Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler

We've been seeing a lot of these lately now that we know what they are!  We spent a beautiful morning at Staveley today and although it seemed quite quiet on the wildlife front we had several close looks at the Sedge Warbler.

There were quite a few Grey wagtails on the far pond as well as 2 Snipe, another bird for our list!  There were 6 juvenile Shelducks, about a hundred Greylag geese, a couple cormorants, heron, a swan family and a ringed plover.

We saw many dragon flies and hawkers but are not knowledgeable enough to identify them, easily 4 - 5 different species spotted though.  We also saw a vole running along the footpath in front of us which quickly dove into the undergrowth and proceeded to swim away through the reeds.  Was this a water vole? 

Shawnna

Summer bird watching

The past two months have been really busy and so our bird watching endeavors have been pretty low key.  But we've been practicing to spot birds amongst the dense leaves of summer and enjoying all the baby birds spotted on the water.

Today was a short trip to Thorpe Perrow where we saw 2 clutches of young Little Grebes, a dozen juvenile mallards and a group of baby Tufted ducks.

Yesterday we stopped in at Fountains Abbey at the large pond nearest the deer park.  Not as many birds here now as there usually is but a selection of the typical residents with juvenile Black Headed Gulls, Tufted Ducks, Moor Hens, Greylag and Canada Geese and a few Mallards.  And the Jack Daws were braving the busy cafe eating area to scrounge for crumbs.

Last weekend we stopped in at Marshfields Reserve, just in passing, not expecting the size of the place once we got out and started walking around.  There were loads of birds and young on all the ponds.  Definitely a place we'll go back to and spend more time.  Spotted maybe a hundred Mallards, a pair of Great Crested Grebe, Swans, Greylags, Moor Hens... we didn't get to all the ponds though.  We also saw Chiff Chaff zipping about in the hedgerows.

On the weekend before this (June 29th) we stopped by Nosterfield late in the day and though the water line was low there were plenty of birds.  Nothing new for us but we did get some really good close views of sedge warblers along the path and the baby Great Tits were out and flitting from bush to bush.

Shawnna

Le Camargue

African Sacred Ibis

A holiday to the south of France this past week gave us just one day of bird watching and we opted for the Parc Ornithologique just outside Avignon and recommended to us by local friends.

The inner estuary is a haven for flamingos and we saw plenty of those along with several types of heron nesting on small islands.  Smaller birds were harder to spot but we identified a Cetti's Warbler among all the sparrows.

And lastly, just before leaving while sitting at the cafe overlooking the water we spotted an African Sacred Ibis.

Shawnna

Kettlewell to Arncliffe

We repeated our walk from earlier in the year up over Old Cote Moor and back from Kettlewell.  It was a glorious sunny day and busy on the paths but we managed to see 3 new birds for our UK list, Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Common Sandpiper.

Shawnna

Little Grebe

Spring Day at Staveley

Sedge Warbler

It's been a few weeks since we've been able to get out bird watching, just too many other chores getting in the way! 

But a few weeks back we did spend a morning at Thorpe Perrow Arboretum where we spotted a Little Grebe on the ornamental pond.

Today though we went back to our local reserve and encountered a whole new range of bird song.  The water birds weren't plentiful but we were treated to 2 warblers, Sedge and Willow alomg with the Lesser Whitethroat and the Blackcap.  There were also Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins all flitting over the water for insects, making it easier to spot the differences in flight.

Shawnna

Spotted locally...

The weather has been keeping us mostly indoors that last few weeks, so our bird spotting days have been low key with local walks and watching our bird feeders.

We added Fieldfare to our list a few weeks ago when driving up our road we saw a small flock overhead in the trees.

Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush were visiting the feeders during the worst of the weather, fabulously at the same time so it was easy to spot the difference!

And today's walk at Fountains Abbey resulted in 3 new birds for us bringing our tally to 88 birds each. Spotted were a Goosander, Sparrowhawk and Redwing.  We also saw several Gold Crest and Great Tits along with about a million Crows.


Shawnna

Looking for a Hawfinch

We got up extra early this morning to get to Sizergh Castle at the recommended time for spotting Hawfinches only to spend hours cold and hungry waiting patiently for them to show themselves. 

We got there just before 8am.  The first ones there.  Keen and dedicated!  A couple hours went by and the crowd expanded.  Finally someone had a quick sighting in the distance but the bird disappeared before anyone got a really good look.  By 10:30 most people had given up.  I went for a walk just to warm up my toes!

When the cafe opened we opted to sit indoors for a nice warm cup of tea and a scone.  Then Andy saw someone pointing at a tree and rushed out while I continued to enjoy my tea.  And missed the only decent sighting of the morning as one lone Hawfinch perched on a tree top for 30 seconds.

So my day was a little disappointing while Andy was pleased as punch.  Apparently I'm just not dedicated enough!

There were lots of other birds though.  At least 50 Chaffinches, 3 woodpeckers, loads of various tits, Bullfinch, Siskin and over the fields we saw 5 Buzzards.  And best of all for about 15 min after arriving we had 2 Jays bouncing around the trees.  While we had seen them before in our last garden (visiting for the peanuts) we hadn't seen them just 'out and about'.

Shawnna

Nosterfield Local Nature Reserve

Another bitterly cold morning as we made our first trip to Nosterfield and walked to each hide to check out the views over the ponds.

Definitely need a scope here!  All the birds were well on the other side of the ponds.  The hides are fantastic though and we'll be back soon.

One new bird spotted despite not having a scope to hand and that was the Ruff.


Shawnna

Fowl Weather

The plan today was meant to be an outing to the Saltholme RSPB site.

We had to be in Darlington first thing anyway.  But the weather in the area made it a rather risky trip on the roads with snow already causing problems on the roads first thing, so we opted instead for our more local stop at Staveley and we were rewarded with two more ducks to add to our now growing list!

Goldeneye and Scaup were our new birds with lots of Teal, Wigeon and Tufted Ducks also present.  We also got a much better sighting of the Short-eared Owl thanks to our brand new binoculars.


Shawnna

Sunny Scarborough

Enjoyed a beautiful day out to the coast today with glorious sunshine all day.  Bird watching was a little less successful than anticipated but wasn't hard for us to add 6 new birds to our list. 

We made two stops at Burton Riggs but it was pretty quiet.  Canada and Greylag geese, Wigeon, Mallards, Tufted Ducks along with a few Black Headed gulls were about all that was there.  Possibly some sort of Plover but we didn't get a good look.  And on the 2nd stop we noticed a White-Fronted Goose in with the Greylags.

At Scarborough Meir we were treated to a Red-Crested Pochard, a Mandarin and a few Pintails.  There was a great collection of birds here today, all hanging about to get a free meal.

On the coast we saw mainly Herring and Black Headed gulls, but a few Redshanks, Dunlin, Curlew, Oystercatchers, Grey Heron, and a large number of Wigeon on the water.

 Shawnna

Grey morning at Staveley

Woke to a rather dismal day today with plans to try our new little scope over at Staveley Nature Reserve.  With low expectations we were delighted to add 3 new birds to our ever growing list, now at a very modest 74!

Spotted were a Short-eared Owl thanks to a kind stranger who helped us see this well hidden sleepy fellow, 2 Siskin visiting the feeders and a small flock of Yellowhammer.

Shawnna

RSPB bird count 2013

This year's bird count went well with lots of activity first thing in the morning as the birds flocked in for the bird food I'd just put out.  With bad weather all week, just like with last year's count in our garden, we had more than the usual numbers.  I say garden but really it's just a rooftop deck with a good hedge and tree cover close by.

Spotted were, 5 Chaffinch, 6 Blue Tits, 6 House Sparrows, 2 Great Tits, 1 Coal Tit, 8 Blackbirds (we've had up to 12 at a time this year), 2 Robins, 3 Starling, 2 Collared Doves, 1 Wood Pigeon, 1 Nuthatch and 1 Marsh Tit.

We haven't seen Long-tailed Tits for a few weeks, and unlike the last two years our Gold Crest visitor has only been seen sporadically. Missing this year as well are the Pied Wagtail and Grey Wagtail which frequented our deck very regularly.

Shawnna

Wrens

I don't have a good enough camera to capture these little guys very well, but it's always a pleasure to spot them hopping about!

Shawnna

Blackbirds

Bird watching from the warmth and comfort of the house today!

Woke up to no less than 10 blackbirds on the rooftop deck, squabbling over whose territory it was but otherwise waiting patiently for more food to be put out.

We have a regular flock of house sparrows, quite a few blue tits, great tits, coal tits and marsh tits, at least 2 robins, a pair of collared doves, a couple wood pigeons and 1 lone starling.


Shawnna

Askham Bog

Our first trip to Askham Bog on a lovely sunny but cold morning.  The Robins were the first to greet us and judging by the welcome of the various tits they were expecting us to provide some food!

The bog was quite wet so we mostly stuck to the boardwalk.  Lots of Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Marsh Tits and Dunnock.  Venturing off the boardwalk near the entrance we also spotted a pair of Bull Finches and several Gold Finches.  We also spotted a couple birds that we couldn't identify so we'll have to come back and spend more time!

Shawnna

Rooks

A walk from home late this afternoon revealed:
3 Buzzards circling
a flock of Bramblings which was new for our list
a delightful spotting of Bull Finches
a large flock of Greylags honking past overhead
and of course the usual din of Crows and Rooks as the sun headed down.


Shawnna

Old Cote Moor

A quiet and misty hike today from Kettlewell over Old Cote Moor into Arncliffe.

Saw a dozen or so Red Grouse on the tops, a female Great Spotted Woodpecker in the woods on the way down and along the river from Arncliffe 2 Dippers and 2 Treecreepers.

Along with lots of pheasants where we stopped for lunch!

Shawnna

Sparrows

Tree Sparrows and House Sparrows