More local interest

Birding on hold at moment. Mother-in-law over for a few days. We decided to take her up Withernsea lighthouse. Not a bad effort for 79!!! Only just made it myself. Well worth a visit if you've never been. Great view and interesting Museum

Going to find some Seabirds off the cliff from Thursday...hopefully a CORY'S!

Sports nut

Olympic fever!

Loved (most) of the opening ceremony. Love Sport even if I don't "get" some of them.

The best thing for me is seeing OUR competitors being supported by OUR people. Brings a tear to my eye...really!

A positive vibe for our islands...COME ON GB!!!

First Skua!

Down the cliff tonight with Bud...connected with my first Skua in the form of an Arctic (H84, P128) trying to pinch fish off the Terns.

Enjoyed the company of a wandering Barn Owl while watching the sea...

Let nature take its course?

I've just read an article by Mark Cocker in this months Birdwatch magazine relating to raptors and predation. A controversial topic, no doubt. This following on from the madness of possible Buzzard culling to stop them taking Pheasants!!
He mentions Little Tern colonies in Norfolk being decimated by Kestrels. Closer to home the same thing happened at Beacon Ponds, Spurn this year. Fencing was generously provided to protect against ground predators but aerial threats can't be stopped.

Predation is a natural phenomenon and has obviously occurred since time immemorial  BUT my question is... does this make it right in all cases?
A rare breeder like Little Tern needs more "help" in my humble opinion. (Nearly) every year the young get massacred despite the best efforts of dedicated volunteers and sponsors.
I don't know the breeding success rate of this species in recent years nationally, but it can't be great.

Maybe I'm wrong (I often am!) but surely the odd predator could at least be "re-located"? This species needs OUR help...NOW!!!

Youngster

Back home after a long weekend. We walked from Withernsea to Holmpton along the beach in glorious weather. Whilst driving back to With' to pick the car up I had great views of a young Marsh Harrier drifting over a barley field right by the road.

Open Verdict

Great day at the Golf. I did something I've never done before...left early. I almost sensed this was a mistake, it's just that my car was at the top end of the course and Scott was 4 shots up! The legs were struggling and the temperature was rising. Is that enough excuses?

As I listened to the radio on the way home, it became clear that a dramatic finish was about to unfold. Cruel for Scott, wonderful for Els. Just imagine the carnage if the wind had really blown!! Viewing was easy on this superb, tight little gem of a course. With a bit of strategic positioning (on the correct dune) you could see mult-holes/fairways/tees.

I'm not a Golfer but I love watching big events. This surely has to be the easiest to get close to the Superstars.

Open ended

Off to Lancs this weekend as Louise finishes School...forever! That's both of us out now. We have some great memories and met some great people but our time had come.

The future is uncertain but we'll enjoy the adventure!!

Mother will be hosting us until Monday. A great way to mark the occasion. Plenty of shopping for the girls and a trip on Sunday for yours truly to The Open. Lytham is the best course for me and has many happy memories from my childhood. We had many a happy holiday there...




Caspo still roaming Norfolk...nice if it drifted North? Some great pics here

Got a few quid coming due to early retirement. I'd been toying with the idea of a new pair of Bins. Love my old Trinnies...which I'll be keeping but I'm mightily impressed with these...



In fact, so much so, I bought a pair today. Well...I deserve it!

Songster

Exercised the joint with a walk around the Village this morning. I was treated to the superb song of this fellow.


50 feet and dull. Converter working well!

Lifts the spirits during the Monsoon..

Seabirds

It's that time of year. We're already getting a trickle of CORY'S SHEARWATERS down South.



Maybe I'll finally connect with one in Yorks!! I had a couple of hours this morning on the cliff. Nothing special, but there were decent numbers of terns and auks.
As mentioned before I'm not an avid seawatcher but I must admit I am getting into it more. It's quite handy now.

I did set off for the mystery Godwit but detoured to my Mothers when the truth was revealed...

Loose ends...

Busy times at the moment as the School summer term comes to an end. Yours truly has already bailed out but Louise finishes this Friday. We went over to York to say goodbye to some great people who I'd worked with for a long time. I will miss them greatly.

Saturday was spent watching the lads playing footy for Askern Villa. We decided to stay over in Leeds and came back this morning. As we approached Holmpton from Patrington I caught sight of a stunning male Marsh Harrier (H.83) drifting over a barley field in bright sunshine...fantastic!

We had an hour at Patrington Church flower festival this afternoon. I'm not religious but I know a fine building when I see one...


The Queen of Holderness

Had a curious look for the 4 Ruddy Shelducks near Withernwick...failed miserably to find the location!

Probable HUDSONIAN GODWIT at Frodsham Marsh...early start tomorrow.

Converter

Not much opportunity for Birdy views lately but I did have a play with my converter. Bear in mind this 1.7 extends the range from 420mm to 714mm! Plus these pictures were taken HAND HELD!! The lack of blur in these shots is quite remarkable IMHO.



Bird to finish!

Bird scene as quiet as the grave...

Back to Duff

Physio tomorrow, so time for a Duff watch. At least there should be some water about, albeit covered by vegetation. Treated myself to a converter for my old camera, so I'm going to have a play with it. I'll post a few of the better efforts tomorrow night.

Owls about that then!

To pinch a clever blog title...dedicated mainly to Little Owls. Had a stroll up the lane with Bud and found myself ducking to avoid one of these...

Road Kill

As we were coming back from the Supermarket to watch the Tennis I noticed a "lump" on the grass verge right by the road. Luckily I had the TZ7 on the back seat and managed a quick one through the windscreen...

Birding Suspended - rain stopped play!

I like to think I'm pretty keen but this is ridiculous! I can't understand why people go abroad for their holidays?



Managed a singing Garden Warbler (H.82, P127) down the lane however. There's always hope...


With another (very) brief CASPIAN TERN sighting this afternoon, I took a peep at the previous records of this species. One day occurrences constitute the vast majority of the records.

I sneaked one in 1992 at Neuman's Flash, Cheshire not realising at the time how lucky I was! I was down at Swantail Hide, Wheldrake on the evening of 13th May 1993 when one arrived at Southfield Reservoir.

A combination of distance and uncertain site knowledge resulted in me staying put. That would have been a superb Yorkshire tick if I'd have connected. Ah well, it's one to go for.

Beacon Ponds in the next couple of months would do nicely. You never know, I might even find one...

Quiet Storm

With the prospect of another Monsoon tomorrow, thoughts return to this years offspring, struggling to survive. Hopefully, some will.

Ground nesters are particularly susceptible...

Out tomorrow, rain or no rain...

Third time unlucky

Bempton...a home from home. Louise fancied a ride out, I needed some exercise, Buddy needed a walk, so off we went. I also had my re-conditioned camera back so I was hoping to get a decent photo of the ALPINE SWIFT. Luckily the rain held off but the wind was strong especially at the Trig point! I gave it half an hour (Buddy's limit) but didn't have much luck as it spent most of it's time below the cliff and out over the sea. It was rather fast moving as well!!


Another realistic view image!


Still we had a good walk, enjoyed the seabirds and bumped into more familiar faces...Karl Dutton, Richard Willison, Geoff Dobbs and Mike Bayldon.