Whisp of snipe

 

The reserve has been closed since last Sunday, so it was a pleasure to be back on duty when the reserve re-opened. The water levels had gone down on the path leading to 1st, Townend and Singleton hides. Ousefleet was accessible via the grass path near the flood bank. The path to Reedling and Marshland was still under water, so wellingtons were required, but by the end of the day, the water level on the path had gone down slightly.

Marsh harriers were quite active, with at least four different ones hunting near Singleton hide. This kept the ducks moving from lagoon to lagoon.

Ousefleet hide had 2 lapwing but at least 100 snipe!

I don't know how many snipe make up a whisp.

The snipe were fairly active and often interacted with each other, I could not however find any jack snipe.

The trees on the edge of the wildflower meadow, the car park and the bushes along the path to Ousefleet held large numbers of fieldfare and redwing.

Near reception a woodpigeon was having a rest in one of the trees,

this dragonfly was enjoying the sun as it rested on the roof of the building

As I arrived at the reserve there were several hundred geese, including about 150 pink footed geese. They flew of mid morning and then returned at dusk.

 

Low Barns Nature Reserve

 A trip out today with Judi, the kind lady who volunteers with the RSPB York Local Group, organising coach outings. The purpose of todays trip was to check if Low Barns Nature Reserve would be ok for a group trip by coach next Marsh.

The car journey took about 90 minutes and the reserve was easy to find. We went into the visitor centre/cafe and paid for our parking, A member of staff gave us a map of the reserve and pointed out the highlights and off we set.

The first hide we went into, the West Pasture hide, had views over a lagoon and on the RHS were several bird feeders. Chaffinch, blue and coal tit, moorhen and a nuthatch were busy feeding.

We met a volunteer who was litter picking and who told us about some redwings he had seen. 

We walked along the board walk through the reed bed and imagined the area full of sedge warblers in spring. 

Northumbrian Water hide was our next stop,

A good view over the valley.

Walking along the path we were close to the River Wear

The water was flowing fast, so Judi decided it was probably not a good idea foe a spot of wild swimming!

The South Hide was our next stop from where Judi found a pair of goldeneye.

The "Everglades" was our next stop/

This area of the reserve is undergoing restoration work. A s we made our way back to the visitor centre and North Hide we walked past Alder Wood.

These beech trees looked good in the sunlight. In the top of some Alder trees we saw siskin and redwing.

The bird viewing area had lots of feeders with blue, great, coal and marsh tit, nuthatch and a great spotted woodpecker.

 

The cafe was our next stop where Judi very kindly bought lunch for us.

A good reserve and very suitable for a coach outing next March.

Thanks to Judi for her company and buying lunch.

Back to NDC

 Spent the morning doing H&S checks at Fairburn and St. Aidans then after a quick lunch I drove to NDC. 9 vehicles in the car park, but less than 9 people in the hides!

I met Alan Whitehead ( duffbirder meets holdernss@blogspot.com) on the way to the garganey hide. We had a brief chat before we went our separate ways. Surprisingly only 1 person in the hide, where was everyone?

Most of the wildfowl were still on Bubwith Ings, with a few wigeon and teal at the far end of the reserve, along with a few whooper swans.

Marsh harriers were still active

As soon as this harrier picked up its prey it was mobbed by carrion crows.

The great white egrets flew closer to the hide

Stonechats were flying about close to the hide

A small group of pink feet flew over

No sign of the hen harrier today,

Hen harrier at North Duffield Carrs (NDC)

 Ian rang and told me that he was going to go to NDC. I had to wait in for a parcel before I could join him. Luckily the parcel was delivered at the beginning of my time slot so I was able to be at NDC by 1030.

A couple of pictures to show the water level, and the fact that there was the odd spell of sunshine.

Water was still pouring in from the river.

Ian was sitting in the Geoff Smith hide when I arrived and after a short while we both walked down to Garganey hide. Plenty of water but not many birds. Most of the waterfowl were on Bubwith Ings.

Ian had been watching a ring tailed hen harrier and it soon appeared in view. We were able to watch the bird hunting for several minutes before it disappeared. After a few minutes it re-appeared, and this was the pattern for the rest of our stay.

We watched it catch a small item of prey, possibly a vole. The harrier was then attacked by at least two crows. During the chase the birds came close to the hide. I managed to get a few pictures, not brilliant ones due to the light.

At least 3 buzzards were in the area including a very light coloured one.

We saw at least 5 different marsh harriers, 4 of which we thought might be a family group. Red kites were circling in the distance and a sparrow hawk flew over putting the lapwings to flight. A kestrel was hovering over the end of the scrape, so it was nice to see 6 different birds of prey. There were at least 2 pairs of stonechats plus lots of fieldfares. A small flock of golden plover flew over bid did not land.

There were lots of starlings with the lapwings during the day and we wondered if there might be a murmuration, but just before we left we noticed that most of the starlings had gone.

A pleasant day with a good bird list and excellent company.

A wet start to "winter"

 

As you may recall my winter starts on the day after the clocks change in October until December 22nd when the sunsets get later, it might only be a minute a day, but it all helps.

Today I was on duty at Blacktoft, however a combination of recent floods and rain meant that this mornings high tide caused flooding on the reserve. Water was pouring in at the Ousefleet end and it was not possible to get to either Marshland or Reedling hides without wellingtons, and the water level was slowly rising.

Gareth decided to close the reserve, so I stayed a while at the main gate to explain to visitors that we were closed. This gave Daz a chance to update social media and then he returned and took over from me at the gate.

A few pics of what I saw in the car park.

I am on duty next Sunday, weather permitting. I will need to keep an eye on social media, as there are several high tides over 6 metres high this week.

Blacktoft, Flamborough and Bempton

 Saturday 14th. 9am at the doctors for flu and covid jabs then to the football club. The afternoon game was cancelled so I went to Blacktoft. The weather was pleasant, sunny but a little cooler than we are used to. Lots of visitors enjoying the sunshine and the birds. I had a short chat with Stu about our day out on Tuesday and then visited the hides.

After the recent floods the water levels in the lagoons are now ready for the wildfow that will be coming to spend winter on the reserve.

Marsh harriers were active which meant that they disturbed the ducks on a regular basis, so one minute there would be lots of birds on a lagoon and then none, however the birds soon returned.

 Lots of snipe about, I counted 31 on Marshland alone. 42 shovelers and 34 gadwall on Reedling lagoon.

These little grebes were having a rest on Singleton lagoon.

Tuesday the 17th, Stu and I arrived at South Landing just before 8am. We had chosen to go there to watch the ringing sessions.

I enjoyed seeing the birds in the hands of the ringers and listening to how they aged the birds.

During a break in the ringing we walked down to the shore.

The sunlight made viewing a bit difficult

Stu looking for velvet scoter.

This knot was on the beach along with oystercatchers, dunlin, bar tailed godwit, purple sandpiper and rock pipit. We returned to the ringing.

I think that a bird had escaped and they were looking for it. BBC Look North turned up

a tree sparrow after ringing

We then went to Bempton.

Still a few gannets near the cliffs, but not many other birds about. It was too early to see any owls flying about.

We decided to go to Filey Country Park and look for the red throated and great northern divers. We met a lady from Scunthorpe who is a regular visitor to Blacktoft, and we walked out along Carr Naze so that we could look out over the Brigg. There were lots of people out walking on the Brigg, so not many birds to be seen. Stu eventually managed to find a great northern diver and we had good views of red throated divers as they flew across the Brigg. After a couple of hours we said goodbye to the lady and returned to Bempton, in the hope of seeing owls. 

No sign of owls, but Stu had a glimpse of a ring tail harrier. We noticed a group of people on one of the viewpoints, so joined them. They were looking for a tern that had been seen passing Hunmanby Gap, we waited for a while but there was no sign of it. A message then came through about a Radde's warbler at Flamborough so we decided to go and look for it as it was Stu's bogey bird.

The location took a bit of finding but we eventually joined a group of birders looking towards a hedge. The bird was active and was feeding in grass below brambles. We eventually managed to get reasonable views of the bird. I was unable to get a photo as the bird was always moving. This was the 2nd bird I could add to my life list.