Whisp of snipe at Blacktoft

 Not sure where to go birding today as it was very foggy in York at 5am. Thought about Spurn, but then decided that if it was misty there I might not see a thing. After a couple of phone calls I decided to go to Blacktoft and meet Gerald.

The mist had cleared by the time that we arrived. Robin, blue and great tits and chaffinch in the car park.

Starling, redwing and fieldfare in the flower meadow, tree sparrows at the feeder.

We did not go into the visitor centre as Stu, Rachel and Ian were busy looking after a group of people who had booked an early morning visit, so Ousefleet was our first stop. Looking over the 5 bar gate towards the grazing marsh we saw and heard pied wagtails and greylag geese. On the wat to the hide we met Masha. She was waiting for Pete, who had gone to advise a dog walker that walking on top of the flood bank was scaring away the wildfowl, and that the public footpath is at the bottom of the bank.

From the hide we could see nearly 200 teal, about a dozen shelducks,

 several mallards, a few wigeon and a couple of shovelers. Suddenly a whisp of snipe flew over the lagoon. Some settled in the reed bed

while these settled closer to the hide. There were 73 snipe altogether. We also saw snipe from the other hides that we visited, so I think that there could have been over 100 snipe on the reserve. Several lapwing were on the islands and they had a fly around, but we could not see any other waders with them.

Marshland hide was our next stop where we added pochard to our list.

Gerald noticed that the barn owl had come out onto the ledge if front of its box.

After having a preen it flew off over the reedbed. We then went to Reedling hide, from where we saw the barn owl hunting. It never got very close to the hide, but it was good to see it hunting.

The barn owl flew off in the direction of its box, overlooking Ousefleet and Marshland lagoons.

Singleton was our last stop for the day. Here we met three birders who also came from York. They left to go to Marshland in the hope of seeing the barn owl. We enjoyed watching 4 whooper swans preening.

Lots of wigeon grazing on the grass in front of the hide.

We left about 4pm and hope to meet tomorrow at Old Moor. A very pleasant day with Gerald.

Signs of spring at RSPB Fairburn Ings

 

No camera today, so just a mobile phone picture of one of the feeding stations.

A song thrush was singing near the visitor centre, long tailed, willow, blue, coal and great tits at the feeders near the visitor centre. At the Pickup screen, robin, dunnock, chaffinch and reed bunting.

Where the next set of feeders are a male and female great spotted woodpecker were chasing each other, while several redwings sat in the tree tops.

Jays at Askham Bog

 

A visit to Askham Bog in between taxi and dog walking jobs. I was surprised to see the car park full when I arrived. As I got to the boardwalk I could see people working clearing away branches etc. Today was the day that a group of volunteers help to keep the reserve in good shape. I knew one of them,  Maia, and spent some time talking to her. As they were working along the first part of the boardwalk, where I usually put seed on the top of fence posts, I decided to walk on to the pond. Here a chap was busy taping twigs to the fence. He had a large lens so assumed he was trying to set up some kind of feeding station. A family arrived at the pond to have a picnic so I left and walked further along the board walk until I came to a seat. I sat down and placed some seed on the other end of the seat.

 I have often fed robins here, so I was not surprised to see the bird come and take some of the seed. I was not expecting other birds to come close.

This coal tit came to investigate and while watching it I noticed this jay had come to have a look.

A deer appeared just over the fence

and in the same area were lots of goldfinches and siskins.

I heard "mewing" and looking up saw 3 buzzards circling over the wood.

A very pleasant 90 minutes. No year ticks but 3 more for my Inner York list.

First primrose of spring

 

Late Monday afternoon and I had a trip down memory lane, or the lane leading to Bolton Percy Station yard to be precise. I used to spend hours here train spotting when there was a station here and steam engines ruled the rails. It was taken over by the YWT and turned into a nice little oasis, sadly no more. The so called improvements to the railway in order to shave seconds off the journey time has resulted in the site becoming a mess.

This area was once covered in various plants and flowers. A walk up the track towards the railway bridge allowed me to see my first primrose of spring

Thirty or so years ago my parents would come and park just past the bridge over the railway and admire

the primroses which covered the banks of what was the goods yards.

In the next field I saw these deer.

Sunday afternoon at Blacktoft

 

A later start than planned, so I went to Blacktoft. Rain showers on the way, so I was pleased to arrive in the dry. Good to see that there is now a bird table and a bird feeder a bit closer than my last visit. Wood pigeons on the bird table and plenty of blue tits and tree sparrows at the feeder. Carrion crow, starling, redwing, blackbird and fieldfare in the flower meadow.

I had a chat with Ian and Daz in the visitor centre, where Daz showed me that he had put up a form on which we could record the dates that the summer visitors arrive, before walking to Marshland. Carl, Gerald and John joined me in Marshland and it was good to have a chat as we had not seen each other since last year.

About a dozen snipe on the lagoon, mostly on the left hand side with tufted ducks

 lots of wigeon, gadwall, mallard and a few lapwings. When the guys moved to Reedling hide, where they planned to have lunch, I went to the visitor centre and covered for Ian while he went to Reedling to have a chat. When Ian came back I walked down to Townend hide. 4 whooper swans

at the far end of the lagoon along with 2 greylags, 2 mute swans and about a dozen gadwall. I then went to Singleton where there were about 40 wigeon grazing on the grass in front of the hide.

I decided to go to Ousefleet to try to find the goldcrest that Carl had seen earlier. On the way I had a short chat with Suzanne who was in Townend hide, where she had seen the kingfisher fly along the ditch. Carl, John and Gerald were just leaving Reedling hide as I past so I said goodbye and walked down to Ousefleet.

 

Still plenty of water in front of the hide, and if I have read the tide tables correctly we might have some very high tides later this month. Lots of black-tailed godwits

these 3 were the nearest birds. Lots of dunlin

these were more difficult to photograph as they were feeding at the edge of the vegetation. A male marsh harrier flew over

this caused the birds to take to the air and three snipe landed close to the hide.

No sign of a goldcrest, I did see robin and wren. Just as I was about to leave Ousefleet, Mike turned up and I passed Lindsey on the reserve. It was good to catch up with people.

Filey

 My first opportunity to get out birding since last Friday, so I decided to go to Filey , to see if I could add to my year list.

Cloudy and very windy as I got out of my car in the Country Park. I walked along Carr Naze towards the Brigg, stopping several times to scan the bay, hoping to see a velvet scoter that had been reported earlier. Sadly no birds at all in the bay. By the time I got back to my car, the sun had started to shine, so it was impossible to look out into the bay due to the sunlight.

I walked along the coastal path, looking in the rocket pole field for small birds. A skylark was the only bird I saw, so I continued towards the stubble field. I managed to see a small group of birds, snow and lapland buntings. They were feeding close to the edge of the field and I could get reasonably close to them.

Not brilliant pictures as I had to lay down to get out of the wind, and then I was too low and could not see the birds for stubble!!

Back in the Country Park, I slowly walked towards the waders which were busily feeding on the grassy area.

Starlings, woodpigeons, turnstones, redshanks

bar-tailed godwit

and a single knot.

again not brilliant pictures due to the wind nearly blowing me over. Filey Dams for lunch.

The usual mix of gulls on the bund

a male tufted duck sheltering from the wind

A little grebe

A great spotted woodpecker and a blue tit on the feeders in one of the nearby houses.

A pleasant afternoon and 3 new birds for my year list.

RSPB St. Aidans and RSPB Fairburn Ings.

 

After completing the H&S checks at St. Aidans, I had a short walk around the part of the reserve near the car park. Several people were trying without any success to find the little owl. I had seen it earlier, so I was happy to show them where it was sitting, and even happier when one lady I showed, had never seen a little owl before, it was a life tick for her.

I guessed that it was keeping out of the wind, but sadly due to its position some people were not tall enough to see it.

I then drove to the car park at the Lin Dike end of Fairburn Ings.

This mute swan was sitting in the car park. It looked ok and when people approached it, it raised its wings. I rang Beth at the VC to let her know, just in case other visitors contacted her.

This was my view from the hide at Lin Dike. It was good to see the sunshine, but the wind was still a bit on the cold side.

Most of the birds were towards the back of the lagoon, including these 6 pintail.

On my left I could hear buzzards "mewing" and eventually I was able to see 4 and a red kite. A bit closer to the hide, but still some distance away, a marsh harrier was having an altercation with some carrion crows.

The birds were too far away for decent photos, and I could not determine if there was a prey item that they were fighting over. Meanwhile on the other side of the lagoon, 3 great white egrets were looking for food, when 1 flew a little bit closer.

It was still a long way off and soon flew over the road, where the other 2 joined it, before long, all 3 returned to the far end of the lagoon. I had been there about 90 minutes and it was time to go. Just as I got out of my seat, Vince turned up. I had not seen him since we met at North Cave, where he bought a new scope. We chatted for a while, before I headed back to the car.

Lots of activity at the feeders in the car park. Another pleasant visit to this part of the Aire Valley and my 117th tick of the year.