At last, Spring has sprung and it's getting Otter

What an awful, awful start to April! What should be a relatively mild and clear month, with early migrants arriving to start their breeding season, has been bloody cr@p.

Cold winds, mist, fog, rain. What a half month it's been, and no chance of putting the gloves, waterproofs, warm hats, thermals etc. into storage.

Still, hopefully all that's behind us now and although there will be some setbacks the weather is improving and with it our chances of seeing more flora and fauna.

A couple of days ago our first Sedge Warblers arrived at Hornsea Mere, with 2 singing in the reed bed at 1st field. The Reed Buntings have already started singing their usual 5-note song which to me is the harbinger of Spring hereabouts.

Today I walked down the Wassand woodland walk to the hide at Decoy and along the way the wood was full of birdsong. My first Blackcap of the year was singing as I went through the iron gate and I could already hear a Green Woodpecker yaffling. Good start to the morning I thought 😊

I soon had 2 more Blackcap and reckoned I wouldn't get many more - how wrong I was!

For some reason I was in a bit of a hurry to get to the hide so I walked on at a brisk pace, noting but not counting the birds I saw and heard, so more of those in a while. I got to the hide and didn't have to open a window as one was already open with no one present. Tut, tut to the last person in there 😎

Straight away there were 3 Marsh Harriers over the reed bed opposite the hide, a male and 2 females.

male Marsh Harrier

A few bubbles in the water right in front of the hide were moving towards me. I guessed what it might be and picked up my camera. It had the long 400mm lens fixed as usual and the bubbles were already close. The beast showed itself vaguely:

Damn, come on, show yourself....yes, an Otter!!!

Ah, just about right:

I think that the noise of the camera shutter alerted it to my presence because it did an about turn and disappeared.

An all-too-brief encounter but a dazzling one. I was a bit gobsmacked to tell you the truth and it took me a while to calm down.

Meanwhile the Marsh Harriers were still flapping up and down the reed bed.

Female Marsh Harrier with distinctive light patches on the wings

Through the reeds I caught a glimpse of a white form flying gracefully. It turned out to be a tern, a Common Tern and my first of the year!

Common Tern

From both sides of the hide I could hear Cetti's Warblers singing, 4 in total. When we first started coming to Hornsea in 2011 I don't recall hearing any at all, last year there were upwards of 10 singing.

Time to head home and as I was in good time for a change I strolled through the wood, looking for as many birds as possible. I was told that 16 Blackcaps had been seen yesterday so there was a target to aim for. There were certainly plenty about, singing males, chacking males, quiet males and quiet females (!!!!!):

female Blackcap

singing male Blackcap

Blackcap living up to its name

I got up to 13 Blackcap by the time I reached the gate to the woodland walk and I'm sure there were many more I'd missed. Also had 5 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 5 Chiff Chaff, 2 Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and lots of more common species that added to whole mass of birdsong.

One of the more interesting sights was a Starling believe it or not. Usually these birds are to be seen nesting in buildings but today I saw one checking out a hole in a tree for a change:

Starling  mostly being a 'pecker

That was a really enjoyable and uplifting walk through our local wood. It will slowly get better as the next few weeks pass, with other summer migrants arriving and adding their different songs and calls to the dawn and daylight chorus. I am so looking forward to that 😃

Mild Morning Musings

After the torrential rain it was we've had recently I was looking forward t a reasonably dry walk today. I set off with waterproofs though, just in case. The ground everywhere is just soaked through and through, with standing water in every field and on every footpath. It makes walking a bit harder, trying to evade the worst of the deep mud and water, as I do not like walking in wellies so I continue to wear my walking boots that are no longer water resistant, never mind waterproof!!

Sure enough I had only just reached the footpath along the south of Hornsea Mere when the rain started. Camera straight under my coat then 'cos the Nikon isn't waterproof either.

Goldeneye are still here in reasonable numbers but they are gradually thinning out as they leave Hornsea for their breeding grounds. The male Gadwall are looking tremendous now as they are in full breeding plumage. Fantastic colours.

From 2nd field shore line the Long-tailed Duck was showing well, just about 60 yards out. The Nikon bridge camera gave reasonable results in poor light but I'd have preferred to have my Canon DSLR with me.

Long-tailed Duck

Long-tailed Duck and Greylags

Long-tailed Duck

At the other end of 2nd field Jon had spotted a Black-necked Grebe, which is a good sighting for The Mere this winter as vagrant grebes have been few and far between. It stayed well out and never came closer than about 300 yards so very poor record shots:

Distant Black-necked Grebe

Distant Black-necked Grebe

A single Oystercatcher flew West, calling as it went, and a few Lapwing were calling from fields further South, their calls mingled with the song of several Skylarks that had emerged along with the welcome sunshine after the shower of rain had passed.

A Yellowhammer had also started singing as I picked my way carefully through the morass that was Snipe Grounds:

Yellowhammer

I decided to go down to the hide at Decoy, although I changed my mind several times before I started on my way down the Woodland Walk as I knew it would be flooded. Sure enough it was. Many times I had to leave the footpath and pick a drier route through the undergrowth around the worst parts of water and mud. The 2 fallen trees that are still lying over the path have become almost permanent features now, with a beaten path showing clearly the route around them. Will they get moved some time?

3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming and flitting up in the canopy and a Green Woodpecker was yaffling from the direction of Wassand Hall. I counted 4 Chiff Chaffs as I walked towards the hide but didn't see or hear any Willow Warblers.

Just before the hide there was an early show of colour as a nice grouping of Common Dog Violet was in flower:

Common Dog Violet

Common Dog Violet

As I approached the hide I'd heard a Little Grebe calling so I went in a quietly as I could and had my camera at the ready to try and get a few photos before it realised I was there. I could see 2 of them through the misted up windows but had to open one before I could try for a picture. As soon as I moved the window they spooked and swam like buggery into the reeds:

Little Grebe buggering off

I heard 4 singing Cetti's Warbler from the hide but, as usual, didn't see anything of them at all :)

So a really good morning's walk and a good tally of bird species seen, as well as enjoying a bit of colour with the violets.

I hadn't finished though, as I had some good views of a couple of Brown Hares as they ran through a ploughed field. Obviously March had been too wet for them so they had become April hares instead.

Mad April Hares

Signs Of Spring at long last

Having suffered from flu over the last 6 days, I thought it was time to get out and get a little fresh air, without overdoing it and undoing all the good work put in by my lovely wife.

A slow and steady few miles in the warm late March sun should be OK then 😃

Walking through the trees at Freeport there was the lovely sound of a Chiff Chaff singing from high in a tree top - the first of the year! Below it Coal Tits and Long-tailed Tits were foraging in the shrubs.

Out along the Trans Pennine Trail to the footpath running beside a long hedgerow, I hoped to see lots of finches but there were very few indeed. 2 Lapwing were displaying though and 3 Skylark were up and singing.

In the hedgerow I spotted a few early Blackthorn blossoms opening up. These are a bit later than last year:

Blackthorn blossom

Blackthorn are almost identical to hawthorn bushes and the easy way to tell them apart at this time of year is that blackthorns flower before their leaves appear, whereas hawthorns don't flower until their leaves are already out - so much later in Spring.

A single Brown Hare was running along a ploughed field. Would have been nice to see a few mad March hares boxing and whatever!

Coming back two Yellowhammers were singing, but only the first part of their song. Must still be too early for them to invest time and effort in the full song.

Almost back home and I came across the first frog spawn of the year in a large puddle. There is no future for these unfortunately, unless we have continuous rain between now and August.

Frog spawn in a puddle

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Shore Larks in the Rain - 4 miles

Well, the weather may be a tad warmer but it isn't getting any drier. This is the wettest winter I can remember having over here on the Costa Del Holderness. OK, this is only my 8th winter on the coast but it is by far the worst.

Having been unable to get down to Aldbrough/Cowden yesterday due to a Mother's Day trip to York to meet our daughter, I was keen to get down today to see if the Shore Larks and Mealy Redpoll were still about.

I woke up to a steel grey sky, with the colour of the sea merging into the grey clouds, and a steady downpour of heavy rain. The vast puddle in the field behind the house now looks more like an annex of Hornsea Mere rather than a crop field. Never mind though, get the waterproofs on (again), wrap up warm and take a waterproof bag for the camera and all will be champion I told myself.

After a bowl of hot porridge I was ready to tackle the elements. As I was loading up the car I saw our next door neighbour so, as usual, we exchanged friendly insults and banter and he went off to work - poor young chap he he he he!

I parked at the southern end of the MoD range and walked up the paths to the northern edge where the cliffs go on to Aldbrough. I could have parked down south to make life easier but then I wouldn't have got the opportunity to get a decent few miles in and warm myself up.

Through the range there wasn't much to inspire or excite. 2 Pheasant, a Dunnock a few gulls circling like vultures overhead. Along the path where I hoped to see the Mealy Redpoll, nothing stirred. I heard a few Mallard and Coot and saw 2 Greylags. Not a sign of finches anywhere. Hey ho, there's always tomorrow, and so onwards into the wild grey yonder :) Not too bad walking down as the wind was a North Easterly it was primarily behind me - but I wasn't really looking forward to going back!

As soon as I reached the spot where the Shore Larks usually are I spotted them, 5 Shore Larks in flight. They got up from the rough stuff at the cliff edge and landed in the very wet, muddy and decidedly unlovely field. How the crop will grow again I'm not sure - unless they've planted rice here.

Are you shore this is a good idea?

Lark's tongues in rainwater

As Steph still had my Canon, I used the Nikon P900 today. The quality isn't as good, especially when you use a high zoom magnification and a high ASA setting because of the poor light. Still they are reasonable record shots. Maybe I'll get down again before they leave our shores.

The walk back to the car was windy, damp and bird-less. Saw 9 Roe Deer though which was uplifting.

During the Cold Weather I Have Been Mainly Wandering About

At last the weather is getting a bit warmer. The last 6 days have been bloody cold with temperatures struggling to get above 0 degrees. I have spent longer on getting ready for my walks (putting on thermals, hats, gloves, extra jumpers etc.) than I have spent walking!! Today's temperature of about 8 degrees feels positively balmy.

What's been about then?

Well. I've been wanting to see Fieldfare and Redwing in our garden ever since we moved here and this cold spell has been an ideal opportunity to do so. I saw 3 Fieldfare over the road in our neighbour's garden so I threw out some eating apples for them, hoping to entice them onto our territory.

They came over eventually and held sway over the Blackbirds and thrushes, and everything else, for 2 days:

Fieldfare in neighbour's garden

Fieldfare on other side of the road

Fieldfare in our garden

Fieldfare eating apples in our garden

Fieldfare bossing his/her patch

Not a single Redwing put in an appearance during the cold spell, which was disappointing but no doubt they will turn up before too long.

Down at Hornsea Mere the ice was building up on the tree lined shore of Swan Island:

Icy Swan Island

   

We were hoping for something special to get blown in during, or just after, the gales but we didn't get anything really. 7 Dunlin were nice to see, and 7 is the most I've seen at The Mere, but special? Nah.

Dunlin, skating away on the thin ice of a new day

Dunlin feeding on.....ice? Couldn't see anything to eat myself

   

The Long-tailed Duck was still here (been here since late October last year) but it has been over in the south east corner and distant from any vantage point. This photo is heavily cropped but shows the plumage of a near-adult drake:

Long-tailed Duck

Getting almost up to date, last Saturday I was out with my long-suffering mate Nick, who happily (?) puts up with my feeble attempts at birding and never fails to cheer me up with his good humour and all round good-blokedness. We called in at Holbeck just outside Scarborough to see if any Mediterranean Gulls were showing in the car park - they were:

Med Gull calling

Apparently up to 14 Med Gulls have been seen here, which is a fine total as at one time this was a rarely seen bird in Yorkshire.

We were on our way to Scarborough harbour, but a message on the local grapevine service made us alter course and go back the way we had come, to the coast between Hunmanby Gap and Reighton. Good numbers of Linnet, Yellowhammer, Lesser Redpoll and Corn Buntings et al had been sighted in a set-aside field so we went to try and catch sight of these well known farmland birds. I have never seen Linnet or Yellowhammer in flocks this big so it would be a great thing to see them.

Unfortunately we got there a little late and we only managed to see a flock of about 90 Linnet, which in itself was marvelous for me. They were going to roost so we left them to it, and went to prepare for our evening's musical entertainment - Tom Townsend at Hunmanby Community Centre. A wonderful evening was had by all with good food, great company and enjoyable music.