First day after lockdown and I decided to "stay local" and visit the Lower Derwent Valley.
It was 0730 as I walked out of the car park at Bank Island. In the hedgerow I heard then saw a greenfinch, a good start to the day with a tick. As I walked towards the lane that leads towards Wheldrake Ings I heard but did not see a yellowhammer, however I heard and saw a skylark, tick number two.
I walked over the bridge that spans the River Derwent and could hear the call of curlews and as I walked along the path by the side of the river I could hear chiffchaffs calling. There is now a voluntary charge for parking cars at Bank Island, and the proceeds go towards upkeep of the area. The footpath has been repaired and is in a better state than it was since my last visit.
The hides are closed so I walked past the Tower Hide and towards the refuge area. In the distance I could see a small flock of black tailed godwits flying around, There were several swans in the area, but I could not find a whooper swan. All last week there were reports of large numbers heading for Iceland. I was hoping that I might find an odd straggler. I continued to walk along the repaired boardwalk until I reached the last hide. Again a few mute swans and greylag geese and cormorants. I retraced my steps back to the car park and ended up with a 35 birds on my list.
West Cottingwith Ings was my next stop. No sign of any flood water here, but I was able to add another 4 birds, including buzzard and kestrel. to my list. North Duffield Carrs was my next stop. Only the top hide is open as repairs are under way on the lower one.
The work that was done last year on the scrape seems to be paying dividends. A pair of oystercatchers were asleep on one part of the island.
two greylag geese were also exploring the area, while a curlew looked for food around the edge.
North Cave Wetlands was my next stop. As I sat in the seating area having lunch I had a couple of visitors. One was David Armitage and this was the other
After lunch I had a walk around the reserve. Some hides are closed. Roll on April 12th when they should be open and places such as Tophill Low will open again. I stopped at the screen by the maize field feeder and spent about 20 minutes for the male brambling that David had seen, not to appear.
From the turret hide the air was full of the noise of black headed gulls.
I did not manage to find a med gull, I need Chris with me, as he is very good at finding them. I then walked on to the next hide. Here I tried to take pictures of various birds.
As you can see from the picture the sun was shining towards me and the wind was so strong the water looks as if it could be waves on the sea! I tried to get some shots of black headed gulls battling against the wind.
On the other side of the lagoon where the sheep were grazing there were about 70 curlews, however they soon flew off when 3 ospreys flew over.
No other hides were open and the wind was too strong to be taking pictures etc outside.
By the end of my walk I had seen 32 different birds on the reserve and my day list was now 58.
I decided to call in at North Duffield Carrs again on my way home and managed to add 2 more birds to my day list. A snipe hiding in the vegetation
and a little ringed plover on the far side of the scrape.
A very pleasant day. A day total of 60 birds, 14 of which were ticks for my year list, taking the total to 90. Can I make 100 this month!!
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