Two Out Of Three Aint Bad

Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull

Lesser Redpoll

Siskin

Green Winged Teal

Green Winged Teal
I went for a bit of a drive around east yorkshire today in the hope of connecting with some recently reported scarce birds.
First port of call was North cave Wetlands for the green winged teal.Once the bird was located it was relatively easy to photograph albeit it a bit distant.
On the way bak to the car I managed a couple of shots of a rather obliging siskin, then a quick look down dryden lane for a look at the resident lesser redpoll flock.
Then on to barmston for the glaucous gull.
It was about half a mile north of Barmston and quite mobile as it stayed with the other larger gulls.
It moved towards Fraisthorpe, so I headed back to the car and on to scarborough for the Iceland Gull.
Unfortunately after about an hour of looking there was no sign so I went to Holbeck for the Mediterranean Gulls.I forgot to take some bread so theye weren't very obliging.
hopefully the Iceland gull will hang around a little longer, it seems to favour the afternoons around the harbour.
Might have another trip next week.

A Mixed Bag

I managed a trip down to the Humber Estuary on Sunday morning,got there for first light and saw 3 barn owls and 2 short eared owls hunting.
No sign of any rptors but plenty of waders and ducks along with close views of hare and roe deer.
i didn't stay too long as the light was pretty poor and it had started to rain
My next port of call was North Frodingham for the re-appearance of the Bewick swans, from there I went over to Barmston in the hope of the ecently reported glaucous gull.
there was no sign whilst i was there butI did manage to see a purple sandpiper, flyover snow bunting and quite a few common waders.
I was quite pleased with my shots of the sanderling, quite obliging at high tide but almost impossible to photograph as they ran about o the sand exposed by the receeding tide.
Might go back again for these in better light.

Out and About in East Yorkshire

I haven't been on any serious trips just lately but I managed to get out and about this weekend.
First call was welton Water, I got there for about 8.00 and the car thermometer said
-3 but it felt colder with the windchill.I was looking for the reported smew on the fishing ponds, the ponds not suprisingly were frozen over all bar a small area in the middle which was full of mallard,gadwall,wigeon and tufted duck.
The bigger watersports pond was frozen around the edges but clear of ice in the middle.
It was here that the smew was displaying with a small flock of goldeneye.
i had a quick walk on the river bank in the feint hope of a bearded tit, no sign unfortunately but there was quite a bit of wildfowl on the humber along with a few common waders.
from here I went to Allerthorpe Woods, only took about half an hour.
totally different weather here another degree colder and a light snow shower.It did however make for great phto conditions.
There were hundreds of common birds around the feeder station at the car park but unfortunalely no sign of any bramblings.
I did get rewarded with a nice barn owl huntig over the small meadow opposite the car park.
On Sunday I had the chance to go to Tophill Low for a couple of hours, first stop was 'O' reservoir for the smew, no sign but plenty of wildfowl.I did spot a rather nice flock of siskins on the way down.
I went back to the visitor centre for the last hour and was pleasantly suprised by the amount of birds around.
Firstly close views of feeding goldfinch on teasel, next water rail and brambling at the feeder station finishing of with redwing and grey wagtail at the car park.
Glad to get back out in some decent weather.

Too Cold For Birding!!!!!

I had a ride out into east Yorkshire this afternoon with my 11 year old daughter, we went up to see the Bewick swans at Frodingham and fortunately we could see them from the car.

I managed a few record shots as the snow was coming down but it was far too cold to hang about!

We then had a drive down to Tophill Low to have alook at the feeding station, it was quite full but in the hour we were there we saw a brambling 2 woodcocks a water rail and had some great views of a sparrowhawk.

well worth the trip, I'm looking forward to getting out and about in some decent weather.

the glaucous gull and green winged teal would have been nice but .... maybe on a nicer day.

East Park

Red Crested Pochard
Pintail

Grey Heron

Teal

Goosander

Goosander

Cormerant

waxwing

been out a few times over Christmas to east park (its only round the corner), and have been pleasantly suprised by the quality and variety of the birds.

The highlights have been; a very pale looking chiffchaff,waxwing,pintail,goldeneye,lesser redpoll,'European' treecreeper,redshank,grey heron,teal and up to 24 goosander.

Along with at least another 30 common species, it is certainly worth a visit during the winter monthsThe thing that suprised me the most was the amount of change over the 2 week period.

My money is on a rare turningup before the winter is out.

Allerthorpe Woods

I had a couple of hours at the feeding station at Allerthorpe today, with a low sun it made the light perfect for photograpy and the common birds there were most obliging.

Whilst I was there there was;Blue Tit,Coal Tit,Marsh Tit,Willow Tit,Long Tailed Tit,Great Tit,Great Spotted Woodpecker,Treecreeper,Tree Sparrow,Chaffinch,Brambling,Blackbird,Robin,Wren,Mistle Thrush,Fieldfare,Woodpigeon,Barn Owl,kestrel,Sparrowhawk.

On the way back I clocked the waxwings at Shiptonthorpe.

Not a bad day.

Lincolnshire Safari

Grey Phalarope
Grey Phalarope

Grey Phalarope

Short eared Owl

Hen Harrier

female Kestrel

kestrel

I went over to Lincolnshire at the weekend, primarily to see the grey phalarope at covenham, but then I went on for the raptors at Worlaby Carrs.

I set off befoire dawn on Sunday and arrived at Covenham reservoir at about 8.10, quite an impressive place.There were plenty of wildfowl on the water including mallard,wigeon,goldeneye and a single long tailed duck.There were plenty of redshanks feeding along the edge along with grey and pied wagtails.It took quite a while to get to the south east corner and although the sun was fully up it was absolutely freezing.

at firt there was no sign and I feared the worst especially as it had been such a cold night.However after some scanning with the scope i found it nearer the north eastern corner.

Along the way I met Graham catley who runs his blog (Peewit) that makes very interesting reading and we walked towards the bird, the light was very harsh and resulted in some rather contrasting images, very difficult for a decent shot.

great bird though and very confiding.

After about an hour and a half I thought it was about time to go and I set off back towards the Humber Bridge.I headed for Far Ings to check out the smew, it was there but kept its distance in the unfrozen part of Hotel lake.

It was very quiet there so I headed for Worlaby Carrs somewhere I've never been before.

At firts it looked rather quiet but as the afternoon wore on more andmore raptors put in an appearance.First it was a marsh harrier, then hen harrier followed by a kestrel, then a buzzard and sparrowhawk.In thelast hour of daylight the short eared owls put in an appearance.

quite an enjoyable day, the photos weren't up to much but the birds for early December were quite special.