Wheldrake Ings

I wanted to find somewhere to go on the way back from Bempton to make the most of our day out and decided on Wheldrake. It's the most difficult place we've had to find yet, not a single sign post though I suppose that does keep it more protected.

We walked over a bridge and checked out the information board before taking the walk around the meadow. I managed to spot a Chiffchaff in a tree after pinpointing the singing and waiting patiently a few minutes. It didn't hang around long enough for a photo unfortunately.

The first hide we came to overlooking the meadow was two storey and pretty impressive, don't think i've seen one quite like it! There were House Martins and a few Swallows flying overhead and in the distance we could see a couple of Herons. A male Pheasant was trying to attract the attention of a nearby female who seemed completely disinterested.

There are four hides altogether and we walked to each one, a walk which there and back is about 3 miles. The third hide overlooking the water gave us views of a few Mute Swans, Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck and what looked like a Redshank in the distance.

We walked through the boarded path through the reed beds and saw a couple of Swan nests. At the last hide again not much to see though we could see a few geese far away but I hadn't brought the scope out of the car so I couldn't tell for sure what they were. As we headed back a little mouse ran along the path and hid under a Dock leaf, it was off before we could get a proper look to see what sort it was, though the tail was very stumpy.

The meadow that the path winds around looked beautiful.

On the walk back to the car we saw Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Long Tailed Tits, lots of birdsong all around us but the foliage is getting a bit too thick now to see properly and I can't id from just the song unfortunately. A long day for us especially my little one but she had lots of fun and loves looking out of the hides!

Bempton

It's been just over a year since our last visit to Bempton therefore just over a year since I started this blog using the Bempton trip as my first proper post. Thank you to all who have checked out my posts since then and I hope to keep them coming.

So to Bempton, we arrived around 10am on Monday to a very very windy but sunny cliff top and not a bit of fog in sight! We made our way down to the clifftop and along to the left paths first of all. The wind was so strong at the viewing points that it was difficult to hold the camera still.

A lot of the birds where flying about including the Puffins, they were finding it difficult to land. The ones that were on the cliffs looked like they were clinging on for dear life. We saw Razorbills, Guillemots, Gannets,Puffins and Kittiwakes on the cliffs. Jackdaws, Crows and Meadow Pipits were flying about the tops, one posed very nicely helping confirm the id on Birdforum.

We also saw these purple flowers everywhere we looked, despite my guide i'm still not sure what they are so if anyone does, can they let me know!

Without the fog the views were stunning!
Razorbills

Guillemots & Kittiwakes

Meadow Pipit

Last year we could barely see this Gannet colony but this time we got it in it's full glory. Amazing to watch them hovering round the rocks.

Back at the feeders by the RSPB shop I watched Tree Sparrows and Reed Buntings. There are also plenty of nest boxes around too and I caught a couple of the Tree Sparrows on them.

Unfortunately the Reed Bunting was pretty shy and I couldn't get a clear enough shot.

At the feeding station I saw my only new bird of the day - a Linnet, well a pair of Linnets. That brings my life list to 96! There were also Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Blackbirds and Tree Sparrows around too.
We were very pleased to finally see the cliffs properly and will be back again next year! We did go on to visit Wheldrake Ings but i'll post that separately.

Goldfinch

The Goldfinch have been great practise for the camera, these beautiful birds always look good!

This is the second photo I took with it.

Then a few shots on the feeder taken from the patio doors

This one taken from a bedroom window

There are only a two or three Goldfinch around at the moment, we had up to 15 over the winter now i'm hoping they are off nesting somewhere and we'll soon get so see some juveniles again.

New Miller Dam

Took a walk around the dam on Saturday afternoon, it was a gorgeous day so we made the most of it and went up through the woods, which we've not done before. Neither does anyone else it seems as there was hardly anyone about.

There was plenty of birdsong all around, some of which I didn't recognise. We did see Bullfinch, Long Tailed Tits, Great & Blue Tits, Chaffinch, Robins, Wrens and plenty of Crows. Butterflies were out in force too, basking in the sun and flying around our heads, Comma, Peacock, Small White, Red Admiral, Tortoiseshell and Speckled Wood.

On the water we saw Great Crested Grebe, Mallards, Mute Swan, nesting Coots, Moorhens, Greylag Geese, Canada Geese, lots of Black Headed Gulls and what looked very much like a couple of Common Terns too.

I made the most of the camera took a ridiculous amount of photos and overused the burst function but we got some lovely head shots of the Geese who were very happy to pose for me.

I think even managed to successfully ID some of the flowers too including these Wood Anemone, of course feel free to let me know if I've got it wrong!

Here are some of the images from the day.

New Camera

Well, the camera arrived a couple of days ago and i've only had chance to take a few pics around the garden and briefly at the local park.

I've always had a pretty basic camera till now and i've been reading the novel (instructions) that came with it and my head is spinning with all the different functions! It's going to take me some time to get to grips with it all I think - i've been a point and click picture taker for so long, it's going to be hard to break the habit. Though no point in having a fancy camera if I don't know how to work it!

Saying that if I had the time i'd book myself on a basic photography course tomorrow, but I don't so it will be trial and error for me.

Here are a few i've taken so far.

House Sparrows

Grape Hyacinth BlackbirdFemale Chaffinch
Collared Dove
Mistle Thrush
Dunnock (have now moved the bird bath so I can get a clear shot of the feeder!)
One of the Starlings nesting in the guttering
I'll save the Goldfinch for another post, they are such beautiful birds I think they deserve their own post, plus i've taken lots of photos of them!!

Lotherton Hall

Made the most of the sun on Saturday with an afternoon at Lotherton Hall, we checked out the bird gardens and walked around the ground. There were Rooks and Crows everywhere, the Rooks were nesting in a lot of the trees.

We saw quite a few butterflies too, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell but none of them settled enough for a photo. There is a feeder station in the wood which was covered in Chaffinch, I managed to get pretty close for a photo when a great big dog ran up and scared them all off!

The woods aren't very big but looked beautiful in the sun.

The Chaffinch were everywhere and I managed to get a couple of shots as they didn't seem too bothered by the people.

Along with a Pied Wagtail who never seem to bother too much about the people.

There were plenty of Ladybirds about too including this one on some tiny flowers, which I think are a type of Speedwell? Finished off the day with another new bird for me - a Red Legged Partridge, there were a few in a field on the way home - nice to see a lifer when you're not expecting it!

Our trusty little Kodak Easyshare camera is finally starting to fail on us, in the 6 years we've had it we have taken around 15,000 photos (mostly of the little one!!) and the error messages or just not switching on is becoming more and more frequent. We have taken the plunge and ordered a new one - after working out our budget and doing a bit of reading up we've gone for a Panasonic Lumix FZ38 it should be here by the end of the week so i'm looking forward to trying it out.