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

Yorkshire Birding (10 Viewers)

No songs heard of the Holy Trinity at Bolton when i was there, but then i didn't get there till 1pm. Once they are definitely on site then i may go for a Dawn Chorus raid at silly o' clock. Rob/Keith, PM me if you fancy it.

Sand Martins by the dozen on the Ouse today.
Mark.
 
Had a great morning at Potteric Carr - lovely weather and birds everywhere! Kestrels, Blue, Great, Marsh and Long Tailed Tits, Reed Buntings, Bullfinches, Song Thrushes, Chiffchaffs, lots of Blackcaps, lots of Wrens, and also warblers I didn't recognise - I need to improve my warbler ID skills! I hardly bothered with the hides - the birds in the trees and woodland kept me occupied enough. Really recommend a visit - and some help in ID'ing those warblers!
Cheers,
Tom
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42053325@N05/
 
Will do Mark. Rob and I are planning a trip there once the migrants are about. Last year we were there for roughly 5.30ish... managed roe deer from the path above the Strid.
knocker7800 said:
No songs heard of the Holy Trinity at Bolton when i was there, but then i didn't get there till 1pm. Once they are definitely on site then i may go for a Dawn Chorus raid at silly o' clock. Rob/Keith, PM me if you fancy it.

Sand Martins by the dozen on the Ouse today.
Mark.
Click to expand...
 
James Thomas said:
skink1978 said:
That would be a Noctule Bat most probably.[/QUOT

Looked up bats in t'internet and that was my thought, about the right colour and size. It appeared very pinky which was pobably due to light shining through the wings.

One question I was going to ask you on id was whether it could be Daubentons? It was flying in a partially sunlit area below tree level, what I read was that noctules were high flyers.

As you may guess I'm still at the big bats and little bats stage, abroad you can get chuffing huge bats - saw one in Thailand that appeared out of the dark and nicked a moth that I was watching as it battered the light bulb two feet above my head. That was enormous.
Click to expand...

I would still guess Noctule. They do tend to fly high, but I’ve seen them much lower (head height) on more than one occasion. The fact it was out hunting well before dark is a good clue, as Noctules are known for this.

Daubenton’s are medium sized (bigger than pipistrelle sp but smaller than Noctule). Of course seeing them without the other species for comparison isn’t much help.
Click to expand...
 
Tom,
I can recommend the Collins Field Guide to Warbler Songs and Calls, 3 cds of warbler song with the book to guide you through them.
For pictures - avoid the Helm guide by Baker, they aren't the best id pics. The new Collins is good as is the Helm Handbook of Bird Identification by Beaman and Madge. The Helm guide to Sylvia warblers is great and is a book I would like to own.... working on that at the moment.
I agree with you about Potteric Carr.
tba20042003 said:
Had a great morning at Potteric Carr - lovely weather and birds everywhere! Kestrels, Blue, Great, Marsh and Long Tailed Tits, Reed Buntings, Bullfinches, Song Thrushes, Chiffchaffs, lots of Blackcaps, lots of Wrens, and also warblers I didn't recognise - I need to improve my warbler ID skills! I hardly bothered with the hides - the birds in the trees and woodland kept me occupied enough. Really recommend a visit - and some help in ID'ing those warblers!
Cheers,
Tom
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42053325@N05/
Click to expand...
 
Brief trip to Old Moor today - added little ringed plover to the yearlist, but where the heck are the hirundines?! I had four swallows in about an hour and that was it.
 
Pete - only one I'm missing so far is house martin, even had swallow tonight on my drive home from work. There were sand martins & swallows at Leighton Moss in March so why you've not logged them yet is a mystery.
 
Had a good little trip to Fairburn this afternoon looking for butterflies. The following were all present down Lin Dyke:

Brimstone
Orange Tip
Peacock
Green-veined White
Small Tortoiseshell
Comma

Several Orange Tip, which was the butterfly I was trying to photograph. Managed to get one briefly on a dandelion. Otherwise constantly flying about. I've had them showing much easier in the past so hopefully when more food plants are out it will be easier.

One Orange Tip through the garden today.

Plenty of Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, as well as Blackcap, Whitethroat, and Willow Tit. No Garganey though.

I also missed Osprey which flew over whilst I was there.
 
Steve
I did not need to know about the osprey ....... I was less than 30 minutes walk from there at work!
Nero 5 ok?

Lawts said:
Had a good little trip to Fairburn this afternoon looking for butterflies. The following were all present down Lin Dyke:

Brimstone
Orange Tip
Peacock
Green-veined White
Small Tortoiseshell
Comma

Several Orange Tip, which was the butterfly I was trying to photograph. Managed to get one briefly on a dandelion. Otherwise constantly flying about. I've had them showing much easier in the past so hopefully when more food plants are out it will be easier.

One Orange Tip through the garden today.

Plenty of Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, as well as Blackcap, Whitethroat, and Willow Tit. No Garganey though.

I also missed Osprey which flew over whilst I was there.
Click to expand...
 
I finally got a proper view of an osprey. It flew past the hide at Swilly this evening just as I was unlocking my bike at 17:45. Had to lock it back up and get into the hide to record it as there was no one else there. Had all the right timing for once.
 
Lawts said:
Had a good little trip to Fairburn this afternoon looking for butterflies. The following were all present down Lin Dyke:

Brimstone
Orange Tip
Peacock
Green-veined White
Small Tortoiseshell
Comma

Several Orange Tip, which was the butterfly I was trying to photograph. Managed to get one briefly on a dandelion. Otherwise constantly flying about. I've had them showing much easier in the past so hopefully when more food plants are out it will be easier.

One Orange Tip through the garden today.

Plenty of Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, as well as Blackcap, Whitethroat, and Willow Tit. No Garganey though.

I also missed Osprey which flew over whilst I was there.
Click to expand...

I think this is a female Orange Tip that I got the other day? Hopefully a sunny evening next Monday week when I will be near Fairburn if you wanna meet up Steve?
 

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tell me about it.... for the last week at work I've had punters coming in with problems with their contact lenses. B******* hayfever!
Mind I have got a good bird over in Pontefract.... it's a partial albino blackbird before anyone makes ribald comments. Seen loads of ones with large splashes of white in wings and white heads etc, this is first I've ever seen that is almost totally white except for the tail and rump area. Looks weird!
 
BirdFlower said:
Redstarts are back at at least 2 of their East Yorkshire sites - must be on their way back to their frostier West & North Riding sites soon!
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Gotta love spring, the long evenings and the migrants - managed four evenings out in the last week.

On Friday 15th there was just the one male Redstart back at a site in the Washburn Valley which has held half a dozen or more pairs in recent years. Only other migrants or passage birds new were a pair of Redshanks and a few Swallows. Glorious walk under a perfect blue sky though.

Last Sunday 11th I saw Short-eared Owl and Grasshopper Warbler at Blacktoft. Very few waders with water levels quite high but some Snipe bang in front of Ousefleet were stunning in the low evening light. 2+ Sedge warblers were back already and there was an impressive roost of Swallows and Sand Martins.

Tuesday 13th I walked around Bretton CP and once more failed to find the hide but I did find the nice patch of woodland / farmland edge on the north side of the east lake and had great views of Yellowhammer, Bullfinch, Linnet, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, GSW, Song Thrush etc. 3 or more Blackcaps were back and this is a great spot for beginners wanting to practice Willow Warbler vs Chiffchaff as they were very visible and vocal in close proximity. I never liked this site much previously but an evening spring visit seems to give great views of birds made tame by the crowds that are there at other times. Also good numbers of swallows and a bold pair of Goosander and a lovely Grey Wagtail.

Still no House Martin, Common or Lesser Whitethroat, Reed or Garden Warbler, Cuckoo, Hobby or Common Sand. Perhaps pick up some of these in the LDV tomorrow, with Whimbrel and Garganey if I'm lucky.

Graham
 
Keith Dickinson said:
Pete - only one I'm missing so far is house martin, even had swallow tonight on my drive home from work. There were sand martins & swallows at Leighton Moss in March so why you've not logged them yet is a mystery.
Click to expand...

Finally had my first house martin of this year over my house but they are a week later than last year .. Only a single bird though ....

There have been good numbers of sand martins over Old Moor but for some reason they seem to have disappeared ? You do still get the odd sighting as I did yesterday (Friday) but instead of the numbers increasing they have dwindled ?
 
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sand martin

Hi Dave,
was watching four sand martins on the River Don at Norfolk Bridge appeared to be building nest in the old pipework of the former Tempered Spring Company overhanging the river
 
Marcus Conway - ebirder said:
I think this is a female Orange Tip that I got the other day? Hopefully a sunny evening next Monday week when I will be near Fairburn if you wanna meet up Steve?
Click to expand...

Yes female Orange Tip Marcus - lovely shot.

Yes, sounds good. Give me a call - is that w/c 26th or 3rd? If you are about on the 1st or 2nd, I'm hoping to go to the Chevin for Green Hairstreak as well - probably morning of the 2nd.

Seen loads before, but I hadn't really appreciated how small Orange Tip is until this year.
 
Early mornings are ace too, can get a couple of hours in with no-one about and get home before the family is up.
 

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James Thomas said:
Early mornings are ace too, can get a couple of hours in with no-one about and get home before the family is up.
Click to expand...

Not if you're up until 2AM revising calls of North American sparrows. Might be a waste of time if this volcano goes on for a week!

Off to the LDV for midday, Jim, see you there.

Graham
 

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