Hull Valley sites Wednesday afternoon
 

Bransholme Fishing Ponds 1200 - 1230:
A brief look produced -

Reed warbler: 6 singing
Blackcap: 3 singing
Willow warbler: 5 singing
Sedge: 3 singing
Whitethroat: 2 singing
Family party of long-tailed tits

Heron Lakes (Routh Gravel Pits) 1300 - 1330:
Oystercatcher: At least 3
Little grebe: At least 13
Great-crested grebe: 2
Sand martin: 3
Gadwall: 4

Dacre Lakeside Park 1400 - 1410:
Great-crested grebe
Mallard & Coot with young

Struncheon Hill Woodland Walk 1430 - 1530:
Marsh harrier cream crown
Grey partridge: 2
Singing warblers:
Willow warbler: 4
Sedge warbler: 4
Lesser whitethroat: 1
Garden warbler: 3-4
Whitethroat: 4
Blackcap: 1

Tree sparrow
Pink-footed goose: 1
Shelduck: 2
Mute swan: 12

Swinemoor 1615 - 1620:
Gadwall: 2
Shelduck: 4

There is only one bird, it is a young male. It was trapped and ringed this afternoon and was last seen in the bushes between the gate and the Warren. It has been very mobile all day. There was an adult male present yesterday but that hasn't been seen today.

You have to be in the right place at the right time :t:

Bit of a late finish for me mate but I might be tempted to 'our local site' at some point though :t:

good skills john - i take it this prompts no change in avatar?

That's a beauty!

No not a tick

Not even a year tick? John you are gonna upset one big Larus..

Don't keep a year list Darren

I knew it.... the oriole hung around.... say thank you to me lads. If I hadn't been in London today I'd have been after that monkey and you can bet it wouldn't have been seen.
Just out of interest had a meagre train journey both ways when it comes to birds, woodpigeons and carrion crows were by far the commonest birds seen, only a single cock pheasant in a field near Stevenage, and no partridges of any type. A couple of house martins seen on the return journey were a real high spot...LOL
However I did see 2 brown hares who were obviously unaware that it wasn't March, and a couple of foxes, a young one between Leeds and Outwood and what must have been a real old dog fox close to the Sandy railway station.

The oriole was a different bird by the looks of things keith if its consolation?

Not really....any Tyke oriole would be a mega tick for me!

Spurnbirdobservatory reporting both birds were present;

On the ground, a 'green' Golden Oriole was very mobile around the Triangle and down to the Warren, where it was heard singing during the afternoon, proving itself to be a young male, a second bird was watched while the first one was flying away and may have been the male from yesterday. The green bird was trapped and ringed late afternoon, but with so little information on these birds it couldn't be aged any more confidently than an immature male.

Swinemoor Thursday morning
 

Swinemoor 0815 - 1015 this morning:

Little gull: Four first-year birds
Little egret: 4
Garganey: One drake

This was new information found out at the evening log, so ignore my first statement!
Andy

Anyone fancy buying their own nature reserve? :cool:

Only if I win the Euromillions jackpot.

You could probably buy most of East Yorkshire if you won the Euromillions ;)

Nightjars
 

I know that this is technically off-topic, but only just! Has anyone visited the Nightjars which are a 15 minute drive over the Humber Bridge into the 'dark side'. Apparently, Hull & E.Yorks local RSPB groups have been visiting them for the past 2 years, but aren't going this year. I just wondered how productive it is? Apparently, there isn't the long walk, that there is at Thorne. Please PM with any details.
Cheers

Tophill Low Friday afternoon
 

Tophill Low 1245 - 1500 Friday:

Little gull: 1
Buzzard: 2
Common tern: 7 birds seen, one definite nest
Grey wagtail: Family party of 5-6 birds
Kingfisher: Adult being pursued by one recently-fledged juvenile
Garden warbler: 5 singing
LRP: 2
Common gull: 1

Hi there,

I'm trying to find out which Counties still use the Watsonian Vice County system to record birds in and which go by whatever the political boundary may change to (and why).

The Watsonian Vice County system was set to accurately record and compare historical and modern data and it seems that there can be/is confusion when some counties no longer use this system whilst others do. Does anyone in your county have a view on this ? Discussion here if anyone has a comment:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=142074

ps this is not about getting more or less county ticks, more a question about uniformity in recording.

Johnny Allan

I would imagine all Yorks listers use the old boundaries :t:

Property would be even cheaper in East Yorks if you Wessies stopped buying it all! 8-P

Yorkshire Birding magazine and the Yorkshire Naturalists Union both use the Watsonian Vice County system for their records.
Most of the birders I know keep to the Vice County system also, this is because the county is then easily defined, North South - Humber to Tees and East West - Sea to Pennines

Did Tophill Low this afternoon,
1 Marsh Harrier
2 Grey Wagtail's
3 Ruddy Duck
7 Reed Warblers Singing
2 Lesser Whitethroat
2 Lesser Black Backed Gulls
2 Shovellers
4 Shelduck
8 Common Tern
1 Oystercatcher