The first frost of the year, I had to scrape ice from the car windshield before the trip. It was a beautiful sunny morning, with a very light westerly wind. I made a first stop on Kilnsea Wetlands, where the highlight were three drake Pintail sleeping amongst the Greylags, and a Knot. A few Dunlin, Redshank and Lapwing were the only other waders, but there was a flock of Curlew on the field at the other side of the road.
Knot on the wetlands.
A view of the wetlands from the hide.
Group of birds on the spits.
Redshank and Dunlin smiling for the camera.
I move onto the triangle. There were Blackbirds everywhere, on the beach, on the road, and especially gorging on the haws of the hedgerows. Also plenty of Redwing and Robins. A Chiffchaff fed quietly on the willows by the Crown and Anchor. Very little actually migrating though, a group of 60 Pink-footed geese moving south were the most noticeable. Out of the breeze and in sunny areas it was quite mild. A Red Admiral fluttered around a flowering ivy on the church grounds, and I came across 2 darters, one of them too flighty to photograph and plenty of droneflies. The other notable invertebrate was a snail-killing fly,
A ringed blackbird on the beach.
Sunbathing starling.
Robin on the caravan site.
It is low tide, and there is quite a lot of activity on the mudflats near the high tide mark, with Redshank, Golden and Grey Plover, Curlew Dunlin and Ringed plover, and a Little Egret feeding on the creeks of the saltmarsh.
A ring of Golden Ploved on the mudflats.
Common Darter near the new visitor centre.
Grey Plover.
Ringed Plover.
A view of the new visitor centre from the bank.
Around the warren it feels very quiet. I walk toward the breach and see that there was a breach in the early morning tide, with new sand piling over the saltmarsh side.
On the fence posts near the Blue Bell, a lone Stonechat feeds. Overall, 53 bird species on the day trip.
Wall pattern of the Warren Cottage.
Magpie near the breach.
The unimog trail on the breach, looking north.
A snail-killing fly, Sepedon sphegea.
Redwing.
Stonechat.
Scarecrow on field.
Pink-footed geese skein.
Great Black-backed gull on the beach.
2 comments:
Thanks for these posts. We have friends on New Ellerby and they've taken us to these locations birdwatching several times. Really enjoyed reading about your expeditions. Don
Thank you Kelly, much appreciated!
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