Sunny Spindrift and Sanderlings

A beautiful sunny morning again, but a tad on the nippy side at just 2 degrees C as I stepped out of the house heading for the sea front. It was a bit breezy but I didn't think it was windy enough to generate the impressive spindrift that I saw coming off the wave tops.

On the beach a couple of Sanderling and a Turnstone were running about looking for food. The Sanderling were very confiding and came to within 10 yards, so cue a lot of snapping from yours truly.

Too many Sanderling photos? Nah, not enough I reckon!

Last one honest

As I walked up south cliff hoping to see a Stonechat ot two, a Stonechat appeared as if summoned by magic beyond my understanding 😊 It didn't hang around though and disappeared over the hedgerow just as quickly as it had appeared. I could hear it but couldn't see it, so I let it be and walked on into the sunrise. The bird was a fair way off so a bit of cropping was needed to get a reasonable image.

Stonechat briefly on South Cliff

Nothing else was showing so I retraced my footsteps and strolled along the prom as far as Stream Dike, then wandered along the side of that until it crossed the path that took me to KP. Stream Dike is a really frustrating water course! It is the outflow from Hornsea Mere so the water level fluctuates depending not only on how much is overflowing from The Mere, but also how the sluice gates are set. Another variable is the fact that when the tide is in, the mouth of the outflow pipe on the beach is under water, so the water has been known to back up in the stream - making the water level artificially high. This time last year you could almost guarantee seeing a Kingfisher along there, but this year I haven't seen a single one. They are still on The Mere but they aren't venturing along Stream Dike, at least I ain't seen one if they are. Likewise Grey Wagtail - almost every time I passed I saw a Grey Wag earlier in the year but they have disappeared now.

KP was cold and quite windy so although I had a quick chat with Jon, who confirmed there wasn't much about, I didn't linger. Straight back home for tea and toast? Yes please.

Smew and Far Between

What a welcome change in the wet weather today! I woke to a lovely sunrise and the sun continued to shine until I got down to The Mere, when it was obscurred by clouds - an obscure Pink Floyd reference there 😎

Jon had reported a drake Smew west of Swan Island so I was keen to see if was still hanging around as I haven't seen a drake at The Mere, only females (aka redheads).

I got to second field to find Jon and Mike with their scopes and they soon put me onto the Smew. It was unfortunately rather distant and didn't get any nearer while I was there. I viewed it through Mike's scope and saw it though my bins OK but the pics I managed were rather poor.  We don't get many records of Smew at The Mere and they are usually redheads so a drake was exceptional for me to see. I won't repeat the awful pun I headed this post with!!!!

drake Smew - my first here

Could be a second year bird

I decided to go and try the new viewing platform at Decoy hide. On my way there the usual large flock of finches were in Ouzel Hedge and a Bullfinch was calling from a hawthorn:

Bullfinch on its own, usually seen in pairs with a female

Going down through the wood I saw a flock of Long-tailed Tits so I stopped and watched them go through, hoping a Tree Creeper may be following them as they often do. As expected one turned up along with a couple of Coal Tits:

Tree Creeper mooching over a dead branch

Tree Creeper off to follow the L-TT

Down to the hide then and what a great view from the top of Decoy Hide!

Panorama view from the viewing platform

view to the west

view to the east

The Great White Egret was here again and a couple of Marsh Harriers were hunting over the opposite reed bed.

GWE here as usual

Young male Marsh Harrier

The view from the platform is great as you can see over the reeds that usually restrict the view from down in the hide. A Grey Heron approached from the east and flew by the hide so it gave superb views from the elevated position.

I was joined by George and Mike and George said that he glimpsed a Bittern going into the reeds opposite. We watched for a while but didn't see it through the now quite heavy rain. Maybe it will show itself tomorrow?

Wet and Cold - real autumnal weather!

Well at last we've had some good old fashioned proper autumn weather - with decent amounts of rain to soak into our under-watered ground. Even with 5 or 6 days of rain though, the water level at The Mere is still below what I would consider to be normal for this time of year.

The temperature has been around the 5 or 6 degree C mark each morning for the past week (apart from last Tuesday when it was 1 degree) and with moderate easterly to north eaterly winds it's been quite pleasant walking weather.

The light for photography has been hit and miss but overall I'm more than happy with my lot 😄

The Great White Egret continues its welcome stay with us on The Mere, mainly being seen at the west end by the hide in Decoy Bay. 

Great White Egret

 Marsh Harriers are a relatively common sight at the west end too with up to 4 birds being seen on one day.

cream crown Marsh Harrier from the hide

 The hide provides a very good vantage point to see common birds up close and this female Shoveler was unconcerned at my camera clicking away as it fed in the very shallow water.

Shoveler showing off its main asset

The finch flock that is feeding on the wild flowers in the set aside field is made up of Goldfinch and Linnet primarily, with a few Tree Sparrows, Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Yellowhammers mixed in.

Part of the finch flock, Goldfinches with a few Linnet

Feeding time on the wild flower seed heads

Most if not all the winter thrushes have arrived now and a few are still around Hornsea. Redwing are more common than Fieldfare around the south side of The Mere.

Redwing

The Barnacle Geese are still here along the south side with a maximum count of 128 to date. If anyone sees any more please let me know.

Barnacle Geese in the crop field

On Sunday we had 9 Pink-footed Geese in a field on the south side. They sometimes drop in for a rest and a quick snack before continuing their journey.

Pink-footed Geese

more Pink-footed Geese

Over at Kirkholme Point an escaped Black-necked Swan has been mingling with the Mute Swans for a week or so. It is native to South America so we knew it was a captive bird that had made its way to the Mere and it turns out that it's from Honeysuckle Farm so it hasn't travelled far to get here. It's usually to be seen on the north side of KP and is appreciably smaller than the Mute Swans. I haven't manged to get it in sunlight yet so apologies for the poor quality photos which were taken in the rain -

Honeysuckle Farm's Black-necked Swan

 Keeping the Black-necked Swan company on the north side of KP (also known locally as Bull Hole) for a few days has been a drake Goosander. It was hissing down when I took these pics too!

drake Goosander, an uncommon Mere visitor

Yesterday I managed to get soaked twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. My long-suffering wife just laughs at me when I arrive home bedraggled and wet, and makes sure I remove my muddy boots, wet hat and wet coat in the garage before I go anywhere near the house 😂

The afternoon was lovely and sunny before it poured down and on my way back through the fields I noticed the setting sun reflecting off the side of the Mere Cafe. An ideal opportunity to get a few interesting photos. I took loads before I settled on the last one here as the best:

Too much light...

still too much light...

a bit dark...

lop sided and even darker...

The Mere Cafe and Boathouse in the setting sun

Sunset over the west end of Hornsea Mere

A good end to a good day - even if it did rain on my walk home. Well, it's autumn, what else do I expect in Yorkshire!