It's a...Nice Day For a...White Wagtail

 An 8 mile walk along the Trans Pennine Trail to Great Hatfield was completed this morning in bright sunshine and a bloody cold north westerly wind. Long trousers, hat and gloves were dress code rather than shorts and t-shirt. Mind you, this week last year we were plagued by cold NE winds so not much has changed.

It was a very enjoyable walk with plenty of summer migrants - Whitethroats in abundance, a couple of Lesser 'Throats, 3 White Wagtails, a Yellow Wagtail, a Little Ringed Plover and a few Blackcaps - along with the already established Swallows, ChiffChaffs and Willow Warblers.

I haven't seen White Wagtail for a couple of years so pride of place goes to them:

White Wagtail with rape seed reflected in the water

White Wagtail taken through a hedge

 A single female Yellow Wagtail was also seen but it was too distant for a pic.

I've heard Whitethroat at the Mere in the last week but didn't have good views of them so it was nice this morning to be able to capture one on 'film'.

Whitethroat - one of 5 seen today

The end point of my walk was the large puddle that appears each year west of Great Hatfield, named in homage to Mike who first reported birds there - Ibbotson's Flash (IF) 😂

Two Little Ringed Plovers have been there for about a week now but every time I've driven past they have been AWOL. I therefore decided to walk up today and spend some time hanging around in the hope they would appear.

As I got near I met Mark in his car coming the other way having just left IF. He said there were two White Wags and two Yellow Wags but no waders there, and the wagtails were on a puddle the other side of the hedge from IF. I'd already seen a White Wag near a large puddle just out of Gt Hatfield so that made 3 for the morning.

As I got to IF and walked down to where the wagtails were I heard a LRP call, and I watched as one landed on IF. It stayed at an appropriate distance and there is no cover so I had to make do with record shots, cropped of course.

Little Ringed Plover at Ibbotson's Flash

Most of the surrounding fields are now bright yellow with rape seed crops, which provides good opportunities for photos. Last year I got a Yellowhammer in a rape field which could have made a good jigsaw, of the Where's Wally type. This year it was a Dunnock, much easier to spot.

Dunnock in a rape seed field

Along the TPT there were a few Linnets, and a pair were collecting nest material.

female Linnet with homeware from B&Q

male Linnet with nothing in its beak, wings or legs

I was hoping to see a few butterflies this morning but no such luck, so I made do with a few wild flowers and insects.

Red Campion

Early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)

Forget-Me-Not

White Dead Nettle

Red and White Dead Nettle

Shepherd's Purse

Common Stork's Bill (Erodium cicutarium)

 A couple of days ago I saw my first Swift of the year over second field. A gray, cold morning so I didn't envy them their hunting.

One of two Swifts over the Mere

That same morning a Reed Bunting was caught nest building:

Reed Bunting

Of course, I can't leave without the obligatory Brown Hare photo...

This one was at IF today, looking a bit sleepy

Singing Treecreeper

 I haven't heard Treecreepers singing very often so when I heard one this morning I stopped to find it and tried to get a video.

The volume isn't very good but if you turn up the volume on your device you may get a reasonable sound.

I've editted out the bit between its bouts of singing (2) to reduce the file size.

Also this morning at the Mere I saw an insect I've only seen here a few times before - ichneumon xanthorius. Common enough but a nice looking insect - for a wasp 😂

Ichneumon xanthorius

Yesterday at Rolston I had at least 6 Willow Warblers singing, another nice backdrop to my walk.

Willow Warbler at Rolston

On the cliffs there were loads of Meadow Pipits moving through and I counted at least 13 singing Skylarks.

Meadow Pipit on the move

One of the Skylarks was singing on the ground after it landed - again, I've not observed this behaviour often in the past, but it certainly happens.

Skylarks at South Cliff

Linnets are nesting along the cliffs again despite the serious disruption caused by tractors and earth movers ripping up the cliff tops.

male Linnet on a gorse bush

Our Kestrel's Manoevers In The Light

 A pair of Kestrels have been regularly spotted recently, and were showing well a few days ago. Hopefully they are going to find a suitable nest site.

female Kestrel

Photographing wildlife is rewarding most of the time, whether the subject is static, as with flowers, fungi etc. or mobile creatures such as insects or mammals. Sometimes though you think you've got a good shot until you review it later and find something's up 😂

Close, but no coconut!

As I was watching a pleasantly quiet scene from the hide the other morning a droning whine gradually got louder until this small jet zoomed by just above tree top level. The peace and quiet shattered, the wildlife eventually settled down again. Why was that necessary?

RAF Embraer jet low fly by - grrrrrrr

Coots and Mute Swans are nest building but generally numbers of wildfowl are well down following their departure for their breeding grounds. A few Goldeneye, Tufted Duck and Gadwall are left but Spring and Summer at the Mere always seems empty without their presence.

One of the few Coot remaining at the Mere

Our pond at home is warming up and things are starting to be seen - yesterday's sightings were 4 Smooth Newts and a Great Diving Beetle. One of the female newts is looking like she may be laying eggs soon.

male Smooth Newt

Coming up to date, this morning's walk was mammal rich with 5 brown hares, a red fox, several grey squirrels and 2 roe deer. Yesterday and today I watched as the Lapwings drove off a Marsh Harrier. I thought the hares in the same field would scatter with the approaching harrier but they stayed put.

As I walked out of the Mere onto Hull Road I heard a woodpecker calling. It was in a tree by Fossdyke.

male Great Spotted Woodpecker

Simple Pleasures

 Life's simple beauty is just wonderful at times.  Walking past a small bank covered in wild flowers just glowing with colour in the sun was stunning and eyecatching. Not showy and including a few dandelions but great to see. Would be nice if more road side verges were left uncut for the wild flowers and grasses to grow and provide habitat and food for invertebrates.

Won't happen though 'cos people moan about them looking untidy ☹️

Dandelions, red dead nettle and speedwell

 The trees and undergrowth in Wassand wood are coming along nicely but the ground is still very, very wet and waterlogged. A few consistently dry days would do wonders I think.

Wassand woodland walk

I counted 8 Blackcaps on my walk yesterday morning and had a good view of  some of them singing.

Singing Blackcap

Although I haven't managed to find a Treecreeper nest yet, I have found a Long-tailed Tit nest to watch. They are fantastic things to see, constructed in an almost enclosed egg shape of lichen, moss and spider's web, they keep the eggs and chicks safe from the elements until they fledge.

Long-tailed Tit nest

I won't be lucky enough to get pics of the birds coming and going at the nest as the entrance is well hidden in the bramble patch and the route in is therefore obscurred. Clever creatures!

Long-tailed Tit hidden in the brambles

Male Marsh Harrier

Our Buzzards are still around and I recognise this one from its underwing pattern and from the fact it has a damaged primary feather on its right wing.

Female Common Buzzard

Fungus is intriguing stuff. I find it really hard to id as there are so many that look the same. Although I have a couple of books and also try an id app, there never seems to be a 100% concensus of opinion.

Take this fungus for example, growing on dead wood. It's only a few millimetres in size and you'd think it'd be easy to id. Not a bit of it. I'll update this blog once I have an answer.
 

Today's view

Yesterday's view