Askham Bog and Dearne Valley

 

Monday morning i paid a visit to YWT Askham Bog. I still need marsh tit for my year list so decided to visit this reserve. Since people have been told not to feed the birds in order to help protect willow tits, the number of birds seen on the entrance path has declined. I walked around the boardwalk and then sat on one of the benches at the pond.

Lots of bird activity, but lost of them were flitting from bush to bush. Wood pigeons and black headed gulls were flying overhead while great, blue and long tailed tits went from bush to bush. Small flocks of siskins and redpolls were flying from tree top to tree top, calling as they flew. A chiifchaff sang in the warm autumn sunshine, but no sign of marsh, willow and coal tit.

Dexter cattle are used on the reserve to help control the vegetation.

Tuesday, Stuart and I decided to have a day out and visit RSPB Old Moor. One of our friends is usually there, but today he was at RSPB Blacktoft, helping with a U3A group.

After a chat with Liam in the visitor hub we made our way around the reserve, visiting every hide.

Great and lesser black backed gulls were sharing an island with herring gulls and shelduck. Lots of wigeon and i had just counted a group of 80 plus on one island when a young peregrine flew over and flushed them onto the water. From Fields Pool East hide we added black-tailed godwits, water rail and whooper swans to our day list. From the reedbed hide we saw a snipe asleep at the edge of the water.

We ended our day with a visit to Broomhill Flash.

We were the only people on site. A busy area and in next to no time we had 20 plus birds on our day list.

Lapwings were the only new bird for our list.

A pleasant day with excellent company. Next week Flamborough Migfest.

North Cave Wetlands and North Duffield Carrs

 A day out with Stu. We chose North Cave due to the poor weather. From the Dennis Wood hide we saw teal, wigeon, mallard, gadwall and shoveler.

Lots of geese including this bar headed.

Waders saw several waders, curlew, common sandpiper, snipe, green sandpiper, lapwing,  redshank and ringed plover.

Spurn

 Saturday the 27th was a day out with members of RSPB York Local Group. Our 2nd coach trip of the year took us to Spurn. We arrived at 10 am just as the tide was starting to go out. Lots of waders on the mudflats.

Knot, grey plover, dunlin, ringed plover, godwits, redshank were busily feeding until a female peregrine flew over and they all flew off. A short spell of sea watching was rewarded with a few common scoter and wigeon. From the hide at Canal Scrape we saw pied and grey wagtail.

After lunch we walked around the triangle trail. Lots of stonechats at one point.

In the Crown and Anchor car park we were able to watch a female pied flycatcher.

A dusky warbler had been seen in the area, but we decided not to wait and see if it re-appeared. As we walked along the Humber we saw more dunlin and redshank as well as lots of shelduck.

We left at 4 pm after a very pleasant day.

First autumn migrants

 

My only free day this week, so I decided to go to Hartlepool. I needed some photos for a talk I am giving soon, plus I had read reports of some migrants in the area.

I had not been to this part of Hartlepool for ages, so thought that I would visit in the hope of picking up a migrant. No such luck, a chap was cutting the grass. Not to worry, I walked through the cemetery and stood on the footpath looking down to the beach below.

Dunlin, sanderling and oystercatchers were not present, just dog walkers, was it going to be one of those days?

I drove and parked near Croft Gardens. Several birders were looking for yellow browed warbler and a lesser whitethroat.

However news came through about an Isabelline wheatear at Seaburn, so off some went. Carolyn suggested that the small garden area was the best place to try for the warbler, but then people on community payback turned up to litter pick!

I then drove and parked near the museum and got my scope out and started to do a sea watch. Very quiet, no gannets, scoters or eiders, and just 2 guillemots. Then a chap turned up and started to fly a drone, it is one of those days!

I walked towards the breakwater and saw a wheatear on the wall. Sadly I did not have my camera with me!

Last stop was Saltholme. There is a bit more water on the reserve, but not many birds. 

I managed to see a white fronted goose, which I had missed on previous visits. A pair of stonechats were catching insects along the path.

A pleasant day in the sunshine, but no year ticks. Friday H&S checks in the Aire Valley and then Spurn on Saturday.

Waders at Newburn Bridge

 

This photo is taken from Newburn Bridge looking towards the Headland. High tide today was about 2pm so I had a leisurely drive up the A19 to the area. I called in at RSPB Saltholme first. A large flock of pink-footed geese were flying overhead but otherwise it was very quiet. A working party were out on one of the lagoons so no birds.Cattle in front of Phil Stead hide had also chased away any birds.

I sat at Hartlepool Headland for a while. Red-throated divers were on the sea and close enough for me to see their red throats through my scope. Guillemots on the sea

 and a few eiders

Lots of turnstones on the breakwater

while a few were on the shore looking for food.

The high tide had forced waders on to the shore by Newburn Bridge car park. A surprise was this canada goose

On the sea with the gulls was a wigeon

A few photos of the waders on the rocks.

Aire Valley tomorrow.

12 different waders at RSPB Blacktoft Sands.

 My first visit since the work on Ousefleet and Marshlands Lagoons had been completed and a high tide had put water onto the reserve. The team have worked hard to get the reserve into an excellent state.

The following photos are of the lagoons early this morning.

This roe deer was in front of Reedling hide.

A carrion crow was eating a wader.

Waders on every lagoon. Photos of some of them.

Pete was in Singleton lagoon with other birders including Jane and Rob Chapman watching a ringtail hen harrier when they noticed a different wader. They only had a few seconds to look at it before it flew off. Pete managed to get a photo and it was later identified as a Buff-breasted sandpiper. I did not see either bird.

Cattle egrets at RSPB Fairburn Ings

 

My turn to complete H&S checks at the Aire Valley reserves. I visited the Lin Dike end of RSPB Fairburn Ings reserve first. Lots of chiffchaffs, willow warblers, blue, great and long tailed tits in the bushes as I walked towards the hide. Cetti's warbler was also singing.

As you can see from the photo, water levels are low. In the distance I saw a single avocet, lots of teal, a few young shelduck and lots of black-headed gulls on the mud. 3 spoonbills flew overhead. I then noticed in the field on my left the highland cattle were slowly coming my way and cattle egrets were with them.

I slowly walked back towards the car park and tried to get in a position to take a photo with the sun behind me. I was not always able to do this due to the height of the vegetation between the path and the field.

I wonder what these two were saying to each other?

Time to go and complete the checks. After doing them at Fairburn, I drove to St.Aidans where I went for a walk after doing the weekly checks. The little owl was in one of its usual places.

Still plenty of water on site. I walked as far as Astley Lake, but like other birders was unable to locate any whinchats. perhaps they were keeping low as the wind was quite strong. I decided to return to Fairburn Ings and sit in the Pickup hide for a while.

How does your wingspan compare to these birds?

Not a lot of activity at the feeders.

On duty at Blacktoft Sands tomorrow. It will be interesting to see the new improvements at Ousefleet and Marshland.