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

Saltholme RSPB 5/8/09

Went to Saltholme yesterday to look for the curlew and pectoral sandpipers. When we got there, we saw a grey wagtail in the car park. When we got to the reception hide we went over to the window to see what there was. The big colony of sand martins was busy, the terns were noisy and there was a cormorant diving all over the lake. We moved on to the wildlife watch point. Except it wasn't! There was only swans and coots. The feeders had nothing on them at all so we moved on to the second hide quite quickly! From that hide we saw 9 little egrets, 2 shoveler and lots of common terns. We wandered on to the next hide where the pectoral sandpiper was being seen from. When we went in and sat down, we saw some waders on the far side of the pond. We scanned them and a warden told us that there was 2 ruff which I saw because they were bigger than the redshank and dunlin. But we also saw a tiny wader which was my first ever little stint. No sign of the curlew or pectoral sandpipers. I asked the warden where they were and he said we had justed missed them and they were there yesterday morning. Typical! We went to the surrounding pools after Saltholme. However, there wasn't much anywhere except 10 black-tailed godwits at Calor Gas Pool.

Common Tern Small White? Not sure about the insects. Can anyone help?

Grey Seals at Seal Sands

A great end to a great day! 23/7/09

Been out and about today. First, we went to Big Waters then St. Mary's. We actually started at St. Mary's but the tide was too far out to see any waders. We decided to come back after Big Waters to see if the tide had come in any more. So we went to Big Waters. When we arrived, we went to the main hide to see what there was on the feeders. There was a lot more than I expected. When we first had look there wasn't much but it got better. Soon a male bullfinch showed up closely followed by the female 5 minutes later. We watched them for 10 minutes before they left the feeders again. We sat for another 15 minutes without seeing much on the pond or the feeders. There was 6 ducklings and 7 cygnets in front of the hide and 2 little grebes further across. Not much more on the pond however. But soon after, a yellowhammer showed up on the feeders with 3 stock doves. A juvenile GS Woodpecker made an appearance as well. There was also baby great, blue and coal tits as well as a wren. Plenty of chaffinches and greenfinches too. At 2pm, we went to St. Mary's. The tide had come in, so we went to the North bay to see the waders. We noticed the sand martin colony too on the way round. Unfortunately, there wasn't many waders even at low tide so we called it a day. However, on the way back to the car, we did see 2 waders fly in towards the shore, so I went down to see them and got some photos. I think they are curlew sandpiper, what does everyone think? Bullfinch

Tree Sparrow Wren

Pair of Bullfinches Yellowhammer Stock Dove

Goldfinches Dunlin

Farne Islands 18/7/09

I have just returned from the farnes today. I love the Farnes. It's one of my favourite places to go so I have been wanting to go for weeks. Anyway, we got the 10am ferry across to Staple Island then to Inner Farne. We returned at 4:30pm. We spent 3 and a half hours on each island. The bad weather didn't stop us! We arrived in Seahouses at 9:30(ish) to have a look on the rocks. Not much around so we went straight to the ferry. It left prompt on 10 and we made our way to Staple Island. We saw the usual creatures on the way over such as: puffin, guillemot, razorbill, gannet, Arctic, common and sandwich terns and seals. When we arrived on Staple Island, we saw the big colony of guillemots on the way in which was astonishing to see that many (although I saw them last year it was still amazing!) I spent the first 30 minutes standing at the entrance of the island taking puffins in flight! After many attempts, I got a good one. We walked round the island and as we wandered round, we noticed that a few guillemots had white eye stripes but most of them didn't. We thought this was strange and don't know why that is. There was colonies everywhere such as: puffin, fulmar, razorbill, shag, guillemot... the list could nearly go on forever! When we got back to the boat and went to Inner Farne, we saw 2 whimbrel as we past Brownsman which was quite nice. Inner Farne was much the same but with a difference. The Terns. Arctic, Common and Sandwich Terns. As soon as we got onto the island we got attacked from everywhere by the arctic terns. Luckily, we had hats so they didn't hurt but their peck hurts if you don't have a hat. Most of them had young but a couple still had eggs. It is quite late in year for eggs, we only saw 3 nests with them. On the journey back to Seahouses, we saw loads of gannets. I was interested in seeing little terns, so I asked the warden where to see them and he suggested Long Nanny. So, we went there. When we got there, we saw loads of arctic terns and after looking carefully I managed to see 5 pairs of Little Terns. I had never seen little terns before and it was nice to them nesting. On the way back home, we saw a hare run off the road to the side where we took some photos. Puffins Galore! Babies Everywhere: Grey Seal Shag, Kittiwake and Arctic Tern Razorbill

Brown Hare