Swinemoor and crap weather

A truly miserable walk in cold wind and rain produced predictably few species yesterday morning. Just 12 Lapwings, 2 Redshank, 4 Snipe and a single Little Ringed Plover. Plenty of Swifts and Swallows arond but very little else.

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.

Lapwing Chick

I went back to Swinemoor this morning to see if the Wood Sandpipers were still present. It seems that the calm weather gave them the opportunity to leave! However, amongst the grass a single Lapwing chick was lurking; the first I've seen this year. The Lapwings on Swinemoor always seem to raise a few chicks despite the problems they face with trampling from horses, fluctuating water levels, dogs and marauding crows.

Plenty of adult Lapwings were on the common today, along with 2 Shelduck, 3 Redshank and a Dunlin in breeding plumage. On the river Hull a Sedge Warbler was singing along with a large number of Reed Warblers, one of which was unusually easy to see. Other migrants were large numbers of Swifts and Swallows, Willow Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats and a distant Cuckoo.

I managed to find the orchid I was told about, but some idiot seems to have picked three of the four stems, leaving just a single flower. It seems like a Green-winged Orchid Orchis morio to me, but I'm not sure.

Rainy Swinemoor

This morning I went to investigate a report of Wood Sandpiper from yesterday morning at Swinemoor. Unfortunately the weather was quite rainy, but this rain, over the last few days, has topped up the water levels at Swinemoor quite nicely. What had been reduced to a few small puddles has once again returned to a generously flooded area with patches of open water, shallow margins and damp grassland.

The birds seem to prefer it this way!

Lots of Mallard and 4 Gadwall were feeding in the pools, along with 3 Shelduck. Lapwing numbers seem to have risen again to about 20 and 2 male Snipe were busy drumming away. Scanning across the common, I spotted a Greenshank and almost immediately after a Wood Sandpiper flew a short distance. I decided to walk around the common to get a closer look and at the stone bridge that crosses the Beverley-Barmston drain a Common Sandpiper was feeding!

Plenty of other birds around, with large numbers of Swallows and House Martins swooping around the feet of a group of horses. I was able to get right amongst these horses and the birds continued to swoop around their feet and mine.

Once on the river Hull flood defences I was able to get a better look at the waders and immediately saw a second Wood Sandpiper! A fight between a couple of Lapwings and a Carrion Crow scared the Greenshank away, which flew north. I flushed a couple of Redshank out of the grass and I watched one land in another pool. It landed next to another wader and began to chase it around; it really wasn't too happy about the company it was keeping. This other wader turned out to be another Wood Sandpiper! I couldn't imagine that it was another bird so I had a look at where the previous two were and they were still sitting in the same places as before. So, three Wood Sandpipers!

Looking back through my records I saw a single Wood Sandpiper on Swinemoor on the 20th May 2006 and 2 on the 15th May 2005. Obviously this is a regular stopping off point on their migratory route.

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.

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.

Swinemoor yet again

With more time and energy on my hands than I've had for a while I couldn't resist another look at Swinemoor, from 8.30am to 11am. As I drove past part of the common I noticed the first horses have been put on. However, they haven't made their way over to the birdy areas yet.

Just one Shelduck was present today, but 3 male Snipe were in a mid air drumming battle. Walking along the main drain an Oystercatcher flew overhead and landed at the far end of the common - it didn't stay long though. About 100 Golden Plover were scattered all over the place and two Little Ringed Plovers were obvious - the third one was probably hiding somewhere. The two Wheatears from the previous two visits were still in exactly the same place and two Redshank remain devoted to their ever shrinking patch of water. Redshank watching paid off again as it did yesterday as a very scruffy looking Whimbrel joined them for a short time.

In the sky 3 Swifts circled around and 2 House Martins headed south, quickly followed by 4 Sand Martins. A number of Swallows were also feeding over the common.

Just a single Willow Warbler was singing today, although with the grey skies and intermittent rain I didn't feel much like singing either. All the normal common birds were seen along with a Stock Dove and a Dunnock which strangely I don't see very often here. Also a female House Sparrow turned up right in the middle of the common, which is unusual, they usually stick to the edges where the buildings are.

Not much esle of note around until I was almost back to the car. Alongside the river Hull in the reeds I heard the faint song of a Reed Warbler. I stayed long enough to get a reasonable look but it wasn't being too obliging. A Sparrowhawk and Song Thrush provided a distraction before getting back to the car.

More Spring migration

Yesterday morning I went to Swinemoor Common again hoping for some more spring migrants. Once again I wasn't disappointed despite the rapidly disappearing water - not much more than a few puddles left now.

The first bird of interest was a male Wheatear next to the Beverley-Barmston drain, a different bird than the two I saw previously as it was much more brightly marked. As I approached what is left of the wet areas I heard the screeching of a Swift - the first of the year! It was quickly joined by 3 more and a group of 10 House Martins. 3-4 Swallows were also flying around.

I found a good place to sit and scan the common; this turned out to be a good idea as a number of birds were moving through. 5 Shelduck were present today along with about 20 Lapwings - many of them on nests now. A group of about 300 Golden Plovers dropped in and began to bathe themselves and a Little Ringed Plover came in very close. This bird seemed to be a first year bird as it still hasn't reached full adult plumage. However, two more Little Ringed Plovers further away seemed so happy with Swinemoor that they began copulating! Two Redshank were foraging in the wet grass and whilst watching them the same two Wheatears in the same place as Saturday made an appearance as did the male Yellow Wagtail.

Two drumming Snipe were very noisily displaying - Swinemoor is a very good place to watch male Snipe perform an aerial battle.

I decided to look around the scrubby areas of the common finding 7 Willow Warblers, a Lesser Whitethroat and plenty of common birds: Starling, Blackbird, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Pied Wagtail, Collared Dove, Meadow Pipit, Skylark etc. The scrubby areas of Swinemoor are a good place to look for plants and I took some photos of some interesting ones:

Water Crowfoot

At the southernmost end of Swinemoor is a very damp and spongy area of grass which attracts Whimbrel every year and yesterday a group of 9 were feeding amongst the Starlings and a male Yellowhammer sat calling in a small bush.

Walking back to the car a few Reed Buntings were noisily calling, two Long-tailed Tits were feeding in a tree and the Lapwings were busily chasing Carrion Crows away from their nests. The last birds to add to the list before returning to the car were 2 first summer Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a giant Mistle Thrush.

Yet more migrants at Swinemoor

Time for a quick walk around Swinemoor this morning from around 11.15 am to 1 pm. Sadly the water levels are getting terribly low, obviously due to the warm weather as the pasture master has not opened up any drains - he hasn't needed to. The good news is that there aren't any horses yet and lots of Lapwings seem to be on nests, at least they spend plenty of time chasing carrion Crows and Jackdaws away.

Some birds are still using what wet areas are left and today 4 Shelduck were present and two Redshank were feeding. One Redshank that has been around for a while now has an unusually long bill and it keeps making me think it is something else, but no, it is a Redshank. Two Little Ringed Plovers still remain, and as much of the mud is baked hard they could be around for a while yet. The only other wader was a single Snipe.

However, as I was scanning across the muddy pools I noticed a female Wheatear and as I went a little closer I flushed a male Yellow Wagtail who gave seemed to blame a Meadow Pipit for the disturbance as he angrily chased it away. The female Wheatear was then joind by a male - these two were my first of the year, spring is such a great time, so many firsts!

I checked out the scrubby areas but found only a Mistle Thrush and two Willow Warblers. A Lesser Whitethroat was heard but not seen. Some common birds were around, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Blackbirds, a Wren and a Robin, but nothing special.

Over at the river Hull a Common Tern surprised me, particularly as it was following the river southwards. Luckily for me it spotted a fish and dived right in front of me - another first for the year!

On the way back to the car a group of 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew south ( 3 adults and a first summer bird), later followed by an adult Herring Gull. The sun then came out enough to set 2 Skylarks off into song and I noticed two pairs of Swallows checking out nest sites under the eaves of a house the other side of the river.

Another productive walk, I'll try to get back there again tomorrow.

Quick visit to a drier Swinemoor

After the Red-necked Grebe yesterday morning I made a brief trip to Swinemoor and was disappointed to see that it is rapidly drying up, this was also reflected in the lack of birds. The three Little Ringed Plovers were still present as were 20-30 nesting Lapwings. Just 2 Redshank and a single Snipe were the only other wetland species present.

In the scrub large numbers of Willow Warblers were still present, but only 2 Swallows were seen compared to the dozen or so on saturday. However, a pleasant surprise were three singing Lesser Whitethroat, although I didn't manage to get a look at any of them, I guess I'll have to wait for my first one of the year!

Masses of Migrants at Swinemoor

Having arrived back in Beverley at 6pm the good weather drew me towards Swinemoor for a quick look for spring migrants. A quick look turnd into a long look as there were plenty of birds to see.

On the wet grass 20-30 Lapwings were still hanging around as well as about 100 Golden Plovers and I very quickly located the Ruff that has been in residence for a while now - it has now begun to get some ruff feathers, nothing spectacular, presumably it is a first summer bird. Also very quickly spotted was a Little Ringed Plover which turned into two which multiplied further into three! All three birds were quite active, moving around a lot and at times they were making dipping courtship movements to each other. Another very welcome migrant was a beautiful male Yellow Wagtail. Also of interest were a number of Snipe, some of which were nesting and at least two of which were drumming males.

In the air at least 12 Swallows were catching midges along with at least 8 Sand Martins. A tip off about a Ring Ouzel led to me examing about 30 Blackbirds in detail, but whilst doing that a flock of 45 Fieldfares flew into a tree and a single Whimbrel landed on the wet grass.

In the scrub Willow Warblers seemed to have turned up in large numbers from the amount of singing I heard, although I only saw 2. Other birds seen in the scrub were Robin, Tree Sparrow, Mistle Thrush, Starling, Blue Tit, Greenfinch and Goldfinch.

Rather foolishly I walked back to the car looking into the sun which made birding over the wet areas difficult, but I was able to pick out 4 Redshank, 7 Mallard and a pair of Gadwall. In the river Hull there were Moorhen, Reed Buntings and a rat.

As I was leaving the sound of Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and cooing Collared Doves along with a rather nice sunset might make it difficult not to come back again tomorrow.

Swinemoor, 11.30 am

A quick look to see what was out on the wet areas revealed that the Ruff was still present along with about 1500 Golden Plovers. Just 2 Redshank present but about 20 Lapwings were busy defending nests and incubating eggs. Also one Snipe seen but I'm sure plenty more were hiding in the grass.

Swinemoor drying up!

At about 5pm I went to check out Swinemoor again to see if any more migrants had turned up. The answer was no, but yesterday's Ruff was still around and a large flock of about 700 Golden Plovers were getting ready for the night. 2 Snipe were busy nest making and the Lapwings were invloved in all sorts of breeding behaviour, including chasing away Carrion Crows attempting to raid their nests. The only other waterbirds were 5 Redshank, 4 Black-headed Gulls, a few Mallard and some Moorhens.

The most alarming thing today was how the water level had gone down in just one day. Although a lot of wet habitat remains, the amount of open water had decreased by about 50% since yesterday. I guess the pasture master must have opened up the drains to prepare the area for the horses which will arrive soon.

Some Spring migrants

The warm sunny weather was far too attractive to spend all day indoors working on my dissertation so a quick walk around Swinemoor was in order. Good levels of water still there and no horses yet to trample the grass and disturb the birds.

Singing Skylarks and Meadow Pipits, along with the sun, made it feel more like summer than anything else. Fairly soon after my arrival I heard my first Willow Warbler of the year. I managed to track it down into a hawthorn bush when a passing dog-walker flushed it.

A quick look at the wet areas revealed 2 Shelduck which I assume will probably spend the rest of the spring there as they usually do.

Also on the wet areas were 3 Redshank, 8 Golden Plover, 13 Snipe, around 30 Lapwings and the star of the show - a first summer male Ruff. At least 3 Lapwings seemed to be sitting on eggs as they remained seated even when I got within about 20 metres. Also a pair of Snipe appeared to be nest building.

Other interesting birds included 3 Dunnocks involved in some sort of threesome activity, a Kingfisher, a Moorhen on a nest, a male Reed Bunting with nest material and a Pied Wagtail.

Interesting to note that today there were lots of people and dogs on Swinemoor, but they all stuck to the paths, staying off of the wet areas that the birds love. This suggests that it is the horses that arrive on Swinemoor around mid to late April that cause most of the Lapwings to desert their nests and not humans.

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.

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.

More of Swinemoor

Just got back from a couple of hours walking around Swinemoor Common, Beverley. It wasn't really a birdwatching walk, I was with three friends from college and we were inspecting the place for our management plan assignment. We came up with ideas like retaining the surface water through spring and summer, and grazing the grassland through late summer and autumn to manage it for wetland birds. The idea is to keep horses off of it through the breeding season to allow Lapwings and Snipe to raise their chicks without the threat of trampling. None of this is actually going to happen of course, it's purely hypothetical.

Other idea we had were a bit of selective tree planting, nest boxes for tree sparrows, roosting boxes for bats and managing visitor access by encouraging them to use an interpreted trail.

However, there's always time to look for birds and we saw quite a good number of Golden Plover, a couple of hundred in total, 40-50 Lapwings, 2 Snipe and 5 Redshank. Alongside were about 40 Common Gulls, 10-20 Black-headed Gulls and 2 Herring Gulls. A Grey Heron flew over too and a Kestrel hunting kept disturbing the waders and gulls.

I was hot! I actually got hot!

What a strange day. It must have been very cold overnight because even at eleven o'clock on a very sunny day, the water covering Swinemoor common was still frozen. At this time though my jacket, sweatshirt and t-shirt meant that I was overdressed for the sunny weather and it wasn't long before I was hot! I'd forgotten that it was possible to actually be hot in this country, but yes, at the beginning of February I was hot. Wow!

Swinemoor in the sun

A few interesting birds about: around 60 Lapwings, 3 Golden Plover, 1 Snipe, 4 Teal, about 150 Black-headed Gulls, 24 Common Gulls and 2 Herring Gulls were loafing around on the wet grassland. Also 17 immature Pied Wagtails were feeding on top of the ice.

Further along a group of feeding birds included 6 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Great Tits, 2 Blue Tits and 2 Tree Sparrows. A flock of about 30 Redwings flew out of some trees as I walked along and a lone Grey Heron was hunting in a ditch - strangely enough this is a species I rarely see here.

Plenty more common birds around with a couple of Mallard, loads of Moorhens and a Little Grebe in the Beverley-Barmston drain - what a glamourous address!

Too Windy Again - Swinemoor

Woke up really late this morning after having a nightmare where my life was completely screwed up by having a baby (not me: my wife). I couldn't get this spectre out of my head, so I went out for a walk and some birdwatching despite a howling gale. In fact, the wind had been so bad that the TV aerial blew down overnight, to be left dangling from the telephone cables. Strangely enough the reception has been improved by this, so it can stay there until someone else decides to do something about it.

Anyway, at around midday I got into the car and headed for Swinemoor, another one of Beverley's old commons (See below for map). Swinemoor gets a few dog walkers on it, but it isn't heavily used and it consists of unimproved grassland and scrub. The piece of the common between the large drain and the Hull river gets really wet in the winter and can be good for waders in the spring. I was hoping that there were a few winter waders around.

The common is really wet at the moment and if this continues, birdwatching here in the spring could be really good. However, not much at all today; lots of Lapwings, which were very flighty, and around 200 Black-headed Gulls with a few Common Gulls. Scanning around revealed almost nothing, so I decided not to extend the walk beyond playing around with my digital camera. Took a few shots of the common, you can see how wet it is from this one.

Some bloke with his dog began shouting at me for some reason. I didn't bother to respond, he didn't seem to have polite intentions and I can't be bothered to speak to rude idiots, so I left. The guy tried to intercept me by cutting across the common and seemed to get stuck in the mud.

Other species I saw were:

Blackbird, Rook, Woodpigeon, Starling, Collared Dove, Mallard, Moorhen, Kestrel and Cormorant; as uninspiring a list as you'll ever see!