A change of scenery today saw me heading to a past favourite site for the day,with some nice birds on offer,i headed out after dropping Mrs R at work.
After negotiating through all the pre-work traffic i eventually made it to Carr Lane to make my final approach to the reserve,when i spotted some Swans in a flooded field,so i stopped to check them out hoping they would be Whoopers.
Sure enough after a quick scan with the scope i was enjoying some nice views of 22 Whooper Swans and a single immature Mute Swan,a lovely start to the visit.
After paying for my permit for the day and just as i was getting the kit together,first 5 Crossbill flew over my head and landed in the car park Larch trees briefly and then a Great-white Egret,things were going well i thought to myself.
After a regular kindly opened the hide for me,i sat down to scan D reservoir and after a little while i found the Drake American Wigeon,unfortunately doing what the majority of the Ducks were doing,sleeping.
I took a few phone-scoped shots and video for posterity and carried on looking for star bird number two,the Blue-winged Teal.
After some time i gave up and decided to go and have a look at the new middle hide.
Some lovely views of a flock of 7 Red-crested Pochard were seen here and included 4 drakes and 3 females,the males glowing in the sun with their fiery orange heads and strawberry red bills,very smart!.
I carried on through D Woods and up to Hempholme Lock,with some considerable flooding along this part of the site,with Hempholme Meadow being nearly all underwater.
Nothing much was seen here or along the River Hull apart from a single Little Egret.
Back up to the car park and a chance meeting with Jo and Tony Hood,saw me catching up with the female Blue-winged Teal as she followed her presumed male Shoveler escort on D Res,so two in 2 years is pretty good,after last years bird on the local patch.
This is my second Blue-winged Teal for this site,after seeing a bird here on South Marsh on the 02.12.95. at the same time and in the same scope view as a Long-billed Dowitcher!.
After seeing the Teal i said goodbye to Tony and Jo and went to look for the next goodie on O Res.
On the way i managed to find a Western-conifer Seed bug and stopped to take a few pics with the phone,my third i have seen this year.
After 5 minutes i was watching a lovely Red-necked Grebe.With patience the bird showed nicely and i managed some video and photos using my new toy,the new and improved Swarovski VPA2.
The latter is a really big step up from the first incarnation of this phone-scoping kit.
After enjoying the smart Red-necked Grebe i walked around to the hide that overlooks Watton nature reserve and saw another or the same Great-white Egret from earlier in the day.
It showed very nicely as Jo and Tony joined me again and we watched as it fished along the edge of the lake,really smart birds,i do love Herons though.
Little else was seen here,so we walked around to South Marsh.
Very little was seen on here as well apart from a small flock of Curlew and a smart juvenile Marsh Harrier which was perched up relatively close.So more phone-scoping ensued getting some nice video and photos of the Harrier and the lovely Curlew.
Well what a great visit today and this place always delivers with something of interest,i hope it won't be so long next time before i visit.
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| Drake American Wigeon,D Reservoir. |
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| The River Hull At Hempholme Lock. |
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| Another Pic From Hempholme Lock,Looking In The Opposite Direction Along The River Hull. |
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| Western-conifer Seed Bug |
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| Red-necked Grebe,O Reservoir. |
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| Belted Galloway,Near Watton Nature Reserve. |
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| Curlew,South Marsh. |
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| Cracking birds & My Favourite Wader. |
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| Juvenile Female Marsh Harrier,South Marsh. |
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