Sand martins at Fairburn

Plans A and B occupied my morning so it was just after lunch that I could leave home for a couple of hours.Fairburn is my nearest RSPB reserve so I went there for the second day running.
As I walked down to Lin Dike Hide I could hear but not see a chiffchaff. The water level is still high from the recent flooding and this allows the grey herons to hunt for food in the vegetation close to the footpath. 3 grey herons were fairly close today.

When I got into the hide I could see this little egret feeding close to the hide.

As well as the grey herons in the vegetation, a great white egret could be seen.

 

 

Gulls were perched on this rail

until the cormorant arrived.
A red kite came close to the hide.

A buzzard was soaring over one part of the reserve and as I watched it I saw two sand martins, my first of the year.

Spoonbill at Fairburn

A couple of hours to spare today, so where to go? Blacktoft and Old Moor were too far, so I decided to go to Fairburn,

The car park was full, but the hide was empty, where was everyone?

Not many birds on the water aprt from coots.

Mrs Gadwall

I decided to walk a bit further down the path and see what was on the other stretch of water.
I heard a chiffchaff on the way. but not many other small birds.
Lots of debris still from the recent flood.

A pair of great crested grebes were on the water and doing a lot of head shaking but did not do any more displaying. On the way back to the car park I saw a lot of grey herons hunting in the reeds and a great white heron was also visible.

Further along the reserve the cormorants are nesting

Nearby grey herons are also nesting and a spoonbill was in the area.

I parked in the village and walked down to the hide.
An oystercatcher was fairly close to the hide.

In one of the nearby fields red legged partridges were running about while a few fieldfares were busily feeding as they get ready to cross the North Sea on their way home.

St. Aidans

An afternoons birding with Chris. He suggested that we go to St. Aidans and look for black necked grebe.
No sign of little owl in the compound.

As we walked along the path we could see hares running about.

A bit further along the path we saw and heard a chiffchaff and had our first encounter with a stonechat.

 

 

 

We reached the part of the reserve from where people had been watching black necked grebes and as we carefully looked for the birds, Chris found two bearded tits. They did not stay still for long as they moved through the reeds feeding.

 

 

We reached a crossroads

 

The path across the causeway was still flooded.

 

Not far from here we got our first glimpse of a black necked grebe

On our way back to the centre we passed a couple looking for the bearded tits, so Chris showed them where the birds were.

We saw a stonechat again as we went back to the car park, but did not manage to see a short eared owl.

A sewage works was our second stop, where we soon saw several pied and grey wagtails, but no sign of a water pipit. Astley Lake was our third stop but we did not see any mew birds for our day list.

 Fairburn Ings was our final stop

 

The water levels are still high after the recent fllods, and the paths are damaged in places. From one viewing screen we counted seven grey herons hunting in the reeds.

Another pleasant afternoon with Chris and my total for the year is now 128.

Adwick Washlands

My first visit to this part of the Dearne Valley.

Chris and I met at Old Moor and after a brief visit to Broomhill Flash., we went to Adwick Washland.

A kestrel was the first bird we saw.

 

On one the pools of water I saw my first avocets of the year.

In the bushes between the path and a ditch we saw our first chiffchaff of the year.

A pleasant visit which produced a list of 32 birds.
A brief visit to Fairburn Ings on the way home gave me ths view of a grey heron catching a meal.

The puffins are back!

Out with Chris today and Bempton was our destination.

We saw our first razorbills on the cliffs , sea and flying. Gannets were gathering nesting material.

We also saw kittiwakes, jackdaws, skylarks, herring gulls and of course puffins, which took my year count to 124. Chris saw his first shag of the year.
Flamboro Head was our second and final stop.

We hoped to find snow bunting but no luck. This kestrel was hovering near the cliff edge.

A few celandines are coming out, another sign that spring is on its way.

Thanks to Chris for the driving.