Seems I may have committed to a full days drinking on the saturday so can't commit to Sunday currently.

Interestingly I saw a peacock butterfly on the farm today.

Saturday Diver
 

Hi folks,

I'm thinking of going to Farnham tomorrow. Birdguides is saying "Treves factory closed this weekend", does that mean access will be restricted?

Great to see this forum, I've been trying to find my way around Yorkshire birding spots for the last 18 months so I hope I can tap into the obvious knowledge in this forum to find my way around (I've taken to driving to Leighton Moss in LANCASHIRE for my fix!!!!!)

Cheers,
Paul

Nice to have you on board,
I believe the access via the factory wont be available over the weekend but you should still be able to access via Harrogate Naturalists site (which i believe is 10 quid for parking)

I think the finder of those Corn Buntings should be congratulated. Well done, me!

Some tips for those going to Flamborough:

DO:
1) Get in place to watch the SEOs (lighthouse car park) by mid-afternoon. The birds did not show after 4PM, but were spectacular beforehand
2) Hang around until 5:20PM, when the Barn Owl showed
3) Check field just south of Thornwick Bay for >60 buntings inc. 3+ Corn. They get up on wires and bushes near the unmetalled road. (also Stonechat)
4) Wear wellies to walk between the SEO field and the outer head, on which Twite can be found.

DO NOT:
1) Take a 'quick' detour to see a single Waxwing thereby losing half the day looking for it when it had clearly gone.
2) Take a local's 'advice' that a 'short' walk from Ringbrough to Grimston could produce both Snow and Lapland Buntings. a) There aren't any b) you will have lost the other half of the day. c) the 'guaranteed' consolation prize of waders and sea-birds is a figment of your imagination.
3) Fail to check the leg-colour of slightly brown-backed, deep-calling, light-headed Pinkfeet when 4 of them break off and fly back south straight past you. They are still Pinkfeet but you will have a nagging doubt forever.
4) Waste the whole day wading through stubble fields and leaving no time to sea-watch - 5 scoter, 20 gannet and 500 guillemot at one of Britain's best seawatching spots is pathetic, even in February.

If someone promises me a Lapland Bunting I might even do it again on Sunday. If not hope all have as good a day as I had in the end yesterday. Glorious weather and those owls are just superb!

Graham

Graham, i promise you a lapland bunting.

How hollow is that!

Lovely, I was planning to follow the directions and pay the tenner so I should be fine. Appreciate the gen.

Cheers,
Paul

Traitor! You've got cracking birding right on your lovely Yorkshire doorstep - saw a beautiful adult male Hen Harrier very near you today, in fact! And was planning possibly Heber's Ghyll or the Washburn Valley tomorrow. And they eat their babies in Lancs, you know.

binoculars
 

Evening all
spent two days looking for female smew at fairburn no success, same with water rail, smews now on village bay(?), water rail on cut (supposedly)
incidently, I met two Swillingtonites who'd seen a peacock butterfly in their garden, in January!!!

tomorrow going to take my really expensive 'scope on safari to a patch that I've just ben told about, at deepest Kellington, anybody heard owt about it??
thinking of buying some nikon sporter binoculars, has anybody got a pair that I could compare my old russians against, as being tight fisted I don't want to be spending all that money on something that won't be any improvement.

Kieth, have 'em all out save time later.
bfn
pete

Grimston snobs... ;)

I've got to admit that I'm originally from Lancs :egghead:. But having spent the last 15 years in Kent it is a relief to be back north.

I like Heber's but the Washburn? I wandered round Fewston or it might have been Swinty and saw almost nothing on my one trip and didn't get the sense I was missing anything!

I've got to admit I'd not realised Yorkshire was so damn big, I had an image of popping to Spurn for a mornings birding when we first moved but I reckon that's about a 3 hour drive away.

Paul

Good breeding birds in the general area - will PM.

Paul, the best has yet to come for you on your doorstep. The first week of May, get yourself to Bolton Abbey at dawn on a still sunny day and enjoy. There are warblers, flycatchers, redstart, dipper, wagtails, woodpeckers, Little Owl, Mandarin. Forget Pacific Diver, and American Robin. There's no finer birding. Then finish at Ilkley. Anything you missed will offer a second chance at Heber's Ghyll, and once on the top, there's a regular spot for Tree Pipit, and of course Red Grouse.

The Washburn reservoirs can be disappointing though.

Hi Pete

I had male smew last weekend at Fairburn, think it is still there, it was off the platform where all of the kiddies feed the ducks, though it was ranging quite far either side of that point!

Cheers

ANDY

Pete,

nun was on village bay last saturday, but flighty. don't know Kellington - does the river flood down there? bins - i say it too often, but go see Johnny Mac at In Focus in Denby Dale.

Graham

Taiga Bean Goose at Fairburn?
 

15:22 02/02/07 Taiga Bean Goose W Yorks Fairburn Ings RSPB
probable at Lin Dyke area of reserve with Canada Geese and 3 Pink-footed Geese

Thoughts? Follows a report of four a couple fo weeks ago (which were not relocated despite my very best efforts!) Was the last report genuine? Is this? Am I going down there at dawn to look at a slightly odd Greylag?

Andy, got male smew o'k, he's now moved up to village bay, saw him again, but couldn't find his missus'

Graham, will let you know about Kellington, as you say, best bet for bins will be in focus, have to go to harratts for some bits for car soon, will probably go through to Denby on same day,
as for bean goose, staff in visitor centre non-commital, but Lin Dyke path should be finished now, good luck

pete

Hi Pete,

If you haven't done so already then checkout some of the threads on the Sporters in the bins forum. I did before I bought mine and it's pretty much spot on... you will need to band them after about a month!

I got mine back in Oct and the cheapest 10x around were those in the sale at Warehouse Express. In hindsight I'd have gone for 8x now.

Cheers,

Ben.

Well done with the Corn Buntings Graham. I take it the other buntings were Reed? I also assume you had a good look for the Lapland Buntings near the golf/ ploughed field? I've been told they are still around by at least two local birders, but finding the bloody things can be near impossible.

Hopefully the cliff top paths will have dried up a bit by now. If you are tempted to have a second look for the Laps can you text or call me, as I probably won't get another chance to check my PM before tomorrow afternoon (no internet at my new house yet!).

Have a good weekend everyone.

There must be a serial stringer who thinks he keeps seeing Bean Geese, more likely to be bar-headed.

We followed your thinking and went to Flamborough today - fantastic day out! We stayed on Flamborough Head though and didn't go after your buntings, sad to say. We were happy to see loads of guillemot, cormorant, oystercatchers, turnstones, redshank, curlew (5), fulmars (on cliffs in pairs), gannet, and herring and blackbacked gulls too of course. Skylarks were on the field near the carpark. My "better" half found a stonechat, photographed it - but didn't tell me about it :-C (he says he thought it was a bullfinch - not very well educated yet). I reckon I saw the twite, spinning off the cliff edges though. Didn't catch any SEO's possibly due to a fine plastic owl kite being flown in car park at about 3.15pm!! (and some model cars or something being raced nearby! at the same time) It also didn't help that jet-ski prats roared through the floating sea-birds periodically and microlite prats disturbed the flying ones! That's what you get on gorgeous days out I suppose.
Thanks for posting the tips in the thread though!

Flippsy,
That's what the Yorkshire thread is all about. Tell other Tykes what's about, where and when.
Hotspur,
There's been a bar-headed goose at Fairburn now and then for about 4 years. Always with canada geese, and nearly always at the Lin Dyke end of the reserve. As a lot of the 'dude' birders visit this end of the reserve and don't check in at the visitor centre you can get funny reports. I've got Fairburn reports going back to '94 and Bean Goose is not regular, only reports are for a single in '97 and a flyover of 7 birds in '98.

Glad you had a good day, Flippsy - nice list - I was myself surprised at the number of Fulmar, Gannet and Guillemot about - I didn't know they returned ready for breeding this early. And sorry you missed the Stonechat - should have put that in my tips if the other half can't be trusted. Shame the owls weren't about - they're not shy but I guess it was pretty busy there. They don't need to hunt for long, either - that field must be full of voles - all 3 owls I saw caught something almost immediately.

Corn Buntings were with Yellowhammers as well as Reed Buntings, Mike. I spent almost an hour at that stubble north of the golf course, but the only positive IDs I got of the birds on there were Skylark and Linnet. The field undulates and the stubble is long and the field is so big and the flocks are mixed - I'm sure someone with experience of Laps could call them but all I get is possibles - can't get to go through them on the deck which is a requisite for a lifer, I reckon. Perhaps you or someone could put some millet down in an area near the path which you can watch while hunkered down close?

I'll play tomorrow by ear, Mike / James. It's likely to be pretty busy up there and I've had so many goes at Laps now it's just dispiriting. But I may yet be tempted and will give you a call.

Graham

hi all
i know you must had a few wanders here on this site since the diver turned up..
any local knowledge to the site and surrounding areas would be really gratefully accepted and responded upon..
cheers
A excited south tyneside birder going on his first long distance twitch!!
steve egg..

Not much else on the lake with the diver except a few Goldeneye, GCG and dabchick, and lots of Coot. I'm not sure the HDNS will let you near the nature reserve lake, but it held a female Scaup wednesday. There were also well over 100 pink-feet moving about, and GSW, Kingfisher, Yellowhammer near the hide.

Best reserve nearby for you coming from north is probably Nosterfield, although I haven't been there for a while and have heard there can be disruption from shooting in the area. If you do go, check the trees at the left from the NR hide - a female peregrine was regular from Sept-Dec making runs across both lakes.

Graham

cheers for that bittern...