Winter begins around the Yorkshire Wolds... tricky thrushes, cunning hawks and peckers out of the window!

 At last a taste of real Winter .... early morning frosts, crisp sunshine and biting winds. I don't mind the first two bits of weather and just as well there hasn't been too much of the latter, I don't do wind of any sort!



Stoat_Cot Nab

 

So, with a road trip to Spain almost upon me, Otters in my back yard (so to speak) and some recording studio work to complete I've stayed very local and just tried to get a feel for December around my bit of the Yorkshire Wolds.

Scanning the beck at Fangfoss nearly every day in the hope of seeing those Otters again has proved predictably fruitless but I did get another mammalian shot recently - a nice Stoat during a splendid morning walk around Cot Nab and Swingling Moor.








Swingling Moor

Swingling Moor



Fieldfare_Fangfoss

I don't think I'm alone in finding both of our most attractive winter thrushes, Redwings and Fieldfares, seriously tricky to photograph. It was the same last year and I recall getting quite frustrated by their tendency to perch nicely but always just beyond reach of the lens!

Faired a bit better this year I think, mainly because they're all over the hedgerows here at Fangfoss so you can't miss them. Don't make em any easier though! This is a reasonable handful out of more than a hundred discards...

Fieldfare_Fangfoss

Fieldfare_Fangfoss

 

Fieldfare_Fangfoss

Redwing_Fangfoss

Redwings seem to be even skittier, the slightest movement of lens towards the bird and they're off!


This little bunch are all distance shots, and to my mind might as well have been digi scoped such is the poor quality, but at least the light was good on all 3

Redwing_Little Beck Woods

Redwing_Fangfoss

Seriously need to consider upgrading or getting a second hand 'full frame' camera with a faster shutter speed to stand me a better chance of sharper images when birds are in flight. Too many of my 'bird flying' pics have those annoying blurry wing tips goddammit!

 

No wing tip movement from this startlingly good looking male Yellowhammer I managed to get the other day though....

Yellowhammer_Fangfoss

What a beauty!

Not as immediately striking perhaps but smart nonetheless, closely related Reed Buntings are relatively scarce around here but there are quite a few around the numerous becks that run through many of the Wold valleys, this was one of several hanging around the natural springs near Bishop Wilton.

 Reed Bunting_Whitekeld Dyke

 

 Not a winter visitor as such but our UK numbers of Reed Buntings are swelled by continental birds at this time of the year. Golden Plovers are a totally different type of bird and one I always associate with cold weather days. These 'plump' waders form vast flocks across our remaining grasslands as they move in for the Winter. Although they do breed in upland areas of the UK (including the Yorkshire Dales and Moors) many more come here from the Arctic tundra and the way this smallish flock (there were 65 in total) flew in from a north easterly direction and settled in a winter wheat field on the highest point of the Wolds, maybe that's just where they'd come from ... they did look knackered!

 

 Golden Plover_Bishop Wilton Wold (Garrowby Top)

 Golden Plover_Bishop Wilton Wold (Garrowby Top)

 

 

 

 Common Buzzard_Fangfoss

My local Buzzards are looking as menacing as ever.... commonly photographed by all and sundry these days they still have the power to thrill me and always provide a challenge in terms of that perfect 'hawk shot'. This isn't it by any stretch of imagination but I decided to track this one and my patience was rewarded with a nice stoop shot .......

 

 

 

..........and some unusual images of the same bird hunting low down behind trees. Suitably 'menacing' I thought.

Back at the ranch and preparing lunch one day I got my first good pics using the Van as a hide. I heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling, one of a pair that hang around the site but right at the top of the trees behind my van. So these are out of my back window ...  

  

 
Great Spotted Woodpecker_Fangfoss Park
 

On the up apparently are GSPeckers, not sure why but any increase in woodpecker numbers is jolly good order and I just love that splash of red ... always reminds me of a coat I bought for a girlfriend many years ago in exactly the same shade of red!

 Great Spotted Woodpecker_Fangfoss Park

Ok! So that's my brief little round up of Winter fare around these parts, nothing out of the ordinary perhaps but I've really appreciated this corner of rural East Yorks, its wonderful wildlife and landscapes, and having this fabulous caravan site ( Fangfoss Caravan Park) as a base for the past 3 months has been a real bonus.... that's gotta be worth £50 off my ground rent for next year Simon!



So now its Spain a go go! I'm all ready, have everything I need and want for the trip except, bizarrely, my passport...don't ask, its a long story and it involves overblown bureaucracy, so very boring and it wont stop me ... Southwards here we go! Oh and Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Otter Surprise!

Apparently Otters are now present on the water courses of every county in the UK and back to something like their historic numbers before river pollution and agricultural pesticides in the post war years nearly wiped them out. Now, thanks to steady and sustained improvements in water quality and the use of less harmful pesticides over the past couple of decades, the chances of coming across these charming and iconic creatures on our waterways have vastly improved.

On the Western coasts of Scotland they have adapted to become semi marine and are relatively easy to see on the rocky beaches and secluded inlets up there, but in the rest of the UK, although more numerous, they remain elusive and its a real treat when you come across one. Well was I treated a couple of mornings ago or what! On my local patch here at Fangfoss Park on the Spittal Beck I'd just grabbed a new bird for the site, a Kingfisher darting down the beck, and then some dark shapes in the water caught my eye. For the next 20 minutes I was utterly transfixed, treated and smiled upon by the photographic gods as 2 Otters (cubs I think) played around on the beckside and swam in the water directly in front of me!

Less nattering from me, here's the pics more or less in sequence. My only slight regret is that I didn't get more of the 2 of them together but hey I won't see these delightful animals again at such close quarters for a very long time, so I have to be very satisfied with these images.

I'd welcome any suggestions about age/ sex but I'm guessing that these are relatively young cubs exploring. They're sighted often on both the Pocklington Canal and the River Derwent both of which this beck connects to in a roundabout sort of way, so maybe they've come upstream looking for potential breeding grounds?

Been down several times since in the hope of catching them again and every time the beck is 'utterly Otterless' and I tell myself  'wow you were lucky there Timbo!' .... right time, right place and I don't expect to see them again any time soon!

Want some great places to see Otters? Locally Tophill Low, Wheldrake Ings, Staveley and the aforementioned Pocklington Canal are all worth watching as well as these national sites - Great places to see Otters

Birds in the hand, birds in the bush, Owls in the air.... Autumn migration time again at Flamborough

Here's a 'quicky' from Flamborough and Buckton ....a day out birding yesterday with Rob to catch a bit of incoming migration. Given the north easterlie's and associated rain over the past couple of days I for one was expectant of squadrons of Redwings & Fieldfares advancing into the UK over the North sea and a bit of Autumn migration mayhem on the headland.

Didn't quite pan out as planned but hey it rarely does! Equally rarely is there never something a bit 'unexpected' turning up - that's the nature of birds on the move and although we dipped out on a Great Grey Shrike and by all accounts most of the winter thrushes made landfall in Norfolk, we had more than enough to keep us happy throughout the day.

2 caught & ringed Stonechats

You've heard the saying 'a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush' .. of course you have, but what does mean? I should know but it's an easy google search so if you're bothered you'll know soon, but by way of a slightly clumsy link here's 2 birds in the hand and 1 in a bush!

1 of many Goldcrests on the headland

The Stonechats are male and female and both immature. They were both caught in mist nets at Buckton (nr Bempton) and then ringed so that we can learn more about their movements in the coming years. Its unlikely and rather a fanciful idea but maybe they're brother & sister from the same brood migrating together?! Like I say, a bit fanciful, but one thing we do know is that as with the vast majority of small birds on the headland they've recently flown across the North Sea from somewhere like Scandinavia.

European Robin

It was good to catch up with Mark Thomas again (the Buckton Birder) - he was the one doing all the ringing and a mighty fine job he does too. The Goldcrest above had evaded his nets for the time being - it was one of about 10 we flushed from a cliff side ravine in which we also disturbed a roosting Barn Owl, but he'd already ringed plenty and there were maybe upwards of 100 that we recorded in the general vicinity. Although we didn't see them, he'd also ringed Whitethroat and Garden Warbler (both very late migrants). The most obvious passage migrants around were of course Robins and I'd guess he must have ringed scores of them as they were everywhere!




Short Eared Owl, Buckton

Little chance of this getting caught up in the mist nets though, a superb Short Eared Owl we watched in off the sea and then get predictably harassed by corvids!

Yeah the light wasn't the greatest!

Back at Flamborough and doing a stint of sea watching from the lighthouse these were a pair of unexpected ducks - Velvet Scoter. Much rarer than the most often seen Common Scoter they're a treat to see so close to coastline. Mainly coastal in their wintering grounds south of the Arctic circle, they're more associated with boulder strewn lakes and wooded shorelines in their breeding grounds of Northernmost Europe




We also had a few Red Throated Divers on the sea here, plus some Common Scoter and someone had recently spotted a Grey Phalarope and a Little Auk on the sea earlier in the morning. The only other thing we saw on the sea were this pair of frolicking Seals ... looked like they were having fun in the warm and mild conditions.
















Other birds of note both here and at Buckton were some impressive numbers of passing Skylarks (200ish), a Wheatear, about 20 Song Thrushes and 200+ Blackbirds, 30 Meadow Pipits, 1 Brambling, 1 Siskin, 10ish Chiff Chaffs and 10ish Blackcaps (one of which, a female with the wind blowing its red cap into a plume I thought for a second was a Waxwing.... one of those slightly embarrassing id moments!) Oh and we did see a few Redwings (about 15) and 2 Fieldfares eventually.

We might not have had the numbers of migrating birds, the weather was maybe too quiet, but always good to be out and about when any birds are coming in from distant lands and moving through in front of you. That Short Eared Owl was the highlight for me ...a good bird to have anywhere.

And you just can't leave the cliffs at Buckton without photographing at least 1 Gannet and hoping that it comes out like one of Steve Race's!

Buckton Gannet

......maybe next time!!

Norfolk Road trip pt3 - unspoilt Wheatfen, stunning Marsh Harriers and oriental deers

So here's the final part of my road trip to Norfolk.

With just a few days to spare in this most wonderful part of the world and after out forays on the coast. it was important not to try and do too much and end up spending more time driving than out in the field, so we decided to concentrate our efforts around a small but habitat rich area around Surlingham and the Yare Valley. We took in 3 reserves - Wheatfen, Rockland Broad and Strumpshaw Fen.

Wheatfen

First port of call was the delightfully unspoilt nature reserve that is Wheatfen. The famous Norfolk naturalist and broadcaster Ted Ellis lived near here, revered the place and its wildlife, and after his death in 1986 the Ted Ellis Trust was founded to preserve this area of outstanding beauty.

I'd picked this place out as a likely place for the elusive Swallowtail Butterfly but although 1 had been seen the day before, predictably they remained elusive!

Lots of Cuckoos, several Marsh Harriers, Reed & Sedge Warblers, Common Terns flying down the River Yare and common butterflies, and yet with 2 cameras and 2 pairs of eyes we somehow conspired not to capture much! Terrific place if you're a fenland purist though.

Common Blue, Wheatfen

Wheatfen

Just across the river Yare is RSPB reserve Strumpshaw Fen. Its bigger and higher profile but in my opinion not necessarily better than unspoilt Wheatfen. It does however have raised hides and crucially some nearby birds to point the lens at! Marsh Harriers breed in good numbers here as they do right across Norfolk and this was a pleasing series of shots of a passing male.

Male Marsh Harrier, Strumpshaw

Male Marsh Harrier, Strumpshaw

Male Marsh Harrier, Strumpshaw

Male Marsh Harrier, Strumpshaw



Male Marsh Harrier, Strumpshaw



Whinchat, Strumpshaw

Less obvious and something of a lucky sighting as I scanned across the lagoon was this Whinchat perched in the reeds. Fully expected it to be a Reed or Sedge Warbler ... goes to show its always worth scanning and checking every bird in such places!

Whinchat, Strumpshaw

Somewhat more 'showy' this Common Tern was one of several pairs on the reserve.

Common Tern, Strumpshaw

Rockland Broad is a fairly typical area of wet meadow / fenland but we didn't get much here ... good pub next to the nature reserve though and a free berth for the van in the car park!

Great Crested Grebe, Rockland Broad

 Not sure how common these are in Norfolk but this is the first Chinese Water Deer I've ever seen

Chinese Water Deer, Rockland Broad