Hare-y Dragonflies

June carried on its warm and sunny weather and lots of wildlife came out to enjoy it.

Brown Hare approaching

Brown Hare stopped

Brown Hare scarperring

Down by the Mere I counted 5 Emporer dragonflies hawking for insects. My quest to get a decent in-flight shot of these lovely creatures continues.

Emporer dragonfly

2 of 5 Emporer dragonflies

My first Black-tailed Skimmer of the year appeared too:

Black-tailed Skimmer

Lots of hirundines were feeding over the water, Sand Martins primarily, and they rested every now and then on the fence.

Sand Martins taking a breather

Ringlet butterflies are flying along with Meadow Browns and lots of Common Blue Damselflies.

Ringlet

Just walking along the footpaths through the meadows is a joy at this time of year with lots of birds singing; butterflies, damselflies and dragonflies providing splashes of colour; mammals from hares to otters to search for. With more species still to come!

That spoon, that spoon, that spoonbill (with apologies to Howlin' Wolf)

Hot and sunny
Miles walked to date: 1041

On Wednesday morning I had a heads-up from Jon that 4 Spoonbills were over Swan Island. Luckily I was approaching the Mere so I was there soon after I received the call.

They were all in a tree at the east end of Swan Island, then they took off and moved west along the island tree tops.

1 spoonbill

2 spoonbills

3 spoonbills

4 spoonbills

They stayed over Swan Island the whole time I watched them so the photos are a bit distant.

Once I'd looked through the photos, the first 4 brought a Beatles tune to mind so I put together a short video just for a giggle.

Hornsea Wildlife at its Best

Sunny June days pass so quickly, especially when you see so much of the wildlife that our small town has to offer in a single morning!

A single sunny June morning's list:
Mammals
Otter
Fox
Roe Deer
Brown Hare (5), Rabbit
Squirrel
Birds (just a selection of the 52 species)

Marsh Harrier (2), Kestrel
Barnacle Goose (3)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (3), Green Woodpecker, Treecreeper (2)
Yellowhammer (4), Linnet (7), Skylark
Whitethroat (6), Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, ChiffChaff, Willow Warbler
Little Egret
Oystercatcher (2)
Butterflies
Meadow Brown
Small Tortoiseshell
Large White
Large Skipper
Peacock

Throw in a couple of species of orchid and a few moths and you have a very interesting morning indeed 😊

It was nice to see Sue out for a walk with some of her family this morning, and to meet Dexter who is apparently interested in wildlife. Just for him here are a few photos of Great Spotted Woodpeckers. I took these a while ago so they weren't taken this morning but they were taken at Hornsea Mere.

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male Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding young

young Great Spotted Woodpecker (with red head)

Great Spotted Woodpecker in Wassand wood

Back to a morning's photos, all taken near the Mere.

Roe Deer doe relaxing in the grass

Otter, distant unfortunately

Otter

2 of the 5 Brown Hares seen

Reed Bunting with fem common blue damselflies for its young

Common Blue Damselfly and 2 unidentified insects

Pyramidal Orchid

Lots of Meadow Brown butterflies around in the fields

male Large Skipper butterfly

young Jackdaw waiting to be fed

Wren fledgeling

Wren fledgeling

Great Hatfield walk of 6.5 miles

 Miles this year - 997

This misty morning I decided to walk a few of the footpaths I haven't been along yet. Checking the map I saw an opportunity to do those around Great Hatfield that have somehow been missed over the years.

Although the temperature was about 11 degrees it didn't feel that warm as I set off to cover new ground - I always look forward to going somewhere new.

Misty morning among the crop fields

Rain on the ears looked very nice

There were good numbers of Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer along most of the field edges, with a few Whitethroat singing too.

Yellowhammer

My best find was a couple of Yellow Wagtails that flew in over the hedgerow to land on a muck heap.

Yellow Wagtail

Just a few hundred yards further on there were 4 Pied Wagtails, one of which stayed for a while so I could get a photo.

Pied Wagtail

Pied Wag fly by

I thought that the population of rabbits had sufferred badly over the last couple of years but you wouldn't think so walking around Great Hatfield, there were dozens of them 😀

Rabbits had obviously been breeding like....er..

Brown Hares in the fields too, Hatfield was a revelation really and I will return to these paths to see how the wildlife fares over the next few months.

Brown Hare

Along the field edges the scented mayweed and cut-leaved cranesbill was growing in abundance, in some places the mayweed was taller than the crop.

Cut-leaved cranesbill

Scented Mayweed

As I walked out of the fields back into Hatfield village I spotted a Victorian post box! It's another of my things - I always check the post boxes to see if they are a little different.

A Victorian post box 😃

Grasshopper Warbler and 'Pecker False Starts

I had a later start than usual this morning as it was hissing down and cold. I go for a walk every morning for enjoyment and if the weather looks like I won't enjoy it then I delay my start or go back to bed 😂

On my walk this morning there was sun, a stiff north westerly breeze, sleet, hail and rain. My hands were very cold even with my gloves on!

I was hoping to get some decent photos of the woodpeckers this morning and when I got to the nest they were busy feeding their young. However, try as I might, I couldn't get a good clear view of the nest hole for long enough. The wind and rain was moving the branches about between me and the hole so I gave up. I did notice though that the birds had a few false starts with the location of the hole, they had gone through the bark and started excavating the hole but gave up for some reason.

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Great Spotted Woodpecker trial nest holes

Plenty of warblers were still singing including the ubiquitous Cetti's, Reed, Sedge, Blackcap, Chiff Chaff, Whitethroat and Grassshopper Warbler. The latter was quiet as I passed by but then started reeling so I went back for a look. Grasshopper Warblers are usually heard but most of the time you don't get a good view - not this morning though.

It sat on the edge of the reeds giving reasonable views. The dead reed stems got in the way a bit but I think the video is OK. I took a few still photos too but the quality isn't as good as usual as I had my Nikon bridge camera with me rather than the Canon.

Grasshopper Warbler reeling

Still reeling

Over the Mere there were hundreds of hirundines and Swifts that had been lured down from the heights by the rain washing insects down closer to the water and the ground. In the fields the Swifts were flying really close and you could hear the whoosh as they zoomed past.

Close encounters of the speedy kind

Tomorrow's weather is forecast to be wet and windy again but I'll deal with that in the morning.

Hornsea Wildlife Carrying On As Normal

We homo sapiens may be struggling with a nasty virus that is affecting our way of life but the wildlife around us is carrying on as though nothing has changed. For them of course nothing has changed, apart from less pollution and disturbance perhaps.

Birds are still nesting and feeding young.

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male Great Spotted Woodpecker with food

male GSW leaving nest hole

Treecreeper with food

Treecreeper with food approaching its nest

Treecreeper entering nest

almost gone

Treecreeper removing fecal sac (blurred but will do better!)

The Treecreeper's young have fledged now but the woodpeckers are still wearing themselves out.

Starlings have been visiting the Mere shore and fields for food and are now feeding their young on site.

young Starling waiting to be fed

House Sparrows have also been numerous at the Mere, this adult had just flown in.

House Sparrow

Butterflies and damselflies are getting more numerous by the day as the weather warms up. I almost managed to catch this female Orange Tip just as it landed but although I got it approaching it was too quick for me (and, schoolboy error, I had my camera set incorrectly).

Orange Tip butterfly

Common Whitethroats are still singing from every available bush and I've been trying to get one in song flight. Here are my latest attempts...

Common Whitethroat song flight

as above

Brown Hares are getting on with what they do best, laying about and feeding then disappearing before your very eyes. No boxing going on now but they are still very active.

Brown Hare

I've been seeing more people walking though the fields in the mornings as they appear to be getting more adventurous on their daily exercise routines. Yesterday and today saw a reduction though, as the weather took a turn for the worse 👍 which made life easier as I didn't have to worry about keeping a safe distance.

On a closing note, we had lovely views of three Roe Deer from the house a few days ago as they came wandering down the field edge towards us.

Roebuck reaching for the best leaves

Does, 2 deer, 2 female deer

Hopefully our own lives will get back to something like normality in the fullness of time, but it doesn't look like it will be in the next few weeks.

Stay safe everyone.