Late December

We've had some absolutely stunning sunrises lately, and these have matched with equally fantastic sunsets. However, although we can see the sun rise from our bedroom window, we can't see the full glory of the sunsets.

Sunrise over the wind turbines

On the sea front it was cold most days but the temperature doesn't seem to bother the few shore birds we get at Hornsea beach. The most common are Turnstone and Sanderling and I was pleased to be able to watch and photograph 5 Sanderling for 10 minutes before they were driven off by dogs. I do wish people would realise that these small birds aren't seagulls and they need to be able to feed along the shore line unmolested.

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

They are great little birds and if you watch them you'll see that they resemble small clockwork toys as they run along the tide line. We don't get big flocks here in Hornsea and the most I've seen at any one time is just 11.

Inland at Kirkholme Point the sun was really bringing out the colours of the ducks. Pochard and Wigeon look beautiful in the right light.

Pochard

Wigeon

Common Gull

Mute Swan cygnet

Looking west from the end of Kirkholme Point there have been reported sightings of a Peregrine Falcon for a few days - and luckily it was perched up in a tree on Swan Island...

Peregrine

Peregrine and Cormorant - compare size

Peregrine digiscoped

The Peregrine looked pretty big and comparing its size to a Cormorant perched just below it, it may be a female, which are up to a third bigger than a male Peregrine.

Long-tailed Duck and Common Scoter

The Long-tailed Duck that has been at The Mere for several weeks now is slowly moulting into a male. Early sightings were logged as a juvenile first winter bird and here are a couple of my first photos from 3 November 2017:

Here are some from a couple of weeks later on 16 November:

 And finally here are some from last Monday 11 December 2017. There is a pink band developing on the bill, a white patch has appeared on its back and the head is overall much whiter making the dark cheek patch stand out more. All in all it's going to be a lovely male Long-tailed Duck soon.

Developing male Long-tailed Duck

Another duck that has been here for a while now is the Common Scoter. Unfortunately it has not been as accomodating as the LTD and has stayed distant so the photo is not good of this duck. Female/juvenile still undecided as haven't had any good views of its underside yet.

Common Scoter

I flushed 6 Common Snipe from a boggy patch of grassland along the south side of the Mere yesterday and another one this morning from the field near the junior school. Also in the hedgerow was a single Fieldfare. Fieldfare and Redwing have been noticable by their absence this winter.

A Week's Catch Up

Here's a change for me - something like a week's worth of photos in one update. Let's see how it looks shall we?

Working backwards from today:

FRIDAY 8 December 2017
A bright, bloody cold day. Started off at zero degrees and didn't get much warmer all day despite the lovely winter sunshine.

I walked up Rolston Road towards the cliffs and as I passed Hornsea Lakes I flushed a Common Snipe from a small patch of wet ground. Going on I checked out the fields and found 4 Lapwing which took off as I looked. The usual gulls were hanging around - Black-headed, Herring and Common.

From the cliff tops, where it was nice and windy and even colder than I'd felt before, there is always something to brighten your day here on the East Coast. This gorse was in full bloom and looked stunning in the morning sun's rays.

Below, the waves were crashing onto the base of the cliffs. With the sun catching them they made quite a spectacle, which would have been picturesque if the water hadn't been a muddy brown colour due to the erosion :(

Erosion in action - muddy waves

After coming across 2 Stonechat I got to the beach and watched the waves breaking on the groynes - what a difference in colour to those I'd watched from the cliffs!

Clean water breaking on South Beach

As the tide was in, and it was a good high tide today, there were no birds to seek out on the tide line, but 3 Turnstone were feeding on the grass by the boat launch building -

Turnstone

Walking along Stream Dike I checked for the Kingfisher that can be seen along there, but not this morning, so onwards to KP.

As the wind was a brisk westerly it wasn't surprising that as I ventured onto KP that I was met with a blast of icy wind. Good job I had extra layers on and my extra warm lined trousers.

A good count of Gadwall (74) Pochard (13) Tufted Duck (c.90) and Coot (c.40) along with a few Wigeon and Goldeneye were looking wonderful in the sunshine on the North side of Kirkholme; a Sparrowhawk was seeing off a Grey Heron that had obviously got too close to where the sprawk was -

Distant Sparrowhawk

I met Jon and Mike while I was gazing skywards and we spent a half hour chatting and bimbling about, including having a look for the Common Scoter and Long-tailed Duck that are becoming long stayers now. Neither was showing for us so we decided to call it a day and I set off home, looking forward to a warm cuppa. As I was walking past the jetties I had a last look and up popped the Long-tailed Duck!!

THURSDAY 7 December 2017
Weird weather today. As I stepped out of the house at about 08:00 the temperature was 11.6 degrees C with a stiff westerly wind blowing. It was raining, but only a light drizzle. The temperature was forecast to drop markedly through the day until it reaches zero overnight.

I decided to break with my usual route and go straight to the hide at Wassand instead. Nothing showing through Freeport or the allotments which wasn't particularly surprising given the rotten conditions. As I tramped through 1st field I noticed a tractor up on the sloping ground which was cutting the grass. This hadn't been cut before to my recollection so I was surprised, but as the land had changed ownership recently I shouldn't have been. Ever watchful for an opportunity, a Kestrel was perched atop a tree hoping for a small mammal to be flushed out by the farmer.

Kestrel hoping for a snack

Wrong lens for a decent pic of the mown banking

Although a Cetti's Warbler was singing as I went through Snipe Grounds, there was little else to catch my attention until I reached the hide. Even then, as I sat down, all I could see was a dozen or so Mute Swans at first. However, looking towards the West end over by the willows I saw a male Marsh Harrier making sure a Grey Heron didn't catch anything that it may want.

I sat for a while and scanned the swans to ensure they weren't hiding any darvik rings, but they weren't of course. A brief moment of excitement came and went as I saw a Goldeneye land, almost obscurred by the reeds to the left of the hide. I left.

I went by a circuitous route home to ensure I could walk the long hedgerow by the Trans Pennine Trail and look for winter thrushes, as they have been noticable by their absence.

There weren't any thrushes at all (loads of Blackbirds as usual) but the flock of Chaffinch is growing nicely as winter progresses. A pair of Bullfinch were also flitting along the hedgerow in front of me together with a pair of Robins -

Chaffinches and a Bullfinch down low

More Chaffinch

No caption needed methinks

Galloping off towards home and a warming drink, I considered the wasteful way that spuds are harvested these days as I looked at those left behind by the machines in a field by the footpath. I'm sure that the farmers/landowners make a passable living by processing the vegetables (?) in this way but it really seems wasteful to me to leave so many pots in the field to rot -

Spuds, left to rot

On that happy note, good morning to you and on to the next (or a previous) day's musings....

MONDAY 4 December 2017
As I missed the Shore Larks the last time I went to Aldbrough cliffs, I thought I'd go back and see if I could get them today. As they are usually to be found in the planted field almost at Cowden MoD range, I parked there and walked through the old MoD place, south to the cliffs.

I saw them almost immediately as I went down the field edge with the sea on my left. I saw 5 at first but then as the birds moved around I got all 7 in my camera field of view -

Shore Larks

4 Shore Larks

8 Shore Larks

...and while I was photographing the larks, a Kestrel was making shore they were indeed Shore Larks.

Well, I think that's quite enough for now. I may need to re-think the time between updates if there is so much going on, as there seems to be even though we are getting close to the Winter solstice.

Snow? Here in Costa Del Hornsea?

Well, I wasn't expecting that yesterday! Woke up to an inch or so of snow that pretty quickly turned into 3 or 4 inches through the morning blizzards. Apart from the finches and house sparrows on the feeders and the usual Herring and Black-headed Gulls there were no birds about until I got to The Mere. There, just the usual ducks, swans and cormorants were showing themselves. Went back home for a nice warm cuppa :)

view from our bedroom

Hornsea south beach

Hornsea south beach

Hornsea south beach

Hornsea south beach

Stream Dike

Kirkholme Point

Kirkholme Point looking towards town

Kirkholme Point looking towards Hull Road

The road to The Mere

Hull Road about 10:30

Barn Owl, Barnacles and Beetles

The weather is feeling more and more wintery but as the sun is shining and it's dry, everything is good as far as I'm concerned. We still have a shortage of the more interesting species of birds visiting The Mere - however there is always something to focus on.

Walking through the fields at dusk I came across a Barn Owl hunting. It was a little too dark to get good images but a couple of photos aren't bad -

Barn Owl in fading light

Our local wintering flock of Barnacle Geese is usually to be seen somewhere around the Mere, usually feeding in stubble fields. Each time I come across them I try a count but as they are closely packed and also a fair distance away, I get differing totals. The average is between 120 and 126 which is a decent flock size for the area.

Barnacle Geese

Barnacle Geese

In the hide at Wassand it has been noted that there are several batches of beetles clustered into the corners where the wooden beams join. These are Harlequin Beetles rather than our native UK ladybird which isn't good news.

Harlequin Beetles in Wassand hide

Harlequin Beetles in Wassand hide

 

The Harlequin Beetle or the Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) is a non-native species and is one of the most invasive insect species in the world. It took the Grey Squirrel about a century to spread throughout the UK – but the Harlequin ladybird only needed less than a decade to do the same. This insect was introduced from Asia into America and Europe to control aphids - its usual and preferred prey species - but was either wind-blown or accidentally introduced into the UK in 2004. Since then it has thrived and is becoming a real threat to our native ladybird species.

Identifying the thing isn't simple as over 100 different colour patterns have been recorded, especially from our Seven-spot ladybird, which is itself variable. You can see the variations in the photos above. 
 
However, the Harlequin doesn’t stick to one type of food. Once it has finished off the aphids it then turns its attention to other ladybird eggs and larvae and also the eggs and caterpillars of moths and butterflies. The main reason Harlequin ladybirds pose a threat to our native ladybirds is that they have such voracious appetites that they easily out-compete native ladybirds for food. 

Yes, we could remove these ladybirds from the hide and dispose of them, but there are so many around it would be merely a drop in the ocean, and it would not stop the continuing spread and growth of these invasive insects. It may make us feel a little better though ;)