The St. Mary's Sparrowhawk

Just got back from St. Mary's. Wanted to check out the waders and other birds. The tide was right out so the waders were quite far out as well. We saw redshank, dunlin, turnstone, curlew, ringed plover and a possible whimbrel. My dad also saw a manx shearwater out at sea but we only had one pair of bins, so I didn't see it! As we sat down to eat our chips, a massive flock of golden plover flew over glinting in the sun. The black-headed gulls and starlings ate most of my chips, but what's the seaside for?? We watched the red arrows fly over a couple of times as well while we were eating. On our way home, the highlight of the day arrived. I was scanning the waders when a big brown bird flew in front of my view at a massive speed sending all the birds up. I thought it might of been a peregrine until I watched it's hunting technique as it took out a starling and landed in the rocks. We searched for it and finally saw it flap it's wings and then discovered that it was a female sparrowhawk. I went down onto the rocks and walked along towards it. It let me get within 10 feet of it producing great views and photos before flying off about 100 feet with the starling still in it's grip. A brilliant end to the day! Sparrowhawk Starling Black-Headed GullRed Arrows

Big Waters

Been to Big Waters this evening to see what was around. We went to the main hide first. The feeders were quiet with tree sparrows, robins, greenfinches and a goldfinch. The Great Spotted Woodpecker did show on the feeders but just very briefly. I still haven’t caught up with the sparrowhawk that lives there yet put hopefully I will soon! The pond had 2 Great Crested Grebes, Mallard, Teal, Cormorants and Mute Swans. Two moorhens were fighting on the other side of the pond so not much of interest. I had been the day before and seen the kingfisher but at the other hide. We wanted to see it in better light as it was a dull day last time we saw it. We went round to the other hide and I heard it call as soon as we got there. We opened the windows and it was sitting there with a fish. It gave us brilliant views both times we were there and if you haven’t seen it yet, it is well worth the journey! KingfisherRobin

Blacktoft Sands RSPB

On the second day of the holiday we went to Blacktoft Sands RSPB. I wanted to see some rare waders and bearded tits. We were told to visit all hides by the wardens in the reception so we did. The first hide was quite good which produced a marsh harrier and some redshank. However, the second hide was the best. When we got there, we saw some waders in front of the hide which were ruff. I had never been that close to ruff before, so I got some photos. A bit later, we saw some bearded tits which I had never seen before. They were on the mud itself which I didn’t expect. I expected them to be on the reeds! They were very far off so no chance of a photo! They were lots of little grebes dotted around the ponds as well which was nice. One came really close, close enough for a good photo. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much more of interest except a single spotted redshank in amongst the common redshank and a green sandpiper. After that we went to Alkborough Flats. When we got there we saw there were waders there so we went to the hide. We immediately saw my favourite wader, the unmistakable avocet. I thought all the avocets had gone but I was wrong! We also saw a group of black-tailed godwits. We didn’t see much else until the end when a marsh harrier flew over and a hobby a bit later which I had never seen either. Just as we were leaving we saw 3 spoonbills fly on to the lake which was a great sight just as we left. A great end to a great holiday! Ruff Group of Avocets

Little Grebe Pair of Marsh Harrier

The Med Gull is back!

Called in to the Brier Dene car park, after St. Mary's didn't produce much except turnstone and redshank, to find the med gull that has come back from last year. It was sitting in amongst the black-headed gulls when we got there but it moved around the car park and kept moving closer to us which was very nice. It's very tame and gives great opportunities for photos!

Birding Holiday - Bempton Cliffs RSPB

Just come back from holiday in Beverley. We had been planning the trip for ages and finally did it! We were staying in Beverley Youth Hostel not far from Hull. We were planning to go to Bempton Cliffs RSPB then to Blacktoft Sands RSPB. So, on the first day we went to Bempton. We wanted to see the gannets really as I've never been close to gannets before. When we got there, we found out that there were just gannets on the cliffs and the rest of the seabirds had disappeared off to sea. We walked down to the cliffs and went to all 5 viewpoints. The best was the far left one because the gannets were closest to us. There were also a few fulmar nesting on the cliffs as well so it wasn't literally just gannets! I got the photos I wanted and it was a great start to the holiday!

Adult Gannets Juvenile Gannet

A rewarding trip to Wallington 25/8/09

Went to Wallington Hall NT yesterday to see what we could find. Unfortunately, there wasn't much in the way of wildlife on the way to the hide but there was when we got there! As soon as we went in, we saw birds all over the feeders. I had a quick scan of the birds as we went in but there wasn't much of interest. After sitting for 10 minutes, it started to get good. A pair of nuthatches showed up with a lovely willow tit(?) - I am not sure whether this is a marsh tit. It stayed there for a while before flying into the trees behind. Just as I sat back down, it got better. We noticed a Jay had showed up for us in the trees. We thought it wasn't going to give us any good views, then it did. It flew down onto the ground giving us good photo opportunities. Apart from those two, there wasn't much else to see but still a good day!

Willow or Marsh? (Some people from birdguides thought this was a marsh tit but help would be appreciated!)

Chaffinch Great Tit

Jay Juvenile Blue Tit

Lancashire Holiday

I have just got back from Lancashire today. We stayed in Riddlesdale Park in one of the lodges. It wasn't a birding holiday but we were planning on doing a little bit of birding! On Tuesday, we went to Martin Mere WWT. We had read about some recent sightings and we wanted to see a spotted redshank and a wood sandpiper - wishful thinking! However, we did see a spotted redshank - from the Ron Barker Hide which we were very happy about as it was my first ever spotshank. It was with 2 greenshank, a few duniln and loads of lapwing. I digiscoped it with the greenshank, then we moved on. The only other things of note at Martin Mere were 4 whooper swans in the field in front of us. We left Martin Mere and went a mile down the road to Mere Sands Wood to see if we could find the kingfisher. We walked round and into the redwing hide. After a while, we saw the kingfisher fly across the lake to the right so we went to the next hide - the rufford hide. When we arrived, we met a man called Brian Rafferty who puts his photos of birdguides. When we went in he told us to be quiet and when we looked out, we saw the kingfisher sitting on the branch in front of the hide! After about 30 minutes of photos, it flew off and we left happy! The only other thing of note of this holiday was a goose at Fountains Abbey in East Yorkshire. At first I thought it was a white-fronted goose, but now I'm not so sure. Anyone know?

White Fronted Goose??2 Greenshank with lapwing

Spotshank with 3 lapwing Whooper Swans Common Kingfisher