There is a ledge below the foghorn which you can get down to on the north or south side (south is easier due to erosion). The regulars are there every day more or less and see most good stuff.

As you've not been before, to find the foghorn follow the signs to the Flamborough Lighthouse car park. The foghorn is below the lighthouse reached by a path, it is directly on the cliff edge

indeed it was and if it weren't for that magpie i wouldn't have seen it, lovely little flight view, before it disappeared into the reeds, then it came back out and bobbed up and down for a bit.


now when you saw the common snipe, was it sitting on the island in the middle, as that there magpie flushed the common from it's slumber on top of the island, about 10 minutes before it flushed the jack from about a meter away.

Yes thats right .. The 'common flavoured one' kept getting up and having a short stroll around before settling down again .. Gave it an hour or so but there are only so many reeds you can stare into without going 'boz-eyed' ... So the little bugger was on the island after all !!!

Geese to and from Fairburn
 

Hope someone here can help me!

I live in the centre of Castleford, a couple of miles south-west of Fairburn Ings, and every morning for more than three weeks, just after dawn, a flock of geese (anything between a couple of dozen and a couple of hundred) has flown over in a south-westerly direction, returning in the opposite direction around dusk. It's a fantastic sight and sound.

I would guess they are flying out of Fairburn to graze somewhere then returning for the night, but has anyone any idea where they might be heading to?

I e-mailed the RSPB staff at Fairburn but they don't know - so can anyone here enlighten me?

Fairburn Geese
 

DJP, I live in Garforth, about the same distance from Fairburn but to the north east. We get the same morning and evening flyovers, which are sometimes Canada Geese (I've seen these most this autumn) but also Greylags which are quite prolific breeders in the Aire valley now. I've no idea where they're feeding though.

I completely agree about the wild and stirring calls, even if the birds are more than a bit feral. I'm not sure all the local farmers are quite so pleased!

Mark

Hi, djp64

I live in North Duffield and over the past month geese numbers (greylag and Canada) have been really building up. Most dawn mornings when I've been out walking the dogs I've had flocks of both species heading in the general direction of Fairburn, whether or not they actually make it that far or ditch into the fields in between to feed I'm not sure. At dusk (or later) I hear them flying back towards the reserve (North Duffield/Wheldrake)

Cheers, Andy

Couldn't find the post you referred to. Are the birds at Harewood a self-sustaining population? I sometimes wonder what constitutes a bona fide tick and what doesn't!

Harewood has a bird garden, so the birds might be breeding or Harewood might be buying in stock. I know the blessed white storks there breed like bunnies.

The post I was referring to is HERE

When it comes to ticking the birds, it's more a matter of what gets official approval than anything.

Just realised I managed to scroll past the link without seeing it! Thanks anyway.

Surely when it comes to ticking it is a personal matter as to what you tick unless its competative

You just summed up a whole thread in one sentence!

Exactly, however having an authorised list against which you can compare your own sightings ensures that everyone 'sings the same song'

I've seen wood duck near the Strid and bar-headed goose at Fairburn Ings, both of them do not feature on my Yorkshire list but were still very nice birds to see.

Can't bring myself to tick e.g. Black Swan or Muscovy Duck. Do they have self-sustaining populations?

When I started birding there was a population of Budgerigars on Scilly (Tresco?). If memory serves, once supplemental feeding ceased the birds died out. It's a vexed issue.

FWIW Edinburgh Zoo has a free-flying population of Night Heron. Thankfully their policy now is to pinion any offspring.

It's a vexed issue to say the least. I blame Peter Scott ;)

Both Black Swan and Muscovy are Cat E. Muscovy were on the point of being added thanks to the Ely population but that was prevented from breeding by oiling the eggs and the numbers shrank. Black Swan can only be a matter of time and Muscovy breed pretty well on the local pond here. The other Cat C potentials have gotta be Bar-headed Goose & Wood Duck... Yuk!

I am fairly sure that a few years back I saw the black swans at Fairburn sitting on cygnets, whilst looking from the Cut hide. A birding friend of mine was initially excited as she thought she would be able to add them to her list on the basis of them breeding and being self-sustaining. However I don't ever recall seeing the numbers increase and in fact, now I think about it, I have not seen the Fairburn black swans for a year or so. I seem to think there were four birds at one point?

Maybe I should bite the bullet and add Snow Goose to my list. Lady Am's is a cause for concern. Minus one?

Wish I'd bothered to see the Parrot Crossbills at Holkham :-C

There was a snow goose that hung around with the greylags at Fairburn a few years ago, saw it a few times but if I'm remembering correctly it had leg irons that proved it was an escape.

iirc the BOU and others are keen to record all species seen when you are out and about. No doubt the the results of the latest Atlas work will prove illuminating

The Fairburn black swans have been breeding for the last few years. One year there were two families but this year I've only seen one.

Go to Speyside! Saw a good number amongst the Commons (majority) and Scotsbills a few years ago

Managed to get Lady A on the list and the Holkham PC's - sorry!

Spurn
 

Heaps of Redwing, Fieldfare and a few Song Thrush in of the sea today,
2 Jack Snipe, 1 Common Snipe, 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Yellow Wag, 1 Water Rail on canal scrape, 1 Common Rosefinch church field, Kilnsea, Possible
Olive-backed Pipit seen briefly on the point

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...e010edited.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a.../birds/012.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...l006edited.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...h013edited.jpg

Would settle for that this weekend

[quote=Keith Dickinson;2261636]Harewood has a bird garden, so the birds might be breeding or Harewood might be buying in stock. I know the blessed white storks there breed like bunnies.

I visit Harewoood Park once a month for the WeBS counts. I used to see White Storks (up to four birds) on most visits up to August 2008 but I haven't seen one there since then. Whether people got fed up with reporting them or not, there have not been many records submitted for the Leeds Report in the last couple of years. Have you any evidence that the Storks have bred recently, and if so were the young allowed to fly off or were they pinioned. It would be helpful to find out the true situation, as it might be possible to tick a Yorkshire White Stork if the Harewood birds have died out.
I notice that a bird near Sherburn-in-Elmet has been dismissed as an escape. Is this because it has a ring, or it just because we've got so used to assuming any White Stork is from Harewood?
A couple of years ago there were two Red-breasted Geese with the goose flock at Harewood, but again they haven't been seen for over 12 months. There are however currently up to four free-flying Egyptian Geese, a couple of white-phase Snow Geese and a Ross's Goose around the lake (though the last two species usually only in winter).
Over the years I have also seen American Wigeon and Wood Duck outside the Bird Garden fences as well as more obvious fence-hoppers in Ringed Teal and Crested Crane.