Saturday 25 April 2015

Hidden Holderness

On Friday we made our one and only trip this year to a hidden little corner of Holderness. We shared cars to a remote lane. As soon as we opened the car doors I could hear a distant Lesser Whitethroat, and shortly afterwards a Yellowhammer towards us and landed in the top of a nearby bush. We walked down a thick Blackthorn hedge getting closer to the Lesser Whitethroat and passed a skulking Common Whitethroat. We were unable to locate either of these birds, but we did see at least 3 Hares. Linnets flew over us at times, and a Meadow Pipit too. 
Yellowhammer
 Sheep leading the Sheep
 Record shot of Marsh Harrier
 Meadow Pipit
The walk along a floodbank didn't add much, but we did see 3 Shelduck, at least 5 Little Egrets, and a Curlew. A female Kestrel flew overhead, whilst ahead of us we could just make out a male Marsh Harrier. We had to pass through a field of very noisy sheep. Ten minutes with them and we emerged with relief to a quieter piece of countryside. 

 Record shot of Marsh Harrier
 Sedge Warbler
 Willow Warbler
 Ditto
 Little Grebe
 Lots of Lipstick on this female Kingfisher

We arrived at a scrubby area, and here we heard and saw Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap. A little further on and we could just make out a distant Cuckoo, but unfortunately it came no nearer. We entered the hide four at a time. Here, we enjoyed good views of a Kingfisher, with the most striking amount of lipstick I've ever seen. There was a Greylag Goose on a nest, a pair and a single Little Grebe, and another pair of Mute Swans. A Goldfinch sang nearby, and then the strident tones of a Song Thrush rang out. We returned using a different way, but we hardly added any new species at all!

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