Fen Bog

Its very quiet birdwise at the moment apart from the Bridled Tern still teasing up north so I thought I’d just have a few hours at Fen Bog today for the Dragonflies etc, it was a murky start up on the Moors with low cloud and drizzly rain but it started to brighten up after half an hour or more so I ventured out, a pair of Whinchats kept me occupied for a while, they were obviously attending a nest so I settled myself down and they soon accepted my presence and came fairly close at times as they collected food for their young, during this time it had turned into a nice morning so I eventually went off in search of interesting insects, unfortunately they weren’t playing ball and although I had a good selection of Butterflies including three species of Skipper I didn’t see Large Heath or any Fritillaries, no Dragonflies either apart from a single Golden Ringed that flew past while I was photographing the Whinchats. A bonus was an Adder up near the Railway Tracks but it clocked me and disappeared into the vegetation before I had a chance to photograph it, also of note were lots of juv Swallows flying around and perching on wires, looks like its been a good breeding season and there were quite a few Lesser Redpolls flitting around and calling, cant say I've noted them here before.

The Bog

with the occasional passing Train

lots of Heather in flower on the surrounding Moorland

lucky flight shot

Sun Dew

Small Heath

Common Blue female

and male

Meadow Brown

Ringlet

Large ...

Small ...

and Dingy Skippers

Honeys

A quick dash up to Saltholme yesterday afternoon after the Bridled Tern was reported from there however the bird didn't hang around long enough to connect with, a Roseate offered a little recompense, it was later seen again further north at East Chevington. So the plan this morning was to head up there with Mark and try for it again, however I was unable to contact him last night or this morning so I ended up going out on my own, Northumberland with just the offchance it may show again was a non starter on my own so I decided on the Raptor Watchpoint at Wykeham again as it was a nice day, I made a quick visit to Ellerburn Bank on the way but still couldn’t find the Greater Butterfly Orchid although plenty of proper Butterflies were on the wing. At the Watchpoint it was very quiet again and there had been no sightings of any Honey Buzzards during the morning, I gave it 2-3 hours spurred on by the fact a certain Mr G Catley was present and stuff usually performs for him but not today, there were frequent sightings of Goshawks and common Buzzards and a Golden Ringed Dragonfly was buzzing around but that was it. Mid afternoon I thought I would have a change of scenery and dropped down to check the valley up to High Dale, it was a bit slow at first but after about an hour a Honey Buzzard crested the ridge and started soaring right above me, five mins later a Goshawk came hunting scattering all the Wood Pigeons, happy with that I took a slow drive home along Troutsdale stopping at Hilla Green where Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and Spotted Flycatcher entertained and a Dipper flew up stream.

Burnet Moth at Ellerburn

bright sky meant just silhouettes

Goshawk into the sun

juv Grey Wag at Hilla Green

plus adult

Alkeborough

I nipped to Alkeborough after work after reports of up to four Spoonbills there on and off recently, there had been no news for a few days but I thought I would chance it, I arrived at the Southern end and got onto a couple of Ruddy Shelducks straight away, they were loosely associating with the numerous common Shelducks and although probably of dubious origins still an attractive duck, there were also good numbers of Avocets and Black Tailed Godwits around and a pair of Marsh Harriers hunting but no Spoonbills. I had noted a new Tower Hide halfway along the track running to the Northern end so I thought I would suss it out, it was at a good height and gave great views over the Northern end, birdwise it was just more of the same but scanning just off the reserve over one of the Islands in the river, Whitton Island I think, I came across the four Spoonbills, they were distant and just stood there sleeping but occasionally preened, a couple of them showing the yellow tip to the bill, the Island also held impressive numbers of feral Geese including Barnacles, I suspect these would also be feral but there must have been 50-60 there at least.

lots of Avocets

a few Black Tailed Godwits

and a couple of distant (well everything is here) Ruddy Shelduck

the new Tower hide

some juv Swallows taking a rest

A bit of Yorkshire Surfing and Orchid hunting

Mark was on call this weekend although I was joined by Pete Watson for a day out on Sunday, we started at Filey where the drake Surf Scoter found mid week was still present off the Brig, good scope views of this fine Yorkshire Tick but it didn’t pose for the camera as I had been hoping especially after seeing what other photographers had been getting over the last few days, I suppose I may get another chance if stays a while, the Scoter flock were eventually flushed by a Canoe and flew further into the Bay so we took our leave and headed up to the Raptor Watchpoint at Wykeham, we thought it would be a good day for Raptors, a bit of sunshine and a stiff breeze, but it had been very quiet during the morning we were told, we gave it a couple of hours but it was very slow, just the occasional common Buzzard although I managed to pick up an Osprey moving through that was a nice bonus. We gave up and took a look at the Nurseries, a couple of Turtle Doves duly obliged, before heading out to Ellerburn Bank near Dalby Forest, I’d got some info there were some Fly Orchids there, we found them no problem and had some Bee Orchids as well but failed to locate Greater Butterfly Orchid that had been reported from there as well, we hadn't really seen any Butterflies all day so it was nice to have a few flitting about the meadow, Common Blue, Small Heath and the first Ringlets for the year. We had another go for Honey Buzzards later with a drive along Troutsdale and look around the Hackness area but to no avail so we ended up back at Filey to see if the Scoter was any closer this evening, it wasn’t.

lots of Common Spotted Orchids

 

Fly Orchid, Superb

plus some Bee Orchids 

Rock Rose

Small Heath

view from Ellerburn Bank

Flamborough Head from Filey

Wet my Lips

There have been no reports of Quail from the traditional sites around York yet this year so when Pete Watson reported one from a field just Northwest of Poppleton and Mark had it singing this morning I thought I'd go down this evening and (see) or hear it, I took the camera along not really expecting to use it and headed for the area Mark had heard it this morning, there were quite a few Skylarks and Yellow Wagtails about but no Quail singing at first then after about 5 mins it piped up from the middle of a cereal crop, it seemed fairly static for quite a while but then started moving left towards some Tractor ruts I had envisaged it showing along, I positioned myself and the calls got nearer and nearer to the ruts, I watched and waited then all of a sudden it called from further back and further left, I couldn't believe it, it had sneaked past, however it was now calling from close to the edge of the crop where it merged into a scrubby weedy area popular with the Yellow Wags, I walked up the edge of the field a bit and the singing was actually coming from the scrubby area, I now knew there was a good chance of seeing this bird and I scanned and scanned where it seemed to be singing from then I thought whenever I've seen birds fly up before its always been from further away than I thought they'd be, I started scanning further back and there it was, singing from a patch of dead grass, I rattled a few shots off (always pays to carry your camera around) then stalked a bit closer, I ended up getting quite close although the light was dire, still I'm not complaining I'm absolutely chuffed at getting such good views as well as a few record shots of a bird you normally only hear.

Ah there you are

Singing his head off

seems to be some feather damage, maybe had a close call with something

a few of these around too