More info on Waxwings and recent UK sightings

Find out more about Wawings and if there have been any flocks reported near you by visiting this link -

http://www.birdguides.com/Waxwing sightings

Or let me know here (leave a comment) if you've already seen any or heard about some in your area, I'd love to know.

Waxwing invasion gathers strength in York

Waxwings are spreading like a rash right across the country and at the moment there is no better place to see them than in the middle of York. I was on my way to a job interview this morning and spotted one perched in the top of a tree, then a few more on my way back. I always have the camera in the car (it's chipped, so don't even think about it!) so, looking slightly incongruous in pin striped suit, binocs and long lens I climbed the bar walls nr Bishopthorpe road and managed some half decent photographs. The light wasn't brilliant but the birds were closer than a few days ago, more of them (a fellow birder reckoned on about 300) and from the bar walls the shooting angle was much better.

No need for much more narrative (see my last post for more detail on these marvellous berry eating marauders from the North - Waxwing hunting in York ), so here's a selection from the shoot.

I played around with the light settings in this last shot to bring out the colours a bit more, the original showed little more than silhouettes in the sky, but as with several other of these pics you can see just how rampaging these birds are. They're a bit like locusts in a way, devouring and stripping the berries of trees before moving on en mass to find more! You can see why they're regarded as somewhat of a pest up in Scandinavia, pretty though they are. At this rate they'll soon eat all the berries in York and have to move on but this is what they do and my bet is that the UK influx will move further south into France and maybe Spain before the Winter is out.

Waxwing hunting in York

I went on a rather curious hunting expedition today in York city centre. Early Christmas shopping perhaps? Mmh .... if you knew me well you would know that this would never happen in a month of Micklemas sundays! No, I was of course scouting for birds ... yes out and about with binocs and camera amongst the shoppers and the tourists looking for some very particular birds that sometimes turn up in our cities and gardens in the winter - Waxwings.

They breed in more Northerly climes like Scandinavia and the Baltic states and a few winter here every year but every so often they arrive here in large numbers; this happens because every so often their food supply in the North is not able to sustain their numbers. Waxwings are big finch like birds, about the same size as a Starling, and they feed on flies and berries, they love berries, and this year by all accounts there's been a poor berry crop up in Scandinavia and so there we have it - lots of Waxwings have come to our shores this year. This kind of periodic influx is called an 'irruption' and occurs every 10 years or so as far as Waxwings are concerned and with several other bird species such as Crossbills and Redpolls.

Back to my Waxwing hunt then ...... I'd heard on the grapevine that there were a few flocks in York, some in Rawcliffe and some nr St Georges Field next to the river Ouse. No luck in Rawcliffe, but these birds are quite mobile so its a case of tracking them down. So on to St George's field and result ..... not many and all in big tree tops but at least 15 of these beauties were flying around catching flies in the late afternoon sun. They looked great through the binoculars but too high up in the trees to get any close up shots so I'm going to have another go tomorrow .... here's my best shots from today

Early morning on Hatfield Moor and a very late Swallow record

Decided to stay another day over in the Hatfield Moor area with my mate Mark, late finish and several glasses of wine over a chicken curry and chips equalled an early night plus I'd already emailed the local recorder of Hatfield birding blog that we'd be out again in the area with some better pics to contribute, so we had to make the most of the early morning before the expected rain (forecasted for midday) set in.

So we were up at sunrise and on the moor for 7.00 am

It was cold!










We were soon on to good birds (you can't beat being up and at it first thing) with several flocks of overflying Redpolls, Siskin and a single Brambling. This was about the best of a pretty frustrating attempt to capture Redpolls in the treetops, I took about 30 shots and was a bit dismayed to find this was my best effort!







Fared a bit better with some reasonable shots of Great Spotted Woodpecker (pic right) and Willow Tit (pic below) from a hide that had an adjacent bird feeding station but what with the poor light and some unwanted flash effect from inside the hide these could have been tons better - here's my best couple of shots of both species -

 




So, although not covered in glory as far as my photographic prowess is concerned me and Mark had a good day, always fun to be out and about with my best mate nattering about nothing in particular and putting the world to rights.

No more pics from today but on the way back I had about 400 Pink Footed Geese in fields nr Goole and then stopped off at Skipwith Common. Not much - 4 Jays, a Sparrowhawk, 100 or so Fieldfare and a couple of Goldcrest but then out of nowhere, in grey skies, light rain and a biting wind I had an incredible late Swallow! Not just a glimpse either, I watched it struggling against the elements for a good 10 mins then saw it again about 30 mins later - it had made 200 yards on what will surely be a tricky southward journey. Excellent record and easily my latest ever Swallow record and after a bit of research on the net very close to a UK record for late Swallows - 11th Nov.

I wasn't finished there either, I stopped off at Thorganby to have a look at the flooded Derwent and had a couple of Goosanders along with 6 Pintail, about 600 Wigeon and 250 Teal.

Out and about in North Lincs and Blacktoft Sands

Out and about with me birding pal Mark today around the fields and drains nr the River Torne in North Lincolnshire and then on to Blacktoft Sands RSPB nature reserve. Not a particularly spectacular day for the birds but a fine crisp day weather wise with bright sunshine and blue skies for the most part, it even got semi warm in the sun at midday!

Just a few selected pics here from the day.




Little Grebe on the River Torne



Great Spotted Woodpecker in Haxey Turbery, nr Wroot

Mark pole dancing!

I 've wanted some decent photographs of Tree Sparrows for ages but few and far between in my neck of the woods so it great to see about 20 of them together along a hedgerow at Blacktoft Sands reserve. This is a nice little group of the far prettier cousin of our common or garden House Sparrow (pic left)

Water levels were high on the reserve so not much in the way of wading birds, not much at all really but we did catch maybe 8 Marsh Harriers coming in to roost and a gigantic flock of about 2000 Pink Footed Geese overhead in one flock! They roost at Reede Island in the Humber and clearly their numbers have been swelled by winter visitors from Northern Europe. No pics of either I'm afraid, it was getting too dark by then but earlier we'd seen some decent sized flocks of Snipe which kept flying around (pic right) and this pair of Common Teal looked good in the evening sun (pic below)

We came across this small church, the church of St Pancras in the village of Wroot and a combination of some good light, good aspect and just the way the gravestones were situated and casting shadows was attractive and needed a photograps or 3 .... here's the best one.

Migration Magic 2: Spurn & Flamborough

Strong winds blowing in from the East last week made a trip out to the East coast a must, so I got up early and got myself out to Spurn again. I was hopeful of picking up some good birds and at first light the sight of hundreds of common migrants at my first port of call, Easington caravan park, filled me with hope for the day ahead. Scores of Robins, Redwings, Fieldfares and Goldcrests perched on, around and sheltering underneath the static caravans was a true sign of a 'fall'.

There are some sad people in the world ... spotting something different in a bush on the caravan park I walked towards and lifted the bins only to be greeted by a gruff  'Oy, you shouldn't be on 'ere, f***ing birdwatchers' - occupational hazzard for me but I bet this geezer (who looked about as static and square as his caravan) was just waiting for someone to step onto his precious piece of trailer park grass!

Ring Ouzel (courtesy of Wikepedia)

It got better as I walked around the fields to the north of the point and I bagged a couple of Ring Ouzels in amongst the hundreds of winter thrushes flying in off the sea. Ring Ouzels are the mountain equivelant of our common or garden Blackbird and breed in the upland regions of central and western europe including (numbers are declining in the UK but Scotland & Wales still hold reasonable breeding pairs).  Almost every bush seemed to hold either a Goldcrest, Chiff Chaff, Robin, Redwing or Fieldfare and there were plenty Meadow Pipits and Skylarks constantly flying in off the sea. Plenty of finches on the move too, mainly Chaffinches but also 30 or so Brambling and although it was a poor view and they had to be pointed out to me by another birder a couple of Twite (a new Yorkshire for me). I love to see visible bird migration!

Sadly that was about as good as it got as a wet mist settled over the point which quickly turned to a steady drizzle and made birding all but impossible. I sat in the car for a while trying to get some decent shots of Fieldfares and Redwings but then the battery pack on the camera died so it was time to call it a day.



Flamborough Headland

Camera battery and body recharged, brighter weather forecast but importantly winds still from the east I decided to try my luck at another Yorkshire hotspot and old birdwatching haunt of mine from childhood - Flamborough Head.

Much better day, it always is when the sun is shining! I saw just about everything that was at Spurn and more plus it was dry and at times even warm.

Again hundreds of winter thrushes flying in off the sea and populating the many fields and hedges on the headland which in itself has got so much better as a birding location since I was last there - there's something of a rivalry between Flamborough and Spurn for who can get the best birds (its a man thing) and I suspect some conservation minded twitchers here have been reading their 'how to make your hedgrows look good and attract rare birds manual'. Seems to have worked -  thanks to a couple of local birders I was on to a Dusky Warbler within an hour of being there, not much to look at and the briefest of views but a true vagrant to these shores. They're an Asian warbler but somehow a few turn up on the east coast nearly every year.

Just like at Spurn there were small birds everywhere, in the hedges and bushes and overhead, blown in by the wind. Some on course for winter in the UK, like most of the winter thrushes and some blown off course like the aforementioned warbler. I watched one small bird coming in off the sea and into a bush and it turned out to be a female Redstart, little wonder the twitchers are out in force this time of the year!

I had at least 7 Ring Ouzels on the headland but annoyingly none hung around long enough for me to photograph. A flock of 7 Twite on flitting around the cliff were equally evasive and so was a single Black Redstart. This Brambling was a bit more confiding though, one of about 25 on the headland and I also got some good shots of Goldcrests - they were everywhere. The UK's smallest bird, our breeding population is swelled every year by thousands of wintering visitors from northern europe. I got a fair few pics of these tiny birds and I've selected a couple with a migration feel. Normally you'll see Goldcrests in coniferous woods but after been blown in across the sea you can see them anywhere - the first one was feeding up on grain in a stubble field and the second was on the steps of the lighthouse!

In amongst what was probably something like 500 Goldcrests on the headland there were maybe 20 or so Chiff Chaffs and although slightly marred by the wire fencing, this was more than a useful shot of one (pic left)

 It was a bright and breezy day and sea watching was tricky in the gusty winds but there was a bit happening out there with plenty of Gannets and Kittiwakes passing offshore, maybe 200 or so Common Scoter and the most photogenic were these Eider (7 males to 1 female but notice she's the one on top!), one of many passing flocks of these trult sea going ducks.

 

..... and I'll finish on this Grey Seal that seemed to keeping a close eye on me whilst I was photographing the Eider Ducks, he seemed to begging me to take his picture!

Migration magic: Autumn passage on the Yorkshire Coast

So many things I missed about the UK when I was in France and apart from the obvious one of being closer to my nearest n dearest I'd have to rank being able to visit the East coast of England in Sept / Oct to witness the annual spectacle of bird migration that us birders call 'autumn passage'. Yes it was an awesome experience to see thousands of Common Cranes pass overhead in France but for the sheer variety of birds and a more than even chance of seeing something rare or unusual you just can't beat a misty October morning at Spurn Point or Flamborough Head, especially if the wind has been blowing in from the East.

I can remember viewing many a TV weather forecast and thinking 'oh to be on the east coast in the morning' - but of course, as sod's law often dictates, this usually happened midweek when I had to be stationed in the office in the morning instead of on a beach somewhere at first light ... but now I'm retired, hurragh .. I can be anywhere, and this year, although I wouldn't go so far as saying I've filled my boots, I've certainly been able to take advantage of my new found freedom and get out and about on 'green light birding' weather days!

Spurn Point

My first foray out to the coast was on Sept 26th and I made the long trip out to Spurn Point. This is a slightly curious place, not least because of it's geography - it's a 3 mile long narrow peninsular that juts out into the North Sea along the Holderness coastline, in some places it is very narrow (50yards) and although its land mass is constantly being added to by sandy debris that drifts sown the coast, it is also prone to erosion in severe weather, so its shape is ever changing. Its a designated nature reserve that attracts many migrant birds in Spring and Autumn and is owned by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. You can read more and catch up on the latest sightings here - Spurn Point Observatory

Stonechat

On the day I was there there were plenty of common migrants about including several Redstarts, Wheaters, Stonechats, Willow Warblers and Chiff Chaffs, plus a few Whitethroats, Blackcaps, a single Yellow Wagtail and a late Sedge Warbler.

I also had a brief glimpse of a Red Breasted Flycatcher from the car as it dived back into the many gorse and buckthorn bushes so no joy with the camera on that one but I did manage a fairly decent shot of the single Red Backed Shrike (pic right) that had been present on the point for a few days.






It's always good to catch an Osprey on migration, they can turn up on almost any decent sized piece of water in Sept as they head South for their wintering grounds in West Africa. Looking for all the world like a big gull (it's quite likely that many get overlooked in this way) I nearly missed this one (pic left) hence this rather rushed and out of focus shot.





It was a bit early for winter thrushes but there were plenty of Song Thrushes about and although I didn't see any I found out later that there were some Ring Ouzels in amongst them so on reflection maybe I should have scanned a bit more diligently!