Dartford Waffler

So infused with enthusiasm was I yesterday morning that instead of going home after my Swinemoor visit, I continued north up the river Hull to Eske/Pulfin Fen.
On the way up I didn’t see too much; a distant male Marsh Harrier was being attacked by two Lapwings and a few Swallows were flying around. A single […]

With more time and energy on my hands than I’ve had for a while I couldn’t resist another look at Swinemoor, from 8.30am to 11am. As I drove past part of the common I noticed the first horses have been put on. However, they haven’t made their way over to the birdy areas yet.
Just one […]

Yesterday morning I went to Swinemoor Common again hoping for some more spring migrants. Once again I wasn’t disappointed despite the rapidly disappearing water - not much more than a few puddles left now.
The first bird of interest was a male Wheatear next to the Beverley-Barmston drain, a different bird than the two I saw […]

After the recent rediscovery of Large-billed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orinus all eyes have been out to see who can be the first to see it in the field (not in the hand). As predicted it has been seen in northern India, not Thailand where it is apparently a vagrant.
Have a look at the photos of […]

Time for a quick walk around Swinemoor this morning from around 11.15 am to 1 pm. Sadly the water levels are getting terribly low, obviously due to the warm weather as the pasture master has not opened up any drains - he hasn’t needed to. The good news is that there aren’t any horses yet […]

Having finally handed in my degree dissertation it was time to get out and relax. I decided to walk up to Eske/Pulfin Fen in the hope of seeing some spring migrants. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t so good, but it was still fairly warm if a little breezy and overcast. Not too much on the way […]

After the Red-necked Grebe yesterday morning I made a brief trip to Swinemoor and was disappointed to see that it is rapidly drying up, this was also reflected in the lack of birds. The three Little Ringed Plovers were still present as were 20-30 nesting Lapwings. Just 2 Redshank and a single Snipe were the […]

Yesterday morning I made a quick trip to see the much reported Red-necked Grebe in a fishing pond at Weel, near Beverley. I parked my car in Weel and walked the short distance to the small pond where I very quickly saw the grebe. A very handsome bird, coming into summer plumage and this was […]

In the past all my visits to Figham Common have been in the winter and it has become a place that I have associated with windy and overcast weather. So, today seeing it in bright sunshine and getting quite hot walking around was quite unusual. Unfortunately I chose the hottest part of the day to […]

Having arrived back in Beverley at 6pm the good weather drew me towards Swinemoor for a quick look for spring migrants. A quick look turnd into a long look as there were plenty of birds to see.
On the wet grass 20-30 Lapwings were still hanging around as well as about 100 Golden Plovers and I […]