Flycatcher, spotted

Righty ho, as you were...

Saturday 7th August

One of the highlights of the weekend was the two Spotted Flycatchers, at Lowthorpe. I'm not 100% but I'm fairly sure one was a young bird. However the other bird performed marvelously while I was sheltering from a shower.



This was on the Saturday afternoon. Other sightings around Harpham-Lowthorpe on the same walk were; 1 Gadwall, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Hobby, 1 Kestrel, 30+ Common Gull, 20+ Black-headed Gull, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 28 Skylark in one loose flock, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Coal Tit.

Also a Grey Squirrel in Lowthorpe Church Wood - my first one of the year.

In the afternoon I headed around Gembling and Foston, which was rather productive. In the Gembling area were 3 Teal, 1 Grey Heron, 7 Grey Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Common Buzzard, 8 Snipe, 7 Green Sandpiper, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Bullfinch and a Reed Bunting.

At Brigham Quarry, 3 Gadwall, 2 Pochard, 1 Tufted Duck, 13 Little Grebe, 10+ Coot (4 pairs), 4 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, 17 Stock Dove and 12 Swift.

On the way back 50+ House Sparrow were noted in Great Kelk. Finally in the evening, 22 Greylags were in Little Kelk plus 25 Mallard, 1 Little Grebe and 2 Kingfisher at Kelk Lake. A Grey Heron flew over and a small flock of Golden Plover were calling in a field - I couldn't see them but it sounded like only a few.

Sunday 8th August

Morning - Harpham and Lowthorpe: 2 Red-legged Partridge, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Sparrowhawk, 7 Common Buzzard (see photo in previous post), 1 Hobby, 75 Swift, 2 Kingfisher, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Willow Warbler singing, 8 Tree Sparrow.

Late afternoon - Kelk Beck and Cattleholmes: 1 Mute Swan, 1 Teal, 1 Tufted Duck, 3 Green Sandpiper, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 2 Herring Gulls (adults moving SW), 1 Kingfisher, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, two parties of Long-tailed Tit. Also a Water Vole in Kelk Beck.

With no new bird species for the year, that leaves the year list on 110. Now just time for some smaller flying creatures.

Butterflies

Not a great weekend in terms of numnbers but a few gooides. Totals were; 1 Meadow Brown, 12 Peacock, 1 Red Admiral, 3 Ringlet, 1 Small Skipper, 2 Speckled Wood, 12 Wall, 'three figures' of Whites. However the best bay far was on Sunday when we found 10+ Small Copper and 4 Brown Agrus at Harpham. The latter a new species for me within the area.

Also several noted dragonflies noted; 6+ Common Blue Damselfly, 2 Ruddy Darter, 4 Common Darter, 3 Migrant Hawker.

Call the coppers

Is it late summer or early autumn? August is such a transitional month it's hard to know from one day to the next. When it's sunny it's definitely summer... and then the clouds gather and suddenly it's back-end-ish.

My August visit took place at the weekend and on balance it was more summer than autumn. Harvest has been slow to start which is one point for summer, but migrants have started to move through; one point for autumn.

Highlights from the weekend were; 7 Common Buzzard together (photo below), Hobby, 10 Green Sandpipers, 5 Kingfisher, Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Coal Tit. Butterflys were not especially active but three species for the year were added; Small Skipper, Small Copper and Brown Argus - the latter I have never seen in the area before. Excellent!

Anyway, until I get chance to write a review here's a few pictures.

Small Copper at Harpham. I didn't find any of these last year but on Sunday found 10+ in a small area of flowers along a hedgerow.

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A lovely fresh Peackock, in the same area as the copper.
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A Common Blue Damselfly. These delightful little critters are surprisingly local within the area, almost more so than the bigger Darters and Hawkers. Brigham Quarry was the hotspot at the weekend, where this one was snapped.

One of the three Coal Tits seen together at Lowthorpe. Although not rare they can be damned elusive in the area, and it's a while since I've seen any juveniles - two were noted.

Last but not least, a group of seven buzzards soaring overhead. We think there were two family parties; three birds (probably one juvenile) were joined by the other four (probably two juveniles).

A Tale of Two Hobbys

Three days of July about to whizz past... don't blink!

Friday 16th July

Cattleholmes: 6 Canada Goose (4 young), 4 Gadwall, 7 Mallard, 2 Tufted Duck (female and duckling), 1 Green Sandpiper, 2 Reed Bunting.

Harpham: 1 Red-legged Partridge, 2 Kestrel (1 juvenile?), 8 Lapwing, 2 Barn Owl, 80 Swift, 1 Common Whitethroat, c500 Corvids.

Kelk: 32 Greylag Goose, 1 Barn Owl, 60 Swift, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Common Whitethroat, 1 singing Chiffchaff, 1 Bullfinch.

Saturday 17th July

Gembling: 4 Teal, 5 Little Grebe, 1 Gembling, 1 Hobby, 1 Curlew (flying west), 4 Green Sandpiper. Teal in July is rather unusual anywhere in the area.

Brigham Quarry: 1 Pochard (female), 13 Coot, 6 Lapwing.

Foston Mill: 2 Blackcap (female/juvs), 1 Spotted Flycatcher. The flycatcher is a year tick, and at the same site where one was seen two summers ago.

Kelk: 1 Grey Partridge, 1 Sparrowhawk, 300 Swift moving south away from rain, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 8 Long-tailed Tit.

Kelk Lake: 3 Little Grebe, 5 Coot (1 brood of 3), 2 Reed Warbler.

Harpham: 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Common Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 1 Hobby, 5 Stock Dove, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Tree Sparrow.

Sunday 18th July

Kelk Beck: 2 Mute Swan, 300 Swift moving south away from weather, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Reed Bunting. A nice though brief view of a Stoat was one of the highlights of the weekend along Lynesykes Lane - my first of the year!

Gembling: 15 Canada Goose, 2 Shelduck, 2 Grey Partridge, 170 Feral Pigeon.

Kelk: 1 Buzzard, 3 Kestrel (1 juvenile), 1 Kingfisher, 1 Yellow Wagtail.

Harpham: 1 Kingfisher, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

You wait for months for a Kingfisher and three come along at once. Really, they're my first sightings since the winter and I was getting most concerned they'd been wiped out by the freeze.

Gulls

Small numbers of gulls were moving around all weekend, mostly flying rather purposefully south-west. It was too early for any serious numbers of small gulls as breeding birds would still have been at their colonies and there was no ploughing activity to draw them in. By the end of July, i.e. when I'm writing this, the situation will be changing quickly.

Totals for the weekend: 26 Black-headed Gull, 15 Common Gull, 11 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 28 Herring Gull. The vast majority were adults.

I only noticed when writing this post that I still haven't seen a Great Black-backed Gull this year. A most unusual situation, though no panic, the best months for these beasts are Oct-Dec.

Butterflies

Poor conditions for butterflies; mostly windy, cloudy or drizzly. Most obvious were 'whites' and Ringlet were very widespread along hedgerows.

Totals for the whole weekend across the area are: 13 Meadow Brown, 5 Red Admiral, 58+ Ringlet, 8 Small Tortoiseshell, c100 'white' sp. All this brings the total species for the year to a disappointing 11.

Also noted were a 'blue' damselfly and a Common Darter at New Road.

And the two Hobbies tale?

Having missed out on Hobby in May and June I was determined to track one down in July - hardly the best month but needs must. The plan was simple; spend loads of time around Harpham where birds were seen last year. Friday drew a complete blank despite regularly scanning the skyline during 4 hours. Saturday morning looked more promising but after 2 hours we were still empty handed.

Quite suddenly large numbers of Swift began to move through at the front of a wave of rain cloud, about 300 inm total. Despite all the fast food going by, not a sniff of a Hobby. Five minutes later the distinct scything sillhouette of my favourite falcon whizzed across the top of the treeline and dipped behind. It had gone as quickly as it had appeared - absolutely typical. Never mind, I was still delighted. I'm glad I have enough experience with these falcons to be sure of the ID! Grief though, six hours in the field and barely as many seconds of action.

Later in the day when at Gembling I had just sat down for a breather when a group of Swallows began shreiking... hello, what's going on here... wowser, a Hobby flew right over my head and I was able to watch it move away for 20-30 seconds. Possibly the closest view I've had of one in the area, certainly the most satisfying.

The lesson? You need to try really hard to see a Hobby here but you just might get lucky.

So, with this and Spotted Flycatcher my yearlist moves to 109. A Turtle Dove was seen in Kelk in May so the recorded total reaches 110.

108 Turtle Dove
109 Hobby
110 Spotted Flycatcher

Jooooo-ly

Here a few bird photos from the weekend. Nothing special just a few ropey shots including species I've not snapped before. Better than a kick in the proverbials, so to speak.

Why did the Collared Dove cross the road? So I could get a better picture, obviously.

Two Goldfinches at Harpham, doing what they do best - demolishing seed heads.


Three Green Sandpipers at Gembling. Out of shot on the left was a fourth bird, not a bad local gathering for late summer.


A Sedge Warbler out in the open by Kelk Beck, having a burst of morning song. They're usually moderately elusive so I'm actually quite pleased to get this shot without having to stake it out.


Male Reed Bunting by Kelk Beck, perched on oilseed. There are not many of these lovely buntings in the area and they are pretty unassuming so it's lovely to get any photo.

Last but not least a juvenile Swallow. Adult Swallows are quite obviously spectacular birds, no doubting that, but I have a real soft spot for the young birds.

Weekend report to follow...

Blow

My attempt at a lazy summer weekend was thwarted by strong winds for most of the weekend. Despite that a few goodies were seen including 2 Hobbys, 4 Green Sandpiper, 3 Kingfisher, and 1 Spotted Flycatcher. More of that later with some birdy pics in the meantime here's some photos not of birds.


Ringlet. This rather tatty one has a huge split in the wing.

Another Ringlet, showing the underside pattern, and more tatty wings.

Meadow Brown, showing the leaf-like underwing pattern. Normally the outer wings are visible and they show an 'eye' on an orange background.

A very very scruffy Small Tortoiseshell. Not much longer left for this individual.

Finally, not a butterfly but a tame Hare which allowed me to approach to a few metres. There were three others, presumably a family, close by.

All quiet

Slight time delay getting this short review up... ok, two weeks to be precise. As you'd expect there's not a great deal happening in June, though birdwatching is still a joy while the vegetation is at peak lush.

There was only one day to play with this month as I was busy elsewhere on Sunday morning and it rained for the rest of the day. Never mind though...

Saturday 5th June

Morning around Harpham; 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, 2 Oystercatcher, 5 Great Spotted Woodpecker (4 together at New Road - presumably 2/3 juveniles), 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Goldcrest, and at least 30 Long-tailed Tits in one loose flock.

Arfernoon around Gembling and Brigham Quarry; 2 Grey Partridge, 4 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Kestrel, 11 Coot plus 5 young at Brigham Quarry, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Barn Owl, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Common Whitethroat, 2 Tree Sparrow, 1 Reed Bunting and 1 Corn Bunting (Foston bridge - as in May). Approx 30 Sand Martin holes at Brigham Quarry, though it's not obvious how many are in use.

Evening around Lowthorpe; 8 Mallard ducklings, 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull heading north east, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Barn Owl, 2 Reed Warbler (Kelk Lake), 1 Whitethroat, 11 Long-tailed Tit, 60 Starling on fresh cut silage.

Not many butterflies on the wing, a little disappointing - 1 Holly Blue (Foston), 10 Orange Tip, 1 Speckled Wood and 3 Wall.



This pair of Tree Sparrows have been using that old woodpecker hole - and for whatever reason I'd never noticed this hole before... doh!



Nice male Swallow on wires.



Wall buttrerfly at Foston.

Ruddy photos

Finally, here's a couple of photos of the Ruddy Shelduck. Lack of a black neck band indicates this to be a female.

Another shot of the shelduck.

Oystercatcher at Harpham - an odd location for them. Look at the state of that puddle, yuk!

Female Yellow Wagtail in a paddock at Kelk. The male was a few yards to the right.

Pheasant looking at home in the yellow jungle.

Buzzard doing what buzzards do best - sitting about in the distance!