Thursday 7 April 2016

Chiffchaffs & Sand Martins arrive, Fieldfares depart, Lapwing landscapes and other choice waders

Been a bit stop start but Spring is now well underway and even up here in Yorkshire we have plenty of early returning migrants including Sand Martins, Chiffchaff, Wheatear, Avocet, Little Ringed Plover and Ospreys all recorded in good numbers over the past week or so.

I've not been lucky enough to see an Osprey but I usually manage at least 1 every spring so here's hoping I get a decent pic sometime soon. The most obvious of course has to be the humble Chiffchaff - no mistaking their rather monotonous 'squeaky wheelbarrow' song click here if you've never heard one but now is the time for pics with hardly any leaves on the trees.


Chiffchaff, Givendale 30/03/16
This was my first photo opportunity - up on Givendale last week in the teeth of a howling gale he wasn't singing much!

I say 'he' because its generally the males that return a good 2 or 3 weeks before the females to set up territories.










My second opportunity was in altogether different circumstances, a day later in warm sunshine at Askham Bog and he was 'chiff chaffing' with much enthusiasm as you can plainly see!

Singing Chiffchaff, Askham Bog, 31/03/16

Singing Chiffchaff, Askham Bog, 31/03/16

Less than a week later they're now fairly widespread and with well over 2 million individuals in the UK every summer you can be sure that there'll be one in a wood near you by now.


Fieldfares, Fangfoss, 31/03/16

In contrast, Fieldfares and Redwings are departing, most have gone, heading for breeding grounds in Northern Europe, but some are still here. I had a small flock of Redwings in flooded fields today (4th April) and these Fieldfares the other evening looked like they were massing and ready to go. Not brilliant pics - last rays of the evening sun, but quite atmospheric!



Fieldfares, Fangfoss, 31/03/16

Fieldfares, Fangfoss, 31/03/16

...and another one hits the long road north!
Fieldfare, Fangfoss, 31/03/16
 


When I was a kid I remember hanging about on the edge of our housing estate in suburban York and seeing scores of Lapwings in the fields and sometimes stumbling across eggs; the memory plays tricks of course but I know there were more than I could count. Nowadays, with breeding pairs down by 60% since the mid 80s, the Spring sky dance of the 'Peewhit' across our fields is much less witnessed. There's maybe 6 pairs currently displaying around my immediate patch here in Fangfoss and just as with many of our iconic ground nesting birds such as Skylarks and Grey Partridge, they'll be lucky to rear young in the face of ever more intensive farming methods and increasingly 'dogs off leads' during the breeding season.


Lapwing aerial display, Fangfoss, 30/03/16
Common Snipe, Fangfoss, 30/03/16

Its not often these days that I get a new bird on my local list but this one had been coming. Been 18 months since I've resided at Fangfoss Park and never seen a Common Snipe! On the same good weather for migration day I photographed my first Chiffchaffs I flushed not 1 but 9 of the things out of flooded field nr the Spittal Beck. Not great pics but at least I got em!


Common Snipe, Fangfoss, 30/03/16
Common Snipe, Fangfoss, 30/03/16


















Sand Martin, Tophill Low, 05/04/16
I bagged my first few Sand Martins (c10) of the year at North Cave Wetlands on the 29th along with Little Ringed Plover (2), a single Ruff and Avocet (28). A week later at Tophill Low the sky was positively full of Sand Martins with maybe up to 100 over the various lagoons and reservoirs there. They move so quick that unless one has the very best camera equipment they're a real challenge to snap them in flight but I had a go...


Sand Martin, Tophill Low, 05/04/16


Sand Martin, Tophill Low, 05/04/16



Little Ringed Plover, Tophill Low, 05/04/16
2 newly arrived Little Ringed Plovers conveniently right in front of South Marsh hide were rather easier to photograph. Spending the winter months in Africa, like Avocets, LRP's are a real and welcome success story in the UK largely due to the creation of wader friendly gravel pits on many of our nature reserves.

In amongst the many Sand Martins there was 1 Swallow (my first of the year) and I also bagged my first singing Blackcap and Willow Warbler

Little Ringed Plover, Tophill Low, 05/04/16

 
Breeding male Ruff (anon)
Ruff, that most scarce of UK breeding waders are on the move too. The vast majority of these variously plumaged birds will pass straight through en route to northern Europe and its a rare sight indeed to see a male in full breeding regalia like this splendid individual ... not my pic obviously!





Ruff, North Cave, 29/03/16



Alas, most Ruff seen on passage or wintering in the UK are much less exotic looking than that splendid looking bird. These individuals at North Cave Wetlands and Tophill Low are far more typical, unless of course you're lucky enough to happen upon the handful of birds that do breed in this country!
















Ruff (left) with Oystercatchers, Tophill Low, 05/04/16



Green Sandpiper, Sutton on Forest, 28/03/16

Here's another wader species one might see on passage at this time of the year, its a Green Sandpiper, relatively common and they love flooded fields and wet ditches - so plenty of scope there!











So that's my early Spring so far, no mega rarities or even anything particularly unusual but hey its great to out and about at this time of year, nature awakening, birds on the move, flowers blooming and so many daylight hours in which to witness and photograph it all! Here's a few more miscellaneous pics from my Spring walkabouts .....
Little Grebe, Tophill Low, 05/04/16


Short Eared Owl on the move, Strensall Common, 02/04/16


Marsh Marigolds, Askham Bog, 31/03/16
Displaying Sparrowhawk, Givendale, 30/03/16
 
Oystercatcher, Tophill Low, 05/04/16
 
 

 
 




 
 
 
 








Sunday 20 March 2016

Pre Spring mish mash ... various Yorkshire trips out and about in Feb / March

At long last I've decided to move back into the property market, nothing too grand (beggars can't be choosers!) but my oh my its taken over the first 2 and a half months of this year. Maybe its my age but all of the deliberations, decisions and 'u turns' involved in what should be a relatively straightforward process has distracted me massively and left me frazzled!

Almost Spring now - so enough is enough, its time to take the plunge! No worries, this post will not  in any way resemble an episode of 'location location' but it is a bit of mish mash of late winter / early spring around my way.

I spent a much needed break with gud fellah No1, Mr Mark around his patch on Hatfield Moor last month and got some great landscapes on a still and clear day....

Hatfield Moor, 24/02/16
Hatfield Moor, 24/02/16

Hatfield Moor, 24/02/16

Hatfield Moor, 24/02/16
Stonechat (female), Hatfield Moor, 24/02/16
as well as a rather nice pair of Stonechats that were flitting about and looking to set up a territory .. more and more of these birds are being recorded on Hatfield as the habitat develops and matures.





Stonechat (male), Hatfield Moor, 24/02/16


 
 
 
Its been the Duck season of course and I've popped out to the Lower Derwent Valley a few times and seen lots, and I mean 1000's .. Teal, Wigeon, Pochard, Tufties and the like but there's nothing more appealing I think, than a few of these mainly overwintering wildfowl pairing up and getting into breeding mode!
 
 


Shoveller pair, North Cave Wetlands, 16/02/16
This pair of Shoveller for instance look as if they're going places! Not in the Derwent as it happens but during a visit to North Cave Wetlands.
 .... and here's some Gadwall action...of all our ducks these seem to me act the craziest at this time of year with little groupings of boys chasing boys chasing girls (there might be a song in there somewhere?!)
Gadwall action, North Cave, 16/02/16
 
At the same location I spotted my first ever Green Winged Teal (it had been there a while) but it never came close enough to photograph. Interesting though and though at first glance this American version of our own Common Teal looks almost the same, that vertical chest stripe really is quite distinctive!


Green Winged Teal (pic courtesy of Ian Davies)
So, what else have I had recently? Well as the winter tails off without much of cold blast this year, I've seen many of our northern birdies depart of late ... Fieldfares and Redwings gathering in the tops of trees have been a common sight and many flocks have passed over north along with small flocks of Starlings. I had a couple of big flocks of Pink Footed Geese heading in the same direction over Fangfoss late Feb, one of which flew over early morning as I was heading out for a shower and prompted one of my mates to 'tut tut' me for not having my camera to hand! Best of all though was a big flock of calling Whooper Swans (I estimated c140) heading north over the Wolds last week (10/03) too distant and misty to get a shot but great to see and hear .. another flock passed over my caravan earlier in the morning (heard them but couldn't see 'em) so I guess there must have been a major passage that day.
 

Barn Owl, nr Sutton Forest, 5/03/16
Seen a fair few day flying Barn Owls of late too with regular sightings in the Lower Derwent Valley, the Wolds and around Fangfoss. This individual I came across nr Sutton on Forest after a good day's recruiting at Moorlands ... both reasonable captures but rather marred by interfering twigs and telegraph wires!


Barn Owl, nr Sutton Forest, 5/03/16

Redpoll, fangfoss, 02/03/16
On my local patch at Fangfoss  I'm still getting the odd Redpoll in with bigger flocks of Yellowhammer, Chaffinch & Tree Sparrow. Thought at first this one looked a bit pale and maybe a 'Meally' race but on closer inspection turned out to be just a Lesser.

Redpoll, fangfoss, 02/03/16

A few weeks ago in mid Feb during a mild spell everyone was marvelling at early Daffodils and the birds were showing breeding intent like this impressive looking cock Yellowhammer and a nest prospecting little Wren at Askham Bog.

Yellowhammer, Fangfoss, 11/02/16



Wren, Askham Bog, 14/02/16

Snow on the Wolds, 02/03/16
As is often the case though, a remarkably early promise of Spring was halted in its tracks by a cold spell, the daffodils retreated and there was snow covering the ground for a few days up on the Yorkshire Wolds.
Starkness and a bitter chill for the first couple of weeks of March put pay to any hopes of an early singing Chiff Chaff and here we are in the middle of said month with hardly any early migrants to speak of, the fields are bare though not without some degree of photographic appeal ...
Bare corn field, Fangfoss, Feb '16

Goldeneye, Tophill Low, 14/03/16
...and even a tramp around Tophill Low, a regular spot for early Sand Martins produced little other than winter ducks. This nice male Goldeneye was displaying but the female of the species looked like they were saying 'no'! 



baggins on the loose, ducks, winter
Goldeneye, Tophill Low, 14/03/16

A house hunting trip to Hull combined with a couple of hours at Spurn Point produced a Long Eared Owl flushed from the roadside (nr Sammy's Point) and a nice Merlin fly by nr the Blue Bell cafe, but no spring migrants. Jolly nice skeins of Brent Geese though and here are just a few of appx 1100 on the reserve ....
Brent Geese, Spurn, 18/03/16


Brent Geese, Spurn, 18/03/16
 ...and some reassuring numbers of our old calling friends the Curlew with upwards of 500 on and around the estuary .. here's a nice one that flew past quite close

Curlew, Spurn, 18/03/16

 Chiff Chaffs, Blackcaps and Sand Martins have now been spotted in Yorkshire at various locations over the past week or so of course, but not by me! There's always next week!









Sunday 7 February 2016

St Aidans, Swilington Ings, Fairburn .. wildlife and industrial history, HS2 and dog walkers!

I can't remember the last time I visited Swillington Ings in the Lower Airedale Valley, but it was well over 20 years ago and at that time the adjacent open cast mining operation was in full swing and obviously 'out of bounds'. It's potential was evident even then with Avocets moving in after a major flood inundated the open cast in 1988. Mining operations ceased around the turn of the century and now the whole area has been transformed, similar in nature to nearby Fairburn Ings, with lakes, lagoons and reed beds replacing the coal seams. Swillington Ings remains of course but the expanded reclaimed area has now been renamed St Aidan's and although there are a number of ongoing land management and access issues, the RSPB has been involved in the management of this site for some time now and with good reason - its a haven for wildlife within a highly urbanised area.

You can get a good overview of the area from this aerial pic lifted from The Swillington Ings Bird Group site which also provides all of the history and sightings from this highly interesting site.
St Aidans, aerial view

What struck me the most was the surprising size of the place ... one minute you're dodging school run traffic in the heart of West Yorkshire, the next minute you hop over a bank and you're into this sort of thing...
St Aidans, 05/02/16

St Aidans, 05/02/16


St Aidans, 05/02/16

Lots of tracks and cycle paths - I think it's destined to become a country park, and why not, but for the sake of the wildlife I do hope some common sense prevails and some restrictions are put on dog walkers. Whilst we were there I witnessed at least 10 dogs off leads and heading into reedbeds! I'm not sure how much dog owners understand or care about the impact dogs 'off leads' have on wildlife but its massive, especially in sensitive areas such as this. Don't get me wrong, I like dogs, I've been a dog owner, but with so many now in the UK they've become a major threat to many ground nesting birds. Common sense dictates that all dogs on places like this should be kept on leads.


Dayglow cyclists, St Aidans
Having said that, I wonder what would scare a bird more - a rampaging dog or the shock of this sort of glare....!!

Hey, tongue firmly in cheek, these old geezers were doing no harm (except to our eyes!)















Ok, my socio/political rant over, here's some 'non predated' birds at St Aidan's for you to enjoy

Curlew, St Aidans, 5/02/16


Nuthatch singing, St Aidans, 05/02/16

Goosander (male), St Aidans, 05/02/16

Goosanders (pair), St Aidans, 05/02/16

Common Kestrel, St Aidans, 05/02/16
Wigeon (pair) + Teal (male), St Aidans, 05/02/16


Lots of wildfowl here of course with many Tufted Ducks, Pochard, Wigeon, Teal and Mallard present along with 20 or so Goldeneye. A Greenland White Fronted Goose evaded us but there were plenty of Greylags and a couple of skein of Pinkfeet passed over during the day. Not much of a chance to get close but here's a couple of Wigeon and a male Teal caught in a shaft of sunlight ..



Male Pochard, St Aidans, 05/02/16
 
 
Small birds were in short supply - speaking to some of the locals, the recent floods saw a mass exodus of many birds because the food supply was suddenly underwater! Bearded Tits and Cettis Warblers were 2 of the most lamented but I think they'll be back. Stonechats were still there however and quite confiding they were too ..


Stonechat, StAidans, 05/02/16
 
Short Eared Owls are a speciality bird here but again recently departed because all the voles presumably perished in the floods. We did see a single Marsh Harrier though plus Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawk. Other notable species seen included a single Oystercatcher, Red Kite, c200 Golden Plover and a probable over wintering Chiffcaff
 
'Oddball', the dragline at St Aidans
Any visitor to St Aidans cannot fail to be struck by the imposing 'dragline' sited at the entrance to the place. Basically this is a huge piece of kit, commonly used in open cast mining operations to drag or remove surface material away from the coal seam. Some totally immense examples in the US but this one is pretty impressive to any Tonka toy lovin boy or gal! I like this pic of the one at St Aidan's (affectionally penned 'Oddball')
 
 
 



 .....and my own pics of the same beast
'Oddball', the dragline at St Aidans

'Oddball', the dragline at St Aidans
 Awesome piece of kit!! If you're a devotee of our industrial heritage 'Oddball' is open to the public twice a year (see here for details - Dragline open days )


River Aire deposited rubbish following the 2015/16 floods

Not so awesome, in fact downright unsightly is the amount of rubbish (plastic mainly) that has been deposited on the banks of the River Aire after the floods. If Leeds city council is at all bothered about conservation tourism (and it should be) then some effort, and I know it will be major undertaking, is surely in order








We popped into Fairburn Ings afterwards - added Little Egret, Little Grebe and Linnet to the species day list and since we're on the subject of industrial heritage here's a couple of pics I took of the old Victorian railway bridge over the River Aire.


Victorian railway bridge at Fairburn, 05/02/16

Victorian railway bridge at Fairburn, 05/02/16

To some folk its just a wasteland but, like many others of my generation, I see something else; and as others like me gaze at these strangely evocative relics of industrial glory and the wildlife that has taken it over, I wonder what effect a big new engineering enterprise like HS2 will have on the this landscape. Hopefully minimal, but realistically it'll do for many areas of natural beauty and their attendant wildlife. Have a look at the proposed route here and anticipated impact on biodiversity.
HS2 Potential impact on biodiversity