Make Every Day Count

Some say that February is the quietest month of the year for birding, and from a number of species perspective, it’s probably true.

From a photographic perspective however, February presents some great photographic opportunities.

The sun is still quite low in the sky even at midday. Dawn and dusk are at reasonable times and don’t fall into the ‘silly o’clock’ bracket. There is still some great subjects to study. It can be just around timing.

The obvious thing to do is get out before dawn for some nice colour and drama and there’s no better place for that than on the banks of the Humber.Given that waders and wildfowl are the quarry, the tide times become all-important. To have any kind of meaningful session on the Humber, it has to co-incide with high tide, or more specifically just after as the mud is starting to appear and it is lit by the early morning glow of the sunrise.

There are also some great opportunities at both canal scrape and Kilnsea Wetlands hide especially in the first light-again the high tide period is best.

Finally late afternoon especially along the Skeffling to Welwick stretch can be brilliant for birds of prey but there are no guarantees and patience is most definitely the key.

One of the best places for afternoon photography can be straight off the Crown and Anchor car park photographing waders against a setting sun never disappoints again if the tide is right.

I have had some great sessions over the past few weeks and the best of my photos are below.

Thanks for reading.

Pintail

Pintail

Pintail

Pintail

Pintail

Pintail

Pintail

Gadwall

Teal

Teal

Teal

Moorhen

Teal

Mallard

Mallard

Mallard

Herring Gull

Black-Tailed Godwits

Black-Tailed Godwits

Black-Tailed Godwits

Black-Tailed Godwits

Roe Deer and Black-Tailed Godwits

Roe Deer and Black-Tailed Godwits

Roe Deer

Roe Deer

Roe Deer

Black-Tailed Godwits

Wigeon

Black-tailed Godwit

Teal

Avocet

Mute Swan

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Pied Wagtail

Redshank

Redshank and Wigeon

Curlew

Shoveller

Lapwing

Lapwing

Waders and Raptors

I had yet another great day on the Humber yesterday.

My favourite challenge in winter is to see (and photograph) as many species of birds of prey as I can in one day.

There are no guarantees but the best place to provide the best chance is the banks of the Humber between Skeffling and Stone Creek.

I arrived slightly later than planned, but took up my position about 3 quarters of an hour before sunrise was due and that also worked out at about an hour and a half after high tide.

The first bird I saw was a sparrowhawk cruising low over the mudflats sending the waders scattering.

The water was receding rapidly and there was already an expanse of mud in front of me. This proved a great place to see common waders up close, the most entertaining being grey plovers continuously calling and bickering with each other. I’m not sure if this was to do with displaying or trying to gain some pre-breeding dominance between the males. It was great to watch but a challenge to get sharp photos in the early morning half-light.

Not long after I noticed a harrier coming towards me along the saltmarsh. It must have known I was there as it banked quickly and disappeared over the sea defence not before posing quite nicely in the rising sun. Scrutiny of the photos proved that it was indeed a hen harrier.

Once the sun rose I headed along the ban. Numerous kestrels were hunting and a peregrine passed by overhead. A marsh harrier rose from a nearby field only to get mobbed by crows.

A herd of whooper swans were huddled in a field nearby and snipe seemed to be flying about everywhere no doubt unsettled by the recent freezing conditions. A flock of twite bounced around over the saltmarsh and two pink-footed geese flew up from their overnight roost.

A wander further along the bank revealed a goood number of hares in one field-at least 12.

A small falcon perched on a distant post had me reaching for my binoculars and sure enough I was adding my 6th raptor to the daylist-merlin.

I carried on scanning both flooded fields behind me and then the saltmarsh. Another harrier was approaching hunting along the bank top ducking out of sight as it went below the top of the bank. I waited as it came closer and it revealed itself to be another hen harrier. It didnt take long for it to clock me and it swept out accross the opposite field to carry on its way heading east.

By now the humber was almost at low tide so I made my way back. A fox hunting voles was a nice piece of behaviour-brought to an abrupt end once it actually caught one-it soon disappeared. Another merlin was hunting over the mud but moved off after a couple of unsuccessful sorties.

I made my way round to Welwick Saltmarsh which was unusually quiet but two distant buzzards was a welcome addition to the list.

By now the sun had gone in, I made my way round Sunk Island. I managed a fleeting glimpse of a short-eared owl and further down in the set aside was a hunting barn owl. The light was no where near as good as the week before so I headed for home.

Yet another great day out in the magnificent county of East Yorkshire.

East Yorkshire Barn Owls

On Sunday I set myself a challenge to see and photograph as many birds of prey and owls as I could. The first part of the challenge went quite well and even though I didnt get a decent photo of the birds of prey I saw, Sunday was definitely a day about barn owls.

I set off towards Sunk Island and I soon saw my first target bird of the day-a buzzard hunting over a hedgerow in the semi-darkness and far too dark for a photo. Inevitably a kestrel hunting by the roadside was the next one up.

The wind was whipping of the Humber at nearly gale force, however a tall hedgerow provided some welcome shelter for a barn owl and 2 kestrels. Again still dark for photos but the plan was going well. I continued along the back roads towards Spurn. I was hoping for a glimpse of an obliging little owl near Kilnsea Wetlands but alas no luck and precious time wasted.

I headed back towards Skeffling. No hoped for merlin but a nice view of a peregrine falcon was a nice bonus.

next stop was Welwick and almost immediately another obliging barn owl posed nicely. Again no merlin but another peregrine as well as 2 distant marsh harriers. Just before leaving a sparrowhawk shot through and posed on a distant bush again too far for a photo.

I planned on going back to Sunk Island for the last hour of daylight. As soon as I arrived there were 3 barn owls hunting over the set aside. A short eared owl caught my eye as it drifted northwards. For the next hour the barn owls put on a great show enabling some nice opportunities to photograph them backlit against the setting sun.

The short eared owl made another appearance and 3 more marsh harriers were hunting distantly over the saltmarsh.

All in all 6 raptor species, 2 owl species but the most exciting, encouraging and pleasing was to see an abundance of barn owls, and yet another day of memorable wildlife encounters in the magnificent county of East Yorkshire.