Saturday 25 April 2015

Knot a Bad Morning - 25th April 2015

A morning walk produced another addition to the patch year list. Whitethroats have returned to the hill on the Riverside Walkway. Three birds were scratching away in the bramble bushes around the hill - a perfect environment for the species so this was a much expected addition.

2 Pochard are still on the pond, and the Little Grebe has been joined by a partner which bodes well for potential breeding success. Blackcaps continue to make themselves obvious and Green Woodpecker also is not subtle in giving away it's position, but is more often seen than heard.

Following a morning walk around the Walkway - I then drove across to Brickyard Lane for a walk across the open ground there. Linnet's are in clear evidence and the area's potential for Warblers is very much coming to the fore with Cetti's, Reed and Willow Warblers along with Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Whitethroat all adding up to quiet an orchestra. Two Snipe were on the small pond there and another patch first was a Yellowhammer - giving away its prescence with the familiar 'a little bit of bread and no cheese' song.

There were a number of Meadow Pipits, and suspected Tree Pipit but views were to fleeting to confirm - so I will have to return to try to find out for sure.

Finally - the Humber foreshore was a hive of activity this morning just on from Brickyard Lane. 3 Curlew were very confiding as were the ever present Oystercatchers. A group of small waders was made up of the usual Dunlin and Ringed Plovers but with excellent counts of 35 and 16 respectively. Confirmation however that it is always worth checking was a Knot moulting into it's summer plumage. A grey bird in winter becomes a stunning bird in summer, with mottled wings and back combined with a beautiful red flush to it's front and belly - coining it's full name of Red Knot. A real halfway house of a bird - both the flush and winter grey were in evidence.



Common Scoter - North Ferriby

A walk with the dog after work proved well timed when a lone duck on the river off the Riverside Walkway proved to be a smart male Common Scoter. A number of birds have been seen at inland sites over the last month or so - maybe this was a bird returning to the north sea before heading off to Baltic breeding grounds.

The alarm bells always go off when a lone duck is on the river. Other ducks with the exception of Goldeneye tend to stay at the edges - so it immediately warranted a closer look. At about halfway out -it was pretty distant, but the distince neck shape, held straight from the body combined with the distinctive beak shape quickly identified the unusual visitor.

The Scoter followed a record of 4 Goosander earlier in the week, 3 males and a redhead. Just my second record on patch and my first for the walkway. Swallows have now arrived in numbers and Blackcaps are on the rise too. However, a few expected birds have yet to make an appearance such as Yellow Wagtail and Wheatear. Hopefully May will produce the goods.



Sunday 19 April 2015

Birding Sunday - 19th April 2015

This Sunday presented the opportunity to make a first foray of the year to the coast. After a little half-hearted debate, Spurn won out as it often does.

A cold north easterly put paid to much migration movement. First stop was the North Ferriby walkway in hope of a Ring Ouzel or Yellow Wagtail on the horse paddocks. A fairly quiet morning, the Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps continue to be vocal while the number of Swallows had increased with 7 hawking around the Humber bank.

Male Blackcap skulking amidst the blossom
The next move was to head straight to Spurn. A Peregrine just outside Patrington was a great start before reaching Sammy's Point which is my traditional place to start, and it was clear pretty quickly that there was limited movement of small birds. Two Great Tits and a few Linnets was the sum total of the first 3 paddocks before reaching the paddock furthest East. A number of Redshank and Oystercatcher were on the Humber as the tide reached its highest - and the familiar call of a Whimbrel quickly put me onto a bird as it lifted from the flats and headed inland overhead.

You'll have to trust me - it's a Whimbrel!


The field itself was pretty quiet. Again Blackcap and Chiffchaff made their prescence known but no sign of the Redstart which has been present for the previous few days. On the walk back to the car a couple of Yellow Wagtails flew overhead, my first for the year. Reaching the paddock by the car park, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 White Wagtail and 2 Yellow Wagtail were all present, the latter a male and female but no sign of the Flavissima from the previous day.

Stunning male Yellow Wagtail. The colour of summer.
Moving on to the Wetlands - the Avocets have returned with 6 birds there this morning. A Little Egret threatened to land but then moved over the bank towards Beacon Ponds. The pools with the most activity were those on the Holderness fields where the female Garganey has found the first pool to it's liking whilst a trio of Greenshank shared the space with a Redshank a couple of Dunlin and a pair of Avocets.

Female Garganey - Spurn 19th April 2015

My first Greenshank of the year along with Redshank, Dunlin and Avocet, Spurn 19th April
The rest of the walk was pretty quiet. A rest in the hide at Canal Scrape provided an opportunity to get out of the wind and watch a pair of Little Egrets displaying - one of which had a very impressive plume. 

Little Egret - Spurn 19th April
I decided to head back to patch early afternoon, but the journey was to turn up the bird of the day. A superb adult almost pure white Iceland Gull flew low over the road by the Port of Hull building on the east side of Hull. The bird flew low ahead before banking around giving great views. The size and lack of heaviness around the head and build quickly eliminated Glaucous - a real unexpected treat which I wish I could have appreciated more - but the traffic would not have appreciated me stopping!

Finally I finished up back on patch - with a walk from Brough Haven to Welton Water. Sedge Warblers were in three seperate locations along the Humber Bank. There are now two female Marsh Harriers on the airfield marsh - but sailing is now well under way on Welton Water - so there was nothing to be seen there today. The best birds were on route back, whilst listening to a Sedge Warbler a Grasshopper Warbler began reeling from the ditch by the Humber Bank between the fishing pools and the sump. Just as I was taking in this wonderful sound, a Swan flew low across the field and headed off towards Welton. A closer look revealed the thick yellow wedge of a Whooper Swan - a lone bird trailing the rest of its group who headed off to breeding grounds a couple of weeks ago.

Whooper Swan - an unexpected late bird at Brough Airfield, 19th April

Spring Arrives in North Ferriby

April is always an interesting month - with a blend of both seasons. It has been slow to take off this year, with colder weather keeping migrants at bay. Indeed, there has been a significant gap this year between arrival of migrants in the south and the north - with a good couple of weeks between arrivals on the south coast and here in Yorkshire.

But arrive they have. After Chiffchaffs were the first to arrive and a single Blackcap was possibly a bird that had wintered in the UK - there was a break in the action. The reed pond has held increasing waterfowl with Teal, Pochard and Gadwall all regular. The Gadwall quickly moved to the river where they still are to date. Water Rail still eludes me visually, but I have heard it three times now, all seemingly from the same part of the pool.

This Gadwall pair have taken up residence on the Humber at North Ferriby
Chiffchaff singing at Welton Water


A Little Grebe has returned - and whilst elusive at times feeds out in the open from time to time. It is still on its own at the moment, so it will be interesting to see if a partner comes to join it in the coming weeks.

Little Grebe - typically elusive

A Goldcrest is frequent around the Reed Pool and there are now two Green Woodpeckers at the far end of the Walkway. A Buzzard flew east along the Humber early on the 16th April while certainly the raptor highlight was a Marsh Harrier which spent 10 minutes on the evening of the 9th hunting over the Ings field before departing towards Hessle.

Marsh Harrier in fading light over the Ings field

Hovering over the Ings Field before heading towards Hessle

In a normal year, Hirundine arrival is Sand Martin first, then Swallow, House Martin and finally Swift last to arrive. This year migration has been on it's head - so the first was a House Martin on the 13th April followed by the first Swallows on the 14th April. The first Sand Martins were over the open ground near Melton (which i will call Brickyard Lane for the purposes of this blog) on the 18th April. All hirundines are still in short supply but I think the floodgates are about to open.

Willow Warbler made a welcome return on the 12th April with a single singing at Welton Water on the same day as my first patch Kingfisher. Birds are now in on the Walkway as well as Brickyard Lane. Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler have also made their first showing on the 18th, the former at Brickyard Lane and the latter at Welton Water.

The first Sedge Warbler of the year at Welton Water - 18th April

Finally - a trip to the other side of the river produced a Cetti's Warbler. A new bird in the north, it's recent expansion has been pretty epic with each year seeing a movement further to the north. There are a number of singing birds on the south bank now and after reports of singing birds on the north side too, it has been a pleasure to hear my first on patch at Brickyard Lane on the 17th April. A walk the following morning then produced 5 singing birds - each with their easily recognised bursts of song. These are elusive birds however, so I have had to make so with just a flight view so far!


Saturday 18 April 2015

22nd March 2015 - North Ferriby Walkway and Welton Water

Highlights of a walk today were two Chiffchaff which are becoming a regular feature now. The high tide pushed a group of Dunlin and a Ringed Plover onto the rocks at the foreshore which presented a good chance to take a few photos - as did the Greylag at Welton Water which captured the light perfectly.