An 'all-dark' Grey Heron

The heronry contained a very unusual 'all dark' bird in June. I thought it was worth making a separate note out of this oddity rather than include it in the June summary.

Birds at the heronry were not especially visible during my visit, with about 12 counted. While I was there the completely dark bird (a juvenile? weird plumages often seem to be) flew in from the north and landed in one of the trees, close to a typical adult.

It wasn't black as such, but a weird super deep blue/purple. As far as I could tell it's whole plumage was uniform.

A really rubbish photo below. Birds are distant so it's the best I could do!

And again with the addition of pointers...

Very strange. I've certainly never seen a heron like this before. Hopfully it will survive a while and hang around the beck so I can get a better look at it / photo.

June

Another brief summary, of June. As you would expect for summer there was not a lot going on. The highlight was probably two sightings of Hobby hunting (my hunch is two birds rather than one but who knows) after missing out in May.

25th & 26th June

Mute Swan - pair on Kelk Beck with 6 small cygnets.
Red-legged Partridge - 4
Sparrowhawk - 2
Buzzard - 10
Kestrel - 5
Hobby - 2
Oystercatcher - 2
Lapwing - 70 incl. a post-breeding flock of 40
Meadow Pipit - 1
Yellow Wagtail - 4
Mistle Thrush - 12. An unusual summer gathering!
Whitethroat - 21
Bullfinch - 2

As much as summer is about new life coming in to the world, for birds of prey that means taking the lives of other animals. In this case presumably a Woodpigeon making a big meal for a Sparrowhawk.

Only one addition to the yearlist.

099 Hobby

May

Briefly account for May. It mostly involved catching up with spring migrants, the highlight being a Turtle Dove for the second year in a row.

28th and 29th May.

Mute Swan - pair with nest near Kelk Beck
Shelduck - 1
Gadwall - 7
Pochard - 1
Sparrowhawk - 2
Buzzard - 12+
Kestrel - 2
Oystercatcher - 3 'pairs'
Stock Dove - flock of 13
Turtle Dove - 1 at Foston
Cuckoo - 1
Swift - 160+
Kingfisher - 2
Yellow Wagtail - 5
Sedge Warbler - 7
Reed Warbler - 4+
Garden Warbler - 1
Lesser Whitethroat - 3
Whitethroat - 14
Willow Warber - 10

Two Woodpigeons lazing around.

Additions to the years list as follows:


091 House Martin
092 Yellow Wagtail
093 Sedge Warbler
094 Reed Warbler
095 Lesser Whitethroat
096 Whitethroat
097 Turtle Dove
098 Garden Warbler

Q Tip

A Quail was calling from a wheat field in Kelk for over a week in early July. This is a typical time of year for them.

Also, it's species number 100 for the year. Yaaay!

Summer break

Behind on my paperwork, as usual.

There's two visits for May and June respectively to write up when I get some time. Nothing major to report but the year list has reached 99.

In the meantime and in the spirit of the recent referendum debate here's some handy Kelk facts.

Cuckoo & Swift

A Cuckoo has been calling in the village since end of April and Swifts returned to nest sites around the end of the first week of May, a typical kind of date.

Which neatly brings the yearlist to 90 before my next visit. It feels like months ago!

089 Cuckoo
090 Swift

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.

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