Eske and the Leven Canal

So infused with enthusiasm was I yesterday morning that instead of going home after my Swinemoor visit, I continued north up the river Hull to Eske/Pulfin Fen.

On the way up I didn't see too much; a distant male Marsh Harrier was being attacked by two Lapwings and a few Swallows were flying around. A single Swift and 2 House Martins also flew past.

At the lake a number of gulls were resting on some exposed rocks, 2 adult graellsii Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 1st winter Herring Gulls, 5 2nd winter Greater Black-backed Gulls and a single 1st winter Common Gull. Plenty of Tufted Ducks and Mallard also on the lake as well as two families of Greylag Geese, one with 5 and the other with 6 youngsters. A male Wigeon still lurking around on the island along with nesting Canada Geese and the pair of Oystercatchers seemed intent on fighting to the death about something. Plenty of Great-crested Grebes too but no sign of chicks yet.

I decided to walk up to Leven canal to see if I could find some warblers and I wasn't disappointed there. 5 Sedge Warblers, 6 Willow Warblers, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Lesser Whitethroat were all heard and seen along with my first Whitethroat of the year. 5 Swifts were also present and I could hear a very distant Cuckoo. The canal is a nice place and far away from anywhere else for it to be visited by very few people. There is always a lot of wildlife here and yesterday Moorhens, Coots and Mute Swans were busy with nests and lots of flowers were in bloom. Also there were quite a few toads about, and I got a couple of photos of toads in quite contrasting states of fortune.

Back at the lake I decided to walk around to the reedy areas where warblers were everywhere! An amusing sight was two male Blackcaps sitting right next to each other singing like mad. In the reeds I saw my 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Reed Warblers of the year. Overlooking the lake from a different angle a party of Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins had arrived but the highlight was a male Garganey sitting amongst some Tufted Ducks. This is the third year in a row I've seen Garganey here so its obviously a regular stopping off point.

Other species seen were Redshank, Snipe, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Robin, Wren, Goldcrest, lots of Reed Buntings, Yellowhammer, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Greenfinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird, Starling, Grey Heron, Dunnock and Rook.