North Cave Wetlands

It was a cold but dry and overcast day, although it did not start too well as I got stuck twice in the car park just trying to turn around!  The track was like an ice skating rink and there was hardly anyone about, luckily a guy on bike went past and gave me a push otherwise I might still be there!  So I would like to say many thanks to my good Samaritan and don't take German cars out in winter.

My first sighting of the day or in fact sounds of the day was a flock of Greylag Geese flying in, they were amazingly loud for about half an hour.

There were several Mallards struggling on the ice

A Reed Bunting busy feeding in the reeds, the hard part was finding him!

These Shovelers were asleep on one of the few areas of water that wasn't frozen solid

This Magpie was on the lookout for something to eat, I'm not sure an electric fence is the best place to sit though!

An Ice locked Turret hide

A Redwing found a nice juicy worm to eat beside the path, going, going...

Gone!

There were a lot of finches feeding in the hedges near the path

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

These Shelduck were resting on an island in the middle of one of the ponds along with some Redshank and Tufted Ducks

The works nearby

No Green Woodpecker today, the ice and snow must have put him off as it certainly was a very cold day.  Fortunately, I did manage to get the car out of the car park without any further problems!

Wykeham Forest & Scalby Mills Pond

A trip to Wykeham Forest last weekend, with the intention of a walk amongst the trees - not quite as planned - the snow had been drifting here and and was about 2ft deep in places.

After walking for 2 hours, I saw the most birds on return to the car park.

Coal Tit

Treecreeper

Chaffinch

A superb Jay

Robin and Dunnock busy at the feeder

 

Goldfinch feeding in the forest

 

 

No takers for a seat today!

A short visit to Scalby Mills Pond - a number of Curlew were feeding on the ridge

Greylag Goose

Redshank

Fieldfare feeding in the flooded fields

No sign of the Barn Owl today, but it was that cold he probably stayed in doors!

Filey Dams

I had to go to Filey for work so it was a good excuse to pop to Filey Dams afterwards for a couple of hours to see what was there.  Hopefully, I might be lucky - a nice chap told me when I arrived that a Pintail and a Fox had been seen there this morning as well as plenty of Reed Bunting on the feeders.

I certainly was in luck the sun was out and there was a male and a female Pintail, a bit far off but still close enough for some reasonable shots.

Pintail & Teal

That certainly made my day - it's the first Pintail I have seen.  Then sure enough the Reed Bunting turned up in the trees near the feeder.

Dunnock

There were quite a few Moorhens about and several of them were fighting over some bread in front of the hide.

This Woodpigeon was enjoying a nice bath in the sunshine.

Not quite sure what this Duck is, one chap thought it might be a bit of a hybrid.

Then I saw a Crow fly in with something in its beak, I thought it was a mouse at first, but it turned out to be a frog.

It was certainly a good couple of hours, some great wildlife and sunshine as well!

Tophill Low - Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous blog, it was extremely snowy last Friday, but definitely worth the journey to THL.

After watching the birds near the feeding station I went on to North Marsh hide which was well and truly frozen over, no chance of Kingfishers today unless they had an ice breaker!

All was quiet for the first half hour with only a Wren feeding amongst the frozen reeds just in front of the hide for company.  After a while I was aware of some movement on the far bank, but was not sure what it was with it being partly obscured some bushes, could it be a Barn Owl?  Then ten minutes later it came back in full view, if only the light had been a bit better, still a great sighting though.

I was busy enjoying watching him and was vaguely aware of movement to my right and there was a Fox trotting down the bank and over the ice!  My first sighting of a Fox, this day was just getting better and better.

Before I left the hide the Barn Owl flew from behind me right over the roof in the middle of a blizzard.

As I opened the door to leave there he was again in the trees just to the left of the path. I saw Barn Owls on five occasions throughout the day, the last on being near the drain on the way down to the river.

When I got down to the river there were several Redwing in the bushes in the middle of the river keeping out of trouble...

or so they thought, when suddenly they scattered and a female Sparrowhawk landed right where the Redwing had been just seconds before. What a fantastic end to a great day.

That is the great thing about wildlife watching you can make plans, have high hopes and try to get yourself in the right place at the right time to see our wonderful wildlife, but you never know what each day will bring.