Far Ings for Bittern

As the weather forecast was good I decided on a return visit to Far Ings for an extended session in Ness Hide in hopes of seeing and photographing bittern.  One of the reserve's specialities, bitterns are members of the heron family and breed exclusively in reedbeds, feeding on fish, frogs and insects.  The song or 'boom' of the bittern is peculiar, far-carrying and very low and foghorn-like.  Once heard it is never forgotten and can be heard in the spring during mating time.  They are masters of camouflage and often stand with their beaks pointing to the sky and are nearly impossible to pick out from the surrounding reeds.

Although sunny it was a very different day to my last visit with a strong cold wind that blew straight into the hide.  I have had some very cold and long sessions in this hide and the three hours here today were no exception and sadly the bitterns did not put in an appearance. (The images here is ones from the archives).  During my time in the hide the gadwalls again gave good views while the tufted ducks and goldeneye remained distant.  A family of swans gave very close views while a cormorant amused those present as it grappled, unsuccessfully, with a large eel.  At one point a sparrowhawk perched on the reeds in front of the hide without giving clear shots before flying off.
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Bittern

Bittern

Cormorant with eel.

Male Gadwall

Heron

Heron

Reedbed

Mute Swan

Mute Swan

Mute Swan

Mute Swan

By the time I left Far Ings the weather had clouded over, but I decided to visit Bonby Carrs on the way home.  Again there was very little in the way of bird life, although it was very quiet and peaceful, the only sound that of running water.  There were mallard and teal in the drain and flocks of lapwing, fieldfare and starlings with one kestrel.  Continuing my journey home I drove up onto Elsham Wold on the way down to Melton Ross.  High on the Wolds the view out over the Ancholme Valley was extensive.  I was amazed at one point to realise that the view stretched over Wrawby to Lincoln Cathedral, silhouetted on the skyline of the Lincoln Edge. 

View over Wraby to Lincoln Cathedral from Elsham Wold.

An Introduction to Far Ings.

Brian had never been to Far Ings and was keen to do some bird watching so it was an opportunity to visit.  Far Ings National Nature Reserve is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estary at Barton-upon-Humber and is on a major east-west flyway for migrating birds.  The reserve is one of pits and reedbeds which are a legacy of the tile and cement industry between 1850 and 1959.  Rich in wildlife it is managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and is one of the UK's strongholds for bittern.

It was a drab sart to the day but the sun came out as we arrived to give superb light.  We started our visit in the double decker hide at Ness End Farm.  This hide gives excellent views of the lake and reed beds and is perhaps the best for wildfowl, bittern and kingfisher.  While we were in the hide, a small party of gadwall came close with goldeneye and other species in the distance.  Handsome goldeneye are one of my favourite ducks.  They over winter with us and breed in forested areas in Scandinavia and northern Russia in holes in trees, although there is a small breeding population in the far north of Scotland.  

From Ness Hide we followed the visitor's trail around the reserve calling in at three other hides.  Once on the Humber bank we made our way to the Ropewalk in Barton where we met the ladies for lunch.

Species seen:

• Gadwall
• Goldeneye
• Mallard
• Coot
• Magpie
• Cormorant
• Blackbird
• Dabchick
• Great Crested Grebe (still in winter plumage)
• Curlew
• Mute swan
• Shelduck
• Wigeon
• Redshank
• Shoveler
• Blue tit
• Robin

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Gadwall

Gadwall

Gadwall

Goldeneye

Goldeneye

Mute Swan

Wigeon

Pink-feet at Bonby and Beardies at Alkborough.

Another day of good weather was forecast today so I set out early planning to go to Bonby Carrs, an area of farmland and water meadows in the Ancholme valley between the spring line villages on the scarp slope of the Wolds and the river.  There had been a sharp frost and skies were clear as I turned off the motorway onto Elsham Wold.  The temperature was 2C but as I descended into the valley it plummeted to -1C with some mist - a classic high pressure temperature inversion.  As I approached Bonby village a large skein of pink-footed geese flew over; a stirring sight.  When I reached the end of Carr Lane I could see the huge flock of pink feet feeding across the far side of the water meadow.  Sadly too far for respectable photography.  It was a huge flock though 1000+ at least.  I could hear a constant chattering from the geese, especially when groups periodically took to the air.  They sounded like the yelping of hounds and I was reminded of the wild hunt of Herne the Hunter chasing down 'the dark' in Susan Cooper's wonderful book The Dark is Rising.  With nothing else to see on the carrs apart from a couple of buzzards which were again too far away for photography, I decided to head off to Alkborough Flats to see if the bearded tits were playing.

Things were looking more optimistic when I parked up at Alkborough as I could see a group of bird watchers/photographers who obviously had their sights on the beardies.  I was delighted that a flock of approximately twenty soon arrived and provided challenging photography as they fed on reed seeds, clinging to the stems of the reeds which then swayed from side to side.  Isolating birds for the reeds was difficult and they were also somewhat against the light.  After a while I went off to chase up some reported stonechats and to have some lunch.  I then returned to the fray to find that the birds had moved to the other side of the path and were perfectly lit.  Although I have seen and  photographed bearded tits before I have never had such prolonged and close contact.  It was a real privilege.

Although my main focus was on the bearded tits there were other birds about.  Skeins of geese periodically flew across and the call of curlew rang across the marsh as the flew over the reeds.  A heron flew over and and an egret lifted off the lagoon.  From the hide I saw mallard and teal quite close and a group of whooper swans were on the far side of the lagoon.  There were teal and shelduck and I could hear the magical whistling of wigeon from another, nearby, lagoon.
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Julian's Bower with the flats behind.

Alkborough Flats

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, female

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, female

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, male

Bearded Tit, female

Reed Bunting

Stonechat, female

Stonechat, male

Stonechat, male

A Frosty Woodland Walk

After a mild winter so far the last few days have been clear and bright and yesterday we had quite a hard frost, although in Grimsby temperatures have barely got to zero.  What we have had, though, is extremely high pressure air, up to 1050 mb today, the highest since 1958.  On Sunday we took Jet out for a walk in Willingham woods, enjoying the bright sun and hard frost on shady areas.