General Birding

I went to Blacktoft Sands this morning and of note was a large flock of Geese in the field opposite the entrance which included quite a few Pinkfeet, quite a lot seem to be hanging around the Humber at the moment, the reserve itself was fairly quiet although there is a good selection of Wildfowl present now, two or three Stonechats were down at Ousefleet but a count of two Little Egrets was a far cry from recent high numbers, Marsh Harriers were fairly inactive with just a couple of young birds having the occasional fly around and two Bearded Reedlings flew across in front of Singleton which also hosted a very late Sand Martin. In the afternoon I went over to North Cave Wetlands for a change of scenery, again fairly steady going, highlights included a couple more Little Egrets, two Buzzards over the back field, a small flock of Lesser Redpolls feeding along the Northern boundary and a Whooper Swan on the Main Lake.

Pinkies

Ducks are looking smart now

posing Magpie

Kessy hovering in front of one of the hides

Little Egrets at North Cave

Lesser Redpolls

a time for Fungi, Shaggy Inkcap

the lone Whooper

An underwhelming end to the good run

I was out with Mark and Paz and after the good run over the last week it was a rather mediocre and slightly disappointing day at Spurn today, there were still a good few birds around like the American Golden Plover but that still wasn’t close enough for a decent photo, a Pallas’s Warbler at Kew was in thick cover and only showed briefly every half hour or so and Firecrests eluded us again, loads of Thrushes were piling in though but nothing rare was found amongst them, birds of the day were probably the two or three Great Grey Shrikes in the Triangle area one of which was observed chasing and catching a Goldcrest near the Canal, other highlights included three Whooper Swans over while watching the American Goldie, a Woodcock flushed near Sunnycliffe Farm, a male Brambling showing nicely down Beacon Lane and a Black Redstart along the cliff edge at Sandy Beaches Caravan Park. 

can't get close to this bird

quite a few Robins around

GG Shrike on the look out

big Thrush arrival today

back end of a Woodcock

Pallas's Double take

The winds were still looking good so I took the day off and along with Mark, Darren and Mike again headed for Flamborough, one; for a change of scenery and two; there had also been some good birds there yesterday, as we drove along the approach road the pager bleeped there was a Dusky Warbler along Old Fall hedge, we parked up and joined the small group staking it out but unfortunately the bird had disappeared into a thick part of the hedge and was sitting tight, we carried on to the Plantation hoping for yesterdays Pallas’s Warbler, there were plenty of Chiffchaffs, a few Goldcrests and Bramblings, a Yellow Browed Warbler called but there was no sign of the Pallas’s, after a while we decided to go and have a look at the Siberian Stonechat in the set aside near the lighthouse, a Great Grey Shrike somehow eluded us as we made our way round but the Stonechat showed well, a smart looking bird. By this time there had been reports of two Pallas’s Warblers and an Olive Backed Pipit at Buckton so we thought our best bet would be to head round there, we walked out along Hoddy Cows Lane taking care to not step on Goldcrests then had a good session near the Heligoland Trap where one of the Pallas’s showed well several times as it did a circuit, we had a little look for the “very elusive” OB Pipit to no avail but one or two Short Eared Owls offered some recompense. Mid afternoon we heard that the Pallas’s had been found at Old Fall and was showing well so we decided to have a look at that one, typically by the time we got there it had disappeared, there were still plenty of Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests to go through though and the Yellow Browed Warbler put in an appearance this afternoon, also the Great Grey Shrike was seen distantly and a Barn Owl was out hunting then eventually the Pallas’s came around again so we ended up with two for the day.

lots of Chiffy's

not as many Goldcrests today but still quite a few

a handful of Brambling about

smart looking Sibe Stonechat

showing its nice peachy coloured rump

super little bird, but very fast

Short Eared Owl

posed for us

quite a few Robins around as well

Yellow Browed

Crestfallen (Day two)

Day two Monday 12th, joined by Mark, who is on holiday this week, and Darren and Mike from Leeds, with still favourable winds it was back to Spurn, a Radde’s Warbler had been trapped while we were on the way but unfortunately had not been seen after release, we started around the Crown and Anchor where there were still plenty of Goldcrests  to go through and it wasn’t long before we were dashing off to the Church Field where a Red Flanked Bluetail had been seen, unfortunately it had gone through a hedge and into a private area and was temporarily lost to view, with news that the American Golden Plover had been found back in the same field as on the Sunday we headed off there, a lifer for Mark but it was no closer than before so I didn’t improve on my photos. We were contemplating going to look for the Pallas’s Warbler near Easington Cemetery that had briefly been seen again when we heard the Bluetail had been trapped so it was back to Church Field instead, the bird was duly seen in the hand and upon release flew off over the church roof as the Radde’s had earlier, we went back to the earlier plan catching up with a Great Grey Shrike along Peter Lane on the way, we spent over a hour around the Easington Cemetery area but to no avail there was no sign of the Pallas’s, a male Brambling showed nicely though, we then headed off to Sammy’s Point where there were more Goldcrests, Wheatear, Ring Ouzels and a superb Merlin sat in a ploughed field. A Bluethroat along the Canal was next up but proved to be another of these birds that promptly disappear so we soon found ourselves back around the Crown and Anchor searching for the elusive Firecrest and eventually late afternoon I finally got onto one, shortly afterwards the Red Flanked Bluetail was relocated in a hedge running from the Canal Bank, a bit distant but nice to see it without a hand attached, we ended the day back with the American Golden Plover which we had been told had come closer to the road, it hadn’t, but a distant Short Eared Owl was seen hunting over Sammy’s. A good couple of days, I'm gonna book Friday off now.

still a lot of Goldcrests around, many feeding on the ground

Am Goldie, still in the same field but no closer

magnificent Red Flanked Bluetail

smart Brambling

oh yes, did I mention the Goldcrests

Merlin sitting pretty

time to go

male Stonechat

Bluetail was relocated by the Canal late afternoon

though distant

dropping into the grass