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

Autumnal Bounty

 The autumn colours are starting to show themselves in the trees and hedgerows, so I thought I'd photograph the great array of food choices our wildlife have. I haven't included the grass and leaves that obviously make up a good proportion of the daily intake for creatures such as deer, hares, geese and what have you, instead I've concentrated on the seeds and fruits.

 

 An obvious omission is the humble acorn because no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find a single one that the squirrels or Jays hadn't eaten or pilfered already and added to their winter cache. Acorns do arrive early so I've probably left it a bit late!

 

Beech mast

Horse chestnut aka conker

Blackberries

Ash keys

Apples

Holly berries

Rose hips

Haws

Elderberries

Sycamore samaras (helicopters 🤣)

Sunflower seeds

Sloes

All the Rowan berries on this tree have gone already

Pine cones

There are lots that I've missed (especially in the set asides) but I've tried to get those we are most familiar with. The largest possible source of winter food would be stubble fields and the spilled grain they hold, but unfortunately they no longer figure in the farming plans.

 

We have had a few autumn migrants touching down around the town and Mere, with at least three Yellow-browed Warblers reported. I haven't seen one myself, hence no photo on here. Same goes for Brambling I'm afraid.

 

The only uncommon bird I've seen and photographed that is not included on our resident list or wintering list is the Black-tailed Godwit. There has been one at the Mere for the last couple of days and I got it this morning on KP. I flushed it from Bull Hole first, then it circled and landed further along the shore. 

Black-tailed Godwit flushed in Bull Hole

Blackwit on KP

This and those above, Blackwit.

 Great White Egrets continue to fly in for a few hours each day with up to five seen on two or three days last week. This one was feeding along the west end reed bed.

Great White Egret

Green Woodpeckers have been enlivening the mornings recently, calling from Wassand wood and trees around Weatherhill. Fleeting glimpses have been the order of the day until Sunday when one landed in a dead tree near Weatherhill and stayed there for about 10 seconds before flying off.

Green Woodpecker near Weatherhill

The winter Linnet flock has started to build and I counted 137 a couple of days ago. The set aside is attracting other birds too with 20+ Reed Buntings, 15+ Chaffinches, a couple of Greenfinches and Yellowhammers seen in the field and hedgerows. 

Yellowhammer

 Another daily sight is at least one Kestrel. They are a grand sight as they hover with motionless heads over the fields. In this case though it had landed and was motionless in a tree 😉

Kestrel

Not only birds were flying over the Mere yesterday...

Possibly flying out of Leeds/Bradford airport?

Butterflies are scarce nowadays as the days shorten and cool down so it was good to see five Red Admirals enjoying the warmth yesterday morning on an ivy bush. 

Three of five Red Admirals on ivy

Dragonflies are still with us and another good count of Common Darters (8) was recorded yesterday. Also three Migrant Hawkers and a single Willow Emerald damselfly.

Male and female Common Darters

 Over the last two weeks I've been wandering the highways and byways of Hornsea photographing things that catch my eye. Nothing unusual there of course as I do this on 95% of the days anyway. Here are some that I didn't include in the narrative above.

Wood Avens

Spider's web in the early morning sun

Treecreeper

Marsh Harriers

Golden Plover over North Cliffs

Flamborough Head and the two lighthouses

Shouting Buzzards

Young Gannet flying over Red-throated Divers

Diving Gannet sequence - 1

2

3

4 - beak in the water

5 - entering the water

6 - the splash