Saturday afternoon at Blacktoft.

 I arrived just after 1pm to give Stuart a hand. It started to rain as I walked to the visitor centre, but it did mot last long. The weather for the rest of the day was a mixture of sunshine and cloud. Just outside the centre a speckled wood butterfly had settled .

When the centre had closed I walked to Marshland to see if I could find some of the waders people had reported.. The hide faces west so on a sunny afternoon it is not always easy to see the birds.

lots of birds on the water, mallard, little egret, wood pigeon, greylag goose, dunlin, little ringed plover, green sandpiper, greenshank, black tailed godwit, lapwing, sniipe, ruff, redshank and spotted redshank.

I managed a few photos.

What will tomorrow bring?

Wheldrake Ings

 My last visit to the Ings was back in March. Wood sandpipers have been reported recently so I decided to visit this afternoon.

As I walked along the path I did not hear or see any birds. The first noise I heard was from the wind pump .

the pump is not connected so it is no longer used to pump water into the pool scrape.

From the hide I could see lots of moorhens  feeding and a few lapwings standing about. A greenshank was busily feeding in the middle of the scrape while a few sandpipers were flitting about. The grass in front of the hide made viewing difficult. Eventually I could get a clear view of the birds and identify them as green and wood sandpipers.

 Sand martins were busy chasing insects and a water rail was making its way around the edge of the reed bed. A mute swan entered the scrape followed by 3 cygnets, then another mute swan appeared with 5 cygnets, I thought that it might have been two families but later on I saw the group together and presumed that the adults had managed to raise 8 young.

Thats Birding

 A saying most bird watchers will be familiar with. One that I have said many times when I have travelled to see a bird only to discover that the bird had flown away. Today did not go to plan and so this afternoon I decided to go to Nosterfield . On the way I received a message from Chris asking me to let him know if the ospreys were present. I had not planned to go to Flask Lake but did so to see if the osprey was present.

As I walked towards the lake I met a chap who was going back to the car park and he told me that it is there sat in a tree. I presumed that he meant the osprey so I sent a text to Chris. I walked to the lake but could not see an osprey. I walked around a while, checking the trees but no bird.

Then I saw another birder and he was taking pictures of two ospreys that were sitting in a tree. How did I miss them? The birder told me that they had just arrived. We were then able to watch the two ospreys for about 20 minutes. One bird was calling all the time so we presumed that it was a young bird. The other bird flew around over the lake and dived into the lake but did not catch anything. 

After another fly around it dived into the lake again not far away from the nest platform. It caught a fish and we assumed it was going to take it to the younger bird, but it flew off in a different direction. The remaining osprey then flew around for a while and then flew off in the same direction as the first osprey. About 20 minutes later Chris arrived closely followed by another couple of birders. Chris sent a message to his wife who replied "thats birding", a sentiment that the couple agreed with.

It was a cloudy day with the odd spot of rain, not ideal for photos, so these are my best.

I left Chris and the other birders and drove to the reserve I had intended to visit.

The water level is very low and most of the birds were either on an island in the middle of the water or on the far bank. Lots of greylag geese and black headed gull families. on the far shore while little grebe families were busy chasing each other on the water. Chris joined me in the hide but he did not stay long and I left shortly afterwards. For a change I could say "thats birding" from a positive position.

Variety of wildlife at Blacktoft

I was glad that it was not as hot at Blacktoft yesterday as it was last weekend. There were lots of clouds, so we were lucky not to have rain and the clouds kept blocking the sun so  it kept the temperature down.

I was working with Andy and in between visitors arriving we were able to observe the wildlife in front of the visitor centre,

The insect "hotel" was popular with the bees

several butterflies were on the wing but not all of them settled long enough for me to get a photo

a family of weasels kept appearing on the path but they were too quick for me to get a photo.

Dragonflies and damselflies were also on the wing.

Marshland hide was the most popular as it gave visitors a chance to see a bearded tit family on the mud at the bottom of the reeds looking for insects. Water rails could be seen as they came out of the reed bed. The number of waders continues to increase, with a little stint appearing on Saturday. Lapwing numbers continue to increase and black tailed godwits are looking smart as they are still in summer plumage as they return from Iceland.

There were at least 6 green sandpipers present, but for some reason the lapwings would keep chasing them.

This snipe was in front of the hide

This little creature, a short tailed vole, had climbed up the vegetation behind one of the benches near the visitor centre and was eating the seeds. Andy and I had seen some movement and our first thought was that it was a bird, how wrong we were.

Birds and the bees

 I can cope with minus 20 degrees better than I can cope with 20+ degrees. I have not therefore been out and about much. Last weekend I helped at Blacktoft Sands, where all of the covid notices etc have been taken down. The change of seasons are reflected in the birds about.

Blackwits have just returned from Iceland. Spoonbills drop in for a feed on their journey from Fairburn to Alkboro.

the number of little egrets is increasing

4 green sandpipers were also present but the lapwings kept chasing them away. Lots of butterflies on the wing.

Tuesday I decided to go to Teesside. The weather was hot and I thought that I had timed my visit so that I was there before the school holidays, but I was wrong, there were families enjoying the weather everywhere I went. Better planning required!

Ward Jackson Park was busy but no sign of ring necked parakeets. Hartlepool Headland was my second stop. Here I came across a lot of male eiders.

Further round the headland the tide was in and there were very few birds on the exposed rocks. However the beach and paddling pool were full. I think that this car will take a bit of cleaning!

The lifeboat station was my next stop, where I watched the nesting kittiwakes.

the birds were making a lot of noise, but I was wondering how much was due to these two men.

lots of young kittiwakes

It was high tide at Newburn Bridge but the only birds on the beach were 3 feral pigeons!

The car park at the end of North Gare road was full, so no chance of any skylarks etc having a dust bath. 

My next stop was at Greatham Creek. The common terns had left the island and were flying around chasing a marsh harrier.

This was the view through the screen

lots of seals on the mud.

RSPB Saltholme was the next place I visited. It was fairly quiet birdwise so I went to Dormans Pool.

Lots of gulls and 4 grey herons were the only birds about so I set off for South Gare.

On previous days roseate terns had been seen and bottle nosed dolphins, but all I saw was a lot of camper vans. I sat for a while and watched boats going by. Sandwich terns were calling as they were fishing. Plenty of butterflies about.

I have been spending a lot of time in the garden these past months and currently do so when I can find  a shady spot.

The local house sparrows are raising their second brood, and are finding the local magpies a nuisance. 

This sparrow was trying to catch moths but did not have the skills of a flycatcher.

Dad was watching from the hedge where they spend a lot of time.

lots of bees in the garden as well.

The weather forecast is for cooler weather at the weekend, lets see if it brings in more birds on their journey south.