Arc Of A (Red-throated) Diver *

 *   "Arc of a diver effortlessly..."    Arc Of A Diver by Steve Winwood  1980

 A walk around Ulrome and Barmston this morning was enjoyed in ideal conditions, warm, calm and dry. My two target birds were Grey Partridge and Ringed Plover, neither of which I have managed to see yet this year.

My musical inspiration was provided by a Red-throated Diver, seen just off the beach, that was feeding for about 20 minutes and showing very well. I watched it diving and the album title track of Steve Winwood's Arc Of A Diver came to mind as it gracefully and effortlessly disappeared under water.

Red-throated Diver looking good pre-dive

Arc of a diver

Also off shore were lots of auks again - primarily Razorbills. A few Sandwich Terns were feeding and being chased by gulls when they were successful at catching fish.

Sandwich Tern

a sea-going mugging in progress, but a lot to learn from skuas

One of many Razorbill

All the fields have been harvested now (apart from a single bean field - see 8 August post) and this makes it much easier to see the wildlife that otherwise would be obscurred from view. I was therefore happy to see target bird #1 - Grey Partridge in a stubble field.

Distant and cropped, but a Grey Partridge

The fields were playing host to lots of gulls as usual, including about 90 Common Gulls. They are a nice looking bird and much under valued.

Common Gull

Just off the beach the upturned basket that marks the end of the breakwater was graced with a Cormorant drying its wings. A classic pose 😀👍

A Cormorant drying out from too much beer last night

Along the beach the tide was going out so I checked along the tide line for my target bird #2 - Ringed Plover. I got 2 of them along with Sanderling, Turnstone and Dunlin so a good tally of birds for the morning in the end.

Ringed Plover on Ulrome beach

SWLABT - She Was Like A Bearded Tit *

 OK. This one may be a bit obscure, but it's a great song anyway. 

*SWLABR from Cream's brilliant 1967 album Disraeli Gears is an abbreviation of She Was Like A Bearded Rainbow. A slight change to the title and we have a tenuous link for the bird of the day - Bearded Tit.

But first a reminder of what the Cream album cover looked like.

Cream's Disraeli Gears album cover

WOW. When I saw this in 1967 it was just mind blowing. All of a sudden the art classes at school got very interesting with dayglo paint being made available!! We had a ball 😎 not much real art going on but we were enjoying ourselves at last. Disraeli Gears was seldom off the turntable in the common room. Turntable? Ask your mum or dad 😂

But enough of history and back to the business in hand - namely at least 10 Bearded Rainbows I mean Tits at the Mere this morning in the reed bed off second field. I heard them as I approached the shore so I got the camera ready, as usually they flit straight through these small outlying reed beds. Not today though - they stayed put for quite a while allowing me to fire off 400+ shots on the camera. Over 300 of these were disposable straight away on review, but a few were OK and not obscurred by reeds or blurred.

Bearded Tit off second field

A few nearly-good-enough photos were discarded...reeds got in the way or were out of focus

This would have been great! Bloody reed.

I got a video of 6 birds leaving the reed bed for a fly around but I haven't edited it yet. 

Before all this excitement I saw Greenshank, a couple of Snipe and a Water Rail on first field edge. Again, photos were less than one would hope for, but it was a couple of hundred yards distant. Only one of the Snipe made the photos by the way, the other went into the undergrowth.

Greenshank and Water Rail

Greenshank and Snipe together, with Water Rail to the right

 These are heavily cropped but record the moment at least.

Dragonflies continue to be seen everywhere, attracting Hobbies to feast on them. I saw a couple this morning over the fields but no images for the blog. Migrant Hawkers are the most numerous, but also Common Darter and a single Emporer yesterday off second field.

Migrant Hawker in flight

It was a surprise when I looked at the photos to find that the pair of mig hawkers I captured coupled up had been photo bombed 😂😂

Photo bombed pair of Migrant Hawkers

Common Darter at our pond

Most of the crop fields have been cut now to make way for the wintering birds - or at least one or two fields will be left with stubble I hope. Greylag Geese, Barnacle Geese, Linnets, Goldfinches, Reed Buntings and pigeons and doves are enjoying them at the moment.

Mammals are a bit thin on the ground apart from the usual squirrels and Roe Deer, so a reasonable view of a Weasel in first field was a nice lift a few days ago.

Weasily the best find of the day

That's Whinchat In The Bag-o

 A thinly veiled reference to Thin Lizzy ushers in the migration season proper - although it's been ongoing for a while, a couple of Whinchat were my first kosher migrants of the autumn migration.

At least one Whinchat was around the reed bed off first field for a few days - whether it was the same bird each day or different birds was impossible to tell.

We've had several waders through but they seldom linger. Greenshank, Redshank and Dunlin are the most common, with a Common Sandpiper thrown in every now and then.

Greenshank and Redshank on first field edge

Warblers have been showing well in the reeds and shrubs with Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler, Whitethroat and a single Lesser Whitethroat all pitching in.

Reed Warbler

The local Pheasant population has had its annual increase and young ones are running all over the place.

Young Pheasant

The Starlings have also raised their young now and there is a large post-breeding flock that gathers around the south of Hornsea and feeds on the harvested fields. I estimate about 1200.

Starlings on the wires

Enter Sanderling *

 *  Enter Sandman from "Metallica" by Metallica in 1991

According to my records this is my first record of Sanderling on Hornsea beach in September for 4 years. I'm not saying there haven't been Sanderlings on the beach in September, just that I haven't seen them.

Exit light, enter night, grain of sand...

Three pics of a single Sanderling this morning

Not much visible from the promenade this morning, but I did see a Great Black-backed Gull munching on what looked like a Guillemot.

Last Tuesday morning there was a flurry of sightings for about 15 mins while I was chatting to Jon and Mark who were sea watching, including a flock of about 30 Common Scoter and a few Teal close enough for a photo or two.

30-ish Common Scoter and 8 Teal going north

I wandered over to the Mere to see if anything had appeared and a few Dunlin and Redshank had dropped in. I saw a Redshank on first field edge and another 12 going east but didn't get any Dunlin today.

12 Redshank over the Mere going east

As well as a Sanderling coming in early, the Barnacle Goose herd that over-winters at the Mere arrived a few days ago too and settled in on the one field that had been harvested. Another crop field has been harvested since so they will have a bit of choice now.

Barnacle Geese at the Mere

A few butterflies were flying around the long grass including this Common Blue, a bit faded and worn but still a beautiful looking thing.

Common Blue

There was a bit of an autumnal feeling to this morning, so if this alleged heat wave materialises next week it will be welcomed with open arms by yours truly, as it means I can keep my shorts on for a while longer 😂

Looking back on this blog entry it looks a bit grey and dull, so here's a splash of colour to finish with. The set aside field is looking good and although there are nowhere near as many sunflowers as last year, there are a few to brighten things up.

Sunflower in the set aside field - with a bumble bee too