4 Days from Spring

Here we are just a few days away from the Spring solstice and already it is feeling Spring-like. The strong westerly winds have eased and the sun is out so here's hoping we don't backslide into a cold, wet slough of despond 😊

The day started well with 4 Roe Deer in the field behind our house. First time we've had 4 but I only just managed to get the fourth in the photo before it moved off.

The route this morning was along Southorpe Road, through the fields and wood then into the hide at Decoy. Lots of birds singing including 3 Yellowhammer, 2 Skylark and 4 Song Thrush as well as the usual Great Tits, Dunnocks and Robins. Fantastic!!

Song Thrush

Almost all the birds are in their finest breeding plumage now and this Chaffinch was looking very fine indeed.

male Chaffinch

At the hide a male Marsh Harrier was collecting nesting material again - it seems to be a never ending task for him. A female watched, seemingly unimpressed! As was a Cormorant that swam in front of the hide, intent on getting somewhere fast.

male Marsh Harrier

 

Cormorant

There are still plenty of Goldeneye around with 26 present at this end of The Mere. There are also a few Wigeon hanging on, but the Spring movement of wildfowl has begun so they won't be with us much longer.

Goldeneye

Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming away as usual in the wood and a couple of Treecreepers flitted from tree trunk to tree trunk in search of insects. I just can't resist taking photos of these secretive little creatures whereever I see them - this one landed very close to me...

Treecreeper using its curved bill to good effect

Out of the wood and through the fields on the south side footpath I stopped to watch the flock of Goldfinch and Linnet as they fed on the set-aside. The flock is gradually reducing as birds get ready for the breeding season and is standing at about 150-200 birds now.

I decided to go along to KP and see if anything was showing there and on the way down Southgate I paused to look over the bridge into Stream Dike, as I always do. I was in luck as I could hear Grey Wagtail calling and soon it came into view from under the bridge. A shaft of sunlight was reaching the water and I had great views as the wagtail flew from the stream side up into the air to catch insects, or darted along the waters edge and back. A few reflections from the water were showing on the bird and hopefully these show up in a couple of the photos.

Grey Wagtail

Another totally enjoyable morning wandering around doing nothing but admiring the wildlife and getting a bit of exercise. I can't think of a better way to spend the first few hours each morning 😃

False Spring?

Over the past few weeks since we had the warm spell, signs of a very early Spring have been showing themselves.

Blackthorn blossom coming out, bluebells emerging from the leaf litter, Chiff Chaffs singing and speedwell flowering all seen or heard since mid-February. I can't help but think we are going to get some nasty weather before Spring does arrive.

Speedwell in flower

Blackthorn blossom

Ribes bursting out into flower

Ribes, what a gorgeous aroma

Bluebells on the wood floor

More Blackthorn

I've heard more Song Thrushes this year than ever before and other people I've spoken to about this have suggested the same thing. Yellowhammers, Coal Tits, Great Tits, Dunnocks, Blackbirds and Reed Buntings are all singing away, together with Robins of course. All this is great to hear as I walk along the highways and byways but is it all just too early??

It's been a month since my last post so there are a number of photographs that have been taken that haven't seen the light of day. This may be a good thing but it's time to inflict one or two on an unsuspecting and unseen public...

Black-headed Gull getting into breeding plumage

Marsh Harriers displaying

Marsh Harriers over the reed beds

Linnets and Goldfinch flock reducing now

f Linnet separated from the flock

One of many Skylarks up and singing

Sparrowhawk over 2nd field

Marsh Harrier

A cool February morning

Same morning, 3 seconds later

Melting frost on a metal gate glinting in the sun

Marsh Harrier checking out Heslop's

All very fine in their own ways but the best was Sunday morning when a pair of Common Buzzards were showing themselves nicely:

A bit of sunlight would have been perfect to bring out the colours but I'm still pretty pleased with this one.

Cold and Frost Bittern Yesterday and Today

Although it has been cold all week the sun has been out most days, making it bright with clear blue skies. Yesterday I set off for my morning walk and the thermometer was at 0 degrees so a bit warmer than the -3 or -2 we've been getting.

A snow flurry greeted me as I walked on Southorpe Road towards the hide at Wassand and turned the road white.

Southorpe Road

The Barnacle Geese were in the crop field as usual and a few Greylags were munching away too.

The snow blew over and sunshine took over for a few minutes, to be replaced by hail 😄

A heady mixture of snow and hail

Going through the wood by Weatherhill Farm a Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming, and as I went through the wood at Wassand I saw or heard another 5 'peckers.

Being out early has benefits - a few Roe Deer were browsing along the path.

Young Roe buck

Apart from the woodpeckers and deer, the wood was strangely quiet.

I went into the hide for a while then up onto the viewing platform for a check over the reeds - quiet here too! 5 Goldeneye and 3 Tufted Duck plus a few Mute Swans didn't get my heart racing. What did though was a bird flying over the water from about 100 yards on the right hand side of the hide towards the opposite reed bed. A quick check with the bins confirmed it was a Bittern, but by the time I got my camera in position it had disappeared into the reeds. A good sighting though, and although I stayed on a while to see if it reappeared, it didn't.

This morning (Sunday) dawned clear and bright and bloody cold again, with a temperature of -2 degrees as I set out to go back to the hide to wait for the Bittern to wake up and show itself.

The woodland walk was filled with interest.  I heard a Green Woodpecker yaffling almost straight away but despite hearing it call 4 times I couldn't see it. Great Spotted Woodpeckers were showing well but none were drumming today. Around the spot where the old boat house was I heard a Water Rail squealing and when it stopped a Cetti's Warbler took over providing a sound track for my walk. The usual Treecreeper turned up and totally ignored me as it worked its way up a tree looking for food.

Treecreeper

Treecreepers usually provide a profile pose before the fly off

A small black dog came running down the path and just outside the wood a fox dashed along the fence line. Black dog went under the fence and followed after the fox but it went awry and turned off on the wrong track thank goodness. I filled in the hole under the fence with some dead wood just in time as two more dogs came down the path and tried to go under the fence. They buggered off the way they had come.

I climbed the steps up to the viewing platform with high hopes. You never know what will show up at Decoy Hide - Otter, Bittern, Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit, Kingfisher, Common Buzzard, Little Grebe or something totally unexpected. Today was just one of those other days 😏

Plenty of thin ice was covering most of the water surface as I looked out and Black-headed, Herring and Common Gulls were standing on it, dozing in the sunshine. One of the BHGs was showing signs of getting its dark hood back, so Spring is certainly on its way.

Gulls on ice

A Cormorant was swimming along parallel to the far reed bed shore and 12 Goldeneye were keeping each other company. Over the far side a pair of crows were hassling a Common Buzzard so it flapped away and went soaring into the clear blue sky.

It circled upwards for a while then started flying over towards the hide...

Common Buzzard soaring

Common Buzzard over the hide

A young male Marsh Harrier appeared from stage left and flew east but it was too distant to bother with any photos.

Meanwhile I had been watching the reed beds for a sight of the elusive Bittern but I had to leave without seeing it. Hopefully others will be more fortunate than I was.

Back through the fields on the south side of The Mere the large finch flock that has been around the set aside crop was noisily chattering - mainly Linnet with a few Goldfinch mixed in today.  Here's a short video of them with sound.

Very Quiet at Hornsea Mere

Well it's been a very slow start to the birding year at Hornsea.

The weather has been so-so with a few showers and a couple of days with strong-ish northerlies. The temperature has been above zero with no frost yet and a few bright days.

So what has been seen over the last two days - here's a quick review of the photos I've taken yesterday and today.

The Roe Deer population continues to be quite visible, particularly early in the morning. These four were sauntering across the stubble field just north of Southorpe Road yesterday.

4 roe deer

We have a large flock of finches that feed regularly on the set aside field towards Wassand. It consists mainly of Goldfinch and Linnet with a few Tree Sparrow, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch and Greenfinch making guest appearances. This photo was taken yesterday morning and, together with the adjacent tree's population, I counted 293 Linnet. This is the largest number of Linnet I've ever seen!

212 Linnet and a lone Goldfinch

A blizzard of Linnets taking off

Barn Owls are always great to see and one was still hunting as I walked past the field where I usually see one.

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

The flock of sheep grazing in the field between the end of Southorpe Road and Weatherhill Farm were quietly munching their way through a bale of hay when I interrupted them by walking down the path that goes right down the middle of the field. They all seemed to stop eating as I approached and they turned to watch me - reminded me of the old westerns when a stranger walks into the saloon and the piano player stops playing and all the cowboys stare at the newcomer 😂😂

Hay, why don'chew move on

This morning I walked on the cliffs to see what was about and was rewarded with the sight of a common Snipe taking off in front of me and disappearing into the distance. Moments later a Mistle Thrush appeared on the path, possibly having just come in-off?

Mistle Thrush on the cliffs

I walked on the sea front and along Stream Dike without seeing anything else until I got to 1st field where, after chatting with Jon for a while, a Common Scoter appeared. The light was poor and I had to adjust the exposure by almost 2 stops before I got anythng like a decent image. A record shot at best but at least it's recognisable.

Common Scoter, female, from 1st field

Sanderling sightings update

On 28 December 2018 I recorded a colour flagged/ringed Sanderling on Barmston beach (see previous post on this blog). I reported this sighting to animaltrack.org as requested.

Barmston Sanderling

On 2 January 2019 I saw a colour flagged/ringed Sanderling on Hornsea beach and reported this to the same site.

Hornsea beach Sanderling

I have had updates to both these sightings today 😊

Barmston Sanderling - a well travelled bird
B3RGGG was ringed on 18 July 2015 in Greenland.
Sighted Sep 2015 in Faroes
Sighted Feb 2016 in Barmston
Sighted May 2016 in Iceland
Sighted Jul 2016 in Lowestoft
Sighted Dec 2018 Barmston - my sighting

Hornsea Sanderling - a home bird until now
Y3GWBB was ringed on 6 August 2016 in north Netherlands
Sighted 25 times during 2016/17/18 within a few miles of first ringing site until...
Sighted 2 January 2019 Hornsea - my sighting

This is brilliant information! Without a well organised ringing system we would have no idea where these birds came from or where they've been since.

If anyone sees any birds with rings please do your best to read them and report the sighting. Sometimes the easiest way is to take a photo if the bird is colour ringed and send the photo and/or a summary of the sighting information to the project co-ordinator (found by doing a search on the internet). If the sighting is in Hornsea or somewhere near and you need assistance with reporting the sighting then please add a relevant comment to this blog. Or drop me a message on FaceBook.