Sunny Swinemoor

With it now officially being spring I went to Swinemoor in high expectation of something interesting having arrived by now; I wasn't disappointed!

A good amount of water still remains creating a nice habitat for wetalnd birds. A large flock of around 200-300 Golden Plovers were bathing and their numbers were growing by the minute. Around 20-30 Lapwings were dotted around the common, defending territories, occasionally making their wierd, synthesizer-like call. 3 Common Snipe were involved in an on-and-off dispute and 2 Common Teal were feeding in the shallows. However, by far the best bird was a single Spotted Redshank which was very obligingly feeding very close to the path. At first I thought it was just a Common Redshank as there were around 6 feeding further away, but as soon as I looked through my binoculars it was obvious that this bird was a Spotted Redshank - the first time I've seen this species at Swinemoor.

Other interesting species were singing Skylarks, 5 Pied Wagtails feeding, 7 Meadow Pipits in song and a small flock of gulls: 5 Common Gulls, 9 Herring Gulls and 14 Black-headed Gulls.

Doves in a blizzard

Outside my flat in Beverley today I was watching a male Collared Dove chase around a female when he decided to mate with her. My celebration of this as a sign of spring was muted somewhat by a sudden blizzard of snow and then hail. Needless to say that this event also put an end to the Dove's public display of affection!

Red Kite at Tickton

Some warm, spring-like weather meant that staying in front of a computer all day would have been a travesty, even though my dissertation work was begging me for some attention. So, a walk to Eske/Pulfin fen was decided upon!

Just a few hundred metres along the path, a large raptor appeared. At first I assumed it would be a Marsh Harrier as they aren't uncommon around here, but on examination, it turned out to be a Red Kite! Although these birds nest in a woodland about 10-15kms away, this is the first time I've seen them in the Hull valley.

After this, the walk was a little bit of an anticlimax. However, further along I did see two Fieldfares and a Chiffchaff - two quite strange species to see next to each other here. I would imagine the Chiffchaff was the same bird as I saw a few months back as it was only about 150 metres away from the spot I saw it in.

There was also plenty of evidence of breeding behaviour, with swooping Lapwings and singing Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Chaffinches and yellowhammers. On the lake still quite large numbers of winter Widgeon and a lone male Pintail.

Large-billed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orinus

For some time now I've known about the rediscovery of Large-billed Reed Warbler in Thailand after Phil Round notified me that he'd caught one whilst mist netting at the royally initiated Laem Pak Bia wastewater management program in Petchaburi province in Thailand. The bird was caught back in March 2006 but it has taken quite some time to confirm its identity through DNA analysis. Until now I've been asked not to publicise this, but yesterday the news was released by Birdlife International.

This species was previously only known from a single specimen caught in northern India 139 years ago! Quite unbelievable really. I've written an article on this rediscovery based on the paper published in the journal of avian biology this month and from correspondence with Phil Round here; Acrocephalus orinus.

Hornsea Seafront

My wife, Srasri, decided she wanted to go for fish and chips at Hornsea after work this afternoon, so off we went to make the most of the late afternoon sun. As usual we had too many chips, so we decided to feed what was left to the gulls.

After a few seconds we had around 50 Black-headed Gulls circling around. It was amazing to watch their aerial acrobatics as they caught the chips in mid-flight. Only once was there nearly a collision when 5 gulls all backed out of making the catch at the last minute with the chip falling into the sea.

We moved further up the seafront to a place where the sun was still on our backs and continued our chip tossing for the gulls. However, most of the chips were missed in flight and fell into the sea before being gobbled up. It became obvious that the sun was in their eyes and they were unable to judge the catching distance properly. We moved back into a shady patch and immediately the gulls catch rate went back up to almost 100%.

Other birds present were lots of Herring Gulls, Common Gulls and a single Lesser Black-backed Gull (graellsii). Also, 5 Red-throated Divers were on the sea and two Cormorants flew past. Interestingly, the Divers were still in winter plumage but the Cormorants had the white leg patch that indicates they are in breeding condition.

Sings of Spring at Swinemoor

Maybe I'm being too optimistic but all around me I'm beginning to see signs of spring all around me. Yesterday, my birdwatching walk on Swinemoor, brought me yet more spring-like experiences. Although there was still a large congregation of wintering gulls, including around 200 Black-headed Gulls, 150 Common Gulls and 6 Herring Gulls (5 adult, 1 first winter), plenty of birds were in song. Four Skylarks were in full song throughout my circuit of the common and lots of Meadow Pipits were performing their song flight. From a nearby copse of trees several Chaffinches were singing (if you can call it a song) and a single Yellowhammer was "tuning up".

There were still plenty of Lapwings across the wet grass but rather than standing together in a flock they were dotted around, spaced apart regularly by about 30 metres as if they were establishing territories for nesting. Only a few Golden Plover were present (7 to be exact) but I'm sure more are still turning up to roost.

Other birds of interest were a Grey Heron catching frogs from a ditch and a group of Tree Sparrows bickering in a hawthorn bush.

Bridlington Harbour

Despite the fact that there are some signs of spring around such as flowering snowdrops, lesser celandine and even some leaves opening on small trees, a short trip to Bridlington harbour yesterday afternoon proved that winter is still in town with a number of wintering waders still obvious.

Along the southern side of the harbour wall 18 Purple Sandpipers were feeding amongst numerous Turnstones. The Turnstones here are quite amusing, having learnt to scavenge for chips. Yesterday a couple were eating their fish and chips with a crowd of Turnstones assembling on the wall next to them. When eventually they threw a piece of fish batter to them, one lucky Turnstone ran off with the spoils, chased by three others; I hope they shared it nicely!
Others waders present on the beach were Redshank, Dunlin, an Oystercatcher and a few Sanderling.

In the harbour there were hundreds of Herring Gulls waiting to be fed with chips, donuts, ice cream or whatever else was thrown their way. Most of the birds were adults or first winter, with a few second winter birds. Also present was a single adult Yellow-legged Gull making itself available for study at close quarters: three feet to be exact!

That was it for birds as my wife dragged me off to the shops to search for fresh shrimps for dinner.