White Nun

After an eventful start to the day, which I won't bore you with, I ended up once again on the A63 heading West. The forecast was good (better than Tuesday anyway!) and the sun broke through as I reached Howden. On impulse I crossed the dreaded Ouse Bridge (30mph) and joined the M18. Time to try and see some Bewick's Swans...it had been quite a while (3 years).

I followed the directions which took me through some interesting areas of Doncaster! As I approached the site I could see the herd in the distance...and I mean distance c1 mile. There was no way of getting any closer so I...headed for Duff.

After Tuesday's deluge it wasn't a shock to see the water level had risen again, which meant little evidence of Waders! There were plenty of Ducks though and I lucked in on a female Scaup almost immediately, which pleased the couple that had just arrived. Another couple arrived and one of them spotted a Kingfisher (34) that zoomed past. Blue Tit (35) was also added. The first visitors mentioned they'd just seen the Drake Smew at Thorganby. I'd originally intended to start there...now was the time to try (I'd given up waiting for it to arrive here for my Site Tick...for now). 

I made the short journey (15 minutes) and found a space in the Village Hall car park. As I walked to the viewing platform a lady was walking towards me. She didn't have optics but she decided to walk back to the platform as she wanted to know what the birds were on the exposed riverbank. I mentioned I'd come to try for the Smew, to which she replied..."Oh, I've seen lots of those"!? That put me in my place!! She told me she liked my accent (that isn't a regular occurrence). Turned out she was a fellow Lancastrian...which explained it.

I started to scan...it looked a picture...

I couldn't find it in 30 minutes of looking. The lady left and another chap appeared, of course, he found it almost immediately! I thanked him and we watched it feeding, albeit distantly...

He also moved on and I continued watching the bird feed, although it did disappear on occasions. It was now gone 3 and I was considering making tracks as the light was fading, when...

...it flew right over my head and landed on a nearby post...

Always special

After leaving I headed back down to North Duffield Village and onto Bubwith. As I crossed the bridge it was obvious the water was still rising...

As I reached the far side, water was starting to come across the road. Looked like I'd just made it. Wouldn't be surprised if the road is closed again tomorrow...