Autumns rolling on..

 

On duty at Blacktoft on Sunday. When I entered Marshland hide I was able to see 4 wood sandpipers on one of the islands. 

a pair of little ringed plovers and a single black tailed godwit were also there along with lots of lapwings

all signs for me that summer is almost over as far as the birds are concerned. The marsh harriers are showing their young how to catch the prey that they have caught. It was a very windy day so insects were looking for shelter in the ditches

The bittern was seen by most visitors when it flew off looking for food. No sign of the spotted redshanks that had been seen earlier in the week, but plenty of time left to see them as they journey south. 

RSPB Saltholme

 A day out and I started at Hartlepool Headland. It was a little misty out at sea but I could see a reasonable distance. Lots of gannets and guillemots out on the sea, and herring gulls in a large flock feeding on something close to the surface. Several large flocks of scoters flying north. Sandwich,(tick number one) common and littel terns fishing. After about an hour I managed to see 4 manx shearwaters going south, Sexond tick of the day and number 180 on my year list. I had a walk around the Headland but was unable to add any more birds to my list.

Although it was high tide there were no birds at all at Newburn Bridge. I then drove to RSPB Saltholme and went into the Phil Stead  hide. 13 black tailed godwits, 2 avocets, 2 snipe and a little egret were busy feeding. I then walked to Saltholme Pools hide. Just before the hide there is a viewing screen from where I could see the 2 red breasted geese, my third tick of the day

A young avocet was feeding in front of the hide.

On my way back to the visitor centre I saw this sedge warbler.

Lots of common terns in front of Paddys Pool hide

I called back into Phil Stead hide. A female shoveler was looking out from the vegetation.

A young lapwing was feeding in front of the hide.

2 glossy ibis were also feeding.

What a shame that the sun was not shining to illuminate their colours

 

Filey Dams

 

Nice sunny afternoon and time for a couple of hours birding after taking granddaughter shopping in Scarborough. The car park at Filey Dams was very pleasant and shady.

Lots of young birds about.

a male garganey was feeding close to the hide.

oystercatcher having a refreshing bath.

lots of lapwings. A tree sparrow was on the bird table enjoying the food

not sure if it knew a magpie was watching it!

a pleasant couple of hours.

Catchup

 On duty at Blacktoft on Sunday. I started off at Marshland hide where there were over 40 avocets.

Three pairs were observed mating later in the day. Will they be starting nesting again.

Lots of coot, mallard and gadwall families on the reserve, all trying to keep out of the way of the marsh harriers. About 10 active nests on site mean a lot of mouths to fill. One marsh harrier family are training their young on how to catch prey.

some of the young need more practice.

A cuckoo perched in the bush outside reception for a minute of two.

it is probably getting a bit crowded in the barn owl box.

This spoonbill was at Blacktoft on May 29th and I reported my sighting. Today I received an email with more information. It was ringed on July 9th and the first reported sighting was 8/10/21 at Alicante,1740km from where it was ringed on 17/5/22 it was reported at Portsmouth, on May 23rd it was seen at Cliff Pools, Kent. Three days later it was seen at Alkborough Flats, 395 km from where it was ringed. Will we see it again or has it returned to Holland?

A bird watching friend was on Mull the week before me and he was at Blacktoft on Sunday, The weather on his trip was better than I had, and he some brilliant pictures of white tailed eagles and otters. He had also been to Greece and more excellent photos of bee eaters, honey buzzard and masked shrike.

While on Mull he had been given some pellets from white tailed eagles.

They are much larger than owl pellets and you can see a foot in one of them.

Someone who was a member of the RSPB York Local Group and we last met about 18 years ago. His wife and daughter had brought him to the reserve for his fathers day treat.

Just before I left the reserve I watched a hobby and a sparrowhawk having a scrap.

Potteric Carr

 My first free day to go birding and it would be hot! Decided to stay fairly local and visit Potteric Carr. I arrived just after 9am and was surprised to find lots of vehicles in the car park.

Luckily there were not many people about on the trails and I was able to get a seat in Piper Marsh hide.

The black winged stilts were looking after their four chicks.

I left after about half an hour to allow others a chance to see the birds and walked around West Scrape and Huxter Well Marsh. By the time that I had reached the car park I had walked nearly 5 miles.

Lots of lapwings, a sure sign that summer is over, nice to see a pair of young lapwings. A blackcap was feeding its young.

 I drove home via Blacktoft Sands. Stu was busy trimming the vegetation along the path edges.

Avocet numbers had increased to 28, but it was difficult to see if any were sitting on eggs or just resting in the heat.

This dragonfly landed on the path in front of me.

East and North Yorkshire and Suffolk.

 Family taxi jobs have kept me busy and covered a few miles and I have managed to fit some birding in along the way. I managed two visits to Filey Dams.

Lots of insect life which is good for birds looking for food for their young. 

Mr mallard was having a lunchtime snooze while a moorhen was busy feeding.

this male blackbird was happily sat on the fence rail and was not going to move as I walked along the boardwalk.

the grey heron had to move when the gulls arrived.

the barn owl was out hunting mid afternoon.

I then walked around to East Lea.

a mallard family was having a rest near the hide. An oystercatcher chick moved away from the hide but the parents stayed close.

I had hoped to see some different birds to those at the Dams, but not sure if these count!

On my second visit a few days later I was sad to see that the mute swans now only had one cygnet.

The blackbird was still on the rail singing away

a dunnock was also on the rail

a few butterflies were on the wing

little grebes were as vocal as usual.

My 2 visits to Blacktoft were pleasant. Nothing new to add to my year list, but it was good to see the first of this years marsh harrier young flying. Avocet numbers have increased again and I still cannot work out if some of them are having another attempt at laying eggs. Several birds keep moving vegetation before settling down on an islnd.

one of the birds had rings on its legs.

Spoonbills are regular visitors as they commute from Fairburn Ings to Alkborough.

I was travelling to Cambridge to collect my granddaughter and decided to visit RSPB Lakenheath.

It was noon when I arrrived as my sat nav took me through 8 counties to get there!

Not a lot of bird activity due to the time of day and the heat. A pleasant couple of hours but no new birds for my year list.