Hagnaby Lock 22 November 2009

The weather started off fine, loads of sunshine and hardly any wind.  So off I set.  Got into the hide, not much there but a lot of promise especially when the Sunday walkers had left the far edge of the reserve.

Once the lagoon had settled down there were 120 greylag geese, with some difficult varieties mixed in.  Some might have been pinkfoot geese, but they would not oblige by going ashore for leg inspections.  So any identification had to be by bill and head colours. Was one of them an immature whitefront?

There were also 4 Canada geese.

There were 10 - 12 wigeon and loads of mallard and teal.  A grey heron wandered around the lagoon but didn't seem to find much.  Two tufted duck and the usual smattering of coots and moorhens.  About 20 black headed gulls turned up.



 

Then the wind got up and the rain started.  Time to go, I thought.

Kirkby on Bain15th November 2009

I wasn't going to do any birding today, I thought I just had too much to do.  At about 2pm I thought sod it, I've got a bit of time to spare, so off I went.  Traffic was awful, road works on the main road, but I got about 45 minutes in.

There was not alot going on.  Very bright sunlight, quiet, peaceful, this beats washing up!  There were two egrets, just visiting.  Honestly, these birds are becoming more and more frequent.  One solitary redshank, about 50 teal, and a scattering of the usual suspects.  I thought I saw a strange raptor over the pine trees, but lost it.  Then saw it again for quite good views.  It was a marsh harrier,we decided, haven't seen many of those around lately.

Main point of interest were shovellers.  There were a total of 32 today, I've not seen that many together for a long time.  Many of them (about 20 at one stage) were in a raft swimming round and round as if they were stirring up food.  I think the water is about 2 feet deep there.  I managed to make a small movie clip.   I'll put a picture up as well.  Next time I must put up anything that's not a shoveller!

Kirkby on Bain 8th November 20009

Thought I’d see if the ring-necked duck was still at Kirkby on Bain, but it seems to have left.  Not a lot going on today,  but I did see the following:   a buzzard in the pine trees off the reserve.  Very long way away, so no photos.  I could only really tell it was a buzzard when it flew off.  Three whooper swans few across the reserve and I suspect found the gravel pits further down.  There were the usual teal, mallard, coots, moorhens and little grebes.  One water rail showed itself for about 30 seconds then went back into cover.  Also, about 50 assorted gulls, mainly black headed, but included  two herring gulls and four common gulls.   A flock of about 40 lapwings appeared briefly.

Just before it was time to leave, a pair of shovellers  appeared - chance of a quick photo!

Hagnaby Lock 1st November 2009

This morning it was raining heavily and quite windy.  Just the job for an hour or so of birdwatching.  Hagnaby seemed inviting.  So 10.30 - 11.45am found me in the hide.  Well, the wind was a bit stronger than I expected and the rain a lot heavier.  But there was some birdlife about.  Definitely good weather for ducks.  About 50 teal and about 70 mallard.  Three cormorants in the dead trees on the island.  The occasional moorhen and backward flying gulls.  But, sheltering on the island was a really handsome sparrowhawk.  I tried to get a decent photo, but the wind was too strong to avoid camera shake.  So what you see is the best of over 100 shots.