Yesterday we had a visit from the volunteers and staff at Bempton Cliffs. Before coming to Fairburn Ings, I spent 6 months at Bempton Cliffs so it was great to see lots of familiar faces and have a good old catch up. I joined them for a walk around the reserve and a spot of bird watching, something I haven’t done in a while I’m ashamed to say!
First stop was Pickup hide, where we had our first sighting of willow tits on the feeders. The weather that day was beautiful, and the view from the hide was particularly picturesque in the winter light.
Marching onwards, silence descended on the group as we reached the Kingfisher screen and waited patiently for a kingfisher to appear on top of the gate. No luck this time sadly. Undeterred, we carried on up the hill and stopped to enjoy the view over Big Hole. As we carried on to the Riverbank Trail, I realised I hadn’t actually walked this trail since all the leaves had dropped. The whole path looked so much bigger and brighter with no more leaves blocking the sun, and the views onto Main Bay were fantastic. One of the highlights of my internship has definitely been getting to see reserves change over all 4 seasons, and there’s no better place to see that change than Fairburn Ings.
Riverbank triail
From Bob Dickens hide and Village Bay viewpoint, we saw goldeneye, tufted ducks and lots and lots of pochard. The water levels are still high on the Main Bay, so the islands are still underwater. Only the tops of shrubs are still sticking out, a favourite spot for cormorants to perch.
Cormorant - Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Just before heading onto a very muddy Cut Lane, we spotted two very elegant goosander on the river around the arches. These two were a textbook example of the differences in colouring between males and females. Walking down Cut Lane I glimpsed a flash of blue speeding away from me down the river. One more kingfisher sighting on the books for me!
In the bushes around Charlie’s hide, an amazingly well camouflaged fieldfare was perched on the branches. It took a good while to spot it even with binoculars, and there were a few confused people wondering what on earth we were looking at. From Charlie’s Hide itself, a heron, great crested grebe and lots more tufted ducks were spotted.
Heron - Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
I had such a fantastic day getting out on to the reserve again. When the days are shorter and colder, it’s very easy to go into full on hibernation mode, which I have to say I am guilty of. Blowing the cobwebs away with a good walk, and seeing the huge variety of wildlife at this time of year has reminded me that there is a world beyond my sofa!
A final note on the birds I’ve spotted being blown around outside the office window whilst writing this post. A great spotted woodpecker, bullfinch, long tailed tits, goldfinches, tree sparrows, blue tits and great tits on the feeders, plus a flock of about 10 red-legged partridge scuttling around the car park.
And a photobombing squirrel...
- Laura