Noddle Hill on a sunny November day

 We had a walk around this lovely nature reserve this morning. Blue skies, a ground frost and lovely autumn colours. The photo above shows a Spindle (Euonymus europaeus) loaded with berries by the fishing lake.
  We have a peek at Wawne drain and flush a Kingfisher, which perches a while ahead and then flies away before the kids have a chance of watching it.
 On the scrubby middle of the reserve a Redwing feeds on Hawthorn berries, and in the Alders near the  carpark a group of Siskins feeds twittering contentedly.

Guelder rose, Viburnum opulus in berry

Frosty bramble

Spot the Kingfisher!

A party of Siskins feeding on Alder seeds

Birds

1. Black-headed Gull        
2.  Blackbird        
3.  Blue Tit        
4.  Carrion Crow        
5.  Dunnock        
6.  Goldfinch        
7.  Kingfisher        
8.  Linnet        
9.  Magpie        
10.  Mallard        
11.  Redwing        
12.  Reed Bunting        
13.  Robin        
14.  Rook        
15.  Siskin        
16.  Woodpigeon

Snuff Mill Berries

I walked around Snuff Mill Lane this morning. It is a low lying area prone to flooding, so I should have brought my wellies! It was mild, with lots of cloud and the occasional brief sunny spell, and there were lots of insects in the air, including droneflies hovering. I found this lovely Chrysolina polita leaf beetle on the grass.

The Hawthorns, loaded with berries looked absolutely stunning, only to watch them it is worth visiting this site. A number of bird species were enjoying the berries too: Redwings, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Magpies, Goldfinches and Woodpigeons. I flushed a male Sparrowhawk, which flew into a tree and then was mobbed by a Magpie and a Kestrel in flight being followed by a rattling Carrion Crow. I heard the Bullfinches in a couple of occasions and spotted a Stock Dove sitting on top of a nest box.

Bird list

1. Black-headed Gull    
2. Blackbird        
3.  Blue Tit        
4.  Bullfinch        
5.  Carrion Crow        
6.  Chaffinch        
7.  Dunnock        
8.  Feral Pigeon        
9.  Goldfinch        
10.  Great Spotted Woodpecker        
11.  Great Tit        
12.  Greenfinch        
13.  House Sparrow        
14.  Jackdaw        
15.  Kestrel        
16.  Magpie        
17.  Mallard        
18.  Redwing        
19.  Robin        
20.  Song Thrush        
21.  Sparrowhawk        
22.  Starling        
23.  Stock Dove        
24.  Woodpigeon        
25.  Wren     

Ash through the seasons

The ash tree is a tree I have come to know and love. The powerful, yet gracile, majesty of a fine specimen at the end of my street marks the seasons. I pass under it on my way to work every day and I often look up to the canopy and feel like I am in the middle of a wood, when in fact I am in the middle of a city. Crows tried to nest on it this spring. Chaffinches and Mistle thrushes sing from it in the spring. Woodpigeons enjoy their buds and flowers. I have taken many photos of it across the years. The one above was taken a few days back. This year it is clinging to its leaves for longer. I don't want to think what the street would look like without it, and I hope I can photograph it for many years to come.

November 2011

 November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

Paull Holme Strays

Today's was my first visit to this nature reserve. Paull Holme Strays is the result of the first Humber managed realignment scheme. The Humber embankment was breached in September 2003, after a new bank had been created far back, allowing the high tide to flood former fields and pastures. Nowadays, almost 10 years after its creation, the site has new tidal mudflats, growing salt marsh areas and reed patches and is a bird haven. Outside the Humber bank there are extenside mudflats with some shingle/boulder beach by the lighthouses.
The day started sunny and not too breezy, and the tide was high. I walked eastwards over the new bank, surrounding the reserve up to the lighhouses. A large flock of Golden Plover rested in the middle of the reserve. A fighter jet flew low and it sent the whole flock flying, with the background of the Humber Bridge. Many Redshanks, Lapwings and a few Curlews and a Bar Tailed Godwit, together with Teal and Wigeon fed on the mudflats.
 The wind started to pick up a bit and it clouded up as I returned to the car park and then moved onto the western part of the reserve. A Kestrel hovered over the new bank and then alighted on a post on a field. Another raptor, which I initially took for another Kestrel, had a brief skirmish with it, but when the second raptor perched on the lower branch of a tree I realised it was a female Merlin, shorter tailed and dark brown mantle, the side dark head stripe was also visible. It was bothered by a couple of Jackdaws and it stopped on the ground. As I followed the Merlin and Jackdaws, a Jay flew past, and then returned to the grassy side of a field. An unusual sighting for Holderness, although admittedly the area by a farm had large trees including oaks. When driving back I flushed another one by a farm near Thorngumbald.
 A large flock of Fieldfare flew over, and many Woodpigeons fed on the hawthorn berries.

Resting Golden Plovers

and the wandering Golden Plover flock

Bar-Tailed Godwit

Curlews

Lapwings

Ringed Plovers and Dunlins

More information
Environmental Reports
Paul Holme Strays Birding a Local Patch. A blog dedicated to birds and other fauna in the reserve.
Before visiting, check tides, as the strays fill only on high tide and push the waders closer. If you have one, a telescope will be quite useful for bird identification.

Location map
Approaching Paull, follow the brown signs for nature reserve and Paull Fort. Coming from Paull village, leave Fort Paull on your right. There is a small car park after the gas station.


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Bird list

1. Bar-tailed Godwit
2.  Black-headed Gull
3.  Blackbird
4.  Carrion Crow
5.  Cormorant
6.  Curlew
7.  Dunlin
8.  Fieldfare
9.  Golden Plover
10.  Goldfinch
11.  Greenfinch
12.  Grey Heron
13.  Grey Plover
14.  House Sparrow
15.  Jackdaw
16.  Jay
17.  Kestrel
18.  Lapwing
19.  Linnet
20.  Magpie
21.  Mallard
22.  Merlin
23.  Moorhen
24.  Pheasant
25.  Pied Wagtail (yarrellii)
26.  Redshank
27.  Ringed Plover
28.  Robin
29.  Starling
30.  Teal
31.  Turnstone
32.  Wigeon
33.  Woodpigeon 

A walk in Normanby Hall Country Park

Although autumn is well under way, days are shorter and the sun does not rise high in the sky, it was a pleasant day today for a walk in the country park. We watched the Red Deer, with two stags and a satellite group of young males keeping watch on the hind herd and the alpha stag, who bellowed occasionally.
 We could only feel the warmth of the weak sun in the walled garden, where a few Red Admirals and Commas feeding on Michaelmas Daisies and Ivy. In addition to some droneflies - and a wasp during our picnic - were the only insects we came across.
In the gardens behind Normanby Hall, a pair of Goldfinches fed on lavender seeds, and on the roof of the building, a group of Pied Wagtails squabbled.
 In the pond, male Mallards with freshly moulted plumage whistled and circled the females, while up to ten Moorhens fed on the grassy banks.
 A quick visit to the bird feeding station drew a blank for birds, but three shiny Fly Agaric mushrooms compensated for it.

The alpha male Red Deer bellowing

A young stag

Red Admirals

Comma butterfly

Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria

Bird list

1. Black-headed Gull
2. Blue Tit
3. Carrion Crow
4. Chaffinch
5. Goldfinch 2   
6. Great Spotted Woodpecker
7. Great Tit
8. Greenfinch
9. Jackdaw    
10. Long-tailed Tit
11. Magpie
12. Mallard    
13. Mistle Thrush, a loose flock calling over the conifers near the car park    
14. Moorhen, 10   
15. Pheasant    
16. Pied Wagtail (yarrellii)    
17. Red-legged Partridge, 5   
18. Robin    
19. Starling    
20. Woodpigeon    
21. Wren    

October at North Cave Wetlands

As I arrived, Robins were singing and a Dunnock joined them quietly, allowing me close approximation. I walked the perimeter of the reserve, it was cloudy and cold, but the rain held on.
Other than the South Hide - next to the parking lot - the reserve was very quiet, people-wise. In contrast, the cacophony of several hundred Greylags and Canada geese from East Hide was incredible, it was hard to make out other birds in the village lake. I had a brief stop on Turret hide and pressed on. As I searched for Golden Plovers unsuccessfully amongst a group of Lapwings, I saw a Green Woodpecker feeding on the grass. So, cryptic I would have easily missed it if I hadn't been looking thorugh the binoculars. Further ahead, flocks of finches: Goldfinches, Siskins and some Lesser Redpolls fed acrobatically on the alder seeds in the north side of the reserve. This wintry scene was topped incongruously by four swallows feeding overhead, despite being so chilly I didn't see many insects at all.
 While I was looking at an information panel by Dryham lane, a Stoat came trotting along a grassy path with a mouse in its mouth. I froze, but the Stoat might had already noticed me, as it promptly dropped the (dead) mouse a couple of meters away from me, turned round, run away and hid in the bushes. I clumsily switched my camera on, focused it on the mouse and hoped that the Stoat would come back. It promptly did, running towards me, fetching the mouse and disappearing from view, but not before I had managed a single shot!
 I was grinning all the way to South Hide, as it is the first time I see a Stoat and the whole experience was exhilarating. I joined a few birders in the hide, which told me I had just missed a Kingfisher. We waited a while hoping it would turn up, though it didn't. We were enternained by the Little Grebes fighting and diving by the hide. The usual mix of Great Crested Grebes, Coots, Black Headed Gulls and Tufted Ducks joined in.
Overall, a lovely morning at North Cave Wetlands.

Dunnock

The view from South Hide

Believe it or not, there is a Green Woodpecker in this shot.

Wigeons and mallard

Singing robin

Bird list

1. Black Swan
2. Black-headed Gull 
3. Blackbird 
4. Blue Tit 
5. Canada Goose 
6. Carrion Crow 
7. Chaffinch 
8. Common Gull 
9. Coot 
10. Dunnock 
11. Feral Pigeon 
12. Gadwall 
13. Goldfinch 
14. Great Crested Grebe 
15. Great Tit 
16. Green Woodpecker 
17. Greenfinch 
18. Greylag Goose (a few hybrid geese CanadaxGreylag, plus a couple of white domestic greylags as well)
19. House Sparrow 
20. Jackdaw 
21. Lapwing 
22. Lesser Redpoll 
23. Little Grebe 
24. Long-tailed Tit 
25. Magpie 
26. Mallard 
27. Moorhen 
28. Mute Swan 
29. Pheasant 
30. Pied Wagtail 
31. Pochard 
32. Redshank 
33. Reed Bunting 
34. Robin 
35. Rook 
36. Shelduck 
37. Shoveler 
38. Siskin 
39. Snipe 
40. Song Thrush
41. Starling 
42. Swallow
43. Teal 
44. Tree Sparrow 
45. Tufted Duck 
46. Wigeon 
47. Woodpigeon 
48. Wren 

An autumn walk in North Cliffe Wood

It was cloudy when we left Hull, but by the time we got to North Cliffe Wood it was a glorious autumn day, sunny and calm. This Yorkshire Wildlife nature reserve is a birch woodland with an adjacent plot of heathland. The site also has ditches and a reed swamp and pools, and some old oaks and ash.
 Despite the morning frost, there are still a few Common Darters about.
In the heathland area, we find a vole and a dead shrew, and possibly some roe deed hoofprints
There are many species of fungi in the wood today.
As for birds, the highlight were some Marsh Tits, the first I've seen in a very long time, feeding near the lodge together with a Great Tit.
 This wood makes a great short walk in the autumn, and I can't wait to visit it in the spring.

Vole found under a corrugated iron plank. Other than this, we only found ants

Freshly dead Common Shrew, the red-tipped teeth are visible.

Heather

View of the heathland patch

More fungi

Male Common Darter

Bird List

1. Carrion Crow
2. Jackdaw
3. Chaffinch
4. Long tailed tit
5. Great Spotted Woodpecker
6. Marsh Tit
7. Great Tit
8. Rook
9. Woodpigeon
10. Blackbird
11. Robin
12. Wren

More information
YWT site. here.

Location map


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