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.

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.

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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.

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.