Biden My Time

 Well at last we have hopefully seen the last of Trump over in the USA. What an absolute arse. The News Quiz will be struggling for material until something comes out of the woodwork about Biden.

Speaking of Biden, I can't hear his name without being reminded of a song by Pink Floyd back in 1971 called Biding My Time, which to be honest I don't think is all that memorable. Don't know how that came to mind, just word association I guess.

Back to these shores and the mornings have been just glorious lately with great sunrises every day. Cold and frosty as days should be in January with the added benefit of firm ground underneath my boots. The cliffs have been my favoured route and although the wildlife isn't as abundant, you can't beat the views and the peace and quiet.

Westermost Rough wind turbines at sunrise

Looking south

The view to the north

 I love to see spindrift and with the recent westerlies we had a fair amount to see.

 Snow Buntings have appeared every now and then in the cliff top stubble field with about 12 being the maximum spotted over the last week. Skylarks are also there in good numbers and I had 14 yesterday morning. 

Skylarks in flight

Stonechats appear to like the cliff tops too and one or two can usually be seen.

Female Stonechat

At the Mere the long-staying birds (Long-tailed Duck, Smew and Red-crested Pochard) continue to stay with us. Another winter visitor that stays here a long time is the Barnacle Goose. Arriving in late Autumn they linger until late winter before leaving for their northern breeding grounds along arctic coasts.

Over 160 Barnacle Geese over-winter at the Mere

We have reasonable numbers of finches and buntings too, with over 300 Linnet, 20+ Reed Bunting, 100+ Goldfinch and a smattering of Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Yellowhammer and Bufffinch.

Male Bullfinch

Male Yellowhammer

 

8 Chaffinch

Mammals seem to be in short supply, at least for me. I've seen the usual - grey squirrel, fox, rabbit and roe deer but I am yet to see otter or brown hare this year. The numbers of roe deer seem to be lower but maybe it's just the weather keeping them under cover.

Roebuck this morning

The water level at the Mere has been falling gradually and this has been made noticable by the ice around the base of the reed beds that has been left high and dry by the lower level.

A Shot In The Arm - A Bit Of Sunshine

 A lovely, cold, bright and sunny day here in Yorkshire's eastern outpost. A good morning to take the scope down to the Mere and have a scan for any new arrivals 🤞

I couldn't locate the Long-tailed Duck this morning, nor the Peregrine that can be seen perched on Swan Island some days. I did however get two of the three Smew and the pair of Red-crested Pochard. This triumvirate of long-staying duck species (LTD, Smew and RCP) keeps us going when there is nothing new to see. The light was very good this morning and would have been perfect for photography had any of the birds come close enough to allow it.

While watching the ducks, a flock of Lapwing were circling over the north shore trees. Estimated at about 130 strong I took a short video via the scope to try and get a better count, but it didn't help. The clip I got was shaky but in the useable bit I counted 115 Lapwing.

I walked through the mud and water and reached the set aside field where a Snipe got up and disappeared rapidly over the trees, as they do. Also visible from the set aside was the herd of Barnacle Geese and I got 155 today.

female Reed Bunting in Ouzel Hedge

One of about 40 Tree Sparrows in Ouzel Hedge

Linnet flock still feeding in the set aside

Marsh Harriers can usually be seen at the Mere and this cream crown bird was flying to and fro over the reed bed.

In the woodland edges the first Snowdrops are coming into flower now. A welcome dab of colour to light the way.

Snowdrops in the wood fringe

A friend of mine was telling me that Snowdrops are brilliant flowers, so well adapted to flowering early in the cold climate here and they have anti-freeze to prevent frost damage. I checked the BBC Earth website and they say "Their leaves have specially hardened tips to help them break through frozen soil and their sap contains a form of antifreeze to prevent ice crystals forming. On very cold mornings, clumps will flop down as the water is 'frozen’ inside the cells, but soon perk up again once temperatures rise and the sap can flow again." Thanks Tim!

Frosty Mornings

 We've had a succession of cold and frosty mornings which made walking much easier (well it did once you got off the slippery pavements). The wet ground has been a nightmare to walk on with several parts of the local footpaths either under water or very, very muddy indeed. The frosts have firmed up the ground now though, and it's been dry too, so this weather is much better for getting out and about. Not that bad weather or poor terrain puts me off - it's just more pleasant to walk without having to watch your every footstep.

Early frosty mornings with the sun just up make for beautiful scenes and photo opportunities. I've been avoiding sunrises in favour of stuff with hoar frost on them...

Frosty grass

More frosty grass

Frosty sheep's wool

Frosty sheep's wool - still on the animal's back

Great insulation, the frost hasn't melted from the sheep's warmth yet

The finch flock is larger again and I estimated about 300 Linnet in this one.

Linnet flocking to the set aside field

195 Linnet in the photo - and a single Goldfinch

Redwing and Fieldfare are harder to see now that the hawthorns have been stripped of their berries. I see just a handful each morning now and the Blackbirds are outnumbering them.

A Redwing searching for berries

The edges of the Mere have had a thin sheet of ice on them for the last few days, just thick enough for birds to land and loaf on. Saw 27 Teal yesterday morning which is my highest count so far this year.

A few of the 27 Teal on the ice edges

My Hornsea species list stands at 73 today. With no immediate chance of travelling elsewhere, my year list and my Hornsea list will be one and the same 😂

New Year but Still the Old Me :)

 Yep. I'm still here. So is the 2020 Covid hangover unfortunately. To paraphrase Roger Daltrey - welcome to the new year, same as the old year.

However, the wildlife is also still here which is great, and hopefully we'll have something new to see during this year. No reason why not as the climate is still warming up so maybe new species will find their way to Hornsea 😂🤣

Not a new species as I've seen one or two offshore in the past, but this lovely creature won't be gracing our seas again. What looked to be a Harbour Porpoise washed up on the beach this morning as the tide was receding. I reported it to the CSIP as a dead cetacean but have had no call back yet.

A deceased Harbour Porpoise on Hornsea South Beach

 As I was photographing the porpoise a rain shower blew in on the easterly wind, and with a brief glimpse of the sun it made a rather fetching spectacle.

North Sea rainbow

Up on the cliffs the Snow Buntings were still in the stubble field and I counted 29 again this morning after seeing just 23 on December 31st.

Snow Buntings against the rising sun

29 Snow Buntings

Over at Wassand the set aside flock of Linnet has grown in size to about 130 birds now, with a few Goldfinch and 4 Greenfinch mixed in too.

Linnets having a rest

The Redwing and Fieldfare continue to feed in the hawthorns and numbers are pretty steady. Maybe they will reduce as the berry harvest reduces over time.

Fieldfare

 The bird hide at Decoy remains closed due to Covid restrictions, which is probably as well as the wood is flooded at the moment, so the woodland walk will be rather soggy. I wonder when we'll get to go there again???

Wassand wood flood