RSPB Fairburn Ings

 

Usual bird watching session after completing safety checks. I started at the Pickup hide, more water now but no birds using it. Plenty of activity at the feeders. Robin, chaffich, dunnock, goldfinch, blue, coal and great tits.

After an hour I drove down to the Lin Dike end of the reserve. A lot more water than my last visit.

11 pintail sheltering behind the "mangroves", tufted ducks and goldeneye diving in the centre of the lagoon. No birds around the waters edge.

A great white egret flew across.

A day in reception tomorrow at Blacktoft, will I be lucky enough to see a hen harrier?

Marsh harriers at RSPB Blacktoft Sands.

 

This was the view I had at 0945 this morning from Ousefleet hide. I met Gareth the warden on the main part of the reserve and after a catch up I walked down to this hide. Shelduck. lapwing, dunlin and shovelers were on the lagoon. A marsh harrier flew over and disturbed them all. 

I could hear a water rail from the lagoon on my right and eventually it appeared from the reeds. I was waiting for it to walk clear of the reeds before taking a photo when it flew.

On my way back to the main part of the reserve, I disturbed fieldfares, which were feeding on the berries on the long hedge.

Marshland lagoon was full of water but empty of birds so I walked to the next hide, Reedling.

More birds on this lagoon. A single female goldeneye

Pochard, wigeon, mallard and snipe.

First hide was the next hide I visited, where a single little grebe had the lagoon to itself.

Townend hide was my next stop and I had just arrived when the rain started again. A marsh harrier was busy hunting along the edge of the reedbed. A male pheasant walked in front of the hide.

I arrived at Singleton hide just as the sun started to shine again. A grey heron was standing to the left of the hide.

I had hoped to see a ringtail hen harrier but no luck. Marsh harriers were very active.

As I walked back to my car, I saw a barn owl hunting along the flood bank, and lots of fieldfares were in the trees next to the flower meadow.

RSPB Fairburn Ings

 

 I did not visit the Aire Valley yesterday due to the snow, so completed the H&S checks today.

Afterwards I spent some time birding at Fairburn.

Plenty of water at the Lin Dike end of the reserve, some of it has a layer of ice on the top, which resulted in the birds gathering together on the open water.

A line of black-headed gulls on the ice. There were at least greylag and canada geese in the field to the right of this piece of water.

plus a single grey heron.

 A few of the geese were on the water with a couple of whooper swans.

Several great white egrets in the tall vegetation.

a female marsh harrier caught a male teal and landed in the grass to eat it.

Mute swans were on a piece of open water near the footpath

Mallard, teal and gadwall were keeping close to the swans to feed off some of the food that the swans dragged up from the bottom of the water.

After a while I returned to the visitor centre and went to the Pickup hide. On the way I passed the latest pond that the wardens have created. The water in front of the hide is frozen, but blue tits were visiting the sand martin nest holes, presumably for shelter.

Blue, great and coal tits, chaffinch, dunnock and goldfinches were flying back and forth to the feeders.

A pleasant couple of hours in the winter sunshine.

Yellowhammer

 Bertie is not keen when I bird watch on our walks, he thinks that I should be throwing a ball for him to chase.

However I had a new bird for my inner York list today, a smart looking male yellowhammer.

Plenty of fieldfares and redwings in the bushes eating the berries.

The small pool in one field has increased thanks to the recent rain and has attracted quite a few common gulls as well as herring and black-headed.

Aire Valley tomorrow.

Peregrine at North Duffield Carrs

 

I decided to visit NDC this lunchtime to see if the recent rain had resulted in water on the reserve.

Bubwith ings was flooded as per usual, with a small amount of water in front of Garganey Hide.

This is a view from the Harganey hide looking towards the river, no water and no birds.

Beofre I joined Pete in Garganey hide I spent about 90 minutes in the Geoff Smith hide.

A family of 6 whooper swans flew across the reserve and I presume judged that the water level was too low and continued upriver.

Teal, wigeon and tufted ducks were on Bubwith ings. In the area near the church a small flock of starlings was flying about.

A carrion crow had found a corn on the cob.

It then decided to attack a kestrel that was hovering nearby.

A Great white egret started to fly from Bubwith Ings over the river, and as I was using my telescope to watch it I noticed a peregrine sat in a tree on the other side of the river. The GWE landed on the far side of the river out of sight, so I looked for the peregrine again. It had gone. Then i saw it chasing lapwings over Bunwith Ings. It flew high, then stooped down but was unable to catch a lapwing.

A pleasant end to a spot of local bird watching in cool conditions.

Changes at RSPB Fairburn Ings.

 

More water in front of the hide at Lin Dike and about 250 teal either on the water or feeding around the edges.

A large flock of greylag and canada geese in the field and lots of geese flying over, sadly no pink feet or whitefronts. Fieldfares were chattering as they flew from bush to bush looking for berries.

Near the visitor centre a few changes.

A new open area witha small pool should provide good viewing in the future, 

more work in front of Pickup Hide should also be of benefit to wildlife and visitors.

Black grouse.

 A day out with our host Simon. Simon is not only a genorous host but an excellent birdwatcher with an extensive knowledge of the Highlands. We  visited severa spots and this blog covers some of the highlights. Stuart needed red and black grouse for his year list.

We saw 32 in total including one on a telegraph post! Next target bird was a red grouse, which we disturbed as we drove along. White-tailed eagle sat on the top of a distant tree.

Sadly no divers but another beautiful place.

Not the best of weather but the autumn colours are stunning.

One last stop as the light was starting to fade and the mist was rolling in.

A brief glimpse of a crested tit

Dipper on a stream.

Another year tick for Sturt. An excellent days birding thanks to Simon. 

Sadly our last day. Many thanks to Simon and Fiona for their excellent hospitality, I hope to return for another visit next year.

Thanks to Stuart for his brilliant company.

Trip list total is under review but I think is about 80 birds, plus red squirrel and red deer.