Long-tailed Duck Arrives At Last

 Every year since 2015 we have had at least one Long-tailed Duck at the Mere through winter. I thought we were going to miss this year but one turned up at last. I caught up with it on 4 November, briefly associating with five Common Scoters. I hope to get closer images in the fullness of time.

Common Scoters with Long-tailed Duck on right

Common Scoters with LTD

 The Barnacle Goose herd that has been with us for some time have some birds with coloured leg rings. They are usually difficult to read though a) because of the vegetation and b) they are normally distant, so I was pleased to be able to see some of them. J37, J64 and J72 are birds ringed at Scorton in North Yorkshire and we have seen J37 and J64 in 2024 and 2025 but I haven't recorded J72 before.

Starling enjoying the view

J64 from Scorton

J72 Barnacle Goose

The set aside field is still a good place to see passerines, mainly finches and buntings. Brambling has still eluded me but plenty of Yellowhammers are present.

Yellowhammer in set aside hedgerow

The cliffs are also a good place to check for different birds and I came across a Dark-bellied Brent Goose the other morning on North Cliff.

 

I didn't know until I was reading up about the Brent Goose that the Brent oil field was named after the Brent Goose. Shell named its UK oil fields after seabirds in alphabetical order by discovery – Auk, Brent, Cormorant, Dunlin, Eider etc..

Dark-bellied Brent Goose on North Cliff

South Cliff yielded a Stonechat this morning but nothing else unfortunately.

Stonechat on South Cliff

Sanderlings are recorded most days along the beach and I always check them for leg rings. The four I saw this morning were unringed. 

Sanderlings

Whooper Swans are still coming and going but are less numerous now. These seven were leaving the Mere yesterday afternoon.

Whooper Swans going south

Photo opportunities for wildlife through late autumn and winter are not as frequent as they are  through the remaining times of year so I take pics of other things as well. Views are the easiest!!

Flamborough Head

Autumn in Wassand

Slav and SEO

Disclaimer: Here's my excuse for some of the poor photos displayed on this post 😂 We've had poor light all week unfortunately, with one or two brief patches of sun getting through the murk every now and then. 

 

A Slavonian Grebe was found on the Mere on Tuesday morning (not Monday as one untrusted source reported). It has stayed through to today (Sunday) and may stay longer if we're lucky.

Slavonian Grebe from first field on Tuesday 27 Oct

As above

Also on Tuesday, 12 Scaup were seen on the Mere, some of which were close enough for photos.

Greater Scaup

As above

On Thursday I saw the Slav again but it was much further out this time. Better light but somewhat distant.

Slav Grebe on Thursday 29 Oct - a mere dot on the water

As above, with Cormorant

The set aside is now hosting more finches and tits as the seeds mature and other food sources become scarcer. A single Brambling has been seen there, but not by me!

Goldfinch in the set aside

Great Tit

Greenfinch

On Saturday morning the Slavonian Grebe was joined by a Little Grebe for a while.

Little Grebe and Slav Grebe from first field, Sat 31 Oct

Slav Grebe with a fish

The hide at Decoy is closing for about 6 weeks from next Monday so I went down for a last look at not much. The most interesting thing was the depth gauge which read 27 cms (same as last week). We'll see what it shows when the hide opens again.

Depth gauge at the hide on Sat 31 Oct

This morning we had a faint mist again combined with solid grey skies. No wind to speak of for the second day running which was good. The highlight was a Short-eared Owl going west high above the Mere. It turned south towards us and came a little lower so I took a few photos.

Short-eared Owl going south

SEO change of direction

As above

SEO going south again

Five Whooper Swans landed by the Mere in with Barnacle Geese and Greylags, but didn't stay long before they took off and continued their journey to who-knows-where.

Whoopers arriving and on the deck

Waxwings were seen in Hornsea yesterday so we'll see if any more arrive over the next few days - none were reported today. Not much else has happened so I'll leave you with the usual Roe Deer photo.

My Back Pages 1

 A memory just appeared on Facebook from 28 October 2018 showing my photo of a Grey Phalarope negotiating strong winds off Hornsea sea front. Here it is. 

Grey Phalarope off Hornsea 

I hadn’t seen one before and I haven’t seen one since. 

On quiet days I will post things from days gone by. Even though nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, it is still worth looking back 😂😂

“My Back Pages” Bob Dylan 1964

October 2026 Almost Done

 The last few weeks have been hard going trying to find and capture images of the wildlife that is coming and going through the autumn bird migration period. Finding the birds has been more difficult for me this year as I'm not doing the miles anymore. Where I used to visit multiple sites during a walk, I find I can only cover one or two now. For example the promenade, north cliffs, KP and the south side was a good route taking in the sea, cliffs, beach and Mere but involved walking over 8 miles. Consequently this post is sadly lacking in new or different species.

 

Never mind, life goes on and so do I 😀

 

We've had up to five Great White Egrets at the Mere in the past week and here are more than enough shots of them.

Great White Egret in flight

Two GWEs in Bull Hole

Two GWEs over the Mere

 I've taken loads of photos of Mere birds as they have been the easiest to access. Common enough species and always good to see.

Male Shoveler in eclipse

Pintail

Teal taking off

A few Scaup in with Tufted Ducks

Common Buzzard being hassled by a crow

Kestrel along Southorpe

Grey Heron over the hide roof

 From the sea front I've scraped together a few images to provide a flavour of what's been seen.

Westermost Rough is always picturesque

Hornsea sea front from the south

Common Scoters going south

Hornsea beach with a ridge showing the tide's reach over the week

Flamborough Head in a bit of haze

My first Turnstone of the autumn - taken this morning

 Elsewhere there was a plague of Whiteflies all over town. I looked them up for an id and it turns out they are Aleyrodidae - which didn't help me much! 

Whiteflies

 Autumn is the time for fungi so here is a pic of one species that is well known. 

Shaggy Inkcap aka Lawyer's wig

I've walked along the railway line a few times in the hope of getting decent views of theRedwing and Fieldfare that are arriving now. No show I'm afraid (although there have been good numbers at the Mere). Here's a view of the railway line instead.

The old Hornsea railway line

That's all folks for now and I'll leave you with one of the ever-present mammal species that never fail to appear during a walk.

The usual suspect - Roebuck at Wassand