Tuesday 12th July 2011

Many thanks to Steve Evans for Tuesday's sightings and picture.

3 Common Tern - 1 presenting fish to its mate, also chasing Crow from 'gravel tray area'
2 Little Egret
6 Common Gull (4 ad & 2 sub-ad)
1 Green Sand
1 Dunlin (ad)
11 Oystercatcher
3+ Common Sandpiper
9 Little Plover 6juv
1 Curlew
juv Peregrine unsuccesfull twice by noon.
1 Hobby A1 Flashes
4+ Kestrel
9 GCGrebe pr with nest, pr with 3 & a third pair.

last but not least, a minimum of TEN Gadwall broods seen, with a total of 92 ducklings.

Common Tern's at Castle Lake.

#118 Kingfisher

'Kingfisher over' is not a common occurance when out birding, I certainly can't recall seeing one fly over my head ever before buts thats exactly what happened this morning as I stood on the bridge that straddles the River Skerne just east of Fishburn Lake. Surprisingly this was my first Kingfisher sighting in the area this year, the last two winters have certainly had an effect on numbers, but as today's bird was carrying food hopefully there are young around and the population can recover.
Earlier I ventured over to Low Hardwick where a family group of five Kestrel were airbourne together, by the moto-cross pools were four Sedge Warbler including two juveniles and further on were a party of Willow Tit.
Back at Castle Lake it was pretty much business as usual with a similar selection from previous days, the only new arrivals looked to be two Wigeon.

#117 Cuckoo

It's amazing how many unexpected birds you inadvertently pick-up when scanning with the scope, another lengthy shoreline sweep of Castle Lake this evening for that much hoped for Spotted Sandpiper (think big thats my motto) yielded my first patch Cuckoo of the year (in fact only my second ever at Bishop Middleham, though I am putting a bit more effort into my birding this year!), fence hopping in the south-east corner.

It didn't stay put long enough to allow anything other than this record picture.

Other highlights this evening included singles of Little Egret, Green Sandpiper and Greenshank, 4 Common Sandpiper and 10 Little Ringed Plover including now 6 juveniles, leaving no doubt that new arrivals are dropping in all the time.

Waders are continuing to avoid Stoneybeck Lake despite plenty of excellent habitat, only 3 Wigeon of note tonight.

Scores On The Doors

Update on my Bishop Middleham patch year list;

#100  Grasshopper Warbler     18/4/11
#101  Common Whitethroat     20/4/11
#102  Greenshank                    25/4/11
#103  Sedge Warbler               26/4/11
#104  Swift                              2/5/11
#105  Wood Sandpiper            5/5/11
#106  Barnacle Goose              7/5/11
#107  Temminck's Stint             7/5/11
#108  Grey Plover                    8/5/11
#109  Quail                              15/5/11
#110  Common Tern                21/5/11
#111  Spoonbill                        23/5/11
#112  Little Egret                     10/6/11
#113  Hobby                           13/6/11
#114  Black-necked Grebe      23/6/11
#115  Spotted Flycatcher         29/6/11
#116  Little Owl                       1/7/11

And then there's the one's that got away (so far) including Garganey, Osprey, Red Kite, Ruff, Black Tern, Cuckoo, Kingfisher, Waxwing, Whinchat, Great Grey Shrike and Crossbill.

Thursday 7th July 2011

Back down to Castle Lake again this evening, arriving in the middle of an absolute deluge with thunder and lightning overhead, had to sit it out in the car until the rain subsided from biblical flood proportions, then legged it to the sanctuary of the hide.
Nothing out of the ordinary amongst the ducks, grebes, gulls or geese so the waders took centre stage (hurrah!), highlight being yet another Wood Sandpiper, its been an excellent year for these delightful birds, I've lost count now just how many have past through and there's still time for more, only one typically elusive Green Sandpiper, and after much scanning of the shoreline a very impressive and almost certain new site record of 8 Common Sandpiper and all in view at the same time! a single Snipe still awaits some company and only three Little Ringed Plover, two of which were juveniles, a big reduction from the double figure counts earlier in the week suggesting some of the adults have already started moving south.
Earlier in the day John Olley had one Little Egret but its believed there are four in the area.

A quick roadside scan of Stoneybeck Lake revealed the only birds of any consequence were two Wigeon and by now it was a lovely sunny evening with just a few puddles serving as a reminder of what had gone before.

Monday 4th July 2011

Sightings today come mostly from Steve Evans and myself.

Birds seen in the Castle Lake area today included the following;

male Whinchat, 6 Teal, 10+ Little Grebe (2 juv.), 2 Cormorant, 2 Little Egret, 1 Buzzard (A1 Flashes), 2 Sparrowhawk, 4 Kestrel, 9 Oystercatcher, 10+ LR Plover, 1 Ringed Plover, 100+ Lapwing, 1 Snipe, 2 Curlew, 1 Greenshank, 3 Green Sandpiper, 5 Common Sandpiper, 40 BH Gull, 3 LBb Gull and 5 Common Gull.

The first returning Greenshank at Castle Lake this evening.

Friday 1st July 2011

Birds seen today included the following;

Castle Lake
13 Mute Swan, drake Wigeon, 2m2f Teal, Pochard with single duckling, 1 Cormorant, 11 Little Ringed Plover (2 juv.), 1 Redshank & 3 Common Sandpiper.

Low Hardwick
1pair Shoveler, 2 Grey Heron, Coot pair with young, 1 Little Owl, 2 Sedge Warbler and 4+ Whitethroat.

Umpteen Pied Wag's around at the moment.