Arrivals / Departures

Review for the recent weekend. An eventful weekend with a fair few summer arrivals but a few notable birds departing including Fieldfares and a small party of Whooper Swan.

Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th April

Mute Swan - 19
Whooper Swan - 4 (3 adult, 1 young) at Wansford
Shelduck - 4
Wigeon - 2
Gadwall - 25
Teal - 26
Pochard - 2
Tufted Duck - 16
Little Egret - 1 at least, possibly 2
Heron - 20+
Red Kite - 1 over Great Kelk
Sparrowhawk - 4
Buzzard - 20+
Kestrel - 4
Oystercatcher - 6
Golden Plover - 70+
Lapwing - 22 (a poor total for April)
Green Sandpiper - 1
Common Gull - 700+ flying E to roost in evening
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2
Herring Gull - 300+ on ploughed field
Barn Owl - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 6
Sand Martin - 17
Swallow - 6
Meadow Pipit - 15
Grey Wagtail - 2
Pied Wagtail - 14 together on ploughed field (no 'Whites')
Fieldfare - 17 in three flocks
Redwing - 2
Blackcap - 2
Chiffchaff - 22
Willow Warbler - 2
Bullfinch - 2 (a year tick!)

Also noted were a dozen or so butterflies including a Brimstone.

Year list...

078 Curlew
079 Red Kite
080 Swallow
081 Chiffchaff
082 Blackcap
083 Bullfinch
084 Sand Martin
085 Whooper Swan
086 Shelduck
087 Willow Warbler
088 Golden Plover

Photos...

About 30 big gull including two LBBs. The following day there were 300+ Herring Gulls present. Although spring is favourable for Herring Gulls in Kelk such numbers are off-the-scale. What is happening?

A pair of Oystercatchers on a roadside pool.

Weirdly-coloured Pheasant (rubbish photo doesn't do it justice)

Pair of Pochard. This species has been quite hard to find in the last few years.

Whoopers! Proving that you don't need big wetland nature reserves to find big birds. This is just a wet patch on a poorly drained field.

x

Obligatory use of "Spring" in title

Lovely weather, eh?

A pretty good weekend with the added bonus of nice weather. There are still four Little Egrets hanging around although they spent most of the weekend invisible and only seen together at dusk on Sunday. Presumably a different bird was at Wansford.

It was still too early for 'proper' summer migrants but both Oystercatcher (5 noted) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (2) are technically migrants, to Kelk at least.

Two drake Shoveler together was a surprise - spring is the best time for them but no location has a particularly good track record over recent years. There's still 210+ Teal and 160+ Wigeon in the area and 14 Gadwall is a good spring total.

Bird of the weekend was a Jack Snipe, flushed from the edge of Kelk Beck, before characteristically dropping straight back into the rough. This is the first one recorded for about five years, though no doubt they are present every winter.

Song bursting out everywhere was a theme for the weekend but in terms of sightings 80 Fieldfare is a good return by recent standards, a pair of Grey Wagtail at Harpham raises hopes, and a Jay fills a gap in the year list that is never simple.

Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th March

Mute Swan - 3 on Kelk Beck, 18 at Wansford
Greylag Goose - 60
Wigeon - 160+
Teal - 210+
Shoveler - 2 males
Tufted Duck - 18
Red-legged Partridge - 3
Grey Partridge - 6
Little Grebe - 4
Cormorant - 5
Little Egret - 4 Lowthorpe, 1 Wansford
Grey Heron - 17+
Buzzard - 16
Oystercatcher - 5
Jack Snipe - 1
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2 adults
Barn Owl - 2
Meadow Pipit - 5
Grey Wagtail - 2 (pair together)
Fieldfare - 80
Redwing - 2
Coal Tit - 2
Jay - 1

Lesser Black-backed Gulls. This is presumably a pair heading north for the summer. Although they have been seen in every month the majority occur between March and September. It is not often you see this species touch down in the area.

Yet another Grey Wagtail photo. Ah, yes, but this one is a male in summer plumage!

One of the Lowthorpe egrets. Just recently they have changed behaviour and are regularly seen in this wheat field. My theory is they're finding toads and frogs migrating to their spawning ponds, but that's a wild guess.

Two drake Shoveler. Not an easy species to see in the area but spring is the most likely time.

Moody or what! This was dusk on Sunday, all day had been quite murky but by the end of the day the light was really strange.

A whopping ten additions to the year list

068 Jay
069 Great Spotted Woodpecker
070 Mistle Thrush
071 Meadow Pipit
072 Oystercatcher
073 Shoveler
074 Canada Goose
075 Lesser Black-backed Gull
076 Jack Snipe
077 Red-legged Partridge

Red Herrings

From a week ago when it was very windy. And totally rubbish. Bah.

Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th February

Mute Swan - 6

Teal - 45

Mallard - 70+

Pochard - 1

Cormorant - 1

Little Egret - still 4 hanging around Kelk Beck / Lowthorpe

Heron - 6

Buzzard - 7

Lapwing - two flocks 32+125

Great Black-backed Gull - 4

Kingfisher - 1

Redwing - 52

Coal Tit - 1

Strangest by far was the build-up of Herring Gulls on Saturday. Around 170 were in a field at Harpham and another 250 near Kelk Lake, an incredible 420+ in total. Not a single 'black-back' among them and almost entirely adult birds.

In winter almost all big gulls are seen flying SW / S, only occasionally on the ground. The largest winter count in a day is around 120, with some larger counts up to 180 later in spring.

On Sunday 48 were noted flying through during the day, a relatively normal situation.

A mystery why so many should suddenly appear, but I bet the wind had something to do with it.

Anyway, here's some snowdrops.

Just one year list addition

067 Coal Tit

Nutty

A rather late start to 2016 for me, but a start no less.

Highlights included 4 Little Egrets remaining at Lowthorpe (since at least December), an adult Peregrine, 4 different Green Sandpipers, 3 hunting Barn Owls and a Short-eared Owl. Not much action in terms of songbirds, mostly due to the windy weather making it hard work.

The absolute star was my first ever Nuthatch for the area, present between Lowthorpe and Harpham on Monday 1st February. I have long thought this would be a likely addition. In April 2015 one visited a bird table at Harpham but it didn't cross my path. It is entirely possible it is the same bird - they are very sedentary - that's been hiding away all that time. Indeed a second bird within the space of a year seems somehow less likely to me.

The new year list reaches 66 at the kickoff.

January 30th - February 1st

Mute Swan - 6 Kelk Beck, 20 Wansford

Wigeon - 100

Gadwall - 1

Teal - 90

Mallard - 120

Pochard - 1

Tufted Duck - 10

Little Grebe - 4

Cormorant - 5

Little Egret - 4 at Lowthorpe

Heron - 10

Sparrowhawk - 1

Buzzard - 9

Kestrel - 4

Peregrine - adult, probably male

Lapwing - two flocks 43 + 280 is high for Jan

Woodcock - 1

Green Sandpiper - 2 Kelk, 2 Wansford

Great Black-backed Gull - 2

Stock Dove - 21

Barn Owl - 3 hunting in daytime

Little Owl - 1

Tawny Owl - 1

Short-eared Owl - 1

Kingfisher - 3

Grey Wagtail - 1

Fieldfare - 120

Redwing - 32

NUTHATCH - 1 at Lowthorpe

Long-tailed Tit - six parties noted

Linnet - 50+

One of the Little Egrets at Lowthorpe. It's less than 10 years since the first one appeared (Kelk Lake) and I'm almost expecting to see them now. Amazing.

Badger paw prints.

One of the daytime hunting Barn Owls, this one at Millingdale. I suspect they'd struggled to hunt during the windy weather but Sunday was quite calm, so 'make hay...' as they say.

Seven deer. The one on the right has an unusual neck pattern.

I've included several Grey Wagtail photos recently, but why the hell not they're fantastic birds.

Mild December

Crazy weather, as ever. Temperatures in double digits, even after dark. The stiff wind wasn't very helpful for finding birds but it was an interesting weekend no less.

As posted yesterday, there has been an influx of Little Egrets and the Great White Egret discovered on 1st November has found a friend.

The first egrets noted were two flying south along the beck, followed by two standing in a field at Harpham. Naturally, at the time, I assumed they were the same two. Then we located one in trees by Lowthorpe bridge, and another standing in oilseed further down the beck. I make that 4... or 6... or 2. No idea.

Later another was found on the drain near Barf Hill (over a mile from the beck) - almost certainly a different bird. Is that 5 now?

On Sunday almost the first birds seen were four Little Egrets and a Great White Egret flying south along the beck. The group split up and odd ones were noted occasionally later on. The GWE appeared again in the company of two Grey Herons and a second GWE - see photos in the link.

Finally, on Monday, another was seen at Wansford, which I'm considering is likely to be a different bird. Clearly they are mobile but I think 6 is a fairly safe total.

Other highlights as follows...

Saturday 19th - Monday 21st December

Gadwall - 6
Teal - 120+
Shoveler - 4
Mallard - 150+
Little Grebe - 4
Cormorant - 11
Little Egret - 6
Great White Egret - 2
Grey Heron - 13
Sparrowhawk - 4
Buzzard - 11
Kestrel - 5
Lapwing - 56
Snipe - 9
Redshank - 1
Green Sandpiper - 5 an exceptional count for Dec
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 8 an unseasonal record
Herring Gull - 70+
Great Black-backed Gull - 2

Woodpigeon - 6000+ heading to roost at dusk. This is the largest single flock of any species I've recorded locally. It was several hundred metres long. Incredible sight. Less so if for farmers, though.

Barn Owl - 3
Little Owl - 1
Short-eared Owl - 2
Kingfisher - 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 3
Meadow Pipit - 1 at Harpham is unseasonal
Grey Wagtail - 3
Fieldfare - 28
Redwing - 1
Mistle Thrush - 8
Jay - 2 at Lowthorpe
Linnet - 80

Two additions to the year list bringing the total to 107. Despite some really good sightings this is my lowest ever.

106 Shoveler
107 Redshank

Photos...

One of the Barn Owls. We watched this for about 10 minutes quartering a grass field at Lowthorpe. Occasionally it came very close but unfortunately always into direct sunlight.

Grey Wagtail. Always a favourite. Three in a winter weekend is very healthy. Perhaps a symptom of the mild weather.

Meadow Pipit in near darkness. Not at all an easy bird to find here in winter. Again, presumably weather related.

Mistle Thrush in a classic pose. For reasons unknown they have been very elusive in the last couple of years so it was pleasing to find eight over the weekend.

This Short-eared Owl was flushed by a low flying heron. It flew along the hedge line towards us before turning back briefly and then landing! This is almost the same spot where two were together in January. Could this be a returning bird or is it more likely just an attractive bit of habitat.

And that's a wrap, as they say. See you in 2016.

Eg(ret)nog

Strange times. In November a Great White Egret appeared in the area. Given the mild weather there was some hope that it might still be knocking around last weekend. Indeed it was. And it had been joined by another. Along with an influx of at least 6 Little Egret. I have never seen more than a single Little Egret at one time.

What is happening? Whatever it is, I like it.


Here's Great White number 1, seen flying along the beck on Sunday.

And here it is a couple of hours later having joined the second, and a Grey Heron for handy size comparison.

Now for some Little Egrets. Here's one enjoying a hedgerow.

Resting in a field of oil-seed.

And, a bit more like it, standing by some water.

Non-egret highlights to appear later...

Great and the good

Nothing I say is quite going to compare with the Great White Egret but let's do this anyway...

Saturday 31st October / Sunday 1st November

Pink-footed Goose - skein of 100+ south on 1st
Greylag Goose - 3
Canada Goose - 2
Teal - 75
Mallard - 35
Red-legged Partridge - 4 at Kelk
Pheasant - 1 white bird at Harpham (photo below)
Little Grebe - 2
Cormorant - 3
Grey Heron - 4
GREAT WHITE EGRET - 1 at Kelk Beck
Sparrowhawk - 1
Buzzard - 4
Kestrel - 1
Golden Plover - 28
Lapwing - 2
Snipe - 3
Green Sandpiper - 1 at Kelk Beck
Short-eared Owl - 1 at Kelk Beck
Kingfisher - 3
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 2
Skylark - 45+
Meadow Pipit - 2
Grey Wagtail - 3
Fieldfare - 4
Redwing - 12 (flock of 11 + 1)
Goldcrest - 6 away from normal areas suggests influx of migrants
Brambling - 1 at Harpham with finches
Goldfinch - 2 flocks 20+40
Siskin - 11 at Harpham
Yellowhammer - 2 flocks 8+10

First up, another picture of the egret. Just how good? Even the Cormorant looks impressed.

Buzzard keeping an eye on proceedings. Quite a pale bird.

Grey Wagtail perching in a tree, which they don't usually do.

All-white Pheasant at Harpham. Been a long time since I saw one of these.

Short-eared Owl... about to be harassed by a gang of crows.

Three additions to the year list

103 Brambling
104 Great White Egret
105 Siskin