Magnolia Stellata

This is where I wish I had kept the blog template with the black background - these Stellata flowers would look so much better - but I still think they are stunning.  Our garden is particularly good at the moment with our Alpines all in flower and the Cherry Blossom at its most magnificent - if only the wind would stop so I could get some sharp images.

Dotterel on Bonby Top

Had a call from a friend who had just found this Dotterel yesterday - it was very hard to photograph as it was blowing a northerly gale with lots of heat haze(not that it was hot!).

Happy to say that the Dawn Chorus walk in the Park went well - met some lovely people and the Park's pair of Nuthatch showed well.  We are helping out with another dawn chorus walk this Saturday(8th) at Alkborough Flats at 4.30am  if anyone is interested tickets are still available from North Lincs Council and includes breakfast at the tea-room.

Annual Normanby Parish Bird Race 2010

Well it's that time of year again when we do our annual Normanby Parish bird race and I have to immediately say we did a whole lot better than last year but not as good as our record years.  Our total this year is 91 but as I write this Wayne is still out there trying to get Great Spotted Wood Pecker in the park - a bird we have never missed before!  I think our star bird of the day has to be an unexpected Grasshopper Warbler at Bagmoor with a Hobby over Burton Hills a close second - for our full list click on the tab link above. We have lost certain birds from the parish such as Bittern and Water Rail (both from Burton brick pit) and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker from Normanby Park which means we have to rely on migrants to get us into the 90's.
Normanby Park came up trumps though with an unexpected Wheatear in the Deer Park, it has been a great couple of weeks for the park if you consider the Ring Ouzels of last week.
At 5.30am tomorrow we are leading a National Dawn Chorus walk in the park and you can bet your life we will have G S Woodpecker!

Local patches today

Had lots of good stuff today, started off with my first Swift in Normanby for the year then a Treecreeper in the garden only the second record for the garden list.  I then took drive down Bagmoor Lane and recorded the following in about one mile; 4 Blackcap,  12 Willow Warbler, 6 Chiffchaff, 5 Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Wren, 1 Cuckoo.  Across the road at Normanby Enterprise I had 3 Wheatears - its amazing how they manage to find this scrappy piece of land each year.

Yesterday I did a tour of the Barton area and had my first Turtle Dove, Cettis Warblers and Grasshopper Warbler of the spring - Bittern was also booming well!

Rufous-backed Kingfisher - Thailand Video Clip

Now I have cracked uploading video courtesy of Blogger in draft I cannot resist going back to my favourite bird in Thailand!

Wheatears at Alkborough Flats

Lovely evening on the flats with great lighting for these 2 Wheatears

Annual Fix Time

Its that time of year when we just have to have a fix of Gods own country - the Yorkshire Dales, still one of the best places on earth to me.  We had a quick two day stint covering Bolton Abbey and Malham and was immediately aware that the flowers were way behind on last year due to the very cold winter the UK has just had - there was even snow still lying on the very tops, something I have never seen at this time of year so hardly any flower shots.  I'm pleased to report though that there are plenty of Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts in but sadly not a single Wood Warbler.  To see what the flowers should look like look at last years post of the same date!

 Pied Flycatcher

 Butterbur

 Wood Anenome

Bolton Abbey

Not one but three Ring Ouzels in Normanby Park

Went back in the park this evening to check if yesterdays Ring Ouzel was still there only to find that there was now three - all males.  Whilst watching them we also had 3 Whimbrels almost touch down in the deer park only to be spooked by the Jackdaws - they are probably at Bagmoor now!  Earlier this afternoon I took a drive down Bagmoor Lane and had; 5 Whitethroat, 6 WillowWarblers, 7 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcap, 2 Bullfinch, 8 Linnets.

Double click on above image to see the most incredibly long toe nails!

Jackdaws collecting nest material!

Ring Ouzel at Normanby Park

Lots of Ring Ouzels coming in to the country at the moment so delighted this one stopped off in the park - it was one of 6 species of thrush this morning plus 1 Crossbill in the model railway area.

 

Otter at MSQ

Finally got to see the Otter this morning at Messingham - it showed well for around 5 minutes, even kept getting out of the water and on to the Tern raft.  Also had 2 new migrants Reed Warbler and Whitethroat.

Messingham Sand Quarries

Here is one of four Crossbills seen today at Messingham where we also had our first Cuckoo.

Evening at Alkborough

Finally a warmish sunny evening and hardly any wind down on the flats plus lots of birds including;   8 White Wagtails, 8 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Spotted Redshanks, 2 Little Gulls and 18 Snipe.