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.

The Humber at Dawn Revisited

I was out at the caravan at the weekend and favourable tides but a dodgy weather forecast provided a quandry. Part of the attraction about photography on the Humber Bank is the sunrise and contrast with the dark and sometimes choppy waters of the Humber.

First light is also the trigger for the wildlife to come to life and if it coincides with high tide and the size of the tide isnt too big, all things are aligned.

The forecast for Sunday was dodgy. It showed cloud with no sun. I took my chance and arrived at my chosen destination for around 7am. High tide was at 6.45 so by the time I set up it was a little bit lighter and the tide had started to ebb.

Almost on cue, the first waders and wildfowl started moving as it began to brighten up as well as the first areas of mud being exposed.

It was a bit like rush hour traffic-it started with a trickle, firstly a flock of redshank took flight and could barely be seen in the gloom. Then some wildfowl-a small flock of pintail and then a few small parties of brent geese.

It got a little brighter and flocks of lapwing began to pour out of adjacent fields, closely followed by groups of curlew in various sizes.

By now the sun was almost up and swirling groups of knot were appearing in the distance.

A peregrine falcon patrolled ominously, but very predictably given the mixed menu on offer.

As the tide started to go back, mixed flocks of waders-grey plover, golden plover bar and black-tailed godwit, dunlin and ringed plover all passed by desparate to find some clear mud for their first feed of the day.

In what seemed like a matter of minutes, the tide was nearly a mile out. the waders had followed and the sun was up. It was all over so it was time to head back.

Just before I got to the car I was treated to a close fly by of a male marsh harrier.

And so another great morning in the wilderness of the north bank of the humber, with nothing but peace, quiet and wonderful wildlife came to an end.

Until next time.

Humber Estuary at Dawn

I was at my favourite spot on the Humber early yesterday, safe to say I was trying to take photos in the near pitch black!

Its such a wild place and the good thing about it, I only saw two people all day. The incoming tide pushed the birds towards me and backed up by a strong south westerly wind, it wasn’t long before the tide came in pushing the birds closer.

The highlight was the number of lapwings flying from adjacent fields onto the mudflats and back, as well as the number of pintails-they were easily the most numerous duck.

Later a walk along the floodbank yielded spectacular views of a hunting merlin as well as distant views of hen harrier and marsh harrier.

A drive through Sunk Island on the way home produced another hen harrier and 4 marsh harriers.