Another sunny day and another walk to Eske. Despite the sun the wind was keeping most of the small birds down on the ground or deep amongst the foliage. However, with the tide out the exposed mud along the River Hull provided feeding opportunities for a number of Black-headed Gulls and Moorhens. Also feeding on the mud was a small wader which allowed me to get very close – close enough for me to see clearly that it was a juvenile Little Stint. This bird allowed me to sit and study it for about 20 minutes at a distance of around 30 feet, so I could clearly see the distinctive juvenile plumage. This excellent sighting was the 116th species I have observed at this site.

At the lake similar numbers of wildfowl and other waterbirds were present as on tuesday with around 150 Mallard, 50 Tufted Duck, 15 Wigeon, 4 Shoveler, 1 female Goldeneye, 12 Great Crested Grebes, 20 Cormorants and 3 Mute Swans. Today I walked around the west side of the lake where some small ponds held 2 Gadwall and 6 Teal and a sheltered spot allowed me to get the best of the sunshine without the wind. As I sat in the sunshine a number of small flocks of Golden Plover flew south over the lake, with about 150 bird in total. A large blue Dragonfly was also buzzing around and I managed to get a couple of reasonable photos. Here is the best one.

A number of other insects were enjoying the warmth with a Large White butterfly, 1 Small Tortoiseshell and 1 Small White butterfly all on the wing as well as a Red Admiral basking on a dead tree. With these insects and the warm sun I could almost believe that it was spring, and a singing Chiffchaff increased this illusion! Somehow the warm weather had obviously tricked this bird into thinking it was spring also. In rather a strange juxtaposition to the singing Chiffchaff were small numbers of Redwing in the hawthorns, with about 12 birds in total.

Small White

As I was poking around in the scrubland around the lake I came across lots of Long-tailed Tits and a pair of Bullfinches – only the second time I have seen this species here. Rather clumsily I also flushed a Kingfisher from its perch and a Tawny Owl from its roosting spot in a small tree.

Whilst trying to track down the new loaction of the Owl I spotted a flowering plant that I don’t remember seeing before. At home I identified it as a Large-flowered Hemp-Nettle Galeopsis speciosa, apparently a fairly common species. I took some pictures that ended up slightly over-exposed, but the luminous effect this creates is actually quite nice.

On a swift walk back to the car I added Grey Heron and Common Gull to the day list and spotted a Sparrowhawk chasing a juvenile Kestrel; probably the same Kestrel that was being harrassed by Black-headed Gulls a few days back.

Just before getting back into the car a Mistle Thrush flew overhead – a nice finish to a pleasant walk!