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!
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Swiftly does it
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 :)
Told you so :)
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Turtle Dove 1 - Cuckoo 0
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.
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.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Butterfly beginnings
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
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
Monday, 20 April 2009
Osprey, finally!
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.
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.
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
'ear me now
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!
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!
Sunday, 5 April 2009
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