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Pete Short

Its certainly been a diverse working week if nothing else with the team delivering plenty of work around our Humber reserves but also a good chance to see some of the results of work that we did in the summer bearing fruits. 

Lets start with the area of bird friendly food that was set on local farmland, unfortunately not in a place that is visible but certainly delivering for the local farmland birds with yesterday counts of 450 linnets, 150 reed buntings (probably many more), 20 greenfinch, 20 yellow hammer, 20 tree sparrows, 3 corn buntings and then 120 stock doves! There were also 160 stock doves reported by Jason one of our regular visitors out on Goole fields so certainly some interesting numbers of this species around at the moment, question is where do they come from, are they British or of continental origin? One things for sure our regular birds at Ousefleet owl box are still there and have not joined the throng. 

Here's a few pictures to give you an idea of the finch, bunting and dove spectacle

If you enlarge this photo you can see the finches and buntings are feeding on the quinoa, also that the greenfinch in the right hand corner has a black face and bill, some strange Melanism   

Linnets

Yellowhammer

Stock doves and linnets

One of the Ousefleet stockies from in front of the hide looking a bit worn

On the way down to look at some stock fencing work I also noticed that a stoat was in the process of killing a rabbit out in the field, unfortunately it was disturbed by a delivery van and left the kill which was then claimed by a buzzard, then this morning my friend who owns the land sent me a picture of just what was making use of this windfall, the buzzard, two carrion crows and the two ravens!

Rabbit and stoat

Raven, buzzard and crows (AH) (click to enlarge) a cracking opportunistic photo

I'd also seen a few ruff, curlew and 100+ lapwings using the land showing just what could be made of British farmland when its managed sympathetically for wildlife. 

Curlew

What was a bonus on the way back from the meeting near to the reserve was the grey male hen harrier hunting almost exactly in the same area as I had the ringtail earlier in the year, not the best pictures as it was a little way off from the van but a lovely bird all the same, no doubt this bird is making use of the surfeit of small birds in the area although at the time it went to hunt over a rough grass field probably hunting for voles. On the evening he returned to roost with the Marsh harriers in the Blacktoft reedbed.

The birds of prey are really good at the moment with plenty of harriers into the roost, and also barn owl yesterday morning, add in buzzard, sparrowhawk, kestrel, and the chance of short eared owl and merlin then a late afternoon visit for the roost watch can really give rewards. Make sure you wrap up well though!

Buzzard, this one sits along church lane near Reedness, it seems many of the buzzards around the reserve this year are of the dark form

Its also that time of year when the main reedcut gets underway and even though its near to Christmas the team have been busy with cutting and burning, always a rewarding job the controlled burning helps create a great mosaic of reedbed habitat for many different species of reedbed birds particularly bearded tits.

Controlled burning today

These three little sprites were in the reedbed near to Ousefleet hide this morning as I was shepherding the ponies, due to the mild weather they have been a little shy this winter but a few are now starting to appear around the lagoons.

A few more duck around site too this morning with wigeon, teal, and shoveler returning to the lagoons alongside a few waders including redshank, snipe and lapwing, hopefully their numbers will build towards the new year when the weather gets a little cooler. A lone male gooseander flew up river this morning, heading towards Goole as it was re-sighted in Swinefleet

Pinkfeet flying over at Sunrise

This redshank didn't want to move this morning as I walked past - I think I was on his turf

Still a few winter thrushes around including fieldfare and redwing and with the reedbed been dry the water pipits are still feeding on the lagoons. And still a few stonechats about but they can be shy at times for some reason. 

Stonechat

And nice to see a bit more fungus emerging, these are one of the bonnets but I've not had time to look up which species they are. 

I'll finish with another work photograph from another site we regularly work on that is an industrial quarry, here the team have been tree planting for willow tits, a mix of scrub species around the wetland. As you will notice the team are in some lovely orange work wear, as required by the H & S regs, the things we do for birds! 

But if we are going to deliver for birds around the wider Humber landscape into the future working with others really is the way forward. 

 I'll finish with a bit of beardie video - not my best but always nice to film.