West Yorks Kites

It was another bright sunny day today albeit a little windy and with nothing in particular to go for I thought I would go to Harewood House and have a go at photographing the Red Kites, since their spread to the Wolds and beyond I haven't done this site much, I started with a walk through the main estate and once away from the path I had a pretty good session as several Kites and Buzzards performed well occasionally passing quite close, I then moved round to spot near the village of Weardley and had an even better session, superb area, I wonder if its a feeding area for them as several birds were dropping into one of the fields there. The afternoon was getting on when I decided on a change of scenery (time flies when you're enjoying yourself) and headed off to Fairburn Ings calling in at St Aidens on the way, there was a good selection of the usual suspects but apart from a small group of Whooper Swans on the Main Lake there was nothing out of the ordinary, I carried on to Fairburn where it was much the same although a pair of Kingfishers from the screen were nice to see and Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were around the Pick-up Hide but there is still a distinct lack of Spring migrants around these parts.

Harewood House

Red Kite country

Buzzards too

near Weardley

St Aidens main lake

a few Whoopers

Kingfisher male

and female

Cormorant colony

Moors to Coast

I was out with Mark and Paz yesterday and it was a lovely Spring day, we decided on a trip up into Bransdale then move on to the East Coast, our first stop down Bransdale was at Cowhouse Bank where a Sparrowhawk was enjoying the early morning thermals and a few Siskins flitted between the trees, a bit further on another of our favoured stops added Nuthatch and Green Woodpecker to the list, we then took a steady drive through the moorland photographing some rather splendid Red Grouse with plenty of Lapwings and Curlews back on territory but no Golden Plovers yet, a stop at the top of the Dale for a scan round produced the mornings best sighting though when a Goshawk flew out from the trees displaying before rapidly gaining height and heading off, a couple of Buzzards were also seen as we headed back down the other side. Early afternoon found us at Long Nab, Burniston where we bumped into the York Bird Club on their field outing, they had changed venue from the proposed Leighton Moss, after exchanging a few pleasantries about the mornings sightings, they had been down Troutsdale, we went off in search of the wintering Lapland Buntings, they weren’t easy but we eventually got onto at least four birds as they scurried about the ploughed field just beyond the sea watching hut, as we got back to the car our first Chiffchaff of the year sang and hopped around the bushes there. Next stop was Filey where a small flock of Snow Buntings were in some set aside along the cliff path, we were lucky enough to drop straight on to them and several birds were looking rather smart as they were moulting back into summer plumage, a bit shocked at the parking charges for the Country Park this year though. We ended up at Bempton Cliffs where all the Auks etc are back in although most were just sat on the sea and not many Puffins as yet after another disastrous winter for them, there was also a Short Eared Owl hunting near the car park and a Stonechat and several Grey Partridges in the same area. It was certainly a very pleasant Spring day and lots of Butterflies and Bumblebees were flying about as well.

very high Goshawk, first I've seen in Bransdale

Snow Buntings at Filey

Rawcliffe Lake

Just an update for the last couple of weeks, well after the Great Crested Grebe had managed to attract a mate last week they had both then disappeared at the start of this week, one, I presume the original bird, had returned mid-week. The comings and goings of Goosanders continue as at other sites in the York area and after a gap of a week or more three females had returned at the beginning of the week with up to 15 present again by the end of the week including five drakes also a pair of Tufted Ducks were present on Wednesday, they used to winter in small numbers along with Pochard many years ago but have become irregular visitors these days. Nothing much else happening although the Pigeons and Doves got a shock when a female Sparrowhawk dived into the large conifer at the north-eastern corner, she sat there for a couple of minutes before carrying on her way.

Chasing Wild Geese and other assortments

Out with Mark and Mike Williams today and as a few goodies had been seen up at Teesside this week we decided to try for them, we were off to a good start with a Woodcock flying over the A19 on the way up, the first port of call was a bit further north, Hurworth Burn Reservoir near Trimdon, some White Fronted Geese had been seen there in the week, there was no sign of them at first but as we got to the top end of the reservoir a big flock of Greylags flew in accompanied by the five White Fronts and a Pink Footed Goose. We dropped back to Teesside starting with a tour around Hartlepool Headland but it was fairly quiet, the usual Med Gull was at Newburn Bridge then it was on to Saltholme, we took a walk out to the Haverton area to look for the Long Eared Owls that had been discovered roosting there this week, we saw a small flock of Goldfinches and Twite along the Kestrel Trail but there was no sign of any Owls in the Haverton Scrub today, on the plus side we had another Pink Footed Goose plus the Green Winged Teal was showing well from the Main Hide. We had a look over Greenabella Marsh next finding a good selection of Waders including small flocks of returning Avocets and Black Tailed Godwits plus the wintering Spotted Redshank and Greenshank also a male and two female Red Breasted Mergansers were present, we ended the day at Dormans Pool but there wasn’t much happening there so we took a steady drive back via the scenic route over the Moors and down through Helmsley.

the five White Fronts with the Pinkfoot to the left

GW Teal showing well but a bit distant for the camera

do you sometimes get the feeling you're being watched

returning Avocets

Spotted Red

Staveley

I had a free afternoon and I’ve been meaning to visit the YWT Staveley Nature Reserve between Boroughbridge and Knaresborough for some time now, so I did just that, a Red Kite was seen near Arkendale en route and two Buzzards went over the car park as I arrived, its a nice little reserve and there was a good selection of Waterfowl split between the two lagoons including a pair of Scaup on the West Lagoon although a bit distant for the camera, a couple of feeding station have been set up near the hides and they were being attended by a good number of Tits, Tree Sparrows, Finches and Buntings as well as Pheasants, Partridges and a Water Rail, I had a pleasant afternoon strolling around this reserve and look forward to a Spring visit.

pair of Scaup

a good selection attending the feeders

plus some more unusual guests

a Heron in the reeds