North Cave Wetlands.

 Tuesday the 22nd I spent the morning with Stu and Catherine at this Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve near Market Weighton. Stu arrived first, and reminded me to log in to pay for the car parking. This was our view at 0730.

As you can see it was still misty, so we hoped that the sun would soon burn it off. As we waited for Catherine to arrive we heard a greensank call it flew over the water. From the East hide we could just make out a couple of waders near the Turret Hide. The green sandpiper remained feeding in the shallow water while the common sandpiper flre towards us and landed on the tern raft.

By the time that we had walked to the Turret Hide, the mist had mostly gone. A young water rail was feeding on the open bit of mud to the right of the hide.

Not a brilliant photo due to the distance. Snipe were closer as they fed.

Common gulls flew in to have a preen.

A curlew was feeding in the shallow water

Linnets, dunnock and goldfinches were flitting in and out of the north hedge as walked along the path.

We met several people who Stu knew and they told us that a little stint was on West Holm  so we walked to the viewing screen.

This is a heavily cropped photo of the little stint as rested on a rock near the waters edge. We also saw a ruddy shelduck as it lifted its head above the vegetation. This was a lifer for Catherine, as she had visited the reserve several times and had not seen them.

Egyptian geese were having a preen

The Dennis Wood hide was our next stop and we added ruff amd little egret to our daylist. 

A few sleeping mallard were all we saw from Crosslands hide and the lagoon in front of South hide had mostly coots. Stu and Catherine bought something from the Little Butty Bus for lunch. A pleasant morning with 45 birds on our list. I came home via North Duffield Carrs.

I was surprised to see that the water level had not gone down. I could just make out a single sipe through the reeds.

A plane flew over and disturbed a covey of grey partridges.

A grest white egret landed on the otherside of the river bank.

 In the copse of trees to the right of the hide a blackbird was making an alarm noise and then a female sparrowhawk flew across the front of the hide.

Aire Valley for the next few days.

Mere Sands Wood Nature Reserve.

 

Saturday September 19th I joined other members of the RSPB York Local group on an outing by coach to this Lancashire Wildlife Trust reserve.  It was raining when we left York and as we arrived in the car park ar the reserve it stopped raining!

After a warm drink in the cafe we set off to explore the reserve. As we walked through a part of the woodland we heard great spotted woodpecker.

We also heard nuthatch and coal tit, but we were unable to see them. We did however hear and then see 2 ravens as they flew around above the tree canopy "croaking" to each other. When we reached the part of the wood where there are lots of scots pine trees, we hoped to see a red squirrel, sadly we did not.

The Fletcher hide was our last stop before returning to the visitot centre for lunch. From the hide we saw  tufted ducks, kingfisher and mandarin ducks.

After lunch we explored the rest of the reserve.

I counted at least 40 cormorants in these trees along with 6 grey herons. A great white egret was also perched in a tree having a preen. Black-headed gulls and lapwings were standing in a shallower part of the lagoon. Teal. mallard and shoveler were snoozing along the waters edge.

House martins were flying above the tree canopy hunting insects, while a hobby was chasing dragonflies over the water. On our walk through the woodland we saw lots of fungi. As we left the reserve on our coach it started to rain!

Aire Valley Birding

 A day out with Chris (chrisdownesbirds).

RSPB Fairburn Ings was our first port of call. Kingfisher had been seen at the screen according to records in the sightings book, so off we walked. Not 1 but 2 kinfishers were on view but at the far end of the stream and they then flew away. Not a bad start, with sightings of jays as well.

Chris looked at his Birdguides report and an osprey was reported at Astley Lake, so off we set.

Not the best light conditions and we sheltered under the hide from a shower of rain. Cormorants, gadwall, teal, mallard, coots and black-headed gulls on the lake, with even more jays flying past. Then it appeared.

We called in at Lin Dike on our way home. The water level is very low. In the distance we had ringed plover, dunlin, green sandpiper, teal, shelduck and cattle egret. A hobby kept flying over the hide and 3 buzzards were circling near a pylon.

A pleasant day with 30 birds on our list.

Seawatching

 

Chris (chrisdownesbirds) and I went to Hartlepool Headland for a spell of sea watching. We joined a small group of birders who had been there a while. Luckily we had not missed anything. Lots of gannets going back and forth, a few guillemots on the sea along with several red throated divers.

An arctic skua chased a few terns and a gannet before continuing its journey south. A long line of common scoters flew north and several eiders were on the sea. About 40 geese were flying above the horizon and as they got closer we could identify them as brent geese. 

After a couple of hours we left and had a walk down to the pilot pier. It was low tide and we were surprised to see only a single redshank on the rocks.

North gare car park was disappointing with only carrion crows on view. Zinc work road was better. Stonechats, swallows and goldfinches, but no sign of a whinchat.

Greatham Creek held a lot of redshanks.

We also saw a bar-taile godwit, another year tick for Chris. Phil Stead hide at Saltholme was our next stop.

Distant views of a snipe and a dunlin. A marsh harrier few over which spooked the teal and dunlin.

The teal returned but the dunlin did not. We went to the visitor centre and after looking at the sightings board decided to walk to the sheep shed in the hope of seeing a whinchat. Nothing to see from the sheepshed apart form some distant spoonbills. On our return to the visitor centre we saw a stonechat on a fence post and nearby a similar sized paler bird. We were not able to get clear views of the bird and my photos were not a help, so was it a whinchat?

Apleasant day out with Chrsi, just like the old days before covid.

Greenshank and roe deer

 

Arrived at North Duffield Carrs just before 11am. An adult mute swan and 4 cygnets on the left hand side of the scrape. Lots of crows, rooks and jackdaws about. These roe deer walked into view.

About mid-day Alan Whitehead arrived (duffbirder) and we chatted as we looked out for birds.

Alan spotted a whitethroat close to the hide and then he saw a marsh harrier hunting over the fields where the sheep were grazing. Then we heard a "tew-tew" as a greenshank flew in.

A red kite was mobbed by a rook as it glided over the reserve.

A pleasant 4 hours.

 

Grey heron and grass snake

 My view from Marshland hide before manning reception on Saturday morning.

Avocet

Black-tailed godwit

Ruff and spotted redshank

the large number of lapwings were disturbed by the appearance of 2 roe deer

A grey heron spent a long time near the ditch outside the reception hide.

was it hoping to catch this grass snake?

Hobby and ruddy shelduck.

 After watching the release of the corncrake chicks Stu and I headed for North Cave Wetland.

We walked down the lane to the viewing screen overlooking West Holm. Lots of geese and ducks.

We could just see the heads of the 3 ruddy shelducks. From the Dennis Wood hide we added ruff and dunlin to our day list. As we were walking along the path by the side of the Far Lake a volunteer told us about a hobby hunting over the Reedbed lake. The bird was hunting low over the water and then returned to a tree.

After watching it for a while we walked around to the turret hide. We added more waders to our list. Greenshank, green sandpiper, common sandpiper and spotted redshank.

Then a ruddy shelduck flew in.

A pleasant few hours with a list of 37 birds including 2 year ticks. Stu went home and I called in at North Duffield on my way home and had a chat with Alan Whitehead. I did not see any birds on the scrape.