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Common Whitethroat, 21 Goldfinch.

Further on at Brigham Quarry - 1 Mute Swan, 3 Pochard, 3 Tufted Duck, 9 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 11 Coot, around 700 Common Gulls in two nearby fields.

One the way back 3 Golden Plover flew east over Kelk and 7 Yellow Wagtail were near Barf Hill. Together with the 8 at Kelk Lake later on this is the largest day count for the area.

Biggest surprise of the day was actually right at the beginning. Shortly after leaving the house in the morning I picked up a Hobby whizzing about over Kelk Beck. I was able to watch it for several minutes - itself unusual - including some acrobatics with a Kestrel for comparison (they are sooo different when seen together). Then it moved off toward north at which point another one appeared with it. And then another one. And, whoa, a fourth one. All together. Wow. Alas they were a bit distant to age but a sensible assumption would be this was one-two adults plus two-three juveniles. The timing is about right for young to have recently fledged and they would still be dependent on the adults suggesting they won't have come far. Interestingly both the earlier sightings this year were in the same area. Strong evidence for local breeding.

Sunday 23rd August

A much quieter day not helped by a strong breeze. Along Kelk Beck to Cattleholmes in the morning were 1 Mute Swan, 5 Teal, 60+ Mallard, 2 Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Kestrel, 1 Hobby (same place as yesterday but only a more typical glimpse this time), 5 Coot, 3 Swift flying south, 5+ Sand Martin, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Yellowhammer, 1 Reed Bunting.

Just a couple of hours spare after lunch filled with a gentle stroll around Harpham. Little to add to yesterday except 2 Goldcret and 26 Linnet along Station Road. Not for the first time this year the best bird of the weekend was practically the last to be seen - namely the Osprey in April. Today it was the single male Quail flushed from the path between Harpham and Lingholmes. For a split second it looked like a wader rising up out of the wheat but once I'd woke up it was blindingly obvious, and nothing at all like the 'baby Partridge' phantom quail novice birders can get fooled by. Only my second 'sighting' of a bird in the area - I was, still am, chuffed to bits!

With this, the Ruff and Greenshank my year list moves up to 104, plus two other species seen by others gives 106 recorded. Slightly down on the two previous years but the 110 goal still looks do-able.

On the butterfly front - no new species but plenty of Small Tortoiseshells, many Whites, 8+ Peackock, 8+ Speckled Wood, 5 Painted Lady and 15+ Wall. A few dragonflies included 5+ Migrant Hawker, 4 Common Darter and 1 probable Ruddy Darter (see pic in previous post).

Lips Wetted!

2009-08-27T00:36:00.004+01:00

A reasonable weekend just gone - Hobby, Peregrine, Marsh Harrier, Greenshank, Ruff and Green Sandpiper... plus a single Quail seen well. Like I say, not at all bad!

Very busy at work this week so no time to properly update blog but here some photos... notice how there are less and less birds with each entry... (damn things won't come close enough etc). Will edit this post later.

Migrant Hawker

Ruddy Darter (I think?)

Common Darter

Small Tortoiseshell

Wall

Wet lips?

2009-08-20T22:59:00.003+01:00

A few bits and bobs of news have reached me over the last week.

Two (probable) Quail were flushed by a combine today, seen by the farmer. Evidence in favour - he knows what Quail look like. Evidence against - baby partridges can look like Quail... though no other birds flushed with them and you'd expect such to be closer to fully grown by now.

Numbers of Quail vary from year to year nationwide but this summer seems to have been a good one. I have two Kelk records for Quail in two previous years but not since 90s so I'd love to catch up with these!

A Marsh Harrier was seen indepently by two different observers earlier this week. There's been very few (er, two) noted this year so this is encouraging.

A large-ish wader, probably a Greenshank, in Great Kelk last Thursday (13th) and a Green Sandpiper on off Kelk Beck on at least two days this week.

I will be visiting this weekend and have fingers crossed for some of these or better!

Cuck-ooooh!

2009-07-29T22:53:00.009+01:00

The highlight of the weekend was this juvenile Cuckoo by Kelk Beck - but you'll have to trust me on this picture - actually you can just make out the white spot on the nape. The bird flew off seconds after this shot.

Ah, that's better, definitely a juvenile Cuckoo, looking very rusty brown. Hard to believe it's the same bird as the one above. Anyway, a very very good find and a special encounter.

Juvenile Pied Wagtail - this one landed a few feet away and stood motionless with its beak open and eyes closed for a while until its Mum's alarm calls persuaded it to fly back up to the rooftop.

Canadas and Greylags getting on like a house on fire - no one told them they're supposed to bicker! And what are they doing on the beck, they never do that??

A couple of Hares which had just scarpered across the field - could have had a nice close up but spooked them getting my camera out. Doh!

Comma near gardens in Great Kelk - a really lovely eye catching butterfly.

Meadow Brown - loads of these about at the moment esp along hedgerows, many in looking even more worn than this one.

After the invasion of Painted Ladies in May there are now fresh looking individuals. This one was pristine and so bright it hurts!

Speckled Wood at Barf Hill. Not a common butterfly but fairly widespread. Looking good, er, apart from missing part of the right forewing!

The Young Ones

2009-07-28T23:43:00.005+01:00

July being quiet is beyond cliche - but you if you don't look etc. Last weekend was my monthly visit to Kelk, and, yes, it was rather uneventful. A few highlights to keep the enthusiasm ticking, the main interest seemed to be catching sight of juvenile birds. Otherwise I spent my time chasing, literally, butterflies, trying to take pictures of critters that wouldn't stay still. I have a lot to learn!

Top billing was a juvenile Cuckoo, my first locally for a long time. Also two juvenile Kingfishers, two families of Kestrel and Tufted Duck, one brood each of Grey and Red-legged Partridge. Also, a Hobby, some wader passage and a few notable passerine flocks.

Saturday 25th July

Morning: Kelk Lake - a ghost town apart from a pair of Mute Swans, 2 Mallard, 1 Little grebe, 1 Common Buzzard over the wood was the only one seen all weekend, 9 Coot (2 broods = 5 young), 1 Kingfisher, and 3+ Reed Warblers heard. 6 Mistle Thrush were in the grass field by the turkey farm.

Onward to Harpham via Lingholmes - 1 Hobby over the wood briefly, 1 female Sparrowhawk and a Bullfinch. At Harpham 3 Kestrels around New Road including a female encouraging a young bird to try hovering. Also 1 Lapwing, 300+ Common Gulls and a few Black-headed Gulls including at least two juveniles, plus 2 Mallard. Really, that was the most bird-free morning out I've had in a long time!

Afternoon: somewhat better. At Gembling 2 Kestrel, 8 Lapwing, 95 Feral Pigeon, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, and a Sedge Warbler. Encouraginly there is still some trace of wet patches adjacent to the drain so perhaps some small floods will form through autumn and winter.

Brigham Quarry - 2 mallard, 3 young Pochard but no sign of the adults, a female Tufted Duck with 5 young ducklings, 6 adults plus 4 broods of Little Grebe totalling 13 (5+3+3+2) or 19 birds, is very pleasing indeed. Also 17 Coot (3 broods, 7 young), 400+ Common Gull with a small number of Black-headed Gulls nearby, and an exceptional count of 390+ Swift between Cruckley and Carr Farms (largest count for me this decade).

On the return through Great Kelk two flocks of House Sparrows totalling 70+ birds and a Great Spotted Woodpecker heard in a garden. Around Gransmoor Lane were 2 Mallard, 3 Kestrel (probably 2 juveniles and a female) together near Barf Hill, and an adult Great Black-backed Gull, an odd sight in summer. 13 Canada Goose were noted flying over toward Kelk Lake.

I took another quick look at Kelk Lake but the only addition was a flyover Grey Heron (heading east). No sign of the canadas.

Sunday 26th July

Morning: a moderately eventful stroll along Kelk Beck - 2 Greylags and 3 Canada Goose together on the beck was most unusual and will prove it with a picture later, 8 Grey Partrige (6 chicks), 1 young Coot, 370 Lapwing on a freshly cut pea field is a good count for July, 1 Snipe off the beckside, 130 Wood Pigeon in one flock, 2 Skylark, 1 Meadow Pipit, 3 Yellow Wagtail, also on the pea field 250+ Rook, 110+ Jackdaw and 80+ Starling. Elsewhere 96 Linnet in two flocks.

However the highlight was the juvenile Cuckoo that showed well on the ground, perched, and in flight. A long time since I managed to pin one of these down - fairly unfamiliar to many birdwatchers. It was supported by the sight of three Kingfishers one straight after the other south along the beck - wow! - looked like two juveniles and an adult but the view was typically brief.

Further along around Cattleholmes were 2 Mallard, 1 female Tufted Duck with one young, 6 Coot (3 young), 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Golden Plover, and 2 Reed Bunting. A Water Vole crossed the beck. On the way back in Little Kelk - 8 Tree Sparrow and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Not a lot of time for birding in the afternoon, plus rain stopped play. Anyway, 8 Hares were in the grass field off Green Lane, a Grey Heron off Gransmoor Drain and two lots of Red-legged Partridge totalled 19 including 13 young - there are some grain feeding stations nearby so these birds may have been introduced. A Sedge Warbler singing along the drain near Barf Hill.

And that was that. No additions to the year list this time.

Oh wait, butterflies... most numerous by a long way were 'Whites', loads everywhere, the majority were probably Large Whites but some Green-veined and I think a few Small Whites. Meadow Browns were widespread some hedgerows held lots, e.g. 20+ along half of Green Lane.

Also several each of Ringlet, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Painted Lady, plus 2 Red Admiral, 2 Specklked Wood, 1 Small Skipper, 1 Comma. That's three year ticks and a total of 14 species.

A dragonfly was whizzing up and down Lingholmes and there were two at Brigham Quarry - I'm not sure what they were but presumably Southern and/or Migrant Hawker.

June photos part deux

2009-06-28T14:20:00.004+01:00

Here's a handful of photos from the previous weekend (20/21 June). As you'd expect, most birds were being rather skulking, tending to their families under cover of the lush vegetation.

This vivid rainbow appeared suddenly over the wind farm (looking from Foston). I managed to get home just before it started absolutely tipping it down!

Lapwing on maize field

Pochard female with five ducklings

Yellowhammer on wires

Grey Wagtail juveniles

And one on it's own...

June again

2009-06-23T23:39:00.003+01:00

A second visit for June - yay!

This one was really for a birthday party on Saturday night but any old excuse to spend a few hours birding :)

Very quiet everywhere, er, if you discount the mass of juvenile songbirds bouncing about in the undergrowth. A few highlights; Pochard, Curlew, two Little Owls, young Grey Wagtails, two Garden Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, and Coal Tit.

Saturday 20th June

Morning: at Kelk Lake 3 Tufted Duck and 2 Little Grebe. Around Harpham and Lowthorpe were a Little Grebe, 3 Common Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 4 Lapwing, 1 Little Owl, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail, 2 Garden Warbler (together, probably a pair), Goldcrest, 4 different Long-tailed Tit families, Coal Tit (Lingholmes Plantation), male Bullfinch.

The only non-birdy sightings were a Painted Lady, 3 'whites', a blue Damselfly and a dead Mole!

Afternoon: not much time but zipped through Foston. At Brigham Quarry were 8 Mallard, a female Pochard with 5 young (a rare breeding bird in UK), 3 Tufted Duck, 8 Little Grebe, 2 Grey heron, 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Curlew flew SW, 20+ Sand Martin holes in use, Yellow Wagtail, Sedge Warbler, and Reed Bunting. Also a Painted Lady and 3 Small Skippers here - butterfly year tick #10.

At Foston Mill there was a Spotted Flycatcher (year tick #101) seen briefly but disturbed by a dog walker after which I couldn't relocate it. Also here two juvenile Grey Wagtail showing well. Very pleased about both of these records.

On the way back to Kelk there were 120 Rook together at the north end of Foston, and just south of Great Kelk a Little Owl, 26 Blackbird, 2 Mistle Thrush, and a Tree Sparrow. All this lot were in the sprayed off fallow field by the turkey farm.

Sunday 21st June

Ouch. A slow start meant we were battling the hot sun from the off. Not ideal. Anyway, along Kelk Beck were a post-breeding flock of 150+ Lapwing, an exceptional count for June, and two Yellow Wagtails. Not a lot else apart from a second Water Vole this June.

At Cattleholmes it was also quiet but 4 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 4 Coot, 6 lapwing, and a female Common Whitethroat.

Three further Common Whitethroats were along Lynesykes and a Lesser Whitethroat was near Gransmoor Lane - the seventh local site for this species this year!

Butterflys were 3 Painted Lady, 7 Small Skipper, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Large White, and 5 Meadow Brown - butterfly year tick #11.

No time for any birding in the afternoon :(

Two flyover adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls were the only gulls seen during the weekend.

Hardly took any photos, but I'll shove a few up later...

New Toy

2009-06-09T23:21:00.021+01:00

I bought a new camera last week with the intention of taking record shots for this blog. I don't really know what I'm doing yet but am impressed with these early results at the weekend (full account in previous post).

Common Buzzard soaring. Something odd going on with the primaries in the right wing.

Blackbird on roadside verge in Little Kelk.

House Sparrow carrying food in a Little Kelk garden.

Mallard among the vegetation of the drain at Gembling.

Pleasing shot of Painted Lady underwing.

Same Painted Lady posing on the road.

Drake Pochard having an afternoon nap. A scarce bird at this time of year.

All eight cygnets on Kelk Beck. I took several shot but this was the only one where you could see all the babes.

Chuffed with this shot - a Water Vole on Kelk Beck having a good munch on the water weed. After a few minutes it slipped off into the bankside vegetation.

Crappy shot of Sand Martin. Not sure what it was doing but several of them were coming to land on this dusty track.

There's a Yellow Wagtail in there somewhere. Actually there were three together but the other two are just out of shot. Amazingly there was at least one more, maybe two in the vicinity. Despite trying none of the shots captured a good pose.

Last but not least a Hare sharing an afternoon snack with the local Woodpigeons.

Some family time

2009-06-09T00:10:00.006+01:00

Useless weather forecasters, they say rain all weekend and sure enough, not a drop. I was all ready to make other plans but decided to risk it.

Not a lot to report birdwise, unsurprisingly for June, a distant Marsh Harrier near Kelk Beck was the best of the bunch - a year tick for me (#100) though one was seen near Great Kelk just after my last visit. Other highlights; the 8 Mute Swan cygnets are all still alive, a male Pochard at Brigham is seasonally unusual, as was 2 Curlew flying east (see also Apr/May), and c150 Sand Martin is the highest count in recent years.

Saturday 6th June

Morning...

Kelk Lake - dead apart from 2 Little Grebe, 4 Coot, 2 Reed Warbler, 1 Blackcap and a Lesser Whitethroat.

Around Harpham/Lowthorpe - 1 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 4 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel - including a smart male seen catching a rodent, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Grey Wagtail - first June record for New Road, 3 Blackcap, 2 family parties of Long-tailed Tits and 1 Bullfinch.

Little Kelk - single flock of 120 Woodpigeon, 1 Whitethroat, and 1 Fox lazing in among the cows!

Late afternoon...

Around Gembling - 1 Buzzard soaring over the wood to the south, and a Whitethroat. It's pretty quiet without the floods to draw in the birds. Still, it's a lovely area so I'll try to persevere.

Brigham Quarry - 1 male Pochard, 5 Tufted Duck, 4 Little Grebe, Cormorant flying SW, Grey Heron flying W, 12 Coot, 2 Oystercatcher, Lesser Whitethroat (singing by Cruckley Farm), 1 Whitethroat.

Gransmoor Lane / Barf Hill area - 44 Greylag Goose (several broods), 15 Canada Goose (2 broods of 11 young), 3 Gadwall, 1 Buzzard and 1 Meadow Pipit.

Sunday 7th June

Late morning...

Kelk Beck - the 8 cygnets first seen in May are all still alive and growing up fast. c150 Sand Martin were using the beck to feed along in the strong breeze, small groups each hawking up and down a 10-20 metre stretch. This represents a very large count for the area, and the highest in the last few years. Also seen - 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Coot, 2 Curlew flying east (very scarce in summer), at least 4 but probably 5 Yellow Wagtails (3 feeding together with 2 Pied Wagtail), 3 Whitethroat, a flock of 130 Rook, and 1 Tree Sparrow.

The finest sighting was a Water Vole in the beck - it allowed us to watch it for a while it had lunch before it swam away into the bankside vegetation. My third of the year, all in different locations.

Cattleholmes - 2 Canada Goose, 2 Gadwall, 20+ Mallard, 6 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 4 Coot, 4 Lapwing, 2 male Reed Bunting.

On the way home there were a family party of Tree Sparrows near Gransmoor Lane end, and a Marsh Harrier was seen distantly being mobbed by crows somewhere over Kelk Beck. It was waay too distant to determine age/sex.

Late afternoon...

The only time for birding was a quick hours dash on the bike around Harpham where there was a Buzzard over Lingholmes, 6 Lapwing on Harpham Moor, c70 Swift in several small groups feeding near trees, and 45 House Martins over Lingholmes.

Over the course of the weekend the only gulls were - 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flying N or NE, and 10 Herring Gulls heading in various directions. As with April/May not a single small gull.

So my yearlist is now 100 with a further two recorded by others in the area.

Butterflys were clearly not liking the windy/cloudy weather with only a few 'whites' on the wing, probably Green-veined. However, the recent Painted Lady national invasion was still in effect with about 50-60 seen during the weekend. Butterfly list goes up 1 to 9.

May 'fly

2009-05-19T23:36:00.004+01:00

I forgot to note butterflys from the weekend, though there's really not a lot to say what with all that rain. Lots of unidentified 'whites' were probably mostly Green-veined. The verges along Station Road have had the most butterflys this spring.

Green-veined White - various (several)
Small Tortoiseshell - Kelk Beck (1)

Large White - Lowthorpe (2+)
Wall - Little Kelk (2), Kelk Beck (1)
Holly Blue - Little Kelk (1)
Speckled Wood - Kelk Beck (1)
Orange Tip - Lowthorpe (1 male, 3+ total)

I think, from memory, that Walls are quite common, Holly Blue and Orange Tip locally so. Speckled Wood may be a fairly recent arrival - I don't recall seeing them in the 90s, but definitely saw one or two last year. Hmm, if only I'd been keeping records.

Right then - 5 new species for the year, giving a total of 8.

Through the wind and rain

2009-05-19T10:56:00.004+01:00

May visit done and dusted. The weather was pretty poor for birdwatching with a strong breeze (varying between E and S) and plenty of rain. Even so I managed to get around most of the area and picked up a few goodies - in particular the first Hobby of the year, a couple of Cuckoos, a Garden Warbler.

Saturday 16th May

As usual the Kelk Lake - Harpham - Lowthorpe circuit was first up. Rather quiet at Kelk Lake, just 3 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe, an adult Cormorant swimming about, 1 Buzzard over the wood, 6 Coot (no young visible yet), 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, quite a few hurundines, 1 Blackcap and 2 Reed Warbler singing.

Moving across to Harpham continued the 'quiet' theme with just a male Kestrel hovering over the railway, 8 Lapwing, 2 Mistle Thrush, 4+ Long-tailed Tit and a Goldcrest. The activity picked up by New Road but also the first serious shower of the day. Birds here included 2 Greylag Goose, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Kestrel, 1 Cuckoo calling somewhere toward Lowthorpe, lots of hirundines: 20 Sand Martin, 60 Swallow, 30 House Martin. A pair of Grey Wagtail seen together follows the three last month and is encouraging signs of possible breeding - more so than last year, certainly. Two Sedge Warblers were furiously singing from the scrub.

Best of all was a Stoat that ran along the length of the track toward the bridge, almost running over my foot as it went! It stopped several times and raised its body to look around giving amazing views. A real corker, and totally made my morning.

Around Lowthorpe were 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker calling, 3 Blackcap, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 70+ Rook on a re-sown grass field. And that was about it for the morning. Constant rain for the last 20 minutes meant literally nothing seen between the railway and Little Kelk.

By mid afternoon there was sunshine so we trekked around Green Lane and Barf Hill. The pools on the grass fields are practically gone now so no birds there. A female Sparrowhawk flew out of a Little Kelk garden and off toward Kelk Lake. The paddock had a singing Lesser Whitethroat, which I don't recall in any previous year. Also a male Yellow Wagtail overhead.

Probably the best bird of the weekend - a Hobby - was hawking insects over Linholmes wood. This is the earliest record for me locally, most are from July-Sep. Such an early bird could be a migrant but such has been their expansion that nearby breeding must be a possibility now. A juvenile was seen at Lingholmes last autumn, just to add to that little fire.

Moving on; 4 Buzzards were soaring together over Kelk Lake, an Oystercatcher was heard calling overheard but somehow remained invisible, 8 Lapwing included several chicks and 1 Whitethroat along Green Lane was a year tick. A Water Vole was seen swimming along Gransmoor Drain - goddam they are such cuties!

Around Barf Hill; 9 Greylag Goose, 2 Canada Goose, 3 Teal (a surprise!), 4 Grey Partridge, 1 Kestrel, 25 House Martin, a pair of Yellow Wagtail, 2 Blackcap, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Whitethroat and 4 Long-tailed Tit. Not a bad haul for the afternoon. On the way back a Bullfinch was heard calling near North End Farm.

Sunday 17th May

Kelk Beck and Cattleholmes in the morning was fairly productive, the first bird of the day was a Cuckoo heard calling from the house. A pair of Canada Goose had at least two goslings at Cattleholmes where there was also 1 Gadwall, 8 Tufted Duck (plus 2 on the beck), 2 Little Grebe, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Kestrel, 2 Coot, 1 Meadow Pipit, 4 Sedge Warbler and 4 Reed Bunting. Along the beck 16 Lapwing, 2 Curlew flew south and then about an hour later north again, a pair of Yellow Wagtail, 8 Sedge Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Whitethroat. 14 Hares were counted in the adjacent fields.

The pair of Mute Swans were tending to 8 very young cygnets - success at last. Hopefully they can fledge several of those and it will be fun to see them progress through the summer.

On the return I took a detour from the usual route and headed for Gembling where there were 2 Red-legged partridge, 6 Lapwing, 2 Mistle Thrush south of Great Kelk, 1 Lesser Whitethroat also Great Kelk, 3 Whitethroat, and 5+ Long-tailed Tit. Then more rain and soggy clothes closed play.

A shorter version of the Harpham walk in the afternoon produced 3 Gadwall at New Road, 1 female Pochard at Kelk Lake, the Cormorant again at the lake, another Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, and a brief glimpse of what might have been the Hobby again near Harpham Church. 50+ Swift at New Road, where there were also 5 Sedge Warbler in song, and several Long-tailed Tit. A Whitethroat was near the Turkey Farm.

As expected gulls were few and far between all weekend, the only ones noted totalled 15 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 9 Herring Gull all flying SW, mostly adults. No smaller gulls were seen.

The final throw of the dice was to pass Brigham Quarry on the way out until next month; 2 Gadwall, 3 Pochard, 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Little Grebe and 6 Coot.

My year list is now 99 and with the addition of Turtle Dove the recorded total is 101. This is just one down on May 2008 so I'm thinking 110 is going to be easily within reach. Bring it on!

Swiftly does it

2009-05-13T21:50:00.001+01:00

Speak and ye shall receive. After bemoaning the lack of Swift activity, my brother rang up to let me know he'd seen about 10 flying around over the houses in Harpham yesterday evening.

Told you so :)

Turtle Dove 1 - Cuckoo 0

2009-05-12T00:18:00.003+01:00

A single Turtle Dove was seen in Kelk (Monday 11th) at the same spot one was seen for a week in May 2007. That one was the only bird seen that year (and I missed it!). A brief flyover at Cattleholmes was the sole record for 2008.

Without further evidence it must be considered extinct locally, the last breeding probably took place toward the end of the 90s. A very sad situation indeed though consistent with the dramatic national decline - they're quite scarce across Holderness though just about hanging on as a breeder.

No sight / sound of any Cuckoos yet, apparently, which is worrying given the poor show in the last couple of years.

Oh and no Swifts either, but they'll be in, finding better feeding away from the houses.

Butterfly beginnings

2009-04-22T21:25:00.009+01:00

I talked myself into studying Butterflys, and if possible Dragonflys, in the area this year. My knowledge is vague - both for identification and distribution - so it's going to be a learning curve but hopefully some useful data can be gathered for building on in future.

On Sunday 19th April the following were noted:

Peacock - Great Kelk (1), Little Kelk (1).
Small Tortoiseshell - Great Kelk (1), Little Kelk (2)
Green-veined White - Great Kelk (1), Station Road (7)

I'm fairly sure the whites were all Green-veined but most of them weren't seen well enough for me to be sure! I guess this is lesson one in recording butterflys :-)

So there you have it - the Kelk butterfly list is now... 3

Osprey, finally!

2009-04-20T20:49:00.005+01:00

It's been a long time coming but finally an OSPREY has crossed my path over Kelk. Just to add to the drama it was also practically the last bird I saw all weekend.

Er, so, yeah, my April visit then. With the recent warm weather and favourable winds it wasn't surprising to find that plenty of hirundines and some of the warblers had arrived including earliest records for both Sedge Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat.

Saturday 18th April

The weekend got off to a predictable start with 20 Swallows hawking around the cattle near Kelk Lake. At the lake 1 adult Mute Swan, 1 Canada Goose, 2 Little Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Common Buzzard over the wood, 4 Coot, 6 Stock Dove, 30 Sand Martin, and 1 each singing Blackcap and Willow Warbler.

Heading across to Harpham was less summery with a Goldcrest in the pines, 16 Lapwing, a surprise flock of 21 Fieldfare, and 50 Linnet bounding about over the as yet uncultivated stubbles.

The New Road area was as productive as ever; 2 Gadwall, Little Grebe, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel (the only one seen all weekend!) , 3 Grey Wagtails together - a female and two males, 25 Swallow, 11 House Martin and a male Reed Bunting.

Church Wood was rather devoid of warblers with just a couple of Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers though one-two Goldcrest could be heard in the pines.

I stood and watched a female Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming away near the church for a few minutes before a male appeared in the nearby trees. Across the area there are perhaps 5 pairs, give or take one-two each year, but these ones in Lowthorpe have been the easiest to see this winter as they often fly down to the gardens to visit feeders.

A single Tree Sparrow was at the feeders in the village but there may have been more hidden in the gardens.

Two Grey Wagtails, a pair, were together at Lowthorpe Bridge. Assuming the 3 at New Road were different birds that makes a new high day count of 5. No breeding has been proven in the area before but single birds were seen in May and July 2008 so these will be ones to watch. Alternatively they could just as well be migrants.

On the route back from Lowthorpe a Barn Owl was seen sitting in a tree near New Road at about midday.

During the whole morning I tallied up 7 Chiffchaff and 4 Willow Warbler. Not bad but not great.

After lunch it was time to get the bike out to take in Gembling and Brigham Quarry. A flock of 13 Yellowhammer at the south end of Kelk were the first notable sight.

At Gembling were 2 Gadwall, 6 Teal, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzard soaring together over the wood to the south, 1 Snipe, 12 Stock Dove, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Blackcap, 2 Bullfinch represents an excellent result for this small area.

A singing Corn Bunting at Gembling School is the only one I've heard in song locally this year.

Next stop Brigham Quarry: 8 Gadwall, a male Pochard, 11 Tufted Duck, 7 Little Grebe, 8 Coot, and a pair of Oystercatcher. Still nothing special here but consistently interesting and one day something good is going to drop in.

There was enough time for a walk around Gransmoor Lane at the end of the afternoon, though it was rather quiet. 5 Teal, 10 Lapwing and 1 Redshank were near Green Lane. A Barn Owl was hunting in Barf Hill wood (!?!) with another toward Gransmoor. Also at the wood a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Blackcap and 1 Willow Warbler. A bare field of spring corn was hosting 24 Pheasant with the males all in full-on macho mood - very amusing to watch.

About 30 Sand Martins were whizzing about over the quarry. Surprise of the evening was 3 Shoveler (2 male, 1 female) flying around nearby - after missing out in 2008 and only seeing one in 2007, also in April, this could prove to be a very useful year tick.

Finally a Twany Owl was hooting like crazy when we stumbled back from the pub late-on.

Sunday 19th April

Gloomy clouds persisted in the morning but that was probably perfect for a walk along the back. One of the first birds to be seen was a Yellow Wagtail heading SW. A good start! At the beck 2 Gadwall, 4 Tufted Duck, 12 Lapwing and 4 Willow Warbler were all noted.

Five different Cormorants were seen during the morning - including an adult in slick breeding plumage fishing in the beck while we were stood a few metres away. Then it spotted us and flapped furiously with damp wings dragging itself slowly skywards. Not everyone's cuppa, I know, but I can't recall ever seeing one so close up within the area.

A pair of Mute Swan has started building a nest near the beck. As far as I can tell this is the first such attempt in at least 20 summers, despite an almost constant presence of adult birds during all those years. Why haven't they bothered before? And will it work out ok this time? Watch this space!

Cattleholmes supplied more good birds as it always seems to; 1 Canada Goose, 5 Gadwall, 1 male Teal, 12 Tufted Duck, 5 Coot, 1 very pale Barn Owl hunting, 1 Curlew - another very welcome difficult year tick, 1 Sedge Warbler (earliest local arrival date), 2 Meadow Pipits included one in song flight, and 2 Reed Bunting.

For most people Meadow Pipits are hardly worth a mention but they are in fact very scarce breeders in the Kelk area. Cattleholmes is perhaps the most reliable spot for them and apart from the one at Gembling these the two here were the only ones of the weekend.

We diverted via Great Kelk on the way back, a luxury we don't normally afford on the Kelk Beck route to our shame. 3 Buzzards were soaring over Barf Hill, 1 Snipe was flushed from a field drain, 6 Lapwing, 2 Long-tailed Tit and 5 Tree Sparrows noted.

It was noticeable that pairs or singing Linnets and Chaffinches seemed to be in every headgerow, with chaffs very numerous. Being a bit lazy of course I wasn't keeping count. Doh!

Closing the weekend before heading away until May there was enough time for another quick walk around Harpham. The sun had come out after lunch and it was warm and not ideal. Even so we added 3 Grey Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 1 Lesser Whitethroat (earliest date by 9 days!), and 1 Long-tailed tit - very elusive this weekend.

With only a brief weekend to get around the whole patch at the end of each visit my instinct kicks in to keep searching as long as possible. However futile it can seem, you never know what might appear. Really. This weekend proved the theory conclusively. Instead of heading straight back down the road I took a quick detour to Kelk Lake, just to pop my head around. Cos you never know. As I was saying.

4 Tufted Duck and a Common Sandpiper had arrived since yesterday and 2 Redwing in the horse paddock were a nice surprise (latest spring date). Another Cormorant flew over, the 6th for the day.

Ready to go and with the last throw of the dice I was scanning the view toward the village when I picked up a large raptor heading toward the lake. It wasn't a Buzzard. Oh wow. Within a minute it had moved close enough to see it was an OSPREY. I watched it heading purposefully north, marvelling at the distinctive and effortless flight action, for 2-3 minutes before it disappeared from view behind the tree line. An unforgettable experience, one you live for as a birder.

My yearlist is now 89; plus the SEO reported makes 90 recorded for the area. The 2008 total of 117 still looks a long long way off.

'ear me now

2009-04-08T00:12:00.007+01:00

A local famer saw what was most probably a Short-eared Owl while working on Sunday, to the east of Kelk village.

It was 'big, brown above, pale underneath, long-winged and flew quite like an owl' (my para-phrasing).

Although not sure what it was he sees the commoner three owls regularly so I think SEO must be the runaway candidate. Oh, it wasn't a Buzzard either, I thought of that :)

Although moderately frequent along the Humber and apparently also in the dry valleys of the Wolds, they're very hard to come by in the rest of our region.

I'm green with envy - very much a bird I'd like to see again locally as my last one at Kelk was in the mid '90s!

A summer not quite made

2009-04-05T22:52:00.003+01:00

Swallow over Lowthorpe this afternoon. Summer's coming!

Chiffin' time

2009-03-23T23:53:00.008Z

Finally some proper migrants on the books - a half dozen Chiffchaffs. Otherwise it was a very quiet weekend with only a couple of Shelduck, four Oystercatcher, two Redshank, a Green Sandpiper, 5 Fieldfare, 2 Redwing, and an exceptional spring flock of 130 Linnet.

Saturday 21st March

A very fine spring day indeed, but less fine for seeing birdies. Too warm for birding... haha! never happy with the weather unless it's awful. Around Harpham, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Kestrel, 25 Lapwing, 4 Herring Gulls north, 1 drumming GS Woodpecker, 1 Grey Wagtail, 5 or 6 different singing Chiffchaff, 2 Bullfinch, 4 Tree Sparrow and 30 House Sparrow.

Apart from the chiffies the other main sign of the arriving summer were the two Small Tortoiseshell and a single Peacock butterfly.

Just before getting back for lunch we had a brief glimpse of a Water Vole.

In the afternoon I did the Gembling and Brigham Quarry tour on the bike. Again very quiet but 4 Teal, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard at Gembling. Some standing water still remains here, hopefully through the whole spring when it could be quite an attraction for passage waders, wagtails and maybe just the odd tern or Little Gull.

Down at Brigham Quarry - 12 Teal (on nearby drain), 8 Pochard, 6 Tufted Duck, 8 Little Grebe, 12 Coot, and a pair of Oystercatcher. Perhaps the most interesting sight of the afternoon was the flock of 130 Linnet near Gembling school - a huge local count for springtime.

More generous daylight hours allowed me to take an hour around Green Lane where there was 12 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, 1 Redshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 8 Stock Dove and a Barn Owl out hunting at dusk. On the walk to the pub later two Tawny Owls were hooting in the distance.

Sunday 22nd March

Morning was spent down Kelk Beck / Cattleholmes where there were 3 Mute Swan, 2 Greylags, 2 Canada Goose, 2 Teal, c60 Mallard, Little Grebe, Kestrel, 29 Lapwing, 5 Snipe, 3 Meadow Pipit and 1 Tree Sparrow.

It is remarkable how drier the ground is compared to a month ago - not just dry under foot but a lot of the flood patches have receeded rapidly. The main pool opposite Lynesykes looks like it will persist through spring but it will be the last to go.

I had a wander around Green Lane / Gransmoor Lane / Barf Hill area in the afternoon and it was moderately productive. Two Buzzards were over Kelk Lake along with a mobbing Sparrowhawk. Elsewhere - 2 Shelduck, 6 Teal, 12 Mallard, 9 Greylags, 3 Grey partridge, 1 Kestrel, 2 Oystercatcher, 31 Lapwing, another Redshank, 5 Fieldfare, 2 Redwing, 1 Chiffchaff (in Barf Hill wood), and 9 Yellowhammer.

A total of 26 Hares were counted, plus another Small Tortoiseshell, and a Roe Deer.

Finally, a quick spin to Kelk Lake - pair of Mute Swan, pair of Canada Goose (same as Cattleholmes pair?), 1 male Pochard, 9 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, 10 Coot, and a Buzzard sat in a tree at the edge of the wood giving ace views!

All in all not a classic weekend but it's hard to resist teasing quality of springtime. A measly three additions to the year list - now 80. Bring it on!

No news is good news

2009-03-18T20:29:00.002Z

I have nothing springy to report yet, though a Tawny Owl was seen sitting in the hedge near Kelk Lake last night.

Hoping to fit in my March visit this weekend and it's looking like the first migrants have just started to trickle in to the region. Migrants don't tend to arrive in the Kelk area especially early but there has been mid-March Chiffchaff and Sand Martin on the 20-something-th (will have to check).

March-ing forward

2009-03-03T10:19:00.003Z

Yet another skein of Pink-feet not seen by me... our kid saw c50 flying north on Sunday.

The Egyptian Geese have been twitched by a few birders, and were seen on both Saturday and Monday. There's even a picture on HVWG - http://www.hullvalleywildlifegroup.org.uk/February09Sightings.html (scroll down to 25th)