Autumn Is Here

 I've been walking down to the sea front most mornings before going through to the Mere. There have been lovely sunrises in and amongst.

Sunrise over the wind farm

Sunrise is an obvious subject for dramatic photos and I don't mind being obvious 😂

I also don't mind it if the weather is bad as it means there are fewer people out and about to disturb the wildlife...

Mind you, it would take a lot of effort for any of us landlubbers to disturb these beauties as they swam past Hornsea. A pod of around 15 Bottlenosed Dolphins on their way south.

Bottlenosed Dolphins

Whooper Swans have been passing through en route to their wintering grounds, these two flew south before veering south west over South Cliffs.

Whooper Swans off the sea front

Cloud formations are sometimes more interesting than the wildlife and these lenticular clouds were forming nicely last Tuesday until they just blew away on the wind.

Small lenticular clouds forming off the sea front

Pity they dispersed, as they can be spectacular when they have the right conditions to extend their size and shape. These photos were taken in 2011 back where I used to live on the Pennines and show perfect formations of these clouds.

Lenticular clouds over Stoodley Pike

Same day as above with the clouds just forming

 Things have been relatively quiet at the Mere recently with Scaup, Common Scoter and Whooper Swans the pick of the sightings. These birds have been keeping their distance but they have ventured a little closer to the shore once or twice.

Drake Common Scoter

Female Common Scoter

 Numbers of wildfowl are building now on the Mere as we approach winter. Goldeneye are flying in, mainly females with just 2 drakes spotted by yours truly to date, and Gadwall are increasing too.

 

Gadwall off second field

Gadwall changing direction

 Wassand wood has also been quiet as autumn wears on, with no migrants reported at all yet. The residents have been keeping their heads down too so I was happy to watch a Treecreeper feeding.

 

 

Treecreeper in Wassand Wood

A Last Glimpse Of Summer

 As autumn wears on and the weather gradually cools off we have had a brief period of sunny and warm weather. This has reminded me of the glories of summer just past and I have enjoyed these pleasant days - but I haven't been tempted to change back into my shorts!! Oh no, that's tempting fate that is.

This morning I walked along the sea front to see if anything was passing given that  the gentle south westerlies had veered to a gentle northerly breeze. Not much as I feared, but a skein of about 170 Pink-footed geese flew overhead going north west.

Pink-footed geese

I headed inland to the Mere and on KP I was greeted by a whole host of people. This isn't usually the case at 9 in the morning but there was a sailing event on so boats were being prepared and moved onto the water.

Jon had found a Slavonian Grebe over by the eastern reed bed and I found it OK through the bins, but my naff Nikon bridge camera didn't make much of the view...

Slav Grebe at 800mm

Slav Grebe at 2000mm

I am seriously considering upgrading my P900 to a newer bridge camera. It is absolutely great for close up photography but that isn't why I bought it 5 years ago. I got it for its 83X zoom and minimal weight, but the reviews I read were off the mark by a long way regarding image quality.

Yesterday's walk along the south side, also in bright, warm sunshine, was a total pleasure and did remind me of summer with dragonflies and butterflies out and about. I don't think they'll be lingering much longer but let's enjoy them while we can.

Red Admiral

Migrant Hawker

Common Darter

Walking along the fence line I noticed that most of the fence posts had ladybirds on them, basking in the warmth of the October morning.

Harlequin ladybird, we have lots around Hornsea

Ladybird - not native species though

As I meandered through Heslops, a Marsh Harrier drifted by and came close enough to warrant a few photos. Although we have them breeding locally and they are a pretty common sight, it's always great to see these lovely raptors.

Marsh Harrier

This year's migration season hasn't really happened yet, with no large falls of migrating birds coming through. We've had a smattering of them with Wheatear, Whinchat and Stonechats being seen locally but nothing like the numbers or variety we hope for. A Wheatear in first field yesterday morning reminded me of what we are missing.

Wheatear enjoying a tasty insect

On Friday I went to Bempton and Flamborough to meet up with my good friend Andy for a day's birding, and the weather was almost too warm! We missed the good birds that were reported at each site (Barred Warbler, Yellow-browed Warblers and Red-flanked Bluetail) although we gave them a good looking for. We did however see a species that neither of us had seen before, not a bird but a damselfly - Willow Emerald no less.

Willow Emerald Damselfly - missed the twig with its rear legs!

Willow Emerald Damselfly on a willow tree

Apparently when these insects are ovipositing they lay their eggs into the bark of willows and you can actually see where they have done this (thanks Mark!).

A beautiful insect and to make things even better - there were two of them. We watched them for about an hour before deciding to move on - but not before a stunning Brimstone butterfly flew past. Gobsmackingly smashing in the sunshine, it was the second highlight of the day for me.

I'm ready for the depths of autumn now and winter can do its worst for all I care. These few days of sun have almost rejuvenated me 🤣😎