Pied Flycatcher

I had a quick look down at Kilnsea after work today just randomly hoping for a pied flycatcher.
This fellow did'nt disappoint.

Bird Race

My nephew (Sam) and myself had a very tiring but enjoyable bird race today with the intention of recording 100 species of bird.
Weatherwise it didn't look very promising as a howling northerly gale brought torrential showers.
The day got off to a promising start with a sparrowhawk flying through as we loaded the car.
We had a few birds from the car as we travelled north including barn owl,stock dove, pheasant, magpie, carrion crow, rook, mistle thrush, song thrush, blackbird, redlegged partridge, starling, collard dove and house sparrow.
We reached Forge valley just before 7 and straight away the common woodland birds obliged and we soon added chaffinch, coal tit, blue tit, great tit, nuthatch, marsh tit and wren to the list.
Further up we found greenfinch, swallow, goldfinch, chiff chaff, house martin, cormorant, blackcap, tufted duck, coot, mallard, treecreeper, long tailed tit, robin, heron and 2 of the days special birds dipper and kingfisher.
We then headed to our second venue-Filey Brigg the change in conditions could not have been more diverse.
The strong northerly wind made it difficult to stand and combined with a high tide conditions did not look good.
A brisk walk to the headland and hiding behind some shelter we found jackdaw, herring gull, linnet, skylark, oystercatcher, feral pigeon, gannet, kittiwake, fulmar, eider, common scoter, meadow pipit, rock pipit, pied wagtail and shag taking the total to 52.
We then called in at Filey Dams to add little grebe, shoveller, mute swan, sand martin, moorhen, tree sparrow, great black backed gull and willow warbler to the tally.
On then to Flamborough a brief stopover produced manx shearwater, puffin, guillimot and razorbill.
A break for a bite to eat and we were off again to Tophill Low, some respite from the relentless wind.
Here we found whitethroat,dunnock, greylag goose, shellduck,canada goose, gadwall, swift, pochard, wigeon, great crested grebe, yellowhammer, sedge warbler, reed warbler, common tern, black headed gull, teal, common gull, garden warbler, reed bunting, little ringed plover, common sandpiper, yellow wagtail and another bonus bird a white wagtail.
A quick view over the wall at Swinemoor produced redshank, kestrel, lapwing, snipe, lesser black backed gull and yet another bonus bird a garganey bringing the total to a healthy 93.
Then on to our final destination-Spurn.
We thought it would be a good idea to try Beacon Ponds first (bad idea) the wind was whipping down the beach blowing sand every where we managed a lesser whitethroat and ringed plover before we got to the hide but when we got the the place was totally devoid of birds barring 2 shellducks.
We made a hasty retreat back to the car park and by now we were flagging.
Our spirits were buoyed by a ring ouzel at canal scrape and we finally managed our target by finding whimbrel, curlew, grey plover and dunlin at the gate.
We could have had more (sanderling, turnstone, brent goose little egret, knot and cuckoo were notable omissions) however after battling the elements for ten and a half hours we decided to call it a day.
Mission acomplished.

Redstart

I've only photographed 2 species of bird this weekend but it has to be said that I,m very pleased with the results of both.
I only had a couple of hours to spare this afternoon so I popped down to Sammy's point.A chap told me that there was a redstart in some bushes and very little else about.
Ikept my radio on but nothing much was reported so I stayed with the redstart.
Might just save me a trip further afield later in the year.

Garganey

Took the dog for a walk down swine Moor this morning.
These 2 garganeys were a nice year tick.
Not much else different from during the week.
No sign of the yellow wagtails.

Spring has sprung!

I had a couple of very contrasting mornings at Spurn this weekend.
saturday morning had a cold westerlt wind blowing much stronger than the 10mph forecast.
I started at Sammy's Point and managed a brief view of a ring ouzel as it flew north.
Then on to canal scrape nothing doing there apart from a few chiff chaffs and willow warblers.
Went down to Spurn Point and hardly any birds around the parade ground, but did see a glaucous gull flying south, so went back up to the crown for a reported firecrest which I saw albeit fleeting.
Back to canal scrape and managed some distant views of the 'continental' stonechat and by now things had warmed up slightly in the bushes I saw my first sedge warbler of the year.
headed for home with a few more for the year list.
This morning was far more springlike.I started again at sammy's Point and saw a lesser whitethroat and whimbrel and one solitary wheatear.
Down to canal scrape and saw another lesser whitethroat, someone reported a ring ouzel back at Sammy's so this being my target bird for the day I went back.
No sign where it had been reported, but I did see my first cuckoo of the year.On the way back I saw a large blckbird feeding in one of the paddocksand sure enough it was the RO.
It was always keeping its distance but I managed a coiple of half decent shots, later it was joined by a yellow wagtail.
A good few other common migrants were reported today including grasshopper warbler, whinchat, redstart, firecrest and black redstart.
At last some decent birds to look at, hopefully something big soon.

Busy Weekend

I have ,anaged to visit a couple of places this weekend,the first one a sensitive site but needless to say I got decent views (but no shots) of my 2 target birds woodlark and meadow pipit.
The second place was Spurn on saturday I spent some time in the hide at canal scrape and the yellow wagtails proved to be very obliging as was the black redstart at sandy beaches.
Second visit on Sunday wasn't so successful as a cold north easterly put a dampener on things.
It was a good weekend for firsts of the years and wheatear, willow warbler, swallow, sand martin, yellow wagtail, black redstart, buzzard and water pipit were all added to the list.
Some strong south easterlies wouldn't go amiss during the week.

Spurn in Spring

I had my first proper trip to Spurn of the year today.
A beautiful Spring day with hardly any wind and mild temperature.
I started at sammy's Point, straight away adding willow warbler, swallow and wheatear to the year list.
I had my radio with me and it was rather quiet on the airwaves apart from a few common migrants, so I stayed longer than I normally would mainly targetting the wheatear.
I had my lunch at the Crown and Anchor car park and was rewarded with a pair of blackcaps, then on to canal scrape.
At first glance not much doing then I noticed a rather pale looking pipit on the other bank, a quick look with the scope and it was clear it was a water pipit with that one of the regulars popped in and put it out on the radio.Within minutes the hide was full everyone wanting a glimpse.
It then became clear that this was only the 16th water pipit ever recorded at Spurn.
I had no idea that it ws such a significant bird, and I felt quite chuffed.
Also from canal scrape was a couple of flyover buzzards, a scandinavian rock pipit, a couple of immaculate yellow wagtails and lots of chiff chaffs feding in the reeds.
All in all a very pleasant day.