A New Spring Wardrobe Beckons

 Yes! At last farmers are putting up proper scarecrows instead of plastic bags, birds on wires or gas guns 👍

I can now refresh my wardrobe, as it is well overdue according to my nearest and dearest. She says that scarecrows are better dressed than I am, so I can now put that theory to the test by swapping clothes with this fashion icon. I'll let you know how it goes 😂

My role model

The weather has taken a turn for the better these last 2 days and we had a high of 10 degrees here in Hornsea today. Gone was the woolly hat, spurned were the gloves, left on the shelf was the hand warmer, into the wash went the thermals. Oh, the joy of being warm-ish again!

A Black Redstart has been hanging around Rolston for a while so I reckoned it was time to catch up with it. I looked yesterday while I was walking through but it didn't show, so I went again today with my new lens, hoping it would pop up. It did!!

At one point it landed on a van roof

Black Redstart catching a bug

It seemed to be as interested in me as I was of it

I took many, many more photos but these are representative of those I got. It was very active and spent some time in a wood shed and I thought it was never going to come out again. It seemed to be catching plenty of food so it may well stick around for another few days.

In the large stubble field the herd of geese was about the same as usual with c.300 Greylags and Canadas - with just one Pink-footed Goose today.

A single Pinkie

At the pond the ice was melting quickly and a Grey Heron took off as I approached. Sorry, but I didn't know you were there.

Along the cliffs the ground was now wet and boggy so I searched for signs of birds probing in the mud at the field edge. I found some which could be Snipe or Woodcock. No footprints though so I guess the bird could have been standing on snow when it probed with its beak, leaving the holes but no footprints.

Holes in the mud where birds have probed with their beaks

Skylarks have been singing for a while but today was a song-filled day with at least 8 birds up and singing. It's a song that just takes me back to my childhood, walking up on the hills with my mate and Skylarks all over the place. The cliffs are of course fast disappearing with coastal erosion and the wilder places that Skylarks prefer are going too. There are arable fields along there that could hold a few birds but the rough grass is going to be a thing of the past I'm afraid.

Skylark in rough grass

There hasn't been too much to shout about at the Mere, although a couple of Little Gulls and a Slavonian Grebe are more than I could ever have hoped for a few years ago 😊

Little Gull at the Mere

Slavonian Grebe - distant but a Slav Grebe anyway

The influx of Woodcock and Snipe has been a revelation to me. I've never seen so many of these birds in so short a time. Woodcock seem to be being flushed from everywhere I walked, and the same with Snipe too. Getting a photo of Woodcock was beyond me but I managed a recognisable image of a Snipe.

Snipe after being put up by me