A change of scenery today, visiting one of my favourite East Yorkshire birding sites, the following is an account of my day.
After dropping Mrs R at work, i travelled over the Humber into the home county and made my way to Tophill.
On arrival, I decided to have a walk along Barmston Drain and the River Hull first, before making my way up to the reserve proper and see what was around this productive area.
After getting some warm kit on due to the fairly cold, blustery wind, i headed off. As i approached Watton Nature Reserve, a single Cattle Egret flew past me, a good start i thought and the first i have seen this year. A good scan of Watton, saw the best sighting going to a Green Sandpiper as it sheltered from the blustery wind.
Further along and as i approached Wilfholme Landing, i could now see 2 Cattle Egrets in amongst the cows on the pasture. A quick scan around of the area revealed more 'White' Herons in the form of a single Great-white Egret and 5 Little Egret feeding along the River Hull. Also along the river, was a single drake Goldeneye. Another quick scan of the pasture in the hope of an early Wheatear, saw a pair of Egyptian Geese and a single Pink-footed Goose being seen.
I retraced my footsteps back to the car and headed for the reserve and paid for my permit for the day.
After a quick drink and something to eat, i decided to look over D Reservoir first before heading through D Woods and onto Hempholme Lock.
A scan of the Res revealed 3 Female Common Scoter quite distant, but i managed a decent record video of them. Also on here were 159 Tufted Duck, 55 Goldeneye and a mixed flock of 31 Sand Martin and my first 3 Swallows of the year. It was really great to see these lovely Hirundines again and they gave some nice views in front of the hide.
More scanning from this viewpoint, saw the lovely sight of 2 Red Kites over the Decoy Woods nearby and a cracking Peregrine.
I then made my way through D woods and down to Hempholme, the only highlight was a kingfisher on North Marsh and a Great-white Egret along Barmston Drain.
As i looked around Hempholme Lock, there was a tractor ploughing one of the fields and one of the Red Kites from earlier flew in and gave some lovely views. I know they are commoner these days, but they are stunning birds none the less and are always a real pleasure to see.
After arriving back at the visitor centre car park, i headed towards the southern part of the reserve.
South Marsh had quite a few nice birds which included a smart 2nd summer Med Gull and a pair of Marsh Harriers. It was nice to bump into Tophill regular Martin Hodges here, after a long gap. After seeing Martin we parted ways and i headed up onto the new observation area which over looks O Reservoir.
First scan and i quickly picked out a Redhead Smew, in amongst a small group of Goldeneye, a nice bonus bird as i thought the wintering birds had all left. Also on the res was a single female Common Scoter adding to the earlier birds on D res. This bird spent most of the time i watched it asleep, no doubt getting its batteries recharged for its nocturnal migration to the Irish Sea.
Final goodie of the visit as i returned to the visitor centre car park, was a lovely Tawny Owl as it roosted in a pine tree, a great end to a superb day out.
A good total of 80 species was recorded on today's visit, proving this extensive site to be really good for birds.
The following are my favourite photos from the day, all taken with my Google Pixel 10 Pro phone or Google Pixel 10 Pro through my Swarovski ATX85 telescope.
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| Barmston Drain |
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| Green Sandpiper, Watton Nature Reserve |
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| Hempholme Lock |
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| South Marsh |
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| South Marsh From The New Observation Area |
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| O Reservoir |
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| Jumping Spider Sp. Salticus scenicus |
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| Roosting Tawny Owl |
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| D Reservoir |
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| Female Robin |
