Thornton le Dale

I visited Thornton le Dale on a recommendation from a fellow birder.  The relatively short walk took me through the village towards the old mill and into Ellerburn valley.  I walked back to the village beside the stream, where I saw a variety of small birds including Grey Wagtail.  I heard a Woodpecker who seemed close by, but couldn't see it.

Click here for maps on walks around Thornton le Dale

Beck Isle Cottage

Spring flowers

This Robin was singing beautifully - I think he was enjoying the sunshine!

Beside the old mill

Wren

Grey Wagtail

Treecreeper

Long Tailed Tit - always tricky to photograph, as they move too quick ...

Back in the village, and after an ice-cream I headed to the pond near the car park - my son took this shot of a Mallard 

Great weather today - long may it continue

Tophill Low Nature Reserve

Another visit! It's so close to home, so why not?

Today, I went with my eldest son who is 9 years old, and top of his list was to see the Little Egrets.....  I don't like to disappoint so we headed for Hempholme Meadow and sure enough not long after being in the hide one flew into the far corner, and shortly afterwards another one came quite close to the hide.  Whopee, one satisfied customer!!

After the success of the Little Egret's we wandered towards North Marsh and saw Blue Tit's on the way

View over North Marsh- unfortunately no wildlife though!

A passing pony on the bank behind North Marsh

D res had some nice wildfowl including this pair of Goldeneye - in courtship mode!

Shoveler

We had a walk to Watton Burrows, and there were 3 Curlew and a pair of Great Crested Grebe

Curlew

Great Crested Grebe

Black Headed Gull

Bridlington - Stormy Seas

I thought it was supposed to be Spring, but today definitely felt like the middle of Winter.  A strong wind made for impressive waves at Bridlington;

Wouldn't fancy venturing out in a fishing boat ....

After being sandblasted near the beach, I headed for the harbour

Barnacle Goose at the harbour

Turnstone and Dunlin

Dunlin

Gull

At least the beach isn't overcrowded

Tophill Low Nature Reserve

A cold but sunny day, which was enhanced by the array of birds I saw on my latest visit to the reserve.  It was nice to hear the small birds chirping within North Marsh woods.

I had seen the Little Egret on the Tophill Low blog, so wanted to try and see it for myself, and I wasn't to be disappointed - although it was a bit too far away for a good photo.

Little Egret

Little Egret in flight

This Heron paid a short visit to Hempholme meadow, but he was soon off again

Great Crested Grebe on O res - I also saw Tufted Duck and Wigeon

This lovely Barn Owl flew towards me as I headed towards Watton Burrows

Goldeneye on D res, also Goosander

Goosander - Female

Goosander - Male

Long Tail Tit - always tricky to photograph as they move too quick!

Blue Tit checking out the nest box

Willow Tit

Gadwall stretching it's wings on North Lagoon

North Cave Wetlands

I had a few hours to spare so decided on a trip to North Cave Wetlands to see what had changed since my last visit during a particularly hard frost. This time there were quite a lot of different species and in particular it was great to see a female Smew, a first for me.

There were plenty of Shelduck, the most I have seen together in one group

A pair of Great Crested Grebes were showing plenty of interest in each other

A female Smew all on her own!

Kestrel perched waiting and watching for lunch

Lapwing in a field next to the reserve all busily feeding

Teal with the colours showing up great in the sunshine

Redshank

It was nice to see a Sparrowhawk hunting in the distance

I even got a distant viewing of a Barn Owl sitting it out waiting for dusk, shame it wasn't a bit closer though

Reed Bunting

View towards turret hide

Snipe

Greylag just coming in to land