Normanby Park Spring Bird Up-date

I have been quite concerned this spring with bird activity in the park - last spring we had 3 pairs of breeding Nuthatches but I only managed to see one juvenile and I remember thinking last spring in general that species across the board semed very low on juveniles( see post June 09).  Today happily I have managed to find one pair of Nuthatch which I assume will breed and also just one pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers - it seems we have lost our Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers.  Other than 3 singing Blackcaps and 2 Chiffchaffs there was very little else in the way of bird song but at the bird feeding station which had been freshly supplied with seed there were 20 Grey Squirrels and not one bird in sight.  I have no proof but a gut reaction tells me that perhaps last springs breeding was possibly decimated by the squirrels hence the lack of bird song this spring - however it is still early and still cold.  I have thought about our very cold winter and its affect on our small birds but I did have some singing Wrens this morning and against everything I have just said our Treecreepers seem in a healthy state with at least 3 pairs seen - I shall continue to monitor!

Skunk Cabbage Time in Normanby Park

After my trials with the snowdrops I nearly avoided the Skunk Cabbage but they are so dramatic it just had to be done so.....

White-Tailed Eagle - Lincs or E Yorks

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/opendata/viewer/

There seems to be a little confusion as to whether our Eagle was in Lincs or not so just to clear things up,  if you click the above link type in Whitton, zoom out one click and select the Boundary Layers tab you will see that the Lincs boundary goes straight through the middle of Whitton Sands and as the Eagle was on the South Eastern edge of the Island it is clearly a Lincs tick!

White-Tailed Eagle Video Whitton Sands

White-Tailed Eagle on Whitton Sands

It has been 21 years since Wayne last saw a White-tailed Eagle in the Scunthorpe Reporting Area so this evenings viewing from Alkborough over to Whitton Sands was quite special to say the least.  The Eagle flew over Blacktoft Sands at around 4.00 and was picked up by Graham Catley on Whitton Sands feeding on what seemed to be a Greylag.  We watched it for around an hour before it headed off across the Humber into Yorkshire - it does look better if you double click on it!

Spring Migrant

First Blackcap singing in Normanby Park this morning (heard from the bottom of our garden) - the weather today is grey and windy, no Easter sunshine for us.

Kestrel with prey

Great White Egret - Alkborough

Finally caught up with the Great White Egret last night - it has been commuting between Blacktoft and Alkborough since Monday, disappearing for long spells and returning late afternoon. The weather last night was horrendous so no photos but may get some this weekend if it hangs about.

Woody

We have had  a pair of Woodpigeons hoovering up our bird seed all winter and now they appear to be in a relationship together! - it struck me that this blog was primarily set up to document what was going on in our garden and to try and get some good images of all our visitors so with that in mind......

Weekend Migrants and update on Redpoll sp

Spent most of Saturday back at Owlet Plantation looking for the Redpoll sp but no luck despite it being seen before we arrived - I'm afraid the jury is still out on this one having spent many hours on the internet it seems to me nearly impossible to tie this one down short of catching it and getting the ring off its' leg.  Although the bill structure does push more towards a Mealy.

New migrants for the weekend include two Wheatears on Risby Warren and a Swallow flying around the garden this afternoon.

First sign of migration in the Park

My first Chiffchaff in the Park this morning but still no Lesser Spots and still only one Nuthatch.  Its amazing that only a few miles away in Scawby, Nuthatches have paired up, calling all the time and are nest building whilst here in the Park there is no activity at all. However the Treecreepers seem to have survived the winter with at least six individuals paired up.

Further up the road at the Normanby Enterprise Park we have 5 pairs of displaying Lapwing and 2 pairs of Oystercatchers quite amazing for a scrappy piece of land.

First migrants and a definitely maybe Arctic Redpoll

Beautiful weather today and my first spring migrants - started the day at Bagmoor with a Chiffchaff and 3 Sand Martins, we then moved on to Normanby Enterprise Park where we had our first Little Ringed Plover together with a Green Sandpiper and a seldom seen pair of Grey Partridge.  Then our first dip of the day no Hawfinches at Forest Pines but did have a Crossbill so then moved on to Scawby Park where we had a pair of Nuthatches nest building plus two other calling males but again no Hawfinches.  Back on the road to Messingham where we had two Chiffchaffs and several small groups of Sand Martins and 5 Avocets also still there is the female Scaup on the back pond.  Final stop at Laughton Forest where in Owlet Plantation we had a Redpoll sp (see below images) - it looks good for an Arctic but we didn't see the undertail coverts - it was also ringed so we will try and find out some history if possible.