It was an early start this morning and an eerie mist hung around the Humber Bridge as I crossed the river, making my way to Alkborough Flats at the confluence of the Ouse and Trent. I expected the mist to lift quickly and it did, giving rise to singing Sedge Warblers in the brightening light. There were more Sedge's than I've seen for some time, probably due to first brood youngsters flitting about in the reeds. There was plenty of 'pinging' going on with the Bearded Tits and again, it was juveniles that seemed to be most active. Finding a tree full of them was quite a reward! All the common hirundines were present this morning - Swift, Swallow, House and Sand Martin though not in any large numbers. On the wetland, 4 Grey Herons took flight together, alarmed by one of the Marsh Harriers. A distant raptor looked very much like a female Hen Harrier, it flew across the wetland and wasn't seen subsequently. The presence of any harrier saw the Avocets take flight and with them were around 20 Black-tailed Godwits and 6 Redshank. By 11-00 am, the sun was searing already, the birds quietened down and a shimmering heat haze formed over the reeds. I found a close Reed Warbler while attempting to locate a calling Cetti's Warbler. I don't visit Alkborough too often, but it will be worth another visit when the waders begin returning in August.
This week sees Britain's first Swift Awareness Week which aims to focus on the decline of our much-loved Common Swift.
Through events being held all over the country, groups hope to encourage more people to be aware of, and encourage Swifts into their lives. Whilst not all of us will have properties suitable for Swift nesting boxes, not using insecticides in our garden may just help to keep those Swifts screaming and feeding over our heads. The Common Swift is a real favorite of mine and I for one, cannot imagine a summer without these high speed acrobats. They spend little more than twelve weeks in our country, so it's not surprising they are constantly on the wing, seemingly doing everything in a hurry! So today, I spent a considerable time watching and listening to these superb fliers, over my garden. Before they leave in the coming months, I will be looking for any juveniles and trying to get an idea of losses or gains, compared to last year's count. I ventured to Tophill to continue my search for something interesting, in what is the quietest Summer I have known for birds, for as long as I can remember. The birds that are around seem to be breeding well with many fledged juveniles about. On the South Marsh, the only wader present was a Little Ringed Plover, together with one Lapwing. The North Marsh saw a Grey Heron fly in and land deep in the reeds. A Cetti's Warbler was calling across the river and this Reed Warbler showed briefly, near the hide. I felt certain there should have been more Sedge Warblers as only one was heard singing, at the far end of the marsh. Among the woods, I faired a little better with another Cetti's Warbler, an unexpected Garden Warbler and singing Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Goldcrests and Willow Warblers. The Great Spotted Woodpeckers were very vocal and possibly had young nearby. This male was seen by D Reservoir. The wall around the D reservoir is being visited by a pair of Yellow Wagtails, finding it a great food source. There seems to be a 'crane-fly' type of insect living under the coping stones and these are providing easy pickings for the wagtails. The insects were being carried away, over the reservoir undoubtedly to a nest site. I watched both the male and female repeat the feeding pattern for at least half an hour, both these wagtails were of our nominate race - Motacilla Flava Flavissima. A third wagtail arrived on the wall and this one was very interesting. With a pale, slightly bluish head, this individual comes under the category of 'Channel' Wagtail. This is an unofficial title given to a hybridisation between the 'blue-headed wagtail' of Central Europe and our nominate race. These birds occur in Northern France and those seen in the UK maybe accompany our 'flavissima' variety further North. I hadn't seen this sub-species (hybrid) before, it was certainly an interesting head colour and I would have liked it to stay longer but, its visit was all too brief on this occasion.
Even though the grey weather persists on the coast, I felt it would be more advantageous for a June day's birding and, with few rarities about this week I was going to cover a fairly wide area. I began my travels to the South of Hornsea, walking the coastal cliffs. In the field ahead of me, two Barn Owls were hunting for prey and remained in that area as I passed through. The light was rather dismal with few birds singing in the hedgerows. A number of Whitethroats were about and a Sedge Warbler began singing from a nearby bush. A large number of Sand Martins were becoming active, presumably nesting in the clay cliffs. Eight Common Swifts flew North and a Cuckoo flew over me, giving out its rather broken 'June' call. There was a family of Lesser Whitethroats and this is probably one of the adults. Six Lesser Whitethroats were heard or seen on this walk. A young-looking Whitethroat learning to feed itself. In all, 34 species were seen on this walk, others included R-l Partridge, Song Thrush, Skylark and Reed Bunting. My next call was to Hornsea Mere. In the distance I could make out Common Buzzards and a Marsh Harrier flying over the far end of the Mere. There were not many ducks at this time of year, just a few Tufted Duck, Pochard and Teal. It was encouraging to see hundreds of Common Swifts along with House Martins and Swallows, feeding quite high up. Eventually I caught sight of a Hobby, dashing about the sky in pursuit of dragonflies. The sky was brightening up by midday and I moved on to Flamborough for the afternoon. I dropped in to Thornwick Pools in the hope of a passing Stint or other interesting wader. There were only two waders present - a Little Ringed Plover and a smart summer adult Redshank. A few Herring Gulls began to drop in, including this one Y:B11 ringed in York! Two Great Black-backed Gulls appeared, an adult and a 3rd year(?) individual. With a nice, sunny sky I took a short walk on to the North Landing cliffs. Instead of taking pictures of perched Puffins which I've done on numerous occasions, I looked for a few on the sea and found good numbers. In fact, the sea was alive with birds - Guillemots, Puffins and Razorbills. Passing Gannets and a Fulmar. I came across 61 species on my walks today, of which one third were migrant or summer visitors and two-thirds were resident birds. No rarities found but a good day's birding on the Yorkshire coast. Meanwhile...... There has been a rather interesting upturn in garden sightings this week. I've said previously that I hear Tree Sparrows flying locally and for the first time, one made an appearance in my garden and investigated a nestbox which would be suitable for such a species. I was more than pleased to see this Tree Sparrow in the garden but was even more surprised when later, a juvenile bird was feeding on the fatballs!
Throughout this week, the juvenile has been feeding regularly, there appears to be only the one and the adult bird has not returned to approve the nestbox. |
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