The Flooding continues at Eske

This afternoon I walked up to the lake at Eske, but very little about apart from a pair of Grey Partridges on the walk up. The water level of the River Hull has hardly gone down at all since the flooding a few weeks back and many fields are still so far under water that flocks of Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls and Greylag Geese have taken to them. To see a Great Crested Grebe and Tufted Ducks swimming around on a pea field is rather bizarre, but they seem to have taken to it along with Lapwings, Oystercatchers and a Cormorant.

On the lake were about 20 Mallard in eclipse plumage, a few Tufted Ducks and 2 male Pochard. One Reed Warbler was still singing and a Common Tern was hunting over the lake but very little else. On the way back to the car I saw a Yellowhammer, a group of Linnets and a few Swifts and Swallows. Not one of the most memorable birding trips.

Finally, something worth mentioning

Weeks of dismal weather has meant that I have not been out too often, and when I have been out there has been little of interest. However, last monday I got out for a walk up to Eske. The flooding from the rain the previous monday was still very bad and much of the surrounding farmland was still under a few feet of water, turning the whole place into a massive wetland.

At the polo club a group of Tufted Ducks were swimming on what should have been the pitch and a large number of gulls were resting on it: 42 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 12 Herring Gulls, 5 Common Gulls and 10 unidentifed sub-adult Herring/Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Also present were a pair of Oystercatchers.

Large numbers of House Martins. Swallows and Swifts were feeding over the water and a female Kestrel was hunting over what little dry land remained.

On the lake, about 40 Mallard were reaching eclipse plumage and a apir of Shoveler were resting along with the male Wigeon and female Goldeneye. All the Great Crested Grebes were swimming around aimlessly as if wondering what had happened to their nests.

Further along the river 8 Grey Herons were hunting amongst flooded oilseed rape and 3 Cormorants, 24 Greylag Geese, 7 Mute Swans and a Great-crested Grebe were making use of a flooded barley field, whilst a pair of Marsh Harriers hunted over it.

On the way back I spotted large numbers of Bee orchids just finishing flowering and about 40 spikes of Pyramidal Orchid. A few Common Spotted Orchid were flowering too. Most interesting was a Common Sandpiper on the River Hull on the way back. Perhaps some waders are already making the return journey southwards?

Summer Weather

It was impossible to resist a walk in such sunny and calm weather yesterday afternoon so I headed along the River Hull to Eske. The sounds of summer didn't disappoint; Skylarks, Yellowhammers and Meadow Pipits in song and the screeching of passing Swifts.

At the lake I decide to just sit and wait for the birds to turn up. Male Wigeon and female Goldeneyes both still present - it really doesn't look like they are going anywhere now. The pair of Oystercatchers are still tending their almost fully grown chick and a family of Pied Wagtails were feeding at the water's edge. Three Little Ringed Plovers were present and it appears that one is sitting on eggs -they are very difficult to see on the stony "beach" that is revealed when the water is low. As I stood chatting to another birder a number of Black-headed Gulls settled on a small island and were joined by a sub-adult Little Gull. A soaring male Marsh Harrier, a Kingfisher and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker all put in an appearance too.

Walking a little further north a male Yellow Wagtail perched on the same fence post as I photographed it upon about a month ago and a Hobby was hunting along the river.

Unfortunately I had to dash back to the car in order to collect my wife from work, cutting short this most productive trip.

Saturday 26th May - Eske

Last Saturday I went for a short walk up to Eske with my wife. The weather was quite nice but we spent most of the time nattering so the number of birds I saw was limited. The usual species were seen, but most notable were two Hobbies hunting at the northern end of the lake. Both birds were catching and "dehusking" insects on the wing before eating them. They also spent time resting in the branches of some dead trees.

On the lake the female Goldeneye was still present and a apir of Canada Geese were swimming around with their new family. Their nest must have been well hidden because I have only seen one Canada Goose for ages now. As we were leaving a Cuckoo flew into the trees and began calling.

On the fields a little south of the lake the Egyptian Goose was still present, grazing amongst the cows.

Eske 25th May

Last Wednesday the weather was really sunny so I went for another stroll up to Eske. Most of the usual species were easily seen with lots of Swifts swooping around and Skylarks singing. However, the grass was being cut for silage in a field to the east of the path; any Skylarks or Meadow Pipits nesting there were out of luck!

Scanning the farms to the west revealed monday's Egyptian Goose grazing in some set aside where some Lapwing chicks were also feeding along with large numbers of Starlings bathing in what little water remained.

Up at the lake a strange double honk drew my attention to a group of Swans and to my amazement I spotted a Bewick's Swan displaying to a pair of Mute Swans. Watching this bird revealed that it was very confused as it displayed to families of Greylag Geese and then tried to grab the goslings. Another pair of Mute Swans landed in the lake and the Bewick's Swan flew over to them and attempted to mate with the female bird! Unfortunately, I had taken a very grainy photo of the Bewick's when I first saw it and drained the last vestiges of power from the batteries of my camera, so wasn't able to video this bizarre behaviour, even though it was all very close.

At the north end of the lake 2 Cuckoos were calling from dead trees, occasionally being mobbed by Sedge and Reed Warblers. Walking around the lake also revealed the Terrapin resting on a log, a Slow Worm and my first Common Blue butterflies of the year along with lots of Orange Tips and Wall Browns.

The only other birds of note were the female Goldeneye (no sign of the Wigeon though) and a family of Chaffinches with 3 fledged chicks. On my way back the Egyptian Goose was swimming around in the River Hull only about 20 feet away from me, but as I stood chatting with a farmer it flew away onto some pasture where it joined some cattle grazing.

Eske and Leven Canal

With the weather fine and calm it seemed a good day to go for a long walk along the River Hull. I wandered up to the lake at Eske. On the way up a pair of Mistle Thrushes were hunting on the polo club and Reed Buntings were calling from the reeds. The sunshine brought out the Skylarks, with three or four in song, along with a Meadow Pipit or two. I stopped to have a look at a wet pool in some set aside where a number of Lapwings were lurking and at least two chicks were feeding; a male Shoveler was also resting there, but stirred and flew off north as I was watching. Another migrant put in an appearance as I was watching these birds; a Common Sandpiper flying north along the river made a short landing on a lump of floating debris before continuing north.

A local farmer has put his cows out on the flood defences of the river and they look quite nice until they panic as walkers approach and then they stampede.

.

With the fine weather one of the Little Owls was sitting outside its roosting hole, but this time it was asleep and didn't seem to be watching me this time.

On the lake the usual birds were present; Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen, Great-crested Grebe, Greylag Goose, a single Canada Goose, 2 Shelduck and one Gadwall. Two Oystercatchers are still present as are the male Wigeon and female Goldeneye.

Warblers were much in evidence today with many Willow Warblers and a Lesser Whitethroat easily seen and a few Sedge Warblers and a Reed Warbler noisily "singing".

Walking past the lake towards the Leven canal a distant Cuckoo was calling and as I was looking at a group of Mute Swans a large ducklike bird flew north. After looking at it through my binoculars it was obviously an Egyptian Goose! I watched it fly north, almost out of sight, but then it did a u-turn and returned back south, giving me a second chance to see it properly.

A number of Linnets and Goldfinches were feeding in some weeds and as I was watching these a Common Sandpiper flew north along the river. Presumably it was the same one as earlier, and this time it attempted to land on a Mallard's head!

Walking along the Leven canal revealed impressive numbers of both Sedge and Reed Warblers, so many that it was easy to get good views of these sometimes tricky to see species. Suddenly, a long overdue Garden Warbler came into song and very obligingly showed itself. A male Blackcap was showing off too and a couple of Whitethroats were also in song as were a few Chiffchaffs. Strangely there don't seem to be many of this species around up and down the Hull valley, but there were at least three along the canal.

Also along the canal two encounters with Slow Worms made me jump; the first one I saw was about 1 metre long. A Kingfisher made one of those typical photogenic poses on a sign saying no fishing!

The return journey revealed a female Mute Swan building a nest; I took a few photos and a video clip of this - here is one of the pictures.

Back at the River Hull a distant Cuckoo made itself seen as some small songbirds mobbed it. It didn't move far before resuming its call. A little further down the river a second Cuckoo came into view and performed some surprisingly acrobatic moves as it caught some flies. Immediately after this, a Barn Owl appeared almost at my feet, just a few yards away and below the flood defences I was walking on.

Back on the lake another migrant had turned up; a pair of Common Terns, with the male catching fish and offering them to the female. Last year a pair successfully raised two chicks and it looks like they will attempt to do so again. Another arrival to the lake was an immature Cormorant.

Yet another migrant was a pair of Yellow Wagtails, calling and perching on barbed wire. They didn't seem too concerned with me and I managed to take a couple of reasonable photos.

With my stomach complaining at this point I marched back to the car with just a few Swifts, Swallows and a flock of House Martins of note, although large numbers of juvenile Starlings were everywhere!

Strong Winds

Out in the open on Swinemoor the wind made it quite difficult to stand still. However, hiding behind a bush I was able to watch 2 Shelduck, 2 Redshank, a Snipe drumming and a number of Lapwings, two of which seemed to have a single chick each. There may well have been more, but the long grass obscures them from view.

Two of the Little Ringed Plovers have returned after disappearing for a while and a single Wheatear was also foraging close by. Plenty of Swifts were hawking around and a group of House Martins seemed to move through. A Sand Martin was also present along with many Swallows. Whilst standing chatting to a friend a Common Gull and three Lesser Black-backed Gulls passed south and a Kingfisher was flying up and down the Beverley-Barmston drain.

Also in the Beverley-Barmston drain were two calling Marsh Frogs. One of these was quite easy to spot and I got some very bad pictures due to the wind blowing me around. The best photo is below; at least you can see what it is.

Further along the Hull valley at Eske the wind was even stronger and made it very difficult to find any birds at all. The two Oystercatchers were still busy chasing away Carrion Crows and two Shelduck flew in. Plenty of Tufted Ducks and Mallard around and a single male Gadwall, but the male Wigeon is still lurking around as is the female Goldeneye - maybe they are injured and can't migrate. The only notable passerine was a single Lesser Whitethroat. By now their are large groups of Greylag Geese with young on the lake, but despite there being at least 4 pairs of Great-crested Grebes there seem to be no young.

A terrapin in the sun

On Saturday morning (12/05/07) I went looking for a marsh orchid that had been found by a friend last week. No matter how long I searched for it, I couldn't find the damned thing! Despite wind and some rain, I did manage to see a few birds. Three Little Ringed Plovers were easily seen as they were chasing each other about and 3 Redshank are still hanging on in what little water remains. Low numbers of Lapwings are still present too, but I think most of the nests have failed by now.

5 Shelduck were rather fidgety, constantly flying around, landing for a few seconds and then flying around again, and an Oystercatcher came to join them in this activity. A nice surprise was a female Wheatear and a male Yellow Wagtail and as I left, a group of House Martins were swept in, in advance of a rain cloud.

I continued along the river Hull to Eske where, after some rain, the sun came out. Although the water level was low, the only waders around were the pair of noisy Oystercatchers, still busily chasing Carrion Crows away from their nest. On the lake 6 Wigeon were present for only a short time, but the lone male Wigeon that has been hanging around remained after the other 6 departed. The female Goldeneye is also still present. Other ducks were Mallard, Tufted Duck and Gadwall. Two adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls seem to have made this place their home for the last few weeks and today they were still present, feeding and resting. Nothing much else of note around, the usual warblers, finches etc, but a Great Spotted Woodpecker put in a brief appearance.

The most interesting sighting today wasn't a bird at all, but a Terrapin basking on some dead wood in a small sheltered pool. I saw this one, about a year ago in the same place, but this time I had my camera with me and got a reasonable photo

This terrapin is quite big, about a foot long, and no doubt was once someone's pet Ninja Turtle before it got too big. Plenty of Wall Brown butterflies were to be seen, they'd obviously all just emerged and I got a photo of one of these too.

A grey seal at Eske!

A brief visit to Swinemoor yesterday revealed that the 2 Little Ringed Plovers were still present, along with 3 Redshank, 2 Oystercatchers and about 10 Lapwings, as well as 2 Shelduck. Lots of Pied Wagtails were present too, but there is now very little water left.

Continuing along the river to Eske windy weather meant that very few birds were present. However, the most amazing sighting was of an adult grey seal in the river Hull, about 1km north of Tickton. It seemed quite distressed, spending much time submerged and when it resurfaced it took three or four deep breaths before submerging again. This location is far inland and to get this far the seal would have had to pass through Hull city centre.

At the lake a rain cloud brought in a number of migrants; a huge cloud of Swifts, House Martins, Swallows and Sand Martins arrived before the rain and stayed after it had gone. Other migrants that blew in were a single Dunlin in breeding plumage, 2 Black-headed Gulls, a Common Tern and a Little Ringed Plover. The resident Oystercatchers were noisily chasing geese around and the lone Canada Goose was still incubating its eggs.

In the lake the normal residents were present along with a male Wigeon and a female Goldeneye both still reluctant to migrate and 2 adult Lesser Balck-backed Gulls. The strength of the wind meant that it was difficult to see many small passerines, although Blackcaps and Willow warblers were in full song. A male Yellow Wagtail continues to frequent the lake shore.

Finally, a Little Gull at Eske

Considering the close proximity of Hornsea Mere which can get huge numbers of Little Gulls, particularly in Autumn, it is something of a surprise that I haven't seen at least one at Eske before. Well, today as soon as I got up to the lake I saw my first Little Gull for the area, just flying around over the lake dippinginto the water now and again. After a while it began to circle, gaining height until it disappeared.

On the way up to the lake plenty of birds were about. The air was very still, perfect weather for clouds of insects and the birds that feed on them. Hundreds of Starlings were feeding on the mown grass of the Beverley Polo Club as was a pair of Oystercatchers and plenty of Rooks. The clouds of insects obviously appealed to the Swifts as a large group were swooping around at low altitude screaming and gobbling up flies.

Further up a male Yellowhammer was calling from a flowering hawthorn tree, its bright yellow against the green and white of the tree was quite a beautiful sight. Checking out the owl tree revealed a single Little Owl staring back at me, sitting in exactly the same place as a few days ago.

5 pairs of Great-crested Grebes were noisily growling at each other on the lake. 5 Coots, 3 Moorhens, a few Greylag Geese, about 20 Mallard and 16 Tufted Ducks were the only other birds on the lake until a male Gadwall flew over and 2 Cormorants came in to dry their wings. A single Canada Goose is obviously incubating on the island in the lake and as there don't seem to be any other Canada Geese around I wonder if it will produce hybrid offspring.

Another bird of interest was a Common Sandpiper feeding on the water's edge, but an Oystercatcher didn't seem to like it as it chased the sandpiper around. A Pied Wagtail and a male Yellow Wagtail were aslo present on the waterside.

Lots of warblers continue to sing, with Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler all seen.

In a field just beyond the lake about 20 Lapwings were feeding with an Oystercatcher, numerous Jackdaws, Rooks and Carrion Crows and also 4 Whimbrel. Whilst watching these a male Marsh Harrier cruised past and dipped down into some scrub where it obviously caught something as it didn't come up again for some time.

On the way back a pair of Tree Sparrows were in dispute with a Reed Bunting and two male Chaffinches were in a fight that seemed like it might go until the death of one of the participants. In the end one flew away, minus a few feathers. In the owl tree, the Little Owl had been joined by its mate and further along a male Sparrowhawk was hunting.

Swinemoor and Eske

Another walk to both Swinemoor and Eske turned up some more interesting things. On Swinemoor, Shelduck, Lapwings, Redshank, Snipe and Little Ringed Plover were all still present as were plenty of other common migrants.

The still weather meant that lots of birds were out catching insects and this meant that 100s of Swifts were hawking around. At some places they were hunting around my feet, giving me fantastic close-up views. On the lake the usual suspects were there, along with the female Goldeneye. In the reeds Reed and Sedge Warblers were noisily singing, but probably the most interesting species was a calling Treecreeper, just the second time I've seen one here and in exactly the same place as the last time.

On the way back the Little Owl was outside its roosting hole and watching me as I was watching it!

A number of interesting plants are out in flower now and I took some photos of a very bright flowering broom Sarothamnus scoparius.

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.

Eske - More migrants

Having finally handed in my degree dissertation it was time to get out and relax. I decided to walk up to Eske/Pulfin Fen in the hope of seeing some spring migrants. Unfortunately the weather wasn't so good, but it was still fairly warm if a little breezy and overcast. Not too much on the way to the lake, but 3 Swallows and a Sand Martin were nice to see. A little further along a Snipe flushed out of a ditch and 4 Linnets sat feeding in some grass. Two House Martins were my fist of the year, but at the lake there were plenty of them, along with Swallows and Sand Martins. There must have been a few hundred with Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins roughly in the ratio of 2:2:1.

Wildfowl were predictably sparse but a pair of Wigeon were still present along with a female Goldeneye that seems to have forgotten to migrate. Other birds on the lake were 7 Great-crested Grebes, 8 Greylag Geese, 2 Canada Geese, 22 Mallard, 28 Tufted Duck, 2 Gadwall, 1 Little Grebe and a pair of Mute Swans.

An interesting sight was a Moorhen with a single chick, the first young birds I've seen this year. However, a number of Mallard seem to be sitting on nests on the island, along with an Oystercatcher which very aggresively chased away a nosey Carrion Crow. Two Redshank seemed to have taken a liking to the location too and remain.

In the scrubby areas plenty of summer birds were present. I got nice long views of a singing Lesser Whitethroat, a Blackcap and lots of Willow Warblers although best of all were a pair of Marsh Harriers circling around. 3 pairs of Teal were also present in the flooded fen.

So, a nice walk with plenty to see, but I had to rush back to collect my wife from work. Still, on the way back I managed to see a pair of Reed Buntings, a male and female Kestrel and another Snipe.

It's great that it is spring time!

Eske/Pulfin Fen again

A quick walk to the lake at Eske today before a late lunch. The weather was surprisingly windy which meant that many smaller birds were hard to see. However, a patch of uncultivated land with wet patches held a Green Sandpiper along with 5 Lapwings, defending their nesting territories.

Up at the lake the numbers of ducks had dramatically decreased with just abour 20 Widgeon remaining from the winter flock. Around 20 Tufted Ducks were present along with 2 pairs of Great-crested Grebes involved in their neck-twisting dance. 2 Shelduck appeared from nowhere and a single Oystercatcher was feeding on a muddy shore. A final scan across the lake revealed a quite unusual looking duck which turned out to be a female Common Scoter - a new bird for the location for me. I walked around some trees to get a better look and within this time the bird managed to disappear!

Just as I'd given up finding it I noticed a large bird flying over the farmland behind me which turned out to be a male Marsh Harrier, the first I've seen here since last autumn.

Not much on the way back apart from two male Yellowhammers in song; the wind had got much harder and it was quite pleasant to get back to the car.

Nice lunch, nice walk

After a nice lunch in the pub, my wife and I decided to make the most of the warm, sunny weather by going for a walk to the lake at Eske/Pulfin Fen. The warmth had made most of the birds rather lazy at this time of day, but a few Skylarks were singing away, making it feel like summer. A little way along the river a distant dog walker disturbed a small bird which settled in the vegetation next to the river, about 10 mentres from where we were standing. My immediate impression was that it was a Jack Snipe. This was confirmed by tracking it down and observing it from about 3 feet until it finally flew away south.

An old boggy patch of set-aside land further down held a number of Redshank and Lapwings but my attention was drawn by the call of some Fieldfares; 5 birds were seen flying north along with a flock of Starlings.

At the lake a Chiffchaff was in song, quite probably the bird that I've seen a few times over the last few months, but this really made me feel like spring is here. On the lake there were still around 100 Wigeon left over from winter and 20-30 Tufted Duck, a few pairs of Gadwall, a lonely male Pochard a few Teal and a couple of dozen Mallard. Plenty of Mute Swans and Greylag Geese were hanging around as well as 4 Canada Geese. A pair of Oystercatchers were noisily defending a territory from some encroaching Redshanks and 2 Shelduck were relaxing in the sun on the island in the lake.

Plenty of other birds were around but a male Great Spotted Woodpecker was the most noteworthy. However, 4 species of butterfly and lots of flowers were also very pleasant to see.

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.

The Start of Spring migration?

A breezy walk to Eske/Pulfin Fen was the first for a while due to the fact that I've been feeling pretty rough recently. Still with a fuzzy head I marched up to the lake, flushing a male Yellowhammer from underneath a bush with a few Skylarks in song.

At the lake still a lot of ducks; Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Pochard and Tufted Duck. Two female Goldeneye on the river and a male on the lake were signs that winter is still not over and a male Pintail was another indication of that. However, a few recent arrivals also suggest that spring is on its way. Four Oystercatchers were squabbling over a territory and two Shelduck were also present. These two species are not present at Eske in the winter but do turn up in spring, with the Oystercatchers staying to breed.

Another nice bird was a Goldcrest singing and some male Chaffinches calling from a nearby copse were also convinced that spring is coming. I can only share their optimism and hope that some migrants might begin to pass through and liven things up - I've grown a little tired of the winter ducks. Notably, there were no Redwings or Fieldfares today and only small numbers of Blackbirds : it seems that they may have departed already.

Yellow-legged Gull?

Yesterday morning I went, once again, to Eske/Pulfin Fen. It was very bright, but a light northerly breeze was pretty chilly. The walk was a tale of two halves really, with the first half (the walk up) being virtually birdless, almost no ducks on the lake and only two Fieldfares were of any interest. Beyond the lake 33 Mute Swans were feeding in a field, but no Whooper Swans today.

On the way back (second half), suddenly the lake was filled with ducks and Geese. The regular 200 or so Greylags all landed in the lake as I watched and 2 Canada Geese were sitting on the island, strangely, this species doesn't turn up here often at all. Amongst the ducks were about 30 Tufted Duck, 10 Pochard, 150 Wigeon, 6 Teal, 50-60 Mallard, 2 Gadwall and 4 Goldeneye, including one male displaying which was the highlight until I noticed 3 large Gulls.

Two of these were adults, and appeared to be Herring Gulls, but perhaps slightly darker than normal. When they eventually flew, the black wing markings suggested argentatus, but I couldn't be sure as I was focussing my attention on the single first winter gull that was present. This bird immediately struck me as different to an immature Herring Gull, in fact I thought it was a Yellow-legged Gull straight away - not that frequently recorded up here. It was exceptionally white in appearance with just a little dark smudging around the eye. Its bill was noticeably longer than the other two birds' bills and heavier too. The bill was dark black with just a hint of pale colouration at the base. The bird's head was fairly long and sloping and its wings were pale grey with distinct dark markings - no smudginess at all. The tertials were completely dark, but I couldn't make out any pale edges. The primaries were long and black. In flight it had a clear white back with no flecking and a distinct black band at the end of the tail. The bird's chest and belly were very pale with some spotting. In flight the colouration of the wings confirmed that it was a first winter bird and the wing tips were contrastingly dark compared to the rest. More than that I didn't notice,

Since seeing this gull I have discovered that I missed a few key features. Unfortunately I'm not that good! However, I have seen plenty of Yellow-legged Gulls and the jizz of this bird seemed right.

If any gull experts want to comment on this fairly poor description, please feel free to.

On the way back 2 Tree Sparrows flew out of some bushes and 2 male Reed Buntings looked like they were in a dispute over a female.

Snow Showers

This morning we woke up and everything was white with snow. The snow showers carried on all morning, but by the afternoon most of it had melted. I went for a walk to Eske/Pulfin from 3-4.30pm expecting the cold weather to bring out some birds. I was pretty much wrong there, with just the normal collection of species present. Plenty of Wigeon on the lake, along with Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Pochard and a few Great-crested Grebes.

The wintering Goldeneye has been joined by three more, all four are females.

The hedges did contain quite a few Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits and Blue Tits, but almost no finches at all; just a few Chaffinches and Greenfinches. Pulfin Fen was under quite a bit of water and loads of Teal were feeding there with a nice sunset in the background. In the distance to the north about 30 Mute Swans were feeding in fields and a distant Barn Owl was hunting along some ditches.

On the way back another Barn Owl flew very close by, illustrating how common they are in this area - I've sen more Barn Owls in the 2.5 years I've lived here than in the rest of my life put together!

The state of the footpath was interesting; the first 200 metres from the road were terribly churned up where people have wlaked along it, but after that it was far less muddy, showing just how few people walk more than a couple of hundred metres from their car!

A very windy walk

I must be feeling energetic because I went for my second walk to Pulfin Fen (Click here for map) in two days! It's probably about a mile to walk along the River Hull from Hull bridge in Tickton and today it was so windy I had trouble standing up straight. Fortunately the path is on a river flood defence and I was able to walk in its shelter. There were pretty much no birds at all due to the wind until reaching the lake. No Chiffchaff today and only a few Blackbirds, Redwings and a single Fieldfare.

At the lake there are enough trees to get some shelter from the wind and hold my binoculars still enough to scan the water for ducks. Pretty much the same suspects as on tuesday, with lots of Wigeon, Shoveler and Mallard. A few Pochard, Tufted Duck and about 20 Gadwall along with about 30 Coot. The two male Pintail were still present although they took off and flew north as I watched them. Possibly they'll turn up at nearby Tophill Low. There's also a female Goldeneye that seems to have made this lake its home for the winter and a small flock of 8 Great-crested Grebes.

All the wildfowl at this location seem to be very flighty, constantly taking off, flying around and relanding. I wonder if there's a problem with shooting here? It's certainly a popular pastime in this area.

One side of the lake is very sheltered by trees and an earth bank and it was surprisingly warm there, so I decided to sit down and enjoy the relative warmth. Then the sun came out! Felt like I was on a tropical beach. Well, not quite. Some quite nice cloud formations were interesting enough for me to take a couple of pictures. I'm not much of a photographer, but here's what I managed.


No matter what I seem to do my photos go wrong, but I seem to get some half decent results with my digital camera. The best thing of course is that I can delete the three dozen crap ones to leave the single good shot that I managed to get.

Whilst I was pussy-footing around with my camera a beautiful male Bullfinch flew into a nearby tree. Just about the only small passerine I saw today and a first for the location (at least for me it was).

A very windy walk back to the car and quite nice to get home only to see, on the lunchtime news, that the wind was causing havoc throughout the country.