Gannets, Scoters, Sandwich Terns and a Shrew

Last Saturday we had a bit of a blow from the North along with rain so I went down to the beach to see if anything was passing by.

Plenty of Gannets, most going straight North but some diving to catch fish and then flying North:

juv Gannet and a Cormornat on the buoy

 There were a few Common Scoter too, but not many:

4 Common Scoter going past a Hornsea buoy

The following day was dry, warm and sunny and from the cliffs south of Hornsea I was watching a few Sandwich Terns diving into the sea to catch fish:

I quite like this one, captured just as the tern entered the water

 There are always Cormorants passing overhead going to and from The Mere but today one flew parallel to the cliff allowing me to get a reasonable photo:

A Cormorant on its way to The Mere

Along the hedgerow were a Reed Bunting (nice to see one along here so late in the year) and a Wren, which was feeding in the undergrowth just by the hedgerow:

I called in at KP as I usually do to see if there was anyone or anything about and there were 7 Little Gulls on the jetties. Good to see a juvenile bird as there don't seem to be that many about this year:

juv Little Gull

I hadn't been to the hide at Wassand for some time as not only has there been a dearth of birds there, but also the view to the left over to the willows has become badly obscured by the reeds. Unless something is done the winter wild fowl watching will be a waste of time.

On the way back along the woodland walk I saw something moving in the grass by the path and it turned out to be a Common Shrew. It makes a welcome change to see one very much alive and dashing around the leaves:

Hornsea South Beach, The Mere and Raptors

A good, fresh morning today with none of the chilly breeze that made yesterday a tad cool.

Straight down to the beach to check the gulls and see if anything turns up - 5 Sandwich Terns fishing just off the beach. A juvenile landed on the breakwater and an adult with a fish in its bill tried to get to it but was waylaid by several gulls who harried it until the fish was dropped.

juv Sandwich Tern going hungry

At Kirkholme Point just 2 Little Gulls were on the jetty. It can't be long now until they disappear completely.

As one species wanes another grows in numbers - 47 Barnacle Geese flew in and landed on the water opposite Swan Island and slowly drifted east until they were off 1st field.

Barnacle Geese off 1st field

A Sparrowhawk flew east just off 2nd field but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo. In the hedgerow past Snipe Grounds where there are elderberries and hawthorns galore there were 3 Willow Warblers, a Whitethroat and several Blue Tits feeding. The berry bushes are laden with fruit now.

Elderberry

Sloes (Blackthorn)

Hawthorn

2 Red Admirals and 2 Speckled Wood butterflies were enjoying the morning sun.These butterflies were the first of a morning full of them - 9 Red Admirals and 7 Speckled Wood along with 3 white sp. Never seen so many Red Admirals before :)

Speckled Wood

Into the hide at Decoy and on opening the window I saw......a Mute Swan. Nothing else. Just a single Mute Swan. I sat down hoping for something and 4 more swam into view along with a Mallard. Things were warming up then!! 2 Herring gulls went over followed by a Wood Pigeon, then, at last, a Hobby which flew east. 2 minutes later a Buzzard flew over the hide and a few minutes later a Marsh Harrier gracefully glided over the reed bed opposite the hide.

Marsh Harrier

I left the hide before the excitement got too much for me.

On the way towards Southorpe Road a Kestrel was hovering over the field, making a decent total of 5 raptors for the morning. Not bad.

Cowden Range

Had a walk around Cowden on Friday morning. As usual there was no one else there :)

Lots of warblers still around the south end of the range with 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 11 Whitethroat, 3 ChiffChaff, a male Blackcap and 2 Willow Warbler.

Whitethroat

Plenty of tits in the hawthorns including a party of about 8 Long-tailed

Long-tailed Tit with Vapourer Moth caterpillar(?)

A Barn Owl and 3 Buzzard were showing well in the morning sunlight and 2 Sparrowhawk flashed by before I could get the camera anywhere close. I had to lighten the Buzzard pic as it was too dark against the sun and I didn't have time to over-expose on the camera.

One of three Buzzards

Barney

I spent a long tme trying to get a flight shot of dragonflies over one of the ponds. These are the best but still work to do!

Common Hawker

Common Hawker

Common Hawker

So nothing unusual from the visit but it was very enjoyable anyway. 6 miles covered and several bramble scratches on the legs which is normal. I'll return here shortly hoping for a few migrants through early Autumn.