North Cave Wetlands - Part 2

I didn't quite have time to complete my blog yesterday, so this is the remainder of the trip to North Cave Wetlands.

From the next hide we saw this Greylag Goose who definitely needs some more swimming lessons!

but at least after his dunk he had a good shower, he must be clean by now!

Great Crested Grebe in his winter colours

Little Grebe

Little Grebe, going, going

gone!

Spotted another bird nearby, but again not sure what this one is?

Then on the way back to the car I was delighted to see this Green Woodpecker, the first I have seen. Unfortunately, Julie and the boys missed it as they had already got to the car.

What a great end to the day!

North Cave Wetlands

Weather forecast was for a bright, sunny day and it didn't disappoint for once.  This is only my second visit to North Cave - the reserve is built on the site of an old stone quarry.

The first spot of the day was a Fieldfare feeding on berries.

Then on the first pond we saw these Tufted Ducks flying in.

The trees with berries were proving popular this time a Yellowhammer

and then a nice shot of a Blue Tit.

A Wren hiding amongst the branches


























and I am not sure what this one is yet?

Hovering over the fields was a Kestrel.

We then went to Turret hide and had some good sightings.

Shelduck

Snipe, this is some of the best views I have had of them.

Shoveler

Tophill Low Nature Reserve

It's about 3 weeks since I last went to Tophill Low, I had a few hours to spare on Thursday afternoon so off I went.  It was a bit dull and overcast to start with, but towards the end of the day the sun came out to give an amazing sunset. 
I started off in the woods and saw quite a few small birds visiting the feeders.

Chaffinch

Great Tit

I didn't see much on North Marsh, but there were some good reflections in the water.

As I came out of the hide I spotted a Marsh Harrier sitting in a tree.

I then moved on to D Res just a the sun was setting.

In a nearby tree there was a Blackbird and a Redwing busy feeding on the berries.

As the sun came down Gulls continued to fly in.

Until there were hundreds of them!

By now the last of the sun light was rapidly disappearing behind the trees.

Which meant the workers had to call it a day and head back to base.

Wheldrake Ings & North Duffield Carrs

We decided to visit somewhere we had not been to before.  So at the weekend we went to Wheldrake Ings and North Duffield Carrs.  It was very muddy at Wheldrake and unfortunately some of the hides had been vandalised and you couldn't get to them which meant the views were from a bit far away to get good pictures.  We saw Whooper Swans, Cormorants, Shovelers, Wigeon and lots of Gulls, but unfortunately not the Pintails we hoped to see.

Whooper Swans

Standing in line

The birding didn't go quite so well when a low flying helicopter made all the birds take to the skies.

Greylag Geese

Coots ready for take off...

There were still some birds enjoying the last of the berries like this Blackbird.

Reflections

There are still plenty of interesting Fungi around.

Windmill

We then moved on to North Duffield Carrs just as the light was fading, to see what birds were flying in to roost. We didn't see many ducks or geese, but did get some great views of a barn owl, unfortunately, it was a bit too dark to get any pictures of him.


Journey Home

A lovely sunny day today and there had been some snow overnight on the mountain tops, which made for a good variety of landscape shots.

We had a few stops on the way home, notably a woodland walk on the edge of Loch Ness, where we found lots of different fungi.

 

Highland Cow enjoying the Autumn sun.

 

 

Next stop - a ride in a cable car at the Nevis range, just outside Fort William.  Lots of snow at the top of here!

 

 

 

 

No need for that Luke...

Just to top off the holiday, Red Kites seen just 10 minutes from home - superb.  This is my first good sighting of them, unfortunately the light was just going, I'll be back when the light is better...