Having completed my work at home, I was keen to be out again and decided on a routine visit to Alkborough, a flood plain along the Humber. With the threat of imminent thunderstorms, there would be a couple of hides to shelter in if necessary. The morning started out grey and misty, later becoming warm enough to generate some heat haze and luckily no rain. The reedbeds had plenty of calling warblers - Sedge, Reed and Cetti's providing constant song as I walked the wetland paths. Sedge Warbler. Reed Warblers were flitting about carrying food. These two youngsters, deep in a hawthorn were awaiting the parent bird. At the first pool, all the birds were distant and the majority were Avocets, around 150 or so. Sharing this shallow water were a number of Shelduck, a Grey Heron, a Little Egret and sixteen Black-tailed Godwits. At this site, waders often move between pools when flushed by Marsh Harriers and the arrival of more Avocets also brought in five Redshank and seven Spotted Redshanks. The Spotted Redshanks were still quite black in appearance but sadly landed at the far side of the assembled waders. Spotted and Common Redshanks asleep at the back. Whilst checking even the furthest away birds, I noticed a Little Gull was among the few Black-headed Gulls which was an interesting bird for the wetland. A couple of the resident Water Rails showed really well, coming out of the reeds to investigate the cut area. I continued my walk along the fields where Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were seen. I too was watched from one of the fields by this confiding deer. Throughout all the wet areas I counted nine Spoonbills, a regular summer visitor here and some smart adult birds among them. This site is well known for its Bearded Tit population and I've found plenty on previous visits. Whether they are quietly feeding young birds I'm not sure but, I heard very few calling and only managed to see one wet and worn looking adult. No shortage of Reed Buntings though!
I haven't been out for some time and this has been due to a conservatory rebuild, going on at home. Although a Company is involved with the replacement high efficiency glazing, my time has been spent knocking out stoothing walls and refitting to a new design, altering radiator layouts, fitting new skirtings and applying an awful lot of white paint!
I was hoping to be out tomorrow except that, the grass is now four inches long, the roses want dead-heading, there are raspberries to pick and so it goes on. The plus point of looking up at this new glazing is that a Peregrine paid a visit yesterday along with a surprising Oystercatcher heading for the river. Today it was the turn of our local Sparrowhawk and a nice collection of four Common Buzzards circled overhead for a while. It seems unlikely you'd have a good days' birding, firstly arriving just after a Bee-eater has flown through and then missing a Red-rumped Swallow by minutes, but Spurn keeps on providing excellent birds, one after another. My visit today was mainly to watch the superb adult Rose-coloured Starling, one of several in the country at the present time. I have seen several juvenile birds at Spurn previously and an adult at Flamborough a couple of years ago, so I didn't want to miss the opportunity of seeing another of these fine vistors from Eastern Europe. This Rose-coloured Starling was attached to a flock of mainly juvenile Starlings and was found to be on the caravan site, where it found a food supply on the various feeders. I spent much of my time at the watchpoint by the old 'Warren'. I noticed there had been a trickle of Common Swifts going through during the morning and joined those counting the increasing movement of birds in a Southerly direction. In the space of a couple of hours, more than two hundred Swifts had passed close to us, so close you could here the wings fluttering as they darted past. Other hirundines moving South included smaller numbers of Swallows, House Martins and I noted a single Sand Martin.
Someone else keeping a watchful eye on the hirundines was this lovely adult Hobby which passed through just once. |
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