Despite a slightly pessimistic weather forecast, some early morning mist cleared to a fine, sunny morning. The view over 'D' reservoir was peaceful as I scanned for terns, grebes and wildfowl. The reservoir was very quiet with two pairs of Great Crested Grebes, a few Coot and odd pairs of Tufted Duck. It was good to see Common Swifts accumulating and numbering a couple of hundred at least, flying over the water. On my way to the woodland, I called in the middle hide and picked up a male Garganey far out and in company with two Teal. This is the best early summer I have known for personal Garganey sightings, being my sixth record for this year. The woodland looked amazing in the morning sun and was alive with the calls of Blackcaps, Willow Warblers, Cetti's Warbler and singing Chaffinches. One particular call attracted my attention and it came from this little chap, obviously getting hungry. This juvenile male Great-spotted Woodpecker was a real treat, being frequently fed by the parent birds. I'm sure he will be leaving the nest hole within a day or so. A Cuckoo was seen from the North Marsh, with a Hobby there later on. I continued on to Hempholme meadow where a Cattle Egret has been recently. There were two Little Egrets but no Cattle Egret. It was seen during the day, being very mobile around the entire reserve area. Hempholme meadow with the Belted Galloway cattle 'employed' for grazing.
On leaving the meadow, I met the local Barn Owl flying silently over the scrub field. One of the young birders at Spurn Bird Observatory followed a small duck in flight with a Wigeon and, positively identified it as a BAIKAL TEAL drake. This sighting brought about Spurn's 400th species within their recording area.
I was only just up and about when I checked the messages on my phone, seeing the remarkable report of this Baikal Teal on Kilnsea Wetlands. This would be a new bird for me and before long, I was on the road to Spurn. This Teal is thought to be the same individual which has been on the Ouse Washes for some time, being difficult to locate at times on the extensive Fens. Birders who have seen it, noticed there are no rings on the legs and it associated with a Wigeon on those wetlands. The Baikal Teal is being regarded as genuine, unless there is evidence to the contrary. The Teal showed very well on the water, at some distance, climbing onto the bank for a short sleep on a couple of occasions whilst I was there. It was a further addition to my Life List, certainly never anticipated given its country of origin!! A recent success at this great Reserve has been a breeding record for a pair of Treecreepers. A scarce species here in any case and wonderful to see them doing well this afternoon. I'm not sure how many fledglings there are but I was attracted by the high-pitched calls, which seemed to be all around me. One adult was rooting out insects constantly and on one occasion, a juvenile followed the parent up a tree, as if learning how to feed. Gripping the bark with its tiny claws spread, the Treecreeper makes easy work of hanging upside down to feed!
I wasn't the only one watching the weather pattern brewing up for this weekend. The Easterly airflow across the North Sea looked promising but, at the last minute it turned a little too far North, dropping Bluethroats in generous numbers along the coast of North-East England and in Scotland. I was at Spurn by 6-00 a.m. and after the first hour's searching, nothing new was showing up. Despite my numerous images of White-spotted Bluethroats in the Algarve and even one at Spurn, I have yet to see a Red-spotted Bluethroat! This 'red form' has evaded me for years, I've been at Spurn when two have been present and still not seen them! Two Black Terns made their way down the River Humber, over the 'breach' at Spurn and out to sea. While scanning the river for more Terns, this Roe Deer decided to have a swim in the Humber for some reason, scattering the wader flocks along the shore. The majority of waders were flocks of summer plumaged Grey Plovers which looked stunning, even in the grey light. A few Dunlin, Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit flew with them. I stayed on the canal area for a good while where a few Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers were active. Two Cuckoos chased each other about and a flock of around 20 Swallows were present. The bird attracting most attention was undoubtedly a fine Dotterel. It remained distant across Long Bank for much of the day. I joined a small group of watchers and a Redstart was also seen from this location. Kilnsea Wetlands was rather quiet, except for the Avocets settling in and up to three Common Sandpipers were showing very well. It was in the afternoon I found some Yellow Wagtails at Sammy's Point, three birds dropped in the first paddock. Very few migrants along here today, mainly Whitethroat and the occasional Lesser Whitethroat. I found Reed Warblers singing at Sammy's also, my first this year and good to see. These birds were along the drain where, in the adjacent field, the Grey Partridges were feeding along with two Little Egrets. So this wasn't my day for a Red-spotted Bluethroat but it's as much what you find in the course of looking, that provides the enjoyment and, the search continues ..........
Sunshine at last and a beautiful clear morning began on the coast at Cowden. With the prospect of some warmth today, birdsong was everywhere. Common Whitethroats were on the bush tops and making short song flights from their perches. Still early morning and a few Swallows were already passing through. Two Common Swifts flew North and Sand Martin were chattering in the air. A Barn Owl was out hunting one of the more open fields. Two Cetti's Warblers called, concealed in the thick hawthorns. Blackcaps were more obvious and three Lesser Whitethroats were much more showy than on recent visits. A single Grasshopper Warbler reeled for a brief moment and was never seen. Sedge Warblers though were everywhere. Two Cuckoos chased each other over the fields and after an hour, I decided to move on. A clear night last night and fine weather today would only lessen my chances of many new migrants. Calling in at Hornsea Mere, I was looking out for passing Terns and checking the increasing number of hirundines. Two Common Terns flew overhead, making their way out to the sea and there was no sign of any Black Terns, unlike the previous week when fourteen had appeared on one day. Very uplifting was the sound of the Swifts screeching as they raced around the sky above me, many more could be seen at the far end of the Mere. Time for some challenging photography!! This Common Swift had a small white mark on its rump, not enough to set the heart racing and too large a swift for a 'white-rumped'! Always worth checking hirundine flocks though and Common Swifts are a lovely bird to watch . Leven Canal. This canal is a new birding venue for me. Although I've known of its existence for many years, having fished it at one time, it is a very wild and beautifully natural place. I had a very strange start in the form of a leucistic House Sparrow feeding in the reeds, where I began my walk. My findings remained very much 'white' as I watched this extremely pale Willow Warbler. It called and sang perfectly normally and with the bright sunlight today, it really shone out. I believe that some birds can be very pale in the Spring. I walked for a couple of miles along the canal, finding more Cetti's Warblers, Mistle Thrushes, Bullfinches, Yellowhammers and many other species. My fourth Cuckoo of the day was calling along the canal, finally passing me into the sun a little. A really enjoyable walk, Buzzards in the air, hares and roe deer in the fields, orange-tip butterflies and even a large pike seen in the canal. Finally, I made my way around to Wansford where two Common Cranes had been seen the previous day. I later found that they had flown through Spurn the same afternoon. It was worth spending a little time in Wansford where the superb chalk trout stream - West Beck flows through. Other than a Grey Wagtail, there were few birds on the waters' edge but I couldn't resist watching the superb 'game' fish on this private 'fly-only' stream. These are Grayling and both specimens were around 14" long. Some sizeable Brown Trout also.
As I had been to Spurn yesterday and with an atrocious weather forecast for today, I was still working on my blog this morning. It was a dark morning and throwing it down with rain continuously. By early afternoon, the garden pond was at the point of overflowing. Even Ellie the dog's efforts to drink the water away were proving unsuccessful! Throughout the day, more and more reports of Black Terns were appearing on a broad front from the Isle of Wight to the Scottish borders, as they swept across the country. A report came in of Arctic Terns at North Cave Wetlands and within a couple of hours, 3 Black Terns had arrived. All three Black Terns were still present and looked stunning, as they were adult birds in Summer plumage. They all had a feeding pattern over the surface of the lake and one in particular would come quite close to the hide. The dark water surface played havoc with my attempts to get some decent photos which was disappointing, to say the least. In spite of that, it was a delight to watch these elegant, flighty small terns in action whilst trying to appreciate the massive journey they were undertaking. The Arctic Terns were also seen and some nice comparisons were made with the Common Terns which stay on the Reserve for the Summer.
In the Spurn area again today, temperatures are still in single figures but with very little wind I was hopeful in finding some interesting birds. I split the day between Sammy's Point and the Kilnsea Wetlands, visiting both sites several times. Rough grassland at Sammy's Point, looking towards the paddocks favoured by many Spring migrants. Looking West up the Humber, with Grimsby and Immingham in the distance. Viewed at high tide in the estuary. I was barely out of the car when a Wheatear appeared in the car park. I found two at Sammy's and this one was an adult female Northern Wheatear. On reaching the first paddock with its short grass, the instinct is always to look for Wheatears, Yellow Wagtails and hopefully, a Ring Ouzel or two. The second Wheatear was in here but that was all, except for a Pied Wagtail and three Blackbirds. The second paddock had Whimbrels feeding, seven in all, together with two Oystercatchers. The Whimbrels are on passage now and more were on the estuary as the tide receded. A walk through the bushes past the paddocks produced very little in the way of small birds. Common Whitethroats were the most numerous migrant and fortunately there were a good number of them singing and showing well. Most species seen here were Linnets, Goldfinch and Reed Buntings though one Willow Warbler and a Chiffchaff were also found. Before leaving Sammy's Point, I watched the fields along the approach road where Yellowhammers were frequent, a Little Egret flew over and I was pleased to see two Grey Partridge which I've occasionally found in these fields before. Extremely well camouflaged when crouched. I left Sammy's and went over to the Wetlands where there weren't too many waders, mainly Redshanks and these colourful Black-tailed Godwits Flying rapidly North across the wetland was a female Merlin From the Wetlands I continued up to Beacon Ponds where I'd been advised a drake Green-winged Teal had been located. The returning Little Terns were noisily flying out to sea, leaving a few Common Terns and a single Sandwich Tern on the lagoon. I found the Green-winged Teal after it emerged from a narrow channel, staying with a pair of Mallards for some reason! Staying on the opposite side of the lagoon all the time, close views were out of the question however, the vertical white stripes on either side could be seen quite easily at long range. By mid-afternoon, the Green-winged Teal came out of the water and rested on the bank of the channel, at the South end of the lagoon. There have been several of these American visitors over the Winter, whilst I've been in the Algarve so I was pleased to see this one, before it departs again. Between spells of watching the Green-winged Teal, the hedgerow behind me had a constantly calling Lesser Whitethroat which was very reluctant to show itself. Eventually it emerged for a few seconds in a hawthorn bush. I was sure the low temperatures and lack of sunshine were keeping the birds down and it seemed to be true of this Sedge Warbler, singing from a hidden position in the reeds rather than out in the open as they often are. I made a rather interesting find in the adjacent fields where the sheep were grazing, in the form of a Yellow Wagtail of what may be a female Flava sub-species, from Central Europe. This Wagtail had a grey appearance to the head and a conspicuous white supercilium, the throat was very white also. Unfortunately, I only saw the bird for a short time, being chased off by the local Magpies and again, it was a distant sighting. Another good day around the area, with many other species not mentioned here.
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