Far Ings 25-8-14

With the intention of being on the reserve early I was woken up with my alarm and lay in bed for a extra 5 minutes,when a rude phone call from Jacqui was received to make sure I was up :)
I set out but play got stopped by the rain and I returned home until it stopped a few hours later.I need to take my Tamron 200 - 500 out for it's very last time with me before it gets shelved,I set back out and headed straight for Ness hide but really wanted to be at chowder ness but high tide had gone,with the car park empty this was good news knowing the hide wouldn't be full,on arriving at Ness hide only a old lady was sat in the top level,a couple of Cormorants were fishing,Tufted Duck and Gadwall made up the waterfowl,but after 5 minutes a male Kingfisher came and sat on the perches before making his way off again,6 Black-tailed Godwit made their way west towards Chowder ness and lots of martins and swallows feeding up before their long flight back home a bit sad to see them go really knowing winter will be here shortly but hoping it brings the Waxwings with it and other goodies.

Sand Martins and Moths

With Jacqui taking a very keen interest in moths I decided to run my Trap for her visit,with some good moths 1 being Barred Straw which I have only seen once before and was unable to obtain photo's due to it not settling.

Flame

Buff Ermine

Buff Arches

Buff Arches

Marbled Beauty

Rufous Minor

Dot Moth

Dark Arches

Peppered Moth

Light Arches

Varied Coronet

Bright-line Brown-eye

Endotricha flammealis

Miller

Peach Blossom

Common Wave

Swallowtail

Willow Beauty

Uncertain

Double Square-spot

Large Yellow Underwing

Shark

Shark

Dingy Footman

Small Blood-vein

Small Magpie

Snout

Barred Yellow      

With the moths photographed and some nice evening light left we decided to head for Alkborough Flats,where we both picked up some year ticks,4 Spoonbill,Black-tailed Godwit,Greenshank,Spotted and Common Redshank,a gorgeouse black male Ruff,3 Marsh Harrier,Teal,Avocet,Curlew,Little Gull,Bittern and 15 - 20 Bearded tit and 2 Barn Owl on the way back home we also missed out on 2 Little Tern.But a great evening anyway below a couple of shots while I was messing with the Sand Martins.

Far Ings 1-6-14

I decided on a early start today and on site by 6.00 starting at Pursuit pit watching Common Tern and Avocet after 10 mins or so I made my way up Far ings road and heading to Ness Hide but half way along I was stopped by the purring of a Turtle Dove,which was my first for the year

I sat in Ness Hide chatting to Dave alan for a while when I heard another Turtle dove and sure enough there it was sat on top of the owl box post,so on that note I back tracked down to where I saw the other one to try and pin down 2 birds but no luck.
I then made my way round the new pits and could hear a Grasshopper Warbler reeling but it went quiet when I got close,and soon as I carried on it started to reel again so I carried on my way up to New pit 3 and got this cracking Common Tern sat on a post and allowed me to get as close as possible.

What a great moment to have with this bird they don't normally let you up close,after a while I made my way around New pits 4 and 5,with a few Whitethroat and Blackcaps singing ,I then bumped in to Ted Sabin who was doing his survey who also had Turtle Dove but on gravel pit lane so could we have 2 birds ? and he also had spent some time with the Common Tern made me wonder if it is a sick bird hope not but it did fly off to the Tern raft and came back to the same post so maybe a favoured perch.
We walk down to Chowder but the flats was empty but we did manage 2 Turnstone flying past along the river.We then both went our separate ways and I walked along the bank and sat to watch the high tide and look for any porpoise but to no avail,
I then made my way back to Ness farm where I bumbed in to another friend who told me he had 3 Hairy Dragonflies on Far Ings 2 weeks before 1 female oviposating on the small pond and 2 males along the track from Ness I know he knows his dragonflies,but then that made me think back to the week before I had 2 dragonflies 1 was sat and I had a good look at it and thought to myself that looks a bit hairy but passed it off as a Southern Hawker but would be very early,I know until now the the only population of Hairy Dragonflies around here is at Messingham san quarry so could Far Ings be a new site ????

Bempton Cliffs 18-4-14

With Jacqui hitching to get to the coast we headed off for Flamborough head first and having a search for the Tawny pipit but to no avail,but we did pick up a few White wagtails,Wheatears and a single immature male Eider on the sea with not much else happening.we then headed for Bempton where Jacqui managed a lifer in the form of Great Skua with 4 passing through high up throughout the afternoon,not the usual thing to do looking up skywards for Skuas.
The Gannets again put on a show collecting grass from the cliff top we then made our way back to the centre for a coffee and food,whilst we sat photographing Linnets and watching the Tree Sparrows with time passing and people leaving we headed down towards staple newk viewpoint at the southern end of the reserve where more Gannets on the cliff tops gathering nest material.
As the cold was starting to set in we headed back off home but always a great day out at Bempton.