Swinemoor

 A pretty ordinary week on the whole, apart from a good visit to Swinemoor to see the Snow Geese at last. I don't usually go to see rarities unless I can walk to them but this was an exception as Snow Goose has been a wish-to-see bird for ages. I haven't been to Swinemoor since June so I was well overdue.

Panorama view of the site - just south of Beverley

I got there as the Pink-footed Goose roost was clearing out so I hoped I wasn't too late. I wasn't.

I could see the two birds in with Greylags but it wasn't a particularly good view. I took a few photos for the record and walked on to enjoy the morning, hoping I'd get better views on my way back, with perhaps flight shots ideally (see later).

Two Snow Geese with domestic geese and Greylags

A decent profile shot of one of the geese

The number of Wigeon at Swinemoor has to be well over 5,000. They were everywhere.

Mainly Wigeon

Wigeon in flight

Guess what

As well as Pinkies, Greylags and Wigeon there were large numbers of Lapwing, Teal and several Shoveler too. In with the Lapwings were a few (10) Golden Plover. My Pied Wagtail count got to four, Little Egret no more than one and Starling got stuck on two 😂

Other species seen and counted were Moorhen (3) Redshank (8) Mute Swan (1) Grey Heron (1), Common Gull (5) and Oystercatcher (2). I heard a Cetti's Warbler too which is a new bird for me here. I didn't count Herring Gulls or Black-headed Gulls or the other commoners.

Along with Snow Goose the highlight was a single Greater White-fronted Goose, keeping itself to itself and away from the hoi polloi Greylags.

White-fronted Goose

Little Egret on the river

Teal

Lapwings

Lapwings with Starling and Golden Plover

Beverley Minster

A couple of Redshank

On my way back a whole host of Greylags got up from the field on the other side of the River Hull - with them were the Snow Geese so I managed some flight shots, even though they were more distant than I'd have wished for.

Snow Geese in flight

A good morning's walk with great birds so I really enjoyed myself. All this with provisions provided by my nearest and dearest - what could be better!?!

Nothing (Much) To See Here

 The week has been unrelentingly similar each day - grey and overcast, dry, with a slight south or south west breeze. The wildlife has largely followed this same pattern, with little change day to day.

Monday 4 November

 On the beach there were eight Sanderling and a single Dunlin. It was particularly good to see Dunlin as we do not get that many on the beach in a year. We probably see more at the Mere than near the sea.

Ignore the S on its breast - it's a Dunlin 😂

Dunlin running

Sanderling running

 

 

While reviewing these photos it struck me how alike the poses were on the shots above of Dunlin (DN) and Sanderling (SS) so I put them side by side...

Side by side DN and SS look to have indentical gaits

 

 A Black-headed Gull in the background of this photo with a Sanderling in the foreground is an opportunity to see the large size difference between the two. The gull isn't particularly big but it looks gigantic with the Sanderling next to it.

Compare Black-headed Gull and Sanderling

That's Monday's sightings covered then!

Tuesday 5 November

A walk along the Mere south aside today. No fireworks on the sightings front but four Whooper Swans, four Bullfinch and a Little Egret did get my heart rate up by one or two beats. Little Egrets have been scarce at the Mere this year - maybe due to the high water levels which prevents them landing and feeding around the shoreline.

Two of the four Bullfinch

Yellowhammer

On the way home three Grey Squirrels were frolicking around the trees near Edenfield. Having nothing else to 'tog I fired off a few shots.

Grey Squirrel

Back home, a Collared Dove was sneaking some food from the feeder outside my office window so a few more frames entered the camera.

Collared Dove

Wednesday 6 November

Another slow day I'm afraid. Although I heard Bearded Tits and Water Rail as usual, there were no photo opportunities. However with the four Goldcrests I heard (and saw just two of them) I managed a reasonable likeness.

Goldcrest

 

More wild flowers in evidence today - Red Campion and White Dead Nettle this time.

White Dead Nettle

Red Campion

Another day done. Uninspiring certainly but at least I'm out and about and still looking for the wildlife that is (hopefully) out there somewhere.

Friday 8 November

A walk to Rolston and then along the cliffs today which was a good old enjoyable leg-stretcher for me. The camera was a passenger for most of the walk but it was a good morning.

A Kestrel along the cliff top hovered for long enough to allow me to get some video and a photo.

In the fields at Rolston the Hebridean sheep kept me amused by walking towards me for a bit. I thought they were going to block my path but they sauntered calmly out of my way as I approached.

They reminded of the stereotypical country yokel with a piece of straw in his mouth 🤣

Also on the cliffs I spotted four Fieldfares at the far edge of the field I was crossing. The distance was great so the image isn't, as it's cropped down as far as I could without losing too much definition.

Fieldfares in the distance

I am hoping for a change in the weather next week as the wind veers more northerly. It'll be cooler, but that's to be expected at this time of year.

Sunrise, Sunset

Tuesday 29 October 2024

Most people are too young to remember, but Sunrise, Sunset is the title of a song from the 1964 musical "Fiddler On The Roof".

 A fine, dry and sunny morning put a spring in my step - well, not so much a Zebedee-like "boing" more a half-hearted squelch 🤣

There is a good sized patch of borage still in flower at Wassand and it had loads of honey bees busily collecting pollen.

Honey bee on borage

Borage still showing well

The Bearded Tits came a little closer this morning so I got reasonable photos.

About 10 Bearded Tits at the Mere

Bearded Tit in flight over the reeds

Great Spotted Woodpeckers are getting easier to see now the leaves are falling. Mind you, this one would have been seen with or without leaves!

GS Pecker on top of the world

Friday 1 November 2024

A lovely day with a fine sunrise and an even better sunset. As I've been busy in the house recently I have been out for a short walk most mornings, then gone out late afternoon for a longer walk, and catching some impressive sunsets is a bonus.

Start of the day through The Wave

It's been a while since I've seen a really impressive Starling murmuration at the Mere and today just refreshed my memory with about 10,000-15,000 birds swirling over the east end reedbed. I did take some video but the light wasn't great and the quality wasn't good enough.

The setting sun reflected in the Mere Cafe windows

Thousands of Starlings gathering for the roost

Murmuration starting with St Nicholas church in the background

Wide angled view of the cafe and the murmuration

The day ended in spectacular fashion

Saturday 2 November 2024

We had a subdued sunrise today with cloud fully obscurring the sun eventually. At one point though there was a lovely sight as there was a clear band of light just above the horizon.

Sunrise over the wind turbines at Westermost Rough

A good sized pod of Dolphins passed by offshore going south, I estimate about 30 or so. Not much else to report for the day apart from a single Fieldfare chacking from a tree top on KP.

Fieldfare

Sunday 3 November 2024

One more dry and very calm day. Southerly breeze reported at 4mph only and no sun all day.

I walked to Rolston, through to Goxhill and back home via the TPT (Trans Pennine Trail aka the railway line). Plenty of Redwing were along the TPT but as usual they were very flighty and difficult to get a clear photo.

Redwing

Blurry but still a Redwing

There were lots of wild flowers still in bloom as I walked through Rolston.

Oxeye daisy

Knapweed

Yarrow

Bristly Oxtongue

Meadowsweet

Hogweed

That's another week gone. Not much excitement overall but lots to see and hear if you look for it. The list of my favourite bird sightings for the week shows nothing out of the ordinary but enough to keep me interested.

Bearded Tit

Water Rail

Fieldfare

Redwing

Whooper Swan

Pink-footed Goose

Barnacle Goose

Common Scoter

Lapwing

Yellowhammer

Starling murmuration

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Treecreeper