Short Eared Owl

I had yet another trip out to pat Haven today.

Took my trusty mate george (the dog) just for an hour to see if the short eared owls I had seen the previous day were still there.

I went right down the side of the drain past the sluice and up onto a raised bank near the estuary.

Straight away I saw both birds hunting over the saltmarsh, every now and then dropping on to something.

I guess they were feeding on something pretty small because I never saw them come up with any voles or small mammals.

I thought I would try my luck digiscoping, and whilst they are not the fastest birds, they do present a challenge.

I was quite happy with these shots.

More From Pat Haven

I had another trip down to patrington Haven yesterday, I was hoping to get some shots of the greenshanks that are currently residing there.

It was my intention to get there a couple of hours before the tide came in and set up my small hide to wait for the birds.

After initially flushing a few redshank on the pool as I set up, it wasn't long before the birds started to come back.

First was a knot, then a redshank and a juvenile ruff.The bird activity increased dramatically as the tide flooded and the sky was filed with the sound of thousands of knot.

Soon the greenshank came they settled at opposite me about 30m away and roosted with just the odd flurry of activity.

More redshank came in along with a couple of Dunlin, and also a littel egret came in for a short while.

One of the problems with Pat Haven is that it is quite a popular walking area and anyone up on the bank invariably flushes all the birds.

I figured that If I got there early I might have a couple of hours undisturbed.Fortunately it wasn't while half eleven that the first walker came along so at this point I decide to pack up and go.

I noticed a couple of short eared owls hunting in the field opposite as I walked back.

Another nice morning, still didn't get any shots of the grey or golden plovers, I might have to change my spot...........

Patrington Haven

I went down to patrington Haven for a look at the waders yesterday morning.High tide was around 6.00am so I thought it would be good to get there for then.
The first bird I saw when I got there was a hunting marsh harrier,(a good start) then there was a couple of sedge warblers feeding young along the drain bank.
The trick about not scaring the birds at pat Haven is to keep your silouette off the sky line so instead of oging straight over the bank I stayed down on the track and walked to the pumping station.
On the way down there was goldfinches,meadow pipits,2 wheatears and pied wagtails.Also the hirundines had just started to feed.Withe the sun on my back it was easier to get over the top of the bank in the shadow of the sub-station and I could watch the birds virtually undetected.
The sheer amount of bird down there is unbelievable especially the waders.
By now the tide had started to ebb and the birds had become more active, there was at least 5 species of gull, golden plovers (including one rather well marked darker bird) grey plover,curlew,whimbrel,greenshank,ruff,green sandpiper,oystercatcher,dunlin,hundreds of knot.
There was also at least 7 little egrets.
As the tide ebbed futher most of the birds moved off this sight in itself was an absolute spectacle.
The probem with Pat Haven as far as photography goes is that you cannot get that close to the birds, but a rather nice hollow near the edge of the bank brings the birds that much closer.
I thought it might be woth setting up a small hide before the next high tide and waiting for the birs to come in as the tide flooded, so at about 2.30 in the afternoon I came back, set up my hide and waited.
It wasn't long before a flock of redshanks dropped in ( if I could fool these then I could fool anything!).
These were closely followed by a pair of greenshank and then a party of knot.
The best was saved to last, normally I cannot get within 200m of a little egret, but a pair came within 15m, absoultely fantastic!
This was one experiment that I was really pleased with and I will certainly be giving it a go again.

Hoopoe

Got the news from Birdguides of a hoopoe in Dunnington near York on Monday.I couldn't make it then but fortunately it has hung around and was still there tonight.

I spent an hour and a half watching this delightful bird feeding in a small paddock.

beautiful bird, hope it hangs around as I might go back for some more shots in better light.

Spotted Flycatcher

I had a nice trip out to an undisclosed site in East Yorkshire and stumbled upon this breeding spotted flycatcher.

We watched them for about 20 minutes putting on a superb dispaly of aerobatics picking off flies from all angles.

I had a trip out to the Humber Bank after tea and saw this juvenile cuckoo and hunting barn owl.

Swinemoor

Wood sandpiper
Greenshank
Golden Plover
Golden Plover

I went for a look on Swinemoor last night in the hope of some waders.I parked up at Hull bridge and walked south along the river Hull.Not much on the way down but a family of newly fledged pied wagtails was nice and also a sparrowhawk flying over were nice.

It was my intention to head towards the stone bridge over barmston Drain but there has been some rather confrontational looking bullocks released onto the common just lately so not wanting to find out who could run the fastest I made an about turn when one was paying too much interest in me.

I went along the bank of the river and saw lots of meadow pipits and more pied wagtails.There was also a few reed warblers calling from the cover of the opposite bank.

Further along the meadow got increasingly wetter and it was here that there was most happening.

A decent sized flock of lapwings were accompanied by an even bigger flock of starlings, also a single golden plover looked stunning amongst the new grass.Near the waters edge was a skulking wood sandpiper and in the pools were a pair of greenshank.

There was also a snipe in the mud and plenty of swifts,housemartins and sand martins skirting over the pools.

Looks very promising and another rare wader is a distinct possibility.

Beacon Ponds

Roseate Tern
Knot
Roseate Tern

Little Tern
Little Tern

I was a bit pushed for time this Sunday and as much as I would have liked a trip North for the terek sandpiper, I had to make do with searching for Roseate Terns at beacon Ponds.

A big tide was forecast and high water was about 8.30 so I set off at about 5.30am in the hope of catching the waders as they moved off the Humber mudflats.

The wind had veered southerly from the stron south easterly the day before.

I was a bit concerned that the sea would have been a bit rough and made the walk to the hide at Beacon Ponds a bit more of a challenge.

The walk along Beacon Lane was uneventful apart from a single sedge warbler and even when I reached the hide there were only a few birds.The obligatory ringed plover were skulking on the sand dunes and the sandwich terns were quite flighty.A couple of black headed gulls and the odd common tern were amongst the flock.Quite a few swifts were passing through but no sign of anything special amongst them.

The wader numbers built up as the tide flooded and grey plovers were joined by dunlin,knot and turnstone.

Still no sign of the roseate terns.

Another small flock of Dunlin were joined by a single curlew sandpiper, unfortunately it was not summer plumaged and remained distant.

The tern numbers continued to build up mainly sandwich and the odd common.

Little terns were buzzing about overhead and every now and then a male would bring a sandeel to an unimpressed female crouching in the dunes.a distant greenshank and a couple of redshanks offered soem variation on the wader front, then finally as the terns kept on coming a fine roseate tern landed on the furthest spit and started preening.

Its pink breast stood out quite considerably from the paler sandwich terns.The photos do not really do it justice.

Not much on the way back, only common stuff on Beacon Lane.

It did look promising and I will be back there again in the next couple of weeks, Terek Sandpier would be nice.