Doh! Plant Stems In The Way Again

In Wassand wood I saw the brilliant white rear end of a roe deer, with the rest of its body hidden from view behind a tree. I got the camera ready and slowly moved so I could see the deer's head. I was focussing when it looked up and saw me, but through the viewfinder I could see there was some foliage in the way of a clear photo. 

I couldn't move as it would take fright, so I just fired off a few frames before it did indeed dash off into the undergrowth. The nose, mouth and the right side of its face are partially obscurred.

It could have been a contender 🤣

A pair of Peregrine Falcons were over Swan Island and have been seen quite regularly.

Distant Peregrines over Swan Island viewed from south side

The 4 Scaup are still to be seen from the south side of the Mere too.

Scaup

3 of the 4 Scaup

We have seen very few Fieldfare through this winter, with speculation on reasons for this including a phenomenon called short stopping, where birds cut short their normal migration route.

Fieldfare

The number of Cormorants at the Hornsea Mere roost has got to over 350 birds, with a maximum count of 361 one morning. They are taking over Swan Island as well as their traditional roost in the Cormorant Trees on the north side near Decoy Channel.

A ringed Cormorant flying in to roost

Cormorants at their traditional roost

You can see several birds with their white breeding patches showing well in the above photo.

Cormorants on Swan Island

The pair of Oystercatchers that seem to turn up each year around now are present again on KP.

Spring is near if the Oystercatchers are here

 

The first daffodils have flowered along Wassand drive - Spring is certainly just around the corner.

Spring daffodils at Wassand

Waiting For Eunice

 The weather has been poor recently and the ground is saturated. Following hard on the heels of Storm Dudley is Storm Eunice, which is due to hit us any time now as I write this. The sea front looked good this morning as I wandered along before the storm arrived.

The calm before the storm

In and amongst the wind and rain though, the sun has been shining and a few reasonable photos have clicked into the camera.

On my way to the hide on 11 February I came across my first Barn Owl of the year. This is the  first year since we moved over here that I've had to wait until February to see one.

This photo shows that the bird is ringed

There are plenty of nest boxes in the area for Barn Owls to use - but unfortunately we have a shortage of birds to use them.

The birds are making themselves heard more noticably now and I regularly hear 3 or 4 Song Thrushes each morning.

A Song Thrush living up to its name

The hide viewing platform overlooking the west end of Hornsea Mere is where I head for a few times each week on my morning walk, getting there nice and early to avoid people as I still have a fear of catching the dreaded lurgy 🤣😂

A view from the viewing platform above the hide

All manner of plants are showing themselves as the year progresses towards Spring and the snowdrops are looking particularly beautiful in the wood.

A previous storm (could have been Malik) brought down several trees in the wood including one of the large pine trees that fell right over the footpath. The estate workers did a good job in removing it and my task, should I choose to accept it, is to count the rings to see how old the tree was...

Pine tree with large root ball

How old?

I used to work with a couple of ladies called Eunice, one based in Halifax and one in Edinburgh - I wonder how many times they have been the butt of stormy jokes over the last day or two? 🤣 Hopefully I will resist the temptation to post a comment on Eunice Lamb's Facebook page.

South Cliffs of Hornsea

Golden Plovers fill your eyes
Smiles await you when you rise

There were 7 Golden Plovers in the crop field on South Cliffs as I walked on this morning. As I got them in the bins they flew off south, all except one, that for some reason decided to stay.

The lone Golden Plover that stayed behind

The Snipe and Woodcock that I flushed went unphototgraphed (as usual) but a Stonechat didn't.

I'd better enjoy the gorse while I can before it falls into the sea like all the others have. If we're not losing habitat to the sea we're losing it to new developments on the cliff tops, so staycationers can have somewhere to stay on their cation.

Not strictly south cliff, but south beach which is sort of below south cliff...

A single Turnstone on the beach

One of eight Sanderlings

Yesterday and Today *

The Brambling was showing well again this morning in the windy but sunny set aside hedgerow, so I took even more photos to add to my collection.

I could go further back in time for a musical connection and go for (B)Rambling Rose by Nat King Cole in 1962, rather than repeat my earlier post of (B)Ramblin' On My Mind by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers from 1966 - but I won't do that.I'm sticking with Yesterday and Today because the pics are from....yesterday and today.

Brambling looking stunning this morning

Brambling ready for take off

Young Mute Swan from the hide

Sheep wool on the lower branches of a hawthorn

Barnacle Geese still here

The Barnacle Geese have been in the field next to the footpath for the past week and I've taken several counts, ending up with between 157 and 168. They are pretty active and the field is undulating so getting an accurate count is challenging - for me anyway.

4 Scaup battling the waves this morning

Greylag Goose landing

Yesterday was a fine and sunny but blustery morning too and I enjoyed good views of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Yellowhammers and Redwing among others. GS'Peckers are drumming regularly in the woods now but although I've heard a Green Woodpecker briefly, I haven't seen one yet this year.

A few of the 17 Yellowhammers near Weatherfield Farm

13 of 17 Yellowhammers

Redwing (just one of 30+)

Stock Doves in the set aside

* Yesterday and Today - you have to be a Beatles geek to get this one as this was the title of a  USA album with songs from Help, Rubber Soul and Revolver, plus a couple of singles.