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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Yorkshire Birding (16 Viewers)

liverpool_bob said:
hehehe, know the feeling :-O

Best Lap Bunts I ever seen were at Barmston - maybe late autumn 90. I was sat on the cliff top leaning against the caravan park fence, munching a bag of crisps I'd bought from the village shop when some wee birds flew in off the sea and landed on the short grass about 30 feet away along the path. Assumed they were Linnets or something common but got my bins up and bugger me if they weren't Lap Bunts. I watched them for several minutes in which time they got too close for bins and must have been within 3-4 feet at one point - incredible! A dog walker came along and flushed them, not to be seen again.


Cheers,
Bob.

I can remember seeing the seriously large flocks on the east coast - probably about ten years ago at Flamborough. I remember numbers of a few hundred being recorded.

Aldbrough is a good spot. There are usually 1-2 present in the fields north (I think) of the caravan park.
 
skink1978 said:
I keeping checking Barmston out from time to time, especially as I enjoy the walk passed the caravan park along the cliffs early in the morning. I always hope I will stumble across a Shore Lark, but the best I've come up with so far are Snow Buntings and Stonechats. Often some good birds on the sea, including very large rafts of Scoter.

Do you see other birdwatchers there at all? Apart from the odd fleeting visit haven't spent any time there for years, and it always used to be very quiet. Is the nudist beach still at Fraisthorpe? ... *diverts gaze* ... Often used to do the walk south to Ulrome caravan park and back - the Barmston drain hedge always looked pretty suitable for migrants though never had any luck personally...


skink1978 said:
Will try leaning against the fence with a bag of crisps. Any particular flavour?

A safe bet would have to be salt & vinegar.

Cheers,
Bob.
 
liverpool_bob said:
Do you see other birdwatchers there at all? Apart from the odd fleeting visit haven't spent any time there for years, and it always used to be very quiet. Is the nudist beach still at Fraisthorpe? ... *diverts gaze* ... Often used to do the walk south to Ulrome caravan park and back - the Barmston drain hedge always looked pretty suitable for migrants though never had any luck personally...




A safe bet would have to be salt & vinegar.

Cheers,
Bob.

Usually I only come across dog walkers, fossil hunters and fishermen digging for bait. I was talking to a bloke at Tophill Low the other week who said he regularly visits Barmston. Also there are often reports on Birdguides so someone must watch the area.

Still reckon many birds will remain undiscovered, especially at migration time. As for the nudist beach at Fraisthorpe, think it is still there in an unofficial kind of way. For this reason I only visit that part of the beach when it is very, very cold. Naked men with beards do nothing for me!
 
Popped the car in to Harrogate to fix parking bump and had some time to explore suppressor territory. Hadn't seen Siskin or Marsh Tit this year so tried Nidd Gorge. Within an hour had best views ever of both, and by end of walk also had Redpoll, 4 Goosander, Kingfisher, Dipper, Grey Wagtail, 2 GSW, >20 Nuthatches, not 1 but 2 female Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, and a drake Mandarin! Not a bad little woodland stroll - definitely recommended.
 
jimmy2faces said:
07/02 13:29 WEST YORKSHIRE : Waxwing, Leeds [A]
4+ in Wortley in mature trees by the footpath leading from Oldfield Lane towards the bowling greens (12:30)

I'm going to Norfolk tomorrow to sit in a travelodge marooned by snow. Was hoping I might get Waxwing (a lifer) down there. Bugger.
 
Bittern at Pugneys

Had to go to wakefield for bits for car, (turns out wrong bits ordered, had to show bloke which bits I wanted), so decided to carry on to In focus at Denby Dale, picked up some new bins, about half weight of my old ones, and was told of bittern at Pugneys nature reserve, no boots or wellies with me so had to go in my shoes, managed to collect about three inches of mud to make me taller, sat down in the hide to get breath back, took out new bins, looked round and straight on to bittern, exactly where Johnny Mac at In focus said it had been, a great breaker in for new bins, couple more birders came in and was able to put them onto it, a first for them too.
well worth the walk on a nice warmish sunny day despite having to clean the mud off my shoes later, all I've got to do now is get the mud off the rubber car mats, still a great day though,
pete(happy)
 
bitterntwisted said:
Popped the car in to Harrogate to fix parking bump and had some time to explore suppressor territory. Hadn't seen Siskin or Marsh Tit this year so tried Nidd Gorge. Within an hour had best views ever of both, and by end of walk also had Redpoll, 4 Goosander, Kingfisher, Dipper, Grey Wagtail, 2 GSW, >20 Nuthatches, not 1 but 2 female Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, and a drake Mandarin! Not a bad little woodland stroll - definitely recommended.

Please can you post a grid reference for this site, may visit myself. Thanks Graham. LSW is A Yorkshire lifer for me.
 
peterpiper said:
Had to go to wakefield for bits for car, (turns out wrong bits ordered, had to show bloke which bits I wanted), so decided to carry on to In focus at Denby Dale, picked up some new bins, about half weight of my old ones, and was told of bittern at Pugneys nature reserve, no boots or wellies with me so had to go in my shoes, managed to collect about three inches of mud to make me taller, sat down in the hide to get breath back, took out new bins, looked round and straight on to bittern, exactly where Johnny Mac at In focus said it had been, a great breaker in for new bins, couple more birders came in and was able to put them onto it, a first for them too.
well worth the walk on a nice warmish sunny day despite having to clean the mud off my shoes later, all I've got to do now is get the mud off the rubber car mats, still a great day though,
pete(happy)
How are the biins - did you get the nikon sporters?
 
Pugneys

Hi all
Thought I'd just plug Pugneys in a muddy sort of way as its local to me. They've just redone the track to the hide on the reserve lake and its just as muddy as before but 6" higher. Saw both bitterns there yesterday afternoon. One climbed up the reeds and watched while the other kept falling through the ice and looking very silly. Took a piccy of them both (attached hopefully) but its a long way away, even for big lenses. They are like Oliver and Hardy in their antics and well worth a look. If you go, look in the reeds behind the rafts to the left of the hide. The giveaway of their presence is that the other ducks keep away and there is usually a duckless 'gap' where the bitterns are. They show regularly and are great acrobats. Also there is a Red-Crested Pochard at the slipway on the main lake. It likes bread and will come very close!!. The cafe's good.
 

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Belting picture Dennis. That is so much better than the close enough to smell the bird shot that you normally see. We can all id them, but seeing where they could be is very informative, how many people would think of looking at the tops of the reeds for bittern.
 
Marcus, didn't get the nikons, got some opticron 7x42's didn't shake so much in these old hands, saving up for a decent scope now.
Dennis, exactly same place as one was today, thought the rc pochard was on the reserve, never looked near the slipway (Typical me), must agree about the track, have now put wellies back in car, shoes cleaned, boots dubbined?(dubbed?), covered in dubbin!! ready for next trip.
By some strange coincidence, have to go back for correct car bits(I hope) Friday pm.
pete (still happy)
 
bitterntwisted said:
Popped the car in to Harrogate to fix parking bump and had some time to explore suppressor territory. Hadn't seen Siskin or Marsh Tit this year so tried Nidd Gorge. Within an hour had best views ever of both, and by end of walk also had Redpoll, 4 Goosander, Kingfisher, Dipper, Grey Wagtail, 2 GSW, >20 Nuthatches, not 1 but 2 female Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, and a drake Mandarin! Not a bad little woodland stroll - definitely recommended.

Wow! I'm impressed. I've only ever tried it once and not much success. I was trying for summer migrants. I'll certainly be giving it another go.
 
bitterntwisted said:
I'm going to Norfolk tomorrow to sit in a travelodge marooned by snow. Was hoping I might get Waxwing (a lifer) down there. Bugger.

Graham there are several in Leeds if you can pick them up before you go.

Also, re your thread on Norfolk birds, have you considered the Golden Pheasants at Wolfreton? They are usually good this time of year. Basically work the scissors road. Just keep driving round combined with a pull up and wait period checking the rear view mirror and in front. Stay in the car. Often just in the first bit off the main road. They will come out and feed on the verges.
 
bitterntwisted said:
Popped the car in to Harrogate to fix parking bump and had some time to explore suppressor territory. Hadn't seen Siskin or Marsh Tit this year so tried Nidd Gorge. Within an hour had best views ever of both, and by end of walk also had Redpoll, 4 Goosander, Kingfisher, Dipper, Grey Wagtail, 2 GSW, >20 Nuthatches, not 1 but 2 female Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, and a drake Mandarin! Not a bad little woodland stroll - definitely recommended.

LSW is a cracking find for the gorge, my house backs on to the gorge (well the old railway line that leads to it) and I often have a little wonder down there and see whats about and I've never found one down there. Where exactly did you see them as I might have a little hunt for them?

I had a quick scan through the bird reports from '95-'05 and there's no records of them down the gorge
 
I see that Graham (bitterntwisted) is really going for it this year. I was looking on his bitterntwisted07 thread. I thought he seemed to be doing a lot of birding. He seems to be full-time at present, and won't be reading this as he's somewhere in deepest Norfolk probably still enjoying the vision in his mind from earlier of several Cranes coming in to roost. Explains why he tried for my possible Ring Ouzel the other day. Hopefully the Waxwings in Leeds will hang about for his return.

I don't attempt a big yearlist any more although I always still keep one. My last (and most successful) was two years ago when I hit 260 beating my previous best by 30. It started to get between me and my wits. Last year my lifelist benefitted from concentrating on lifers and having brownie points in the bank with "the boss" by not having chased year birds. Explains my woeful effort on Yorkshire meets thus far. It's a balancing act. There's a danger you never get out birding, but I know I can go for a big lifer when it occurs pretty much no matter where.

My tip for yearlisting would be work on the basis that you have one summer and one winter. Don't make the mistake of thinking birds missed now can be added in November and December. Obviously depends on commitments, but with Christmas and very short days, I find that that the "second" winter often fizzles out.

My bro. (who I do most of my birding with) works on twelve trips netting him 200, which he sees as a minimum must see target each year. A couple of those are Norfolk summer and Norfolk winter.

I was one Norfolk trip short of what I would have wanted to have been happy in 2005. I missed the trio of Bean Goose, Crane and Bewick's Swan.
Other shameful original target bird omissions were Gropper, (heard), Golden Oriole, (heard) Roseate Tern, Cetti's Warbler, and Arctic Skua. I also dipped on circa ten more birds (rarities/sub-rarities) including Barrow's Goldeneye, Belted Kingfisher, Grey-cheeked Thrush and Stilt Sandpiper.

With a bit more luck and a following wind I think I could have got it up to 270 without instigating divorce.

Other non-BOURC, (excluded from total but seen) were White-headed Duck, Ruddy Shelduck, Black Brant, Pale-bellied Brent Goose, White Stork, and Caspian Gull.

Good luck Graham - I know some good sites for potentially tricky species e.g. Lesser Whitethroat so give me a shout if I can help.
 
Lawts said:
Good luck Graham - I know some good sites for potentially tricky species e.g. Lesser Whitethroat so give me a shout if I can help.

Lesser Whitethroat do ok east of the Wolds, a trip to somewhere like Tophill in May/Jun should guarantee...


Cheers,
Bob.
 
originally posted by Lawts
I see that Graham (bitterntwisted) is really going for it this year. I was looking on his bitterntwisted07 thread. I thought he seemed to be doing a lot of birding. He seems to be full-time at present, and won't be reading this as he's somewhere in deepest Norfolk

good luck to Graham, hope he remembered his thermals
pete
 
Just got the Waxwings in my lunch hour - 8, now on Fearnley Place off Tong Road. What a bird - I can't resist 'em. My favourite bird!

Birding in your lunch hour - nothing like it to break up the day. Must be great working somewhere like Weymouth with Radipole Lake to stroll round each lunchtime.
 

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