All Quiet On The Eastern Front

 Northerly and north easterly winds have dominated here in Hornsea over the last seven to ten days, making the weather feel decidedly cooler. I normally have changed to shorts for the warmer days by now, but I am firmly still in long trousers. 

 

The hirundines are here in force, Sand Martins in particular are numerous which is great to see. House Martins and Swallows are present in smaller numbers but I'm hoping the rest of them will arrive eventually.

 

All seven of our warbler migrants are present and resident and very much livening up the morning walks with their song. We await the arrival of a Grasshopper Warbler and/or a Garden Warbler to complete the set of "common" warblers. Sedge Warblers are a favourite of mine with their constant chattering and intermittent song flights.

Sedge Warbler

On the Mere things have been largely quiet with the departure of the winter wildfowl. It will be five or six months before we see Goldeneye, Pochard and Wigeon in good numbers again. They will be missed, but summer migrants will make up for their loss.

Egyptian Goose

Tufted Ducks

 I thought I had something out of the norm on Tuesday morning when I saw a bird along with two Great Crested Grebes. The head markings looked similar to a drake Garganey from a distance and through the bins, but looking at the photos later it was a female Common Scoter that had different head markings on each side of its head.

Female Common Scoter with different head colour

Female Common Scoter with Great Crested Grebes

Family of Canada Geese on the Mere

Young Little Gull over Decoy

A pair of Kestrels have been seen regularly at the Mere and having seen their courtship I am hopeful that they will breed locally. There are new nest boxes available in the area so we'll see if they take up the offers.

Female Kestrel

Kestrel pair coupling

Female Kestrel keeping an eye on me

Swallow

The wild flowers are thriving in the warm sun (if not the cold wind!). Umbellifers are spreading their heads, Lords and Ladies are doing what passes for flowering, Garlic Mustard is ready to host Orange Tip butterflies. 

Cow Parsley coming along well

Lords and Ladies

Acer platanoides (Norway Maple) along the drive at Wassand

Norway maples along Wassand drive

Garlic Mustard - the food plant of the Orange Tip butterfly

A walk along to North Cliffs in the hope of seeing a Wheatear or Yellow Wagtail was a good, long walk but with a dearth of birds. A couple of Great Crested Grebes on the sea and a Meadow Pipit gathering nest material was the sum of my sightings on the bird front.

 

Coltsfoot done flowering for this year

Meadow Pipit with nest material

Tree Sparrow in the willows near the boat yard

We live in a lovely part of the country with fields, woods and the sea to enjoy. The Mere adds tremendously to this and as you walk around it you get different views, some of them quite distant, but still beautiful.

The Mere from the south side footpath

Swan Island from Kirkholme Point

Reeds and boats on Kirkholme Point

Crops growing in the newly planted fields - south side again

Spring Is Sprung

 If Wheaters are arriving then Spring has most definitely sprung.

Spring springing with Wheatear on springs

 Birds are doing what comes naturally to them at this time of year and it will be interesting to see which of them will breed at the Mere this year. Last year was exceptional with low water levels dominating the habitat and bringing in species I haven't seen breeding here, such as Little Ringed Plover and Shelduck. Shelducks are back but will they manage to breed with the water so high? 

Shelduck on south side of the Mere

Great Crested Grebes - will they manage to breed at the Mere?

Of the resident birds, the Cetti's Warbler is always good to see as it usually skulks in the undeergrowth. This one sat out for a while and I got some more pics of this seldom-seen species.

Cetti's Warbler in Wassand

A few more locals were making themselves available for portraits too...

Male Yellowhammer

Marsh Harrier

Nearly a great photo but it saw me just as I pressed the shutter release

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Sand Martins and Swallows arrived a while ago and were joined by House Martins earlier this week. I spent half an hour trying to get flight shots, with not very good results. The best I ever managed was when we had them nesting on the house - a bit like shooting fish in a barrel but I got some decent images of them.

House Martin on the south side

House Martin

Linnet at Rolston

Insects are waking up with the longer and warmer days. Butterfly species seen include Brimstone, Comma, Peacock and Speckled Wood

Comma

Speckled Wood

Dark-edged Bee Fly in flight

Dark-edged Bee Fly feeding on Lesser Celandine

Tawny Mining Bee

Tapered Drone Fly in flight

Mammals in the local area have been limited to the usual suspects, with Roe Deer and Brown Hare being spotted more often than others.

Brown Hare

Bookend Brown Hares

We have lots of species of wild flowers in bloom and they are making the place look so much more beautiful. Along with the trees and hedgerows coming into leaf, winter is a fading memory.

Primroses in Wassand wood

Masses of Bluebells in the woods and hedges

Cuckoo Flower

Herb Robert

That's the last two weeks done and dusted so what about this morning? A walk along the Trans Pennine Trail to Great Hatfield then back via Goxhill, Weatherhill and the Mere south side was pleasant enough. The highlight was coming across six Fieldfares chacking their way through the tree tops. They'll be gone soon and we won't see them again until Autumn.

Fieldfare

Blackcaps are almost outnumbering our residents and seem to be singing from almost every available tree. Getting one clear of branches and leaves is the challenge.

Blackcap

I must have walked down the trail hundreds of times but I never noticed these until today. Left from the railway lines are what look like a couple of iron rail mounts.