Well it's been a very slow start to the birding year at Hornsea.
The weather has been so-so with a few showers and a couple of days with strong-ish northerlies. The temperature has been above zero with no frost yet and a few bright days.
So what has been seen over the last two days - here's a quick review of the photos I've taken yesterday and today.
The Roe Deer population continues to be quite visible, particularly
early in the morning. These four were sauntering across the stubble
field just north of Southorpe Road yesterday.
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| 4 roe deer |
We have a large flock of finches that feed regularly on the set aside
field towards Wassand. It consists mainly of Goldfinch and Linnet with a
few Tree Sparrow, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch and Greenfinch making guest
appearances. This photo was taken yesterday morning and, together
with the adjacent tree's population, I counted 293 Linnet. This is the
largest number of Linnet I've ever seen!
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| 212 Linnet and a lone Goldfinch |
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| A blizzard of Linnets taking off |
Barn Owls are always great to see and one was still hunting as I walked past the field where I usually see one.
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| Barn Owl |
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| Barn Owl |
The flock of sheep grazing in the field between the end of Southorpe
Road and Weatherhill Farm were quietly munching their way through a bale
of hay when I interrupted them by walking down the path that goes right
down the middle of the field. They all seemed to stop eating as I
approached and they turned to watch me - reminded me of the old westerns
when a stranger walks into the saloon and the piano player stops
playing and all the cowboys stare at the newcomer 😂😂
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| Hay, why don'chew move on |
This morning I walked on the cliffs to see what was about and was
rewarded with the sight of a common Snipe taking off in front of me and
disappearing into the distance. Moments later a Mistle Thrush appeared
on the path, possibly having just come in-off?
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| Mistle Thrush on the cliffs |
I walked on the sea front and along Stream Dike without seeing anything else until I got to 1st field where, after chatting with Jon for a while, a Common Scoter appeared. The light was poor and I had to adjust the exposure by almost 2 stops before I got anythng like a decent image. A record shot at best but at least it's recognisable.
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| Common Scoter, female, from 1st field |
