And (and, and) you put the load right on me

 OK. I'm getting old.

Not past it yet, but getting there.

I went out early this morning in the dark, fog and rain to see if the Bewick's Swans that were sighted yesterday evening were still around. As they were last seen over the north side against the reed bed I took the scope as the only place to see them from is the south side.

Off I went in waterproofs, Muck boots, bins round my neck, rucksack with DSLR camera on my back, tripod with scope over my shoulder - feeling a bit weighed down.

My normal, unladen weight is about 12 stone (76 kg).

My Weight with carrying this lot was 14 stone (89 kg) - I know because when I got home I asked Lin to bring the scales into the garage so I could weigh myself before and after I'd divested myself of all the stuff 🤣😂 no wonder I felt my age today! Some of the weight was rain of course but the rest was clothing and gear.

Did I get a result from all this Sherpa-like activity? What do you think...

Poor visibility to say the least at the Mere today

I stayed with Jon for a while hoping things would improve, and they did for about 2 minutes when we could at least see our feet, but then it closed in again. I wandered off to the hide, hoping against hope that by the time I got there visibility would have got better - it didn't though. At least I saw a few Mallard, Coot, Goldeneye, Tufties, Wigeon and Mute Swans within about 70 yards of the hide, which is more than I saw on the south side.

On the way I saw a flock of birds get up from the stubble and land in a hedgerow. Through the murk I made out they were Redwing (with a few Yellowhammer, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting too), so I took a few photos for the record. I counted them when I came back an hour later as they left a tree in dribs and drabs and got 59. Two Mistle Thrush as well, but no Fieldfare though.

Misty Redwing in the hedgerow

Not such a good image - but when you clean it up it's not as bad.

Redwing, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch

Wider angle of same hedgerow

I will certainly be looking into getting a lighter camera rig and possibly a lighter scope in the new year. I'd already sort of decided a smaller camera was on the cards but today has decided me. Anyone want a Canon 7DMkII with Sigma 150-600mm lens 😢

It's Been A Long, Long Time. Hasn't It?

32 days in fact. I've been out and about every day but not far and not with my camera usually, for reasons I won't bore you with.

However it's time for another update before I forget what the heck has been going on.

The most recent event of note was of course Storm Arwen that wreaked so much havoc over the country - not least on my old mate Dave, who suffered days without power in Coniston. We had an outage of a few hours but that was nothing in comparison.

I walked through Wassand Wood this morning for the first time since the storm 8 days ago and saw trees down Here, There and Everywhere. Two of them are over the path to the hide:

A broken oak tree over the path

The remainder of the oak tree

One of the large pine trees blew down and over the path

There is no immediate rush to move these of course as there is little activity worth noting on the Mere or in the wood these days, and anyone who really wants to get to the hide can still do so - I did 😂😂

The beach has been almost devoid of interesting wildlife too over the past month, with just a few Sanderling along the tide line to maintain some level of worth-looking-at-ness. The gulls are perused with the hope that something different may show up, but it hasn't yet. I haven't even seen a Turnstone yet through the rest of November and December to date.

Single Sanderling on the beach

There was a sighting of a Dunnock on the beach, checking out a washed up lobster pot though. I hoped it was a Rock Pipit when I first saw it, but of course it wasn't 🙄

Dunnock inspecting a lobster pot

On the cliffs I came across a Song Thrush that looked a bit different. Eventually I worked out that it had the upper mandible of its bill missing. It seemed to be doing OK without it, it didn't look undernourished or ill and bounced along like a normal thrush would.

Song Thrush with upper part of its bill missing

The flock of birds in and around the set aside field is always a sight worth seeing and checking for something different. I saw a couple of Lesser Redpoll feeding on Great Willowherb seed heads earlier in the week but haven't seen them since. Here's a list of species seen in the area and maximum counts:

2 Lesser Redpoll

6 Yellowhammer

3 Brambling

18 Chaffinch

c.30 Goldfinch

4 Bullfinch

c.80 Linnet

8 Tree Sparrow

c.30 Reed Bunting

Brambling

Brambling

Yellowhammer

Reed Bunting

Chaffinch

Lord Knows I Got Brambling All On My Mind

 Another song link I'm afraid. Written by Robert Johnson and recorded by every blues player worth their salt.

We've had several Brambling flying over in the past couple of weeks and yesterday when I was chasing the Cattle Egret (don't ask!) I saw a couple in the set aside with the finch flock so I went back today to get better views.

I found them easily enough but getting a photo was more problematic, especially as I had my lens on an incorrect focus setting. I guess I caught the switch at some point because I couldn't focus any closer than 10 metres, which I found out when trying to get a Brambling photo.

Brambling in the foreground but couldn't focus on it so got Yellowhammer instead

I eventually got a few images of Brambling but not the ideal shots - front on rather than side on which would have shown plumage and form to best effect.

Brambling

The two birds I saw were with the finch flock flying from the set aside into the surrounding hedgerows and back. In the flock I got:

c.80 Linnet

c.20 Reed Bunting

7 Chaffinch

3 Yellowhammer

2 Brambling

1 Goldfinch

While we are mentioning near misses, here's another from today. A grey squirrel came along as I was sitting waiting (hoping) for dragonflies to appear and I got a few photos but didn't dare move too much in case I spooked it. The stem of grass just wouldn't shift 😂

Squirrel hiding behind a grass stem

Anything else today? Oh yes, a Kestrel, a Wigeon and a lovely sunrise...

Kestrel hovering on a gentle breeze

Wigeon off to Swan Island

I won't bother with the sunrise pics - old hat and hackneyed - but it hasn't stopped me in the past and probably won't do in the future either! PS Had a Small Tortoiseshell but no dragons today.

 

The song? Rambling On My Mind.

Autumn Is Here

 I've been walking down to the sea front most mornings before going through to the Mere. There have been lovely sunrises in and amongst.

Sunrise over the wind farm

Sunrise is an obvious subject for dramatic photos and I don't mind being obvious 😂

I also don't mind it if the weather is bad as it means there are fewer people out and about to disturb the wildlife...

Mind you, it would take a lot of effort for any of us landlubbers to disturb these beauties as they swam past Hornsea. A pod of around 15 Bottlenosed Dolphins on their way south.

Bottlenosed Dolphins

Whooper Swans have been passing through en route to their wintering grounds, these two flew south before veering south west over South Cliffs.

Whooper Swans off the sea front

Cloud formations are sometimes more interesting than the wildlife and these lenticular clouds were forming nicely last Tuesday until they just blew away on the wind.

Small lenticular clouds forming off the sea front

Pity they dispersed, as they can be spectacular when they have the right conditions to extend their size and shape. These photos were taken in 2011 back where I used to live on the Pennines and show perfect formations of these clouds.

Lenticular clouds over Stoodley Pike

Same day as above with the clouds just forming

 Things have been relatively quiet at the Mere recently with Scaup, Common Scoter and Whooper Swans the pick of the sightings. These birds have been keeping their distance but they have ventured a little closer to the shore once or twice.

Drake Common Scoter

Female Common Scoter

 Numbers of wildfowl are building now on the Mere as we approach winter. Goldeneye are flying in, mainly females with just 2 drakes spotted by yours truly to date, and Gadwall are increasing too.

 

Gadwall off second field

Gadwall changing direction

 Wassand wood has also been quiet as autumn wears on, with no migrants reported at all yet. The residents have been keeping their heads down too so I was happy to watch a Treecreeper feeding.

 

 

Treecreeper in Wassand Wood

A Last Glimpse Of Summer

 As autumn wears on and the weather gradually cools off we have had a brief period of sunny and warm weather. This has reminded me of the glories of summer just past and I have enjoyed these pleasant days - but I haven't been tempted to change back into my shorts!! Oh no, that's tempting fate that is.

This morning I walked along the sea front to see if anything was passing given that  the gentle south westerlies had veered to a gentle northerly breeze. Not much as I feared, but a skein of about 170 Pink-footed geese flew overhead going north west.

Pink-footed geese

I headed inland to the Mere and on KP I was greeted by a whole host of people. This isn't usually the case at 9 in the morning but there was a sailing event on so boats were being prepared and moved onto the water.

Jon had found a Slavonian Grebe over by the eastern reed bed and I found it OK through the bins, but my naff Nikon bridge camera didn't make much of the view...

Slav Grebe at 800mm

Slav Grebe at 2000mm

I am seriously considering upgrading my P900 to a newer bridge camera. It is absolutely great for close up photography but that isn't why I bought it 5 years ago. I got it for its 83X zoom and minimal weight, but the reviews I read were off the mark by a long way regarding image quality.

Yesterday's walk along the south side, also in bright, warm sunshine, was a total pleasure and did remind me of summer with dragonflies and butterflies out and about. I don't think they'll be lingering much longer but let's enjoy them while we can.

Red Admiral

Migrant Hawker

Common Darter

Walking along the fence line I noticed that most of the fence posts had ladybirds on them, basking in the warmth of the October morning.

Harlequin ladybird, we have lots around Hornsea

Ladybird - not native species though

As I meandered through Heslops, a Marsh Harrier drifted by and came close enough to warrant a few photos. Although we have them breeding locally and they are a pretty common sight, it's always great to see these lovely raptors.

Marsh Harrier

This year's migration season hasn't really happened yet, with no large falls of migrating birds coming through. We've had a smattering of them with Wheatear, Whinchat and Stonechats being seen locally but nothing like the numbers or variety we hope for. A Wheatear in first field yesterday morning reminded me of what we are missing.

Wheatear enjoying a tasty insect

On Friday I went to Bempton and Flamborough to meet up with my good friend Andy for a day's birding, and the weather was almost too warm! We missed the good birds that were reported at each site (Barred Warbler, Yellow-browed Warblers and Red-flanked Bluetail) although we gave them a good looking for. We did however see a species that neither of us had seen before, not a bird but a damselfly - Willow Emerald no less.

Willow Emerald Damselfly - missed the twig with its rear legs!

Willow Emerald Damselfly on a willow tree

Apparently when these insects are ovipositing they lay their eggs into the bark of willows and you can actually see where they have done this (thanks Mark!).

A beautiful insect and to make things even better - there were two of them. We watched them for about an hour before deciding to move on - but not before a stunning Brimstone butterfly flew past. Gobsmackingly smashing in the sunshine, it was the second highlight of the day for me.

I'm ready for the depths of autumn now and winter can do its worst for all I care. These few days of sun have almost rejuvenated me 🤣😎