Was at Fairburn today when news of the Arctic Redpoll came on the pager,spent a couple of hours searching but no sign although plenty of Lesser's which are fairly mobile at times.

Three bitterns on Astley Lake at Swillington this afternoon plus a pair of pintail. Mostly ice but the bitterns showed well.

Oh and there are still the white fronted geese too.

Just looked at a pic of an Australasian Gannet. How on earth did anyone manage to identify something which looks just like our Gannets? I can see no difference. Is there one?

Apparently the adult differs from Northern Gannet in having black secondaries and black tail with white outer tail feathers.

Dave.

Is anybody else who uses it having any trouble with the North Cave website or is it my computor?? I havent been able to get any of the usual pages to come up since new year.

Just tried it now Stephie and it opened okay for me

They are regular at Redhouse..and now coming to feeders regularly...they r eating all the niger instead of those redpolls...but they are feeding down too.
Numbers redpoll admittedly down on previously..more widespread, not flocking,,but still present.I would guess at least 6-8 marsh tits present redhouse. I filled feeders today utterly..and poured rest on ground..where marsh tits do seem to like(pers observation),.They r pretty much gaurenteed.Meallys still about...siskins seem to have gone...If anyone visits over weekend please respect that this is shooting site..keep to main track..feeders/redpolls are usually seen from here..no mileage wandering off track at this site...I promise!!

buzzards
 

went for a quick walk round my local favourite spot (howell wood,south kirkby) this morning before work,,as the path led me to the very edge of the wood i could hear a sound i've not heard before and was amazed to see a couple of buzzards drop into the field about 35-40 yards in...after about 5 minutes one flew up and perched on top of a tree whilst the other just sat there for about 15-20 mins and never flinched...awesome views in the bins,pity i didnt have the camera though..never seen these here before but hopefully cross paths again..also plenty of nuthatch and treecreeper around

I was able to open it OK, but if you click on the top 3 topics, Sightings, Pictures & Articles nothing seems to happen, is this what you meant?

I was at North Cave Wetlands yesterday, where we saw 35 species in the afternoon, further details on the blog. The most unusual bird was the Treecreeper, which I've never seen there before. Large areas were still frozen over!

Thanks Michael. Yes thats what I meant. It is one of my favourite places and I like to see whats about before I go. it is usually so very up to date.

Thanks Keith, Like Michael I cant get the sightings page to open. Maybe with the new year they are having problems.

If you click on latest news it gives you the recent sightings and monthly highlights

I was over at Worlaby yesterday... the SEO`s decided to show up when the sun went in... it was so cold, but I had a great day.

Interesting Short-eared Owl there, seems to have orange eyes in this pic. Other than that seems fine for Short-eared Owl with white trailing edge to wings, two large bars on the top of the primaries and coarsely barred tail.

Have heard of North American Long-eared Owls sometimes showing yellow eyes but haven't heard of Short-eared Owls having orange eyes? Anyone got more experience with this?

it`s eyes were yellow... the light was terrible for photography...

Managed to finally get some self found waxwings today in magnolia gorve, new earswick in york. c15 birds feeding on crab apples. they only flew when a boy walked within 5 feet of them. Also there is a big flock of Bullfinches and another of Siskins in the area, all going to feeders along the local cycle track.

Also got the mirfiled ring billed gull and a male hen harrier at blacktoft this last week.

Mark.

Well done Mark, there's loads of satisfaction in getting 'yer own' waxwings isn't there?
Still to get across for the ring billed gull...hopefully Wednesday next week.

Went to Redhouses with Graham, about 50 redpoll decorating a silver birch as soon as we walked through the gate, a couple of obvious mealies among them. As the light was so poor the views were a bit monochrome so we set off in search of the feeders. 30s later we were watching Marsh Tit constantly at the feeders and were soon joined by Lawts. A very twiggy bush played havoc with AF but later came to the conclusion that the bush was a good selection as the twigs meant the birds were confident enough to stay there rather than get a seed and fly off. Good work Paul. Sadly the redpoll disappeared and didn't really return. A big dog fox belted through the wood, a woodcock flew over the guns and a willow tit was calling near the gate. Other birds were treecreeper, GSW, 7 Goosander on the res.

Belting picture Jim, could you upload it to the gallery as it will be great for the Opus page


Although I must admit to being a little bit p'eed off by all this Saturday birding, whilst I'm stuck poking contact lenses into peoples eyes.

Certainly is a nice shot! I obviously haven't mastered the settings - this was my best effort, and have had to put it into a setting, as anything larger was too blurred. Still only the second time out with new kit.

Will keep trying.

Hey yours is certainly better than anything I can manage with my camera Steve. It's just that Jim's pic really shows off the upper mandible so great for the Opus page

A disappointing day with the RSPB trip to Blacktoft. Hardly any birds as it's frozen over. A Marsh Harrier that flew the length of the reserve was the highlight. According to the warden Beardies have crashed from 300 to about 50 after the recent snow. Apparently the snow froze on the tops of the reeds meaning they couldn't feed. Also they have lost all their Barn Owls. Grim.

Seeking better birding we decamped to Potteric at lunch time with somewhat better results. There was actually some open water. A bittern had showed well on Low Ellers and others had excellent views of Water Rail at the feeders. There was a big flock of Siskin and a few Lesser Redpoll. The highlight was a Kingfisher on Mother Dyke by the railway bridge.

Still haven't seen a Snipe in 2011 but my yearlist now stands at exactly 100. Better luck next time. Roll on Spring

awesome photo