Happier New Year

Let's go!

I started pre-dawn with a walk down to Mill Hill hoping to get another look at the Shore Larks. I nearly didn't make it as I almost went full length on the road outside the Cottage which was covered in black ice. It was a "no-show" at "the hill" in the hour I was there. No sign of any Snow Buntings either. Still, not a bad pair to have in the Village!!

After a shower and breakfast I took Bud for a stroll down Snakey Lane and found a SINGING Corn Bunting...

I then received a message from a local birder informing me that he'd found a Long-eared Owl in Withernsea. It was in the same area as the one I saw earlier in the year, so I knew roughly where to search. On arrival I slowly walked the area following his directions. I couldn't locate it, so I gave him a ring. He gave me a few pointers and I searched again. Still no luck. Maybe it had moved, as there were some young lads around. Fortunately they soon disappeared and I continued searching. There were a few isolated bushes on one side of the path and a thick hedge on the other. I'd been there around 20 minutes now.

I'd reached the point of not knowing where else to look when...there it was!!! Sat on a branch, deep in the hedge. It had probably been watching me all along! I quickly took a few pics and left it in peace.

I (like many of us I guess) LOVE Owls. So to be priviliged enough to see this bird so close was a special treat...

Those eyes!

A fantastic find by my pal from "up the road".

Buoyed by this sighting I returned to Mill Hill to try again for the Shore Larks and Snow Buntings. Richard had been there earlier and had seen the SB but not the SL. An hour's searching revealed decent numbers of Ringed Plovers scattered far and wide in the winter crop and a flock of 15 Golden. The field is huge...

...so my best chance of seeing the SB flock was going to be a flight view...which I finally got just before 3. They circled high over Mill Hill and even went out over the beach at one stage before disappearing west into the sun. At least I'd seen them at last. Hopefully they'll hang around and maybe the Shore Larks are still present?

I had a skirt around the southern end and was rewarded with a Stonechat in Old Hive copse. I then made the long trudge back to the car through thick mud and that was that. A great start to the Year. As this is my first January as a kept man I'm thinking of doing a Village day list. I'm just waiting for the right day weather wise?

Tomorrow I'll be sorting my lists out for the New Year. Whatever you decide to do I hope things work out well for you. Let's hope things work out well for all of us, regarding the Virus...SOON!!!