Because he was a fun guy

Selection of fungi/mushrooms from November. My knowledge is practically zero so I've no idea what any of them are (mental note: buy a field guide you ignorant fool!)

Picture doesn't quite do it justice but this one was a lovely blue. At the edge of a conifer plantation at Lowthorpe.

I've seen these before quite a bit... Ink cap? In hedgerow at Harpham.

In pasture by Harpham church.

Yewww, brains!!! On decaying fallen trunk in Lingholmes plantation, Kelk.

Tall and handsome. In pasture by Harpham church.

Octobussy

The month when 3 year ticks came along at once. Jeebus that's an awful pun. Er, anyhoo... apart from the Dipper (see previous post), more of which later, it was a relatively uneventful monthly visit in October.

Hightlights were:

Wigeon - 2
Gadwall - 1
Teal - 180+
Shoveler - 1 female
Cormorant - 1
Little Egret - 1 at Kelk Beck
Grey Heron - 11
Sparrowhawk - 1
Buzzard - 12
Kestrel - 13
Golden Plover - 90+
Lapwing - 200+
Snipe - 1
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2
Kingfisher - 1
Grey Wagtail - 1
Redwing - 46. Remarkably, this was a year tick!
Treecreeper - 1
Dipper - 1
Jay - 5 sightings of probably 5 different birds, but at least 3. A large influx!
Jackdaw - 600+
Rook - 1500+
Goldfinch - 70+
Bullfinch - 1

Shrooms by the bucket-load. No idea what these are.

Farm geese doing a very poor impression of wild Whooper Swans.

Little Egret at Kelk Beck - first ever October record.

More Dipper shots. What a cracker.

A better idea of the habitat/view.

Three year ticks:

103 - Redwing
104 - Jay
105 - Dipper

Dipping sauce

Well this was out of the blue. Of all the birds I've seen around Kelk over the years, and it has to be said some oddities have crossed my path, this takes the biscuit.

A Dipper, of the race 'cinclus' (Scandinavia / northern Europe), known as 'Black-bellied Dipper'.

The British Birds Rarities Committee, which assess records of very rare birds seen in UK has the following to say about this subspecies:

"Dipper Cinclus cinclus cinclus, ‘Black-bellied Dipper’

BBRC has not previously assessed records of ‘Black-bellied Dippers’, but we aim to do so at least until status issues are further clarified. Only birds that completely lack any hint of chestnut on the breast are likely to be acceptable, although a limited/narrow brown band is not unusual in this race, while some nominate cinclus show a narrow chestnut band at the breast–belly interface. Birds showing chestnut on the underparts probably cannot be distinguished from darker individuals of the British forms C. c.gularis and C. c. hibernicus, or from C. c. aquaticus from central Europe, which has occasionally been suspected here. Informal reports of any unusually dark birds which seem to fall short of classic nominate cinclus are welcome, especially when accompanied by good photographs."

So, we're looking for a completely black belly without a hint of chestnut colour:

Looks good to me...

Yep, still convinced.

No doubt.

A Google Image search for 'Dipper' gives a quick but useful idea of how chestnut-bellied UK birds are.

The bird was first seen on 19th October and these pictures are from 22nd November. More information soon, along with a review of both October and November visits.

If accepted it will be about the 15th occurrence in Yorkshire, the most recent was near Tophill Low in winter 2007/8. Nationally only one or two are recorded each year, though it is possible some go unnoticed in upland areas where resident Dippers are common.

Edit 26/03 - It's a male. Apparently it has been singing!
http://northernrustic.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/black-bellied-dipper-harpham-east-yorks.html

Bird Flu

Erk!

BBC News: Bird flu confirmed at Yorkshire duck farm

DEFRA statement: Avian flu (bird flu) outbreak in duck breeding farm in Yorkshire

The site of the farm is along the track from Lowthorpe to Nafferton. There are duck farms at Kelk also. Fortunately it sounds under control and not a threat to wild birds.

In other 'news' I still haven't written up an October visit. Planning a visit this weekend so will probably combine it with that.

EDIT: here's a couple of the signs at Lowthorpe

Dramatic!

Buzztember

We are in proper autumn now. Staring winter in the face. But it was more tail-end-of-summer three weeks ago at the end of September.

It was on the face of it set up to be an unremarkable weekend but it was anything but. The weather conditions were just perfect for raptors to be in the air on Saturday - warm, sunny, slight breeze - and the timing perfect for post-breeding dispersal and passage migrants. As a result there were 57 birds of prey noted, of 6 species. Some double counting could have happened but I'm fairly confident that amount was very low. Unfortunately I only had 2-3 hours on Sunday, but the conditions had changed (cloudy) and it was obvious a repeat wasn't on the cards.

27-28 September

Mute Swan - 5 cygnets with a pair at Harpham

Pink-footed Goose - 210 flying south in two skeins (90+120)

Teal - 10

Mallard - 70+

Tufted Duck - 5

Red-legged Partridge - 15

Grey Partridge - 14

Pheasant - 130+ around Harpham (presumably many many more not seen)

Cormorant - 14 (an exceptional count for the area)

Grey Heron - 6

Honey Buzzard - 1 south on 27th

Marsh Harrier - 1

Sparrowhawk - 6

Common Buzzard - 28

Kestrel - 19

Peregrine - 2

Golden Plover - 370 (record area count)

Lapwing - 80

Snipe - 1

Curlew - 1

Green Sandpiper - 1

Kingfisher - 4

Great Spotted Woodpecker - 4

Swallow - 6

House Martin - 2+

Meadow Pipit - 5

Grey Wagtail - 1

Chiffchaff - 1 singing at Kelk Beck

Long-tailed Tit - several flock including one of 30+ birds.

Goldfinch - 26

Despite so many raptors I didn't get a single picture of one. Always too distant. Here's some alternatives instead.

Golden Plover. Autumn is the best time for these, or at least the most reliable time. Spring can see large flocks stopping off (the previous record count is from March) but they are unpredictable. Overwintering is almost unheard of here.

This family of swans at Harpham could be the ones that bred at the southern end of Kelk Beck. That pair disappeared in summer and I wasn't aware of a pair anywhere near Harpham. It would be the first recorded breeding at Harpham if there has been, though.

Spare adult. Very tame.

Pheasants everywhere. Hundreds of them. There will be less around soon.

Pinkies going south. Always a complete delight to see.

Just the funky buzzard added to the year list. It doesn't look like we're going to hit 110, which is currently the lowest total from recent years.

102 Honey Buzzard.

Catch up

Whirlwind summary of weekend Aug 31st - Sep 1st. Only a month or so late...

Teal - 9
Little Grebe - 4
Cormorant - 2
Little Egret - 1 between Kelk & Harpham.
Marsh Harrier - 1
Sparrowhawk - 2
Buzzard - 6
Kestrel - 4
Golden Plover - 4
Green Sandpiper - 1
Barn Owl - 1
Little Owl - 1 at Harpham
Tawny Owl - 3 heard
Kingfisher - 3
Meadow Pipit - 1
Yellow Wagtail - 4
Pied Wagtail - 16
Corvid roost - 1600, roughly 1200 Rook + 400 Jackdaw
Starling - 220+
Linnet - 80+

Here's some Starlings doing their best to bring the power lines down. We don't get massive flocks out here, anything beyond a couple of hundred is good going.

The only new species for the year was:

101 Golden Plover.

I also made a visit on 27th Sep and will put up a separate review of that shortly.

August of wind

The rain was more annoying. Lost most of Sunday to it. But the wind was pretty irritating too. Sounds like a typical summer weekend in Britain.

Here's a summary from the weekend of 9-10th August.

Greylag Goose - 190+ in stubbles near Gembling

Canada Goose - 14 with Greylags

Gadwall - 3

Teal - 1

Mallard - 90+

Shoveler - 3

Grey Heron - 18 including 6 together

Marsh Harrier - 2 seen, a female and a fresh juvenile.

Buzzard - 11

Kestrel - 9+

Hobby - 3 including 2 together

Peregrine - 1 juvenile

Lapwing - 35+

Greenshank - 1 at Gembling

Green Sandpiper - 1 at Lowthorpe bridge

Common Sandpiper - 1 at Gembling

Cuckoo - 1 juvenile at Harpham

Swift - 3

Kingfisher - 2

House Martin - 300+ at Harpham, an exceptional count for the area.

Swallow - 100+ with martins at Harpham

Yellow Wagtail - 4

Warblers - still quite a lot around but very quiet

Coal Tit - 1

Greenfinch - 50+ at Kelk Beck, may be a record area count.

Linnet - 70+

And now for some images.

Little Grebe at Gembling. Since the loss of the Kelk Lake 'colony' to disturbance there has only been a few regular pairs scattered across the area. This is the first year they've attempted to breed at Gembling, though the water level has been high all summer, which has presumably helped.

Grey Heron. They're normally very shy but this one came out from behind the patch of rough vegetation and walked straight past me - either not noticing me or just ignoring me.

A gathering of young House Martins at Harpham. There was an exceptional build up of 300+ shading by the wood from the strong wind.

A wintery scene... goose, goose,... wait, what's that at the back? PEREGRINE!

Trio of Shoveler. Quite scarce locally. Is this a family? Locally bred? Looks like a male in the middle and the other two either female or juvenile.

Excellent stuff, considering the weather. Very much a raptor weekend, with multiple Hobby and Marsh Harrier sightings plus lots of Kestrel and Buzzards. The Peregrine was a year tick and there were two more ticks, bringing the total to 100 (still falling short of previous years).

098 Greenshank

099 Common Sandpiper

100 Peregrine