Slav and SEO

Disclaimer: Here's my excuse for some of the poor photos displayed on this post 😂 We've had poor light all week unfortunately, with one or two brief patches of sun getting through the murk every now and then. 

 

A Slavonian Grebe was found on the Mere on Tuesday morning (not Monday as one untrusted source reported). It has stayed through to today (Sunday) and may stay longer if we're lucky.

Slavonian Grebe from first field on Tuesday 27 Oct

As above

Also on Tuesday, 12 Scaup were seen on the Mere, some of which were close enough for photos.

Greater Scaup

As above

On Thursday I saw the Slav again but it was much further out this time. Better light but somewhat distant.

Slav Grebe on Thursday 29 Oct - a mere dot on the water

As above, with Cormorant

The set aside is now hosting more finches and tits as the seeds mature and other food sources become scarcer. A single Brambling has been seen there, but not by me!

Goldfinch in the set aside

Great Tit

Greenfinch

On Saturday morning the Slavonian Grebe was joined by a Little Grebe for a while.

Little Grebe and Slav Grebe from first field, Sat 31 Oct

Slav Grebe with a fish

The hide at Decoy is closing for about 6 weeks from next Monday so I went down for a last look at not much. The most interesting thing was the depth gauge which read 27 cms (same as last week). We'll see what it shows when the hide opens again.

Depth gauge at the hide on Sat 31 Oct

This morning we had a faint mist again combined with solid grey skies. No wind to speak of for the second day running which was good. The highlight was a Short-eared Owl going west high above the Mere. It turned south towards us and came a little lower so I took a few photos.

Short-eared Owl going south

SEO change of direction

As above

SEO going south again

Five Whooper Swans landed by the Mere in with Barnacle Geese and Greylags, but didn't stay long before they took off and continued their journey to who-knows-where.

Whoopers arriving and on the deck

Waxwings were seen in Hornsea yesterday so we'll see if any more arrive over the next few days - none were reported today. Not much else has happened so I'll leave you with the usual Roe Deer photo.