Well it really looks like winter is finally arriving today with a cold easterly wind and at times driving rain, but the lagoons and waterfowl really needed the wetland to become a bit wetter so in many ways its time we left these drought conditions behind!
Still plenty to see despite the wind driven rain at times seeping through the hide windows with our little female kingfisher using the shelter of the ditch at Xerox to weather the storm.
The marsh harriers too have been on top form with 21 roosting last night and this morning 18 all together at the back of Singleton lagoon floating and jousting in the wind,
A poor immature male marsh harrier in the driving rain
15 birds all together in the air
Also regular has been merlin, barn owl, sparrowhawk and peregrine but the hen harriers can be unpredictable with some evenings good views but on others no-show, but then that's the beauty of birding I suppose!
Still up to 90 ruff roosting and feeding on Singleton lagoon along with the black-tailed godwits, redshank and lapwing while 61 curlew flew out of roost on the estuary yesterday heading up the river Ouse. Last week there was a build up of snipe but suddenly they all seem to have disappeared!
Ruff
With the harsh weather the duck were returning to the lagoons again this morning with 184 wigeon, alongside the teal, shoveler, mallard and shelduck. 2 whoopers were resting in the field next to the reserve before they flew up towards the Ousefleet end of the site.
Wigeon are just getting their full plumage, have a closer look too at the lovely patterning on the females under-wing coverts
And these shoveler have a lovely patterning
Good to see the first little egret on site for a while on Friday, always nice to see this species for those of us who remember when they were still a rarity, its seems very possible that over the next few years great-white egret is going to follow suit, the picture below was of the bird at Yorkshire Sculpture park just underneath the heronry and ignoring all the people walking past! Where isn't there a heronry where there isn't a GWE hanging about these days?
Little egret on Townend
Great-white egret - there has been one regularly seen at our Hook Island reserve but this one was at Yorkshire Sculpture park
Despite the continental influence visible migration over site really seems to have dropped off although there is still a few bramblings going over. The siberian chiffchaff resurfaced on Friday and should still be about while there are still at least two water pipits using the lagoons to feed around the edges.
Siberian chiffchaff - a brief view but it shows the top colours and rump quite well
Water pipit
Other interesting sightings include raven again at the weekend, stonechats still and off course the Kingfisher. Add in bullfinch, cettis warblers, reed buntings, tree sparrows, fieldfares, and redwings then there's still a nice mix of species to back up the waterbirds.
For those of you who are interested in the bearded tits I thought I'd include this link to the BTO ringing blog about a beardie from the Tay reedbeds that was recovered abroad, it really does show that they can really move when they want to, even our British birds!
http://btoringing.blogspot.com/
I'll finish as I started - just a little something to brighten up the day
Thanks Pete. A "thumbs up" has now appeared to the top right of the comments section rather than the old place.
Perhaps I should have looked more closely, but it wasn't obvious at first.
Mike, and anyone who reads the blog, if you want to like then you need to log into the community, you should be invited to do this when you load up the individual blog from either your computer or phone (a prompt at the bottom of the page), in theory your old password should work although I've heard this may not be the case so you may just have to re-register unfortunately. Let me know if this is not the case. Again in theory if you can comment then you should be able to like!!
Mike, will give you a call to discuss, but is there not a large like bar underneath the comments on the phone version, also can you log in? Had people saying they cannot so need to know whats happeng so I can send in my list of issues
Seems like we can't give "likes" any more on this blog. Hardly an improvement!
So here is a from me anyway Pete.