Family

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.