Warblers in Hornsea

Although we have a good number of Cetti's Warblers here in Hornsea that are resident all year round, we also do pretty well for summer migrant warblers that only arrive here to breed and then leave before the cold weather sets in.

Most of them have already done the deed and are now kicking back to rest and relax, but some will be attempting to raise a second brood so their leisure time is still to come.

Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiff Chaff, Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat all breed locally and young of each species have been seen this year. Grasshopper Warbler however is an unknown quantity. I hear a few reeling away but breeding evidence is lacking.

So what is the point of all this waffle? Well, it's just an excuse to post a few photos init?!

Sedge Warbler with food, Hornsea Mere, 19 July 2019

Sedge Warbler, Hornsea Mere, 18 July 2019

Willow Warbler, Wassand, 16 July 2019

female Blackcap, Wassand, 12 April 2019

female Blackcap, Wassand, 12 April 2019

male Blackcap, Wassand, 12 April 2019

Whitethroat, Hornsea Mere, 21 April 2019

Whitethroat, Hornsea Mere, 21 April 2019

Reed Warbler, Hornsea Mere, 21 July 2019

Reed Warbler, Hornsea Mere, 21 July 2019

Chiff Chaff, Woodland walk, 20 March 2019

Lesser Whitethroat, Woodland walk, 19 May 2019

Lesser Whitethroat, Woodland walk, 19 May 2019

I have no photos of Grasshopper Warbler in Hornsea from this year that I can post here, which is a bit of a shame. Here is one from way back though:

Grasshopper Warbler reeling, Hornsea South Cliff, May 2012

For better quality I have to go to 2015 and one from Cowden.

Grasshopper Warbler reeling, Cowden, April 2015

I have photos of Cetti's Warbler but as this bird is not a summer migrant I will not include it here. Nothing to do with the fact they are all rubbish 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Cowden

An early morning visit to Cowden paid dividends with lots of flora and fauna looking great in the sun (between showers).

Once I'd negotiated the mass of head height undergrowth and tangled thistles, nettles and brambles that tried to have me falling @rse over tit, it was an easy 5 mile walk. I'd put my waterproof overtrousers on though as I expected a bit of a tussle 😄

First up was a Barn Owl, drifting over the long grass towards the south.

over-exposed Barn Owl

As I had a look at the photo it looked to be over-exposed, and sure enough the ASA was taken at 2000 although the sun was out!? It was on auto ASA so I would have expected a value of 200 or 400 - must have been a glitch with the camera as I'd only just turned it on. All OK thereafter so just technology having a boo.

Whitethroats with young and Sedge Warblers kept me interested as I walked down the path. I  didn't really expect many butterflies as it was a bit breezy and overcast at times but I saw quite a few - mainly Ringlet, Meadow Brown and whites but a few Skippers were out and about too.

Small Skipper

Small Skipper

At the southern end of my walk a pair of roe deer were munching their way though the grass and a Brown Hare kept its eyes on me until I got too close.

Roebuck and doe

Brown Hare

On my way back the first sighting of the year of a Gatekeeper butterfly was a nice find. It was very flighty though and didn't settle often, and when it did it kept its wings closed so the real beauty of this butterfly couldn't be enjoyed to its full. The key id aid when a Gatekeeper has its wings closed is the two dots in the small dark spot on the underwing.

Gatekeeper

A phone photo was the only one I got with wings open

The place was alive with hoverfly and this sowthistle was a typical sight, attracting a good number of them.

Hoverflies on sowthistle (I think)

 Onwards towards the small pond to hopefully see a few dragonflies. The pond is quite well sheltered by tall bushes and the sun was out intermittently so I was optimistic.

No dragonflies I'm afraid, but there were a couple of fish to watch. They were yellow and quite small and looked like some species of carp to me.

As I was watching the fish, a raptor flew over. I got a glimpse of it between the bushes and got a couple of photos before it disappeared going north west. It looked to be a young male and could be the one from Hornsea Mere.

young male Marsh Harrier

A mallard came into sight suddenly, ploughing through the water making a real din. I thought it was being chased by somethng but it wasn't, so what it was doing I have no idea.

Mallard making waves

There are so many aspects of wildlife behaviour that just leaves me dumbfounded 😂

Over to the cliff top to check out what's passing by - a Gannet by jove!!

Gannet hopefully avoiding the wind turbines

The wind turbines generate a whole load of electricity but their location is a worry as they are on the feeding flight path of the Gannets from Bempton. They aren't small so can be seen easily but whether seabirds can avoid them is open to debate.

I mentioned earlier that white butterflies accompanied the whole of my walk so I'll finish with a photo of Large Whites. The second brood should be out now but these look a bit worn so may be hangers on from first brood. Small Whites and Green-veined Whites were also seen but the majority of whites were Large today.

Large White butterflies

Hornsea Wanderings and Swift Pics

As I walk to The Mere most mornings I come across the same wildlife. Some would say that's a bit boring, but it isn't. Seeing the same creatures each day gives you a bit of an insight into how they behave, where they go, how they move, when is the best time to see them.

One of the birds I see most days at the moment is the Swift. What a brilliant bird it is. It only lands to breed and spends the rest of its life on the wing. Watch them flying and you'll see them flying fast, but follow them for a while and see them change direction so quickly it would make an F1 car jealous. This is what makes photographing them a bit of a challenge.

I've spent a fair while standing in fields, near hedges, near trees, near water on calm days, windy days, cool days and hot days, trying to get a good image of a Swift in flight. Ideally the time to get them is when they almost stall flying into the wind, meaning they are at their slowest - not necessarily at their lowest point, but at their slowest meaning you have a better chance of focussing on them.

I'm getting there...

best Swift to date, but not good enough yet

An altogether different creature I see every day is the Meadow Brown butterfly. They are to be seen mingling with hundreds of Common Blue Damselflies in the fields around Hornsea, especially when it is sunny and calm, and are pretty easy to photograph. Just wait for one to land on a food source and you're away.

Meadow Brown

or wait for one to share a thistle with a White-tailed Bumblebee

Yellowhammer? Same tree or one nearby almost every morning, singing away. Seems to be a good year for them as I heard 5 yesterday.

I mentioned Common Blue Damselfly earlier, as the fields are alive with them in mid to late June. Numbers have reduced a fair amount since then, but they are still abundant in the long grass meadows.

Common Blue Damselfly

A Typical Day's Volunteering at Lower Derwent Valley NNR

Yesterday's volunteering day started off well. The sun was shining and it promised to be a warm dry day, so I went for an early morning walk along the River Derwent to the wind pump which is just over a mile away from the base at Bank Island. Lots of warblers were still singing and there was a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker in a tree on the other side of the river. The red crown of a juv showed up well in the sunlight.

Also along the river were numerous Banded Damoiselles  - males with green/blue bodies and black banded wings and something new for me - a female Banded Damoiselle which was stunning in its own way.

Male Banded Damoiselles

female Banded Damoiselle

9 volunteers started work on various tasks for the day - cutting back vegetation along the bund and in front of the hide; clearing the paths to enable easy access; gathering cut brash twigs and delivering to a local school for a project they are working on; delivering locally cut and chopped logs to raise funds for NNR projects; completing the butterfly survey as part of continuous effort monitoring and recording; finishing off pulling ragwort from the hay meadows; collecting cut wood from the meadow margins; helping with ringing 3 Common Tern chicks born on our tern rafts.

Clearing vegetation with the Allen Scythe

While clearing tall vegetation from in front of Pool Hide so visitors can have clear views of birds now and when wader migration kicks off in earnest, we came across a warbler nest. Either Reed Warbler or Sedge Warbler, but probably Sedge. Close inspection showed the nest strands had been wrapped around two of the three supporting reed stems just above a leaf junction which provided more support. Damn clever these birds!

The Common Tern chicks were very active and seemed to be climbing the walls of the tern raft to get out :)so after lunch we assembled by the pond where the raft is moored to watch and help with the ringing.

3 Common tern chicks on the tern raft

Craig had a few near misses when he waded out to collect the chicks, as the adult terns dived at him to try and drive him away from their nest.

The young terns were pretty big and will probably be flying some time next week.

It's a delicate operation to ring a small bird and requires long hours of training to get a ringing license. We are privileged to be able to assist in a small way.

All three ringed and ready to go back to their nest

Along the butterfly transect we found 6 species of butterfly as well as a 6 spot burnet moth, banded damoiselles and common blue damselflies.

Small Copper butterfly

Near the end of the transect we got a call saying that a Temminck's Stint had been seen from one of the hides. Myself and another volunteer decided that we would walk over and try and see this uncommon visitor. 10 minutes later we were able to look through the finder's scope from the hide and have good views, not only of the Temminck's Stint but also of many other waders on the same pool.

That was a brilliant end to a wonderful day which started at 07:00 when I set off from home and ended at 17:45 when I got back. A longer day than normal but well worth it 😊