Far Ings NNR 24-3-11

With the sun beaming down we decided on a walk around Far Ings,On arrival at Ness Farm
Dean Eades was just about to leave and said there wasn't much happening and true to his word there wasn't,Ness Pit was empty apart from a few Goldeneye,Teal,Pochard,GC Grebe & Greylag Geese.
So i decided on a walk around Target Pit leaving Mandy at Ness Hide with Howard Booty.
Not much on or around Target with only Tufted Duck,Chiffchaff & Long-tailed Tit to add to the list,i walked back to Ness adding a Single Marsh Harrier over Ness but when i returned Mandy said it had flown straight through, after a hour or so we headed back to Ness Farm to the feeding station to photograph so of the common birds.

Waxwing 24-3

Just had a single Waxwing sitting at the top of a Poplar Tree at the rear of my garden,So time for a wander around too see if i can find a group of them also had 22 Fieldfare over Yesterday while emptying the Moth Trap.

Moths 22-3

With a nice warm night ran the trap again with Moth numbers slowly growing
26 Moths caught of 8 Species

Clouded Drab 4
Hebrew Character 7
Common Quaker 10
Small Quaker 1
Chestnut 1
Double-striped Pug 1
Common Pug 1
Agonopterix Ciliella 1

Chestnut

Small Quaker

Double-striped Pug

Moths 21-3

11 Moths caught of 3 Species

Common Quaker 3
Hebrew Charater 5
Clouded Drab 3

Soon be time for Full Traps and big Moths

Far Ings NNR 21-3-11

Well with Firecrest and a adult male Black Redstart being photographed the day before it was up at 6.00
On arriving at Target Pit & Chowder ness no sign of the Firecrest so we took the short walk to Chowder Farm for the Black Redstart after a hour with no sign we set about Target Pit again and again with no luck but did count 36 Shelduck,So Mandy set of for Ness Hide while again I done another round of target pit and again failed to locate the Firecrest and set off to meet up with Mandy.
Other birds included Curlew,Teal,Pochard,Tree Sparrow,Pied Wagtail,Yellow Hammer and 5-6 Chiffchaff & 8-9 Goldcrest.

1st night of the Far Ings Bird Study groups Bittern watch
17.00 - 18.45
No Bitterns sighted but had Marsh Harrier came to roost in Barton Reedbed, 5 Sand Martin & 4 Pipistrelle Bats

Tree Sparrow

Tree Sparrow

Moths 19-3

Only 7 Moths caught of 5 Species
1 Early Grey
1 Common Quaker
3 Hebrew Character
1 Clouded Drab
1 Agonopterix Ciliella

Clouded Drab

Common Quaker

Agonopterix Ciliella

Hebrew Character

Early Grey

Waters Edge & Worlaby Carrs

Well for the second time it was out for the Black Redstart at Waters Edge
with a short wait for it to show Dean Eades supplied  us with some light hearted entertainment.
The bird showed for most of the day catching insects/grubs on the floor,other birds included
Curlew,Redshank,Shelduck,Cormorant,Mallard & Greylag Geese.
With the offer of a lift to Worlaby we was off to see if the Owls would show on arrival
it was all quiet so we sat for a while and Mr Eades still on form making cracks,a Marsh Harrier flew over head
and a pair of Kestrels hunting the field,then a Short-eared Owl flew in but headed over the Train line and out of view so Mandy and myself went for a look to find it hunting the stubble near a old Barn but drifted off along the drain and perched up on a post no sooner did mandy turn round a Barn Owl started to hunt the same stubble and also perched but moved on over the otherside of the train line.
Other birds included Buzzard,Corn & Reed Bunting,Chaffinch,Pied Wagtail & Red-legged Partridge
Many thanks to Deano & Dave for the lift and entertainment.

Far Ings,Waters Edge and Return back to Far Ings 17-3

With the alarm going off at 6.30 it was up and down to empty the moth trap with only a single Hebrew Character for my efforts.
So with Mandy up and ready we set off for Far ings and headed straight for the scrape hide where a Chiffchaff gave Mandy her first views of the year and sang his heart out while Bullfinches gave good views in a small willow
and a Great Spotted Woodpecker sat at the top of the Alder Trees.After a hour or so with no Bittern showing we headed for Ness Hide with even less waterfowl then before which included
Goldeneye,Gadwall,Teal,Mallard,Mute Swan and Great Crested Grebe with a Little Grebe Calling
after 30mins Mandy spotted a Raptor flying through which I identified as a Male Hen Harrier and minutes later
a Fem/Imm Male Marsh Harrier came across the reed beds with a Common Buzzard appearing aswell.
other birds of note were 2 Treecreeper,Long-tailed,Blue & Great Tit
So off we set for a 20min walk down to Waters Edge CP
to try and photograph the pair of Stone Chats we keep missing but again no sign so we tried out some flight shot skills on the ducks with Mallard,Tufted Duck,Pochard,Canada & Greylag Geese & Mute Swans being present
after a hour or so it was time for a coffee in the Honey Pot cafe,half way down my coffee in jumped with surprise when a Imm Male Black Redstart came and sat on a post by the cafe i soon grabbed Mandy to make sure she seen it and both grabbed our cameras for some shots but it soon got moved on by walkers so we went back inside to get moaned at by some old guy saying make sure the door shut properly because it's alarmed well had to think the bloody alarm won't be on while the place is open will it?
After finishing our drinks we went back in search of our new target and mandy made a phone call to Howard so he could come and get it aswell,after 20mins or so it reappeared back on the posts giving good views.Has Andy sharp arrived it had flitted over the inlet to the boat yard but still visible for another 30mins and then Andy got a text saying a Red-crested Pochard was on Pit 4 at Far ings well that was it with another yeartick to bag we was off for another 20min walk back to Far ings on arriving it didn't take long to locate the Male with light going we watched it for a short while and set back off for home,A great days birding

Far Ings NNR 14-3-11

Well things done out the way leaving this afternoon free so with nice warm sun it was upto Far Ings for the afternoon to see if any migrants could be found.
We reached the Humber Bank about 14.00 and left Mandy to walk to Ness Hide while i carried on towards
Chowder Ness knowing Avocets were in the area soon picking up 6 Redshank on the shore line of the Humber,I soon reached Chowder and with a quick scan around i was onto what i was looking for a Single Avocet being a reserve tick for me other birds included 2 Shelduck,Curlew and a large flock of mixed Gulls.
Not staying too long as idiots sitting on the wall drinking with music blaring from a car i walked down between Target & Ness pits with a quick stop at the scrapes which was just full of Frogs and spawn,So reaching Target hide a Chiffchaff started a quick blast of song and contact calls and was soon onto it another year & reserve tick with that in the bag i carried on round to Ness hide which i knew a Bittern was nearby as i had a phone call from Mandy on arriving she turned and said it had just been showing so i soon took a seat and waited but not for long before again it was out on the edge of the channel yet another Reserve,Year and County tick we stayed until sunset and watched the Bittern fly off to roost other birds included
Goldeneye,Teal,Tufted Duck,Gadwall,Pochard,Greylag,GC Grebe & a imm male Marsh Harrier

A great afternoon birding

Laughton Forest 12-3-11

With NickNav Trotman staying over we were up and out early heading for Laughton Forest
to look for Adders before they got warmed up and moved off.
We arrived around 9.30 and within 5 mins we had our 1st Adder in sight but must have already warmed up as he was off into a hole under a tree so we waited to see if he would come back out but no chance and after we searched around the area with no more luck.We headed off for another plantation that Mandy knew about in search of Grass Snakes but again no sight of them.Birds included a single Woodcock,Grey Herons,Buzzard & a singing Woodlark.
So we headed back to where we saw the first Adder and he had started to come out of the hole but soon went back on searching around i spotted another Adder with his head just poking out of a hole from the other side of the same tree,eventually both came out from their holes to sun themselves when we was joined by Steve Routledge who soon got into action with his camera and soon noticed a third Adder coming in from the side of me but kept my eyes on the one i was photographing as I was less than 9 inches from him and he was in perfect striking position.
Other Birds included another singing Woodlark,Coal tit,Siskin and 2 more Buzzard.
1 Common Lizard to count