Water Crowfoot

At the southernmost end of Swinemoor is a very damp and spongy area of grass which attracts Whimbrel every year and yesterday a group of 9 were feeding amongst the Starlings and a male Yellowhammer sat calling in a small bush.

Walking back to the car a few Reed Buntings were noisily calling, two Long-tailed Tits were feeding in a tree and the Lapwings were busily chasing Carrion Crows away from their nests. The last birds to add to the list before returning to the car were 2 first summer Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a giant Mistle Thrush.

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 and lots of Lapwings seem to be on nests, at least they spend plenty of time chasing carrion Crows and Jackdaws away.

Some birds are still using what wet areas are left and today 4 Shelduck were present and two Redshank were feeding. One Redshank that has been around for a while now has an unusually long bill and it keeps making me think it is something else, but no, it is a Redshank. Two Little Ringed Plovers still remain, and as much of the mud is baked hard they could be around for a while yet. The only other wader was a single Snipe.

However, as I was scanning across the muddy pools I noticed a female Wheatear and as I went a little closer I flushed a male Yellow Wagtail who gave seemed to blame a Meadow Pipit for the disturbance as he angrily chased it away. The female Wheatear was then joind by a male – these two were my first of the year, spring is such a great time, so many firsts!

I checked out the scrubby areas but found only a Mistle Thrush and two Willow Warblers. A Lesser Whitethroat was heard but not seen. Some common birds were around, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Blackbirds, a Wren and a Robin, but nothing special.

Over at the river Hull a Common Tern surprised me, particularly as it was following the river southwards. Luckily for me it spotted a fish and dived right in front of me – another first for the year!

On the way back to the car a group of 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew south ( 3 adults and a first summer bird), later followed by an adult Herring Gull. The sun then came out enough to set 2 Skylarks off into song and I noticed two pairs of Swallows checking out nest sites under the eaves of a house the other side of the river.

Another productive walk, I’ll try to get back there again tomorrow.

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 to the lake, but 3 Swallows and a Sand Martin were nice to see. A little further along a Snipe flushed out of a ditch and 4 Linnets sat feeding in some grass. Two House Martins were my fist of the year, but at the lake there were plenty of them, along with Swallows and Sand Martins. There must have been a few hundred with Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins roughly in the ratio of 2:2:1.

Wildfowl were predictably sparse but a pair of Wigeon were still present along with a female Goldeneye that seems to have forgotten to migrate. Other birds on the lake were 7 Great-crested Grebes, 8 Greylag Geese, 2 Canada Geese, 22 Mallard, 28 Tufted Duck, 2 Gadwall, 1 Little Grebe and a pair of Mute Swans.

An interesting sight was a Moorhen with a single chick, the first young birds I’ve seen this year. However, a number of Mallard seem to be sitting on nests on the island, along with an Oystercatcher which very aggresively chased away a nosey Carrion Crow. Two Redshank seemed to have taken a liking to the location too and remain.

In the scrubby areas plenty of summer birds were present. I got nice long views of a singing Lesser Whitethroat, a Blackcap and lots of Willow Warblers although best of all were a pair of Marsh Harriers circling around. 3 pairs of Teal were also present in the flooded fen.

So, a nice walk with plenty to see, but I had to rush back to collect my wife from work. Still, on the way back I managed to see a pair of Reed Buntings, a male and female Kestrel and another Snipe.

It’s great that it is spring time!

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 only other wetland species present.

In the scrub large numbers of Willow Warblers were still present, but only 2 Swallows were seen compared to the dozen or so on saturday. However, a pleasant surprise were three singing Lesser Whitethroat, although I didn’t manage to get a look at any of them, I guess I’ll have to wait for my first one of the year!

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 most certainly the best view I’ve ever had of the species as it came to within about 10 metres of me at times. Every other time I’ve seen this species has been in winter and often at long distance in poor weather, so this was quite a treat. Unfortunately the bird seemsedto be injured. On its right hand side, a number of wing feathers were sticking out at an unusual angle and it was swimming slightly lopsided. When it stretched up to flap its wings it was unable to flap the right hand wing properly.

Lots of Willow Warblers were in evidence and a single Sedge Warbler was singing away and allowed me a brief glimpse. Other birds present were a pair of Reed Buntings, a singing Robin, a male Linnet, 4 Mallard, 4 Tufted Ducks and 7 Coot.

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 go out and birdwatching was not at its best. Still, I managed a few site ticks, which was pretty simple due to the arrival of a number of common migrants.

Most notable was the large number of Willow Warblers, with over 30 heard and 4 seen; a single Chiffchaff was pretty lonely in comparison. Two Swallows were another sign of summer, but other species were tricky to find. A small group of 4 Linnets and a singing male Yellowhammer were nice to see and in a nearby pond a few common species were hanging out – Tufted Duck, Greylag Goose, Coot, Mallard and Moorhen.

Walking alongside the Beverley-Barmston drain revealed a pair of Kingfishers excavating a nest hole in the steep sandy bank – I’ll have to come back at a later date to see if any young fledge.

A number of Pheasants made themselves noisy as I walked back to the car but the real surprise was in the reeds on the river Hull next to the car park – a singing Sedge Warbler. This seemed quite early to me so I listened for around ten minutes to make sure and finally caught a glimpse, but enough to be sure that I’d identified it correctly by song (well, I don’t know what else I thought it might have been!).