Baggins on the Loose: Wheldrake Ings

Showing posts with label Wheldrake Ings. Show all posts

Friday 20 May 2022

2 stunning bird records for the York area and both new to me - Glossy Ibis & Ferruginous Duck.

May - always a good month for unusual birds passing through and whilst the coast usually turns up most of the interesting stuff, it was within the confines of the York recording area that produced a couple of new birds for me.

I've seen flocks of Glossy Ibis numbering well into the 1,000s over the wetland areas of Andalucía and the Ebro Delta in Spain but always contrived to miss them when they crop up here (which they have been doing in increasing numbers over the past decade). So I was well chuffed to hear about not one, but three turning up on my doorstep at Wheldrake Ings on the 8th.

Walking down to Swantail Hide where 2 of the Ibis's were still present on the 10th I got lucky with a flight shot of one of 2 Cuckoos (presumably a pair) flying around the riverside trees.

Cuckoo, Wheldrake Ings, 10/05/2022

Not a sniff of a chance with the Glossy Ibis's however but at least I got a sighting. Close on 2 hrs in Swantail Hide, me and a few other local birders got 2 minutes worth of the head & neck of one that decided to show itself briefly in the long wet grass of the 'refuge area' between the Ings and the Pocklington Canal. I was happy of course to add another bird to my UK list but there was no disguising that 'could have done better' feeling I get whenever I fail to get a photographic record. By all accounts they weren't particularly flighty birds so no way was I going to get any pics from Wheldrake, but given where they were I reckoned on getting a better view from a spot I knew about on the other side of the the Pocklington Canal. Made my way there the next day and saw both birds (albeit still a distance away) feeding away in the margins of a pool that was completely hidden from the Ings side. Ok, nothing more than record pics but at least they were in clear sight. Job done, get in!

Glossy Ibis, Wheldrake Ings, 11/05/2022

Check this out for more information about the modest spread of the Glossy Ibis in the UK - Glossy Ibis and global warming

My 2nd new bird was another wetland species and much scarcer in the UK, a Ferruginous Duck on the Great Lake on the Castle Howard estate. Plenty of these get rejected as escapees from wildfowl collections, especially at this time of the year, so it remains to be seen if this is a truly wild bird. Added it to my list though!

Access to the lake at Castle Howard is restricted to say the least, you've got to gain permission from either the estate security guys or the lakeside holiday park, and even then you can only walk a section of the northern bank. The 'fudge' was tucked away in the south east corner and in the company of Tufted Ducks, quite a distance from me but even at range the characteristic bright eye of the male of the species was obvious.

Ferruginous Duck, Great Lake, Castle Howard, 16/05/2022

I can easily see how these might be missed in amongst a raft of Tufties so it was nice to see this one side by side with a female Tufted Duck. That chocolate head and generally deep russet plumage a dead give away...

Ferruginous Duck with Tufted Ducks, Great Lake, Castle Howard, 16/05/2022

To my surprise and great fortune a passing Red Kite spooked all of the ducks on the lake and instead of cursing my luck I was overjoyed to see the Ferruginous Duck plop down not 30 yards away! It soon swam away as soon he saw me but not before I was able to snap a few closer range shots.

Ferruginous Duck, Great Lake, Castle Howard, 16/05/2022

With only 20 or so of these ducks accepted by the BBRC (British Birds Rarity Committee) this could turn out to be a feather in the cap for the York bird area, although whilst doing a bit of prep for this post I notice that there was one that dropped in at the same location in October 2011.

Further info on Ferruginous Ducks in the UK if you're interested -

The Probable breeding of Ferruginous Ducks in Avon

Identification of Ferruginous Duck & status in UK

Monday 31 August 2020

High Summer staying local in Yorkshire - juvenile cuckoo being fed, smart Peregrine, Common Tern and Great Egret, young birds and newly visited nature reserves.

Just before heading down to the Somerset Levels last month I was lucky enough to witness and photograph one of those 'once in a lifetime' nature moments - a young Cuckoo being fed by the surrogate bird who's nest it had presumably taken over.

Juv Cuckoo, Wheldrake Ings, 08/07/20

One of the oldest tricks in nature's book, the Common Cuckoo lays a single egg in smaller bird's nest and when hatched the naturally bigger Cuckoo fledgling demands and gets more food and then gradually ousts any other chicks from the nest. The bird I saw, quite by chance as I was scanning some fields at Wheldrake Ings, was a young Cuckoo already out of the nest but still demanding food from its tireless surrogate parent, in this case a Reed Warbler.

Juv Cuckoo calling for food, Wheldrake Ings, 08/07/20

Juv Cuckoo being fed by a Reed Warbler, Wheldrake Ings, 08/07/20

Inevitably after watching for a 2 or 3 minutes, during which our baby Cuckoo received 2 feeds, I ended up spooking the bird as I edged closer. Stupid of me really but the bird was ok, I heard it persistently calling for more food further down the river bank, and of course I had my shots in the can!

Had it not been for my first ever Cattle Egrets the following week that would have been a tough photographic act to follow for the whole summer, but of course, as I pursue a still largely solitary existence in these still perilous times, high summer has brought many highlights.

Greenshank, North Cave Wetlands, 06/07/20

As early as the first week of July (sometimes even earlier) there is a trickle of wading birds returning to the UK after breeding further north with numbers increasing through Aug and into September. I had Green Sandpiper, a nice looking Greenshank and a very good record of 12 Common Sandpipers in a single flock at North Cave Wetlands.

Common Sandpipers, North Cave Wetlands, 10/08/20

Evolving scrape, North Cave Wetlands, 29/07/20

Still evolving as a nature reserve, North Cave is a regular haunt of mine. It will almost double in size once all the undeveloped scrapes and lagoons are finished but even these areas are already attracting the wildlife with Common Terns, Little Ringed Plover and Avocets all making good use of these emerging habitats.

Common Tern, North Cave Wetlands, 29/07/20

Even the Hares are finding something to like about these still barren stretches ..

Brown Hare, North Cave Wetlands, 29/07/20

With so many daylight hours to play and not always a lot happening I always find that high summer is a good time to visit new local places, and my new website on Yorkshire's wildlife still requiring lots of location pics, I've got around quite a few.

North Newbald Becksies, 24/07/20

North Newbald Becksies may look like just an overgrown field, but in fact it contains a spring that ensures keeps the ground there continually damp and does wonders for the summer vegetation and wild flowers, many of which I struggled to identify.

Sugar Mill Ponds and Eastrington Ponds are both former brickyard ponds come local nature reserves near Goole with some fishing at both. The ponds at Eastrington held more potential for me with no fishing on some of the ponds and lovely adjacent meadow.

Eastrington Ponds, 25/07/20

Galium Sp. Hedge Bedstraw? Eastrington Ponds, 25/07/20

Sugar Mill Ponds, 06/08/20

Saltmarshe Delph, 20/08/20

Saltmarshe Delph near Howden was another YWT site I hadn't visited before and was rewarded by a Kingfisher and 8 Great Crested Grebes all with several youngsters in tow. Nearby Howden Marsh, a local nature reserve, was perhaps the most interesting though - smallish but densely vegetated with reeds and other marshland plants. Although I didn't see one, Water Voles are regularly seen there and the boardwalk is great for gazing into the water for pond life. I saw several diving beetles, disturbed a probable Elephant Hawk Moth and heard a couple of Sedge Warblers there.

Howden Marsh, 25/07/20

A couple of trips out to the coast in the hope of some early autumn migrants did yield an elusive Pied Flycatcher, 2 or 3 Northern Wheatears, and this nicely posed Peregrine Falcon on the cliffs at Flamborough, one of 3 on the headland that day.

Peregrine Falcon, Flamborough, 18/08/20

Almost as smart but in a different way this Great Egret, still a relatively rare bird in my neck of the woods, seemed to be in playful mood at Tophill Low.

Great Egret, Tophill Low, 12/08/20

White (Bladder) Campion, North Cave, 06/07/20

Peak time for wild flowers of course, I post pictures of the same flowers year after year. Why? I'm not sure - every picture is a different image though and some of our UK flowers are just beautiful things to photograph and share!

Still can't identify a lot of what I see though - so many species (close on 4,000 in the UK), sub species and many hybrids to boot!

Purple Loosestrife, Wheldrake Ings, 09/08/20

Still to identify this one, some kind of mint species ..

Mint species, North Newbald Becksies, 24/07/20

Juv Goldfinch, Wheldrake Ings, 30/07/20

Just as perplexing at this time of the year are the increasing numbers of juvenile birds, often pale imitations of their parents, confusing us all with their strange calls. I struggled to figure out this drab looking finch at Wheldrake Ings until it turned around and a small yellow wing bar revealed it to be juvenile Goldfinch.

Every young bird is a small cause for celebration but they do pose some identification headaches, especially out of context - this juv Stonechat for instance was flycatching from the top of a tree and I had it down as juv Spotted Flycatcher at first.

Juv Stonechat, Thornton Ings, 24/08/20

Juvenile Common Tern at North Cave Wetlands

Juv Common Tern, North Cave Wetlands, 21/08/20

Juvenile Little Ringed Plover at North Cave Wetlands

Juv Little Ringed Plover, North Cave Wetlands, 29/07/20

Sedge Warbler, Wheldrake Ings, 30/07/20

With the summer nearly over my thoughts turn to the autumn and I hope and pray for an end to all this Covid business and who knows, a long overdue trip abroad may still be on the cards. Here's a few more of my photo memories of high summer 2020.