Smew at Tophill Low

 

No football this weekend due to flooded pitches so a chance to get out and see if I can get the last 4 ticks to get me to 200 for the year. I have not been to Tophill Low for ages so decided to go there today. Sunshine for a change which helped the photography.

From the visitor centre I was able to see this male smew.

Sadly it did not get very close to the visitor centre and was diving a lot.

A great crested grebe looked good in the sunshine.

The red crested pochards remained to the left and were not easy to photograph.

These pigs were busy below the bird feeders.

The windows in the VC are not the best for taking photos through.

Great, blue and coal tits. Robin, dunnock, chaffinch and greenfinch were very active.

Due to flooding some of the paths are impassable so I walked on the roadside footpath to get to the southern part of the reserve. I joined a group of people who were hoping to see the black-throated thrush that had been reported earlier. I waited for an hour and only saw, greenfinch, redwing, fieldfare, blackbird and robin.

I walked to the near hide. Lots of ducks and in the distance magpies were trying to steal the food from this marsh harrier.

In one field a group of goats are helping to keep the vegetation low.

A pair of stonechats were busy feeding on the reedmace.

 a pleasant day and one more tick  (red crested pochard) closer to 200.

Glossy Ibis

 

After carrying out the H&S checks at Fairburn Ings and St. Aidans, I went for a walk looking for the glossy Ibis that had been at St. Aidans for the past few days.

After about a 10 minute walk I was able to locate the bird. It was not too far away from the footpath, just a few problems with vegetation!

Blacktoft, Langdon Beck and Hartlepool

 Football was cancelled on Sunday due to water logged pitches, so I went to Blacktoft.

Not the best of days weatherwise. After a chat with Ian and Daz, I walked down to Ousefleet. 70 plus lapwings, a few teal, wigeon and gadwall. Marshland had a a few snipe and lots of teal until a marsh harrier flew over.

A great white egret landed and then flew off from Reedling. I had lunch with Ian and then I went down to 1st hide and Townend, but neither had any birds.

I had just opened the window in Singleton to take a picture of a whooper swan

when I saw something else, it was an otter. It was constantly diving and I found it difficult to keep up with it. Excuse the pictures, but it was a bit far away and the light was poor.

6 marsh harriers in the sky at the same time was the biggest count. Starlings started to arrive so I tried to take photos in black and white, not much luck.

Today I had to get up early so I decided to try for black grouse at Langdon Beck.

I arrived just after 0730 and within a few minutes I saw this bird

As you can see I had forgotten to change my camera settings from black and white!

Hartlepool Headland was my next stop.

Sunshine but cold, high tide so not many birds.

A slav grebe off the pilot pier.

sad to see this on the beach

Newburn Bridge was next on my list.

Lots of waders on the pebbles.

Greatham Creek was my last stop.

Waxwings

 In between taxi jobs today I managed to fit in time to go and look at some waxwings.

There were about 2 dozen birds perched in the top of a tree in the sunshine.

The birds would fly down to the next tree which has a crop of berries. The time was after 1430 so the tall tree was in sunlight and the tree with berries was in the shade. Plus the tree is next to a public footpath and the birds were feeding on the far side of the tree.

Blacktoft in the snow.

 A bit tricky driving to the reserve this morning, especially the bit from Goole.

Time for the fire

A steady trickle of visitors, who all enjoyed themselves and appreciated having the hides to themselves.

10 marsh harriers were in the air, first thing in the morning. They kept the visitors entertained all day, flying close to the hides. Most of the lagoons were frozen, with a few patches of open water. Several mallards and teal flew about as did a pair of mute swans.

While on family group were in reception having a drink, we noticed a fox in front of 1st hide.

4 whooper swans were busy feeding at the edge of Marshland hide.

Suzanne was just leaving the hide as I walked up the ramp, so she came back into the hide with me so that I could see the whoopers, then we returned to reception to have a hot drink.

The magpies were not impressed. The fox came closer to reception hide

before turning round and running away.

It started to rain at 3pm, so hopefully the ice on the lagoons will melt and life will become a bit easier for the birds.

Fairburn Ings

Left York in thick fog, but visibility improved the closer I got to Fairburn Ings.

After completing the H&S checks I decided to go for a walk from the car park at Lin Dike end of the reserve.

Lots of redwings, fieldfares and blackbirds in the bushes along the path along with bullfinches, long tailed tits and goldcrest.

Very few birds on the water in front of the hide. Mute swans and shelducks feeding in the bits of open water, while goldeneye were diving for food at the far end of the lagoon.

I walked as far as the canal and added red kite and goosander on the way.

I had only walked for an hour bur had managed to add 35 birds to my list for the day. When I returned to York it was still thick fog. Lets hope for better weather on Sunday when I am on duty at Blacktoft.