A rainy afternoon

Out after work, it was another miserable wet afternoon even though it had been forecast to be drier and brighter so I headed off to North Cave Wetlands, there are plenty of Avocets at this reserve this year although like most other places there is a general dearth of migrants, Hirundine numbers are good though, last weekend there had been three Black Necked Grebes on the Main lake and one was still present today, I spent most of the afternoon in the hide dodging the showers and hoping it would come close enough for a decent pic but unfortunately it didn’t. The rain finally stopped early evening and I took the opportunity to head off to the Lower Derwent Valley, I had a quick look from Bubwith Bridge, no Terns here today then moved on to the viewing platform at Thorganby, the area is well flooded now and there was a good selection of birds on show including the Black Tern and a big flock of summer plumaged Black Tailed Godwits.

A peek at the Peak District

Me and Mark decided to join the York Bird Club field outing to the Peak District on Sunday. We started with a look around Orgreave Quarry near Treeton on the outskirts of Sheffield, a couple of lagoons have been created here attracting a good selection of Wildfowl and Waders including Little Ringed Plovers and Common Sandpiper, there was also a good number of all three species of Hirundines feeding over the water and lots of Wheatears and Skylarks in the surrounding area. We then headed into the Peak District and the first site was Padley Gorge, we sat out a heavy shower that had started as we arrived then took a pleasant stroll through this lovely wooded valley, a good range of typical woodland species were seen including up to six Pied Flycatchers, a pair of Dippers on the stream and the bonus of a pair of Mandarin Ducks that were flushed by a dog and flew up into a nearby tree. The forecast of showers rang true as we moved to the second site at Burbage Bridge and the heavens opened up again, we ventured out when it eased off and followed a track adjacent to the Burbage Rocks although we got caught in a hail shower half way along but when it eventually passed over several Stonechats and a pair of Ring Ouzel showed well plus two Ravens flew overhead and a Peregrine had a fly round when we got back to the car park, a pleasant day in a nice area just a shame about the weather, we could have maybe visited a couple more sites if not for the rain.

view from Burbage Bridge

Burbage Rocks

After work birding

Did a couple of hours after work on Friday starting with a quick look at North Duffield Carrs, it was fairly dry so there wasn't a right lot happening and even though the Owls have still been showing it was a bit early for them, I moved on to Skipwith Common and it is really looking quite good now after all the recent management work, fingers crossed for a return of Nightjars this summer, pretty quiet birdwise at the moment though but plenty of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers singing everywhere and a few Swallows and Sand Martins were flying around Sands Lane area.

Kestrel hunting at North Duffield

Spying on me