The End of Winter

Red Kite

Last week was the final week of the Winter term. It finished a little earlier than normal, as no sessions were cancelled because of unpleasant winter weather. On Tuesday we had our final visit of the year to Hornsea. Unfortunately, this was the windiest visit we'd endured at this location, so the birds weren't quite as obliging as on previous occasions. Despite this we encountered 5 Chiffchaffs on the walk to the hide, which was a huge increase on the 2 from 6 days earlier. The Goldeneye again gave good views from the hide, as did Tufted Ducks. We saw at least 2 Marsh Harriers, and a pair of Buzzards, and of course heard a Cetti's Warbler without seeing it.

Marsh Harrier (top) & Buzzard

Ditto

Drake Goldeneye

Ditto

The forecast for Wednesday was very discouraging, so we had to drop Kiplingcotes for Tophill Low. This was a good move, as the morning group encountered 61 species, the single best total for the whole term. This took the full total of bird seen or heard for the year to 104 species. The morning began well with a Red Kite slowly drifting south east over the car park. Other highlights included the closest wild drake Pintail and 2 females in South Marsh East.

Pintail

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Pintail Pair

Female Pintail

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Pintail in Flight

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Outside South Marsh West we heard the distinctive calls of a pair of Long-tailed Tits, and soon saw a pair with feathers in their bills. They posed obligingly before continuing with their construction work.

Long-tailed Tit

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Numbers of wildfowl had dropped at Watton Borrow Pits, but there were still plenty of species to be seen. 2 Herons were also visible and a number of Little Egrets. One was quite close to the hide.

In the afternoon we headed north. We visited the new Visitor Centre, and saw a Mistle Thrush on the reservoir wall.

Mistle Thrush

On the wall from north marsh through the woodland one member spotted a grazing Roe Deer, which helpfully looked up for a better photo opportunity. Later, on the way back we saw 3 sheltering and eating some Hawthorn bushes.

Roe Deer

Ditto

Earlier in the morning a Stoat rang across the approach road, before disappearing under the green metal fence.

Stoat

It wouldn't quite be Tophill Low without having good views of a Treecreeper.

Treecreeper

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In the car park we had quite good views of a Goldcrest low down in the vegetation.

Goldcrest

The climax of the afternoon session was the long wait for a Kingfisher, which eventually landed right in front of us, and remained for about 5 minutes.

Male Kingfisher

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On Thursday we travelled the vast distance and negotiated the heavy traffic to Potteric Carr. The feeders were no longer stocked, but we did get a quick glimpse of the Kingfisher. However, the highlight was the Cetti's seen by both groups at Hawthorn Bank. Of course, it is very difficult to obtain a photograph without something obscuring the view.

Cetti's Warbler

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The afternoon group were shown a Mediterranean Gull and heard rumours of a pair of Black-headed Gulls. which we set off to try and find. On the way we found a very confiding Chiffchaff.

Chiffchaff

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Other wildlife included: Redpoll, possible Kite, Buzzard, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, dancing Great Crested Grebes, Heron, Little Egret, Siskin, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Teal, Gadwall, Lapwing, Long-tailed Tits, plenty of Brown Rats! etc

Little Egret

Heron

Mediterranean Gull [below] & Black-headed Gull

Black-headed Gull [left] & Mediterranean Gull

Shoveler

Little Grebe

Record Shot of Black-necked Grebes

Ditto

Recently-expired Newt

On Friday the weather was good enough for Kiplingcotes, and at first the wildlife was a match for the weather. A Red Kite drifted south at head height, and we had a singing Willow Tit in the car park.

Red Kite

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We had our first Yellowhammer in the first 5 minutes of our starting, but the thick cluster of twigs was less photogenic than a bird we came across much later in the morning.

On the long circular walk we were allowed to approach a yellowhammer, which remained clamped to the hedge before being alarmed by a vehicle.

Yellowhammer

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Earlier we enjoyed great views of an over-excited Goldcrest. He displayed his crest a few times, and was later joined by his partner.

Goldcrest

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Willow Tit

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In the afternoon we went in the opposite direction. It had gone much quieter, but at the reserve we did have a pair of Marsh Tits and a Yellowhammer. You can even see the white mark on the Marsh Tit's beak.

Ditto

In the morning we found a pair of brown hares, which displayed a little bit of antagonism.

Brown Hares

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Pansy [Garden Escape?]

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Most of the groups got close to the 100 bird species target for the winter term. Only the Wednesday am easily exceeded it, with 104 birds recorded. Wednesday afternoon tied with Tuesday mornings with 98 bird species encountered. Is it a coincidence that Wednesday mornings hold the largest number of experienced birders followed by Wednesday afternoons. However, Tuesday mornings had some common species unticked, so their real total may be slightly higher. Friday mornings were the same as Thursday mornings with 97 species recorded. Sixth place was taken by Thursday afternoons with 86 species counted. The wooden spoon was won by Friday afternoons, as records were not forwarded for that particular session. Next term we will keep a weekly total, a cumulative term total, but also carry forward the winter's term counts to work out a figure for the whole of 2017.

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The End of Winter

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