Cettis warblers - lots of em in fact!

Just a quick Friday update, for full details see the last blog. 

With the wind still from the east I would if you are visiting this weekend wrap up extremely well, the hides can be cold when the wind blows in through the open windows!

But back to the last couple of days and the recent highlights. Only a few years ago Cettis warblers were a real Yorkshire rarity and when you did find them calling they were hard to find, but a quick walk around the reserve this morning couldn't have been more different! Everywhere I went there was a Cettis warbler singing and a good proportion of these were showing unbelievably well almost embarrassingly so as it followed me and perched on a dead willow branch. How times change!

And despite the nagging easterlies the migrants are trickling in with a pair of garganey on Wednesday evening, the first willow warblers of the year, 3 splendid yellow wagtails yesterday evening, Blackcaps now singing out in the open although the sedge warblers are much more reluctant. There was a few sand martins moving again this morning and there has been the odd house martin mixed in with them but few swallows being seen.

Blackcap - it was interesting to see them eating and then singing, obviously in need of sustenance on the cold mornings

The hen harrier was seen again yesterday while the marsh harriers and avocets continue to entertain.

Marsh harrier

Still good numbers of widlfowl with four goldeneye on Ousefleet lagoon this morning, the winters maximum count! 

The shoveler are particularly nice at the moment

Not huge numbers of waders but a mix of snipe, curlew, oystercatcher, lapwing, redshank and the lone black-tailed godwit on Ousefleet this morning. 

 Snipe in front of Ousefleet last night

Curlew

Here you can see its eating what I think is a beetle grub rather than a caterpillar, but i may be wrong

 And watch out for the bearded tits around the edges of the lagoons, there were a few this morning, this one was on Townend, you'll have to enlarge to spot it.

This was from last week -talk about seeing the beardie for the reed!

And this morning there was a heavy frost, the poor old cowslips looked very sad but did perk up after the sun started to shine on them