After paying for my permit for the day and getting the kit together i made my way down the eastern side of 'D'Res and down to Hempholme Lock.
Note book entries were few and far between,but included a hand full of Siskin,2 Great-spotted Woodies and the obligatory Kingfisher on North Marsh,which incidentally was frozen....yes frozen,the first frost of the winter so far!.
As i neared Hempholme meadow a couple of female Roe Deer added some welcome interest to the days sightings.
At the Lock itself and along the River Hull,a few notables included a lovely Grey Wag,2 female Goldeneye and at least 10 Little Grebe.The river here was very full after all the recent rain and several large clods of grass were floating by.
After leaving the lock a juvenile Swan flew out of the adjacent pond,flew past me and looked to have landed on 'D'Res.In flight it looked to be a juvenile Whooper Swan and sure enough it was on 'D' with it's adopted Mute Swan family.This bird has no doubt got left behind from it's family when migrating and i always enjoy seeing these beautiful arctic Swans.
I continued along the side of 'D' back towards the car park,when as on many occasions before a raptor caught my eye as it flew steadily south east,a cracking male Marsh Harrier.This bird was in 'First Adult' plumage and was in at least it's 3rd year,showing some signs of immaturity still.A very welcome sighting to the days notes.
A quick refreshment stop at the car and chat to Richard the warden,then saw me heading for the southern areas of the reserve.
On arrival at the hide overlooking Watton Nature Reserve,it soon became apparent there were fairly good numbers of wildfowl,but several scans through with the 'New' scope saw nothing of note being seen,although a Fox certainly put the frighteners up them for a short while.
On to South Marsh next and the Juvenile Whooper had decided to fly down here now and was busily dining on water weed,when all hell broke loose as the resident male Mute Swan had taken a disliking to another visiting pair of Mute's and the poor Whooper nearly got entangled in the fight.After several bouts of calling from this lovely swan,he or she settled back down to more grazing and preening.
Time was getting on now and pretty much on cue Mr Hodges arrived to give me a quick tour of Tophill's winter Fungi and to partake in his nightly watch of the gull roost in which i was joining him.
As we walked through 'D'Woods we saw several winter species which included Candle Snuff Fungi,Scarlet-elf Cup and Crampball Fungi,but the cream of the crop was the Benzoin Bracket Martin showed me.This is a fairly rare species and certainly a new one for myself and the only example of the species on the reserve and had been found by the 'Master' Fungi finder Doug Fairweather.
After the Fungi masterclass,it was back to the car to get the scopes for the 'Gull Roost'.
Middle hide on 'D' Res,was Martin's second home and we settled down as the gull's began to filter in.First blood went to Martin as he managed to find 2 different 2nd winter Med Gull's and i then added a 1st winter,but no 'Mich's' or anything rarer were seen today unfortunately,but it is a great experience watching this spectacle.
As it got too dark to see,we made our journey back to our cars and said our goodbyes,before heading home.A few final highlights along the approach road included a hunting Barn Owl and 3 Brown Hare,a nice end to another great visit to this brilliant reserve.
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| Hempholme Lock And The River Hull. |
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| Sunlit Greylag Geese,'D' Reservoir. |
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| Sunlit Greylag Geese,'D' Reservoir. |
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| Misty Mute Swans,'D' reservoir. |
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| Male Marsh Harrier,'D' Reservoir. |
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| Juvenile Whooper Swan,South Marsh. |
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| Benzoin Bracket,'D' woods. |
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