March 2012 - Hatfield Moors (south)

Thursday 29th: Another warm and sunny Thursday. I took myself up to Hatfield Moors from work in search of Grebes. Only saw a couple of Great Crested Grebes. But there was still plenty to keep my interested. The Skylarks in the field behind me were continually singing as they rose vertically up into the sky and they slowly fluttered down. Swallows and Sand Martins were zig-zagging in the sky over the lake and they plummeting down in pursuit of some microscopic insect. Yes it looks like Spring is here!

What interested me more was the two Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the distance with an egg. Not in itself unusual, though it is the first time I have seen Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Boston Park Lake, no it was the fact that they appeared to be prodding it and were getting some near-aggressive attention from a pair of Oystercatchers! Eventually the Lessers must've got bored because 20 minutes later they flew off leaving the Oystercatchers to prod the egg. The egg didn't belong to either the Oystercatchers or the Lesser Black-backed Gulls. It was more likely that of a Greylag Goose.

Lapwing.

Canada Geese and Greylag Geese.

Canada Geese pair splash landing.

Greylag Goose

Pied Wagtails

January 2011 - Hatfield Moor

Saturday 15th: An overcast and very blustery day started with a stop on the road to Hatfield Moor, on the banks of the river Torne to join other Birders in looking for a Rough-legged Buzzard. Set up the scope and spent maybe 50 minutes scoping the farm fields and tree-line. In the scope saw got a good view of a Common Buzzard. Decided to come back later in the afternoon for another look.


Parking up at Boston car park, a first year Mute Swan stood forlornly at the fence and when Sandra went to feed it some bread, it was quickly joined by two Canada Geese and a Lesser Scaup (Aythya Duck). I say Lesser Scaup for want of another name. It seems that there is some discussion as to what the duck actually is, on the Hatfield Moor blog. But in the final analysis, it is likely to be an immature female Lesser Scaup.

The duck (whatever it is), seemed unconcerned with us and was more interested in the bread that Sandra was feeding the Swan. It was constantly on the move and it seemed that we were treated to the "Little 'n Large" show as the little duck ran around the much larger Swan!

Sandra wanted to visit the hide where we would be guaranteed to get a good sighting of various birds and we weren't to be disappointed! I have never seen so many Great Tits and Blue Tits gathered together in one group before! On and around the feeders, (note: when feeding birds fatballs, please remove the green plastic netting as they can easily get their feet tangled in this) there were at least 10 Great Tits with at least 9 Blue Tits! I suspect that nearby there were more! We even had a surprise visit by two Long-tailed Tits to the feeders. Reed Buntings, Chaffinches, a Robin and female Blackbird along with 2 Dunnocks picked at scraps that had fallen to the ground. Some good photos were captured from here as can be seen above and below.

We moved on towards what is named as The Prison Lakes. A short trek up a muddy trail to a couple of very large lakes. No waterfowl on these except for a solitary pair of Mallards. But we did get a good close view of a Kestrel as it glided at low-level above us. Three Bulfinches whistled overhead and perched for a few minutes in the bare branches of Alders, long enough for us to get stunning views of the rose-breasted male and the female. Wandering back to the car we came across a birder who was watching some Lesser Redpolls amongst the Silver Birch. We too studied them before they took to flight.

Back at Boston Park lake we made a check on the waterfowl. Plenty of Canada Geese, of which I counted 125 using my "counter-device",Coot; 140, Black-headed Gulls with some Tufted Duck, one male Wigeon (above) and some Pochard. A Good day out though very blustery at times but mildish!

December 2010: Donny Lakeside Frozen

Sunday 26th: The exceptionally cold weather is unrelentless! Temperatures are still well below zero and as a consequence, the fish pond in the back garden has been frozen for days now. This morning, one or two birds ran across the ice covering the pond and when a Pied Wagtail did the same, Mel took this snap prior to it having a cold bath!

The Lakeside, where a variety of waterfowl hang out, has completely frozen over and with a thickness of about 2 - 3 inches! I knew that some of it was frozen but not as much as I saw! I drive past the Lakeside on my way to work each morning and the light dusting of snow had fallen onto the ice and itself frozen.

The grassland around the lake that the geese use is rock hard with no tufts of grass to be eaten. Canada Geese, Black-headed Gulls and various other waterfowl walked the ice in search of food. Later in the coming week a thaw should eat into the icy conditions.

November 2010 - Thrybergh Country Park

Sunday 15th: Not planning to do any Birding this weekend, Sunday dawned a sunny but cold day and an unplanned trip to Sheffield was on. I have never seen a Waxwing and currently, there is a population invasion from Scandinavia. A quick drive to Sheffield and the location that I had, produced nothing! Next time I will be armed with several locations. I am determined to see at least one Waxwing before the end of the year! The website http://www.sbsg.org/ looks a good place for picking up sightings. So determined that my trip out was not totally wasted, I drove on up to Thrybergh CP near Rotherham.

A small country park where there is a lake with various waterfowl. Plenty of Mallards, Coots and Canada Geese not to mention the ever predsent Black-headed Gulls. But what caught my eye was a unusual goose, the type of which I had never known existed, let alone seen! It turns out that this goose is called a Swan Goose (Anser cygnoides). Originally from China/Mongolia, its possible that this is an escapee. It seemed 'at home' with the other waterfowl and a Greylag Goose spent alot of time in its company. Several Lapwings came in from the surrounding fields. There were also large numbers of hybrid Mallards as the photos show. Apparently Mallards routinely cross breed with other ducks. At the car park, 3 Mistle Thrushes and a female Bullfinch were in the trees, but not much else was seen. A very quiet day!

April 2010 - Potteric Carr YWT

Saturday 10th: What a gorgeous sunny and warm day! Sandra, joined me for an afternoon of roaming our local Patch. And what should we encounter just five minutes after walking through the reception area....KINGFISHERS! Two to be exact. We were crossing the little footbridge over the stream (Mother Drain) that bisects the Reserve in half and I noticed a shimmering blue streak fly low level down the length of the stream and under the footbridge! Well, immediately we stopped and stood on the bridge for the next hour enjoying the views of one Kingfisher flying up and down the stream just inches from the surface, while presumably the other stayed with the nest. I set up the scope on the tripod and obtained some stunning views of both birds. It appeared that the male was catching fish and on one occasion as witnessed through the scope by Sandra, feeding the female. Well Sandra was delighted at this sight as she was saying beforehand that it would make the day if she saw a kingfisher. Well here's two! As we had the scope set up, we attracted a small gathering as people would stop and join us in watching these brilliant birds. One or two even had a look through the scope at the Kingfisher pair! Unfortunately I didn't get any decent images of this event other than the silhouette of a Kingfisher (below), as watching was a joy in itself! As Sandra said afterwards, "this was well worth the visit alone!"

Well, we proceeded with the walk around the Reserve for the next five hours! After the Kingfisher pair, there was nothing that could top that! We encountered a variety of Warblers on our amble, mostly spotted by Sandra! A Chiffchaff, Blackcap (though I can't remember whether it was male or female), a stunning view of a Wood Warbler and at least two Willow Warblers! Robins and Wrens were singing constantly along with the occasional Dunnock. Sandra had a running test of wits with two or three Peacock Butterflies, as she tried to photograph them! A fine view of a Grey Heron (top), at Loversall Hide with Teal, Gadwall and Mallards. At Willow Pool Hide we encountered some Chaffinches and Reed Buntings. A Grey Squirrel climbed one of the bird tables as shown below and proceeded to eat the Sunflower seed.

A pair of Canada Geese, one of which was ringed as can be seen by the photo, gave a show of grooming themselves at Willow Pool. Unfortunately the detail on the ring can't be seen which is a shame as it would be interesting to know where it was ringed. We continued the walk around to Huxter Well and Piper Marsh where we encountered quite a few Sand Martins - not House Martins as I originally said.

And finally as we were on the way out, at Old Eaa Marsh amongst all the BHG's was a lone Canada Goose sitting on a mountain of a nest as can be seen below! It was rapidly getting to Sunset and the mosquitoes were beginning to dine on us, time to leave.

November 2009 - Correction: Pochard female at Lakeside.

Saturday 7th: What a difference a day makes! After a week of rain, today we awoke to a bright sunny morning. A trip down to the Lakeside was called for! But it was chilly and even colder down by the water, definitely coat and gloves weather! The usual suspects were there; Mute Swans circa 30+, Canada Geese patrolling in small family parties, maybe 50+, Mallards circa 40+, Tufted Ducks 20+, Black-headed Gulls circa 40+ along with a Little Grebe, a juvenile Great Crested Grebe (on it's own) and a solitary duck that I couldn't readily identify. Luckily I had taken photos and short videos. After checking with my Birdguides DVD and other sources I have now positively identified this as a female Ring-necked Duck.





As the two photos above show, there is a ring around it's eye. click on each image to see a larger version and one can just see the white band across the bill. The duck was in a group of Tufted Ducks, but the difference in shape and size is readily apparent when compared to a female Tufty. And of course, it has no tuft at the back of it's head! I saw no sign of a male Ring-necked Duck and would welcome any comments about this sighting. Below is a short video of the Pochard.
Correction: After a comment on www.youtube.com , Mel and I have identified this duck as a female Pochard.







The image below shows a pair of Canada Geese. One of these is seen "scolding" the other. This went on for some time without the other replying. They swam as a pair away with the "Scolding" still in progress but to a lesser extent. Is this a male asserting itself over a rival? Comment are welcomed.





I also noticed a Great Crested Grebe juvenile that was most definitely alone. It seemed in good health and large enough to survive. Do the adults cut them loose after a few months?



And of course, the Black-headed Gull. Always seen and most numerous on many lakes and fields.