The joys of spring

Male Brambling, Flamborough lighthouse (Click on images to enlarge) 

It's been a sketchy early spring for me with work, family and friend commitments prioritised over birding, but this last few days has seen lots of time in the field, and lots of spring indicators to point us in the right direction.

One of many Black-headed Gulls on the move down the Humber 

Tuesday was a long, windy, but mostly sunny day surveying on the industrial banks of the Humber at North Killingholme, where highlights included fresh-in Willow Warblers and Blackcaps in the scrub, a Merlin hunting Skylarks over the factories, a strong passage of Black-headed Gulls east along the river, and coming-into-breeding-plumage Black-tailed Godwits furiously feeding up before their imminent northbound journeys.

Gadwall, North Cave
 

Gannet collecting nesting material at Bempton 

Wednesday was altogether calmer (and genuinely warm and sunny), which was spent surveying on the opposite bank of the Humber, at Paull / Saltend and Newton Garth. Highlights here included fly-through Ring Ouzel, Yellow Wagtail (both firsts for the year for me) and Swallows, while a stop-off at North Cave Wetlands on the way home included Little Ringed Plovers, more Willow Warblers, Common Scoter, and multitudes of Sand Martins attending the nesting colony.

Still plenty of Avocets on the river 

Yesterday I finally got some coastal birding in, meeting Toby for a, er, Zeiss meeting over at Flamborough and Bempton (all the most productive meetings take hours strolling coastal clifftops, as you know). It was fairly quiet, but we eked out a nice selection of migrants, including Brambling, Yellow Wagtail, Common Whitethroat, Swallows, Willow Warblers and more (and had a very pleasant time too).

That's me done for a while, as Scotland beckons, for our second School of Birding of 2026. More to come from there anon.

Black-tailed Godwits on the Humber

Last Exit to Berlin

A few last bits and pieces from our time in Berlin. Places are now available for our March '27 tours - see here for more (mine begins on 8th).  

White-tailed Eagle (above), a nice soupy European Robin (below)

Nuthatch (above), Hawfinch (below)

White-fronted Geese (above), Red Squirrel (below)

Short-toed (and long-billed) Treecreeper

Berdliners

Mitch, Rich and I birding Tempelhof 

A little touristy post before the last birdy one from Berlin (mostly from last weekend)....

Berlin birder-friend drinks in Kreuzburg

My group on Peacock Island (just after a close-up Black Woodpecker session)

I headed out for runs at the first opportunities, which were last Saturday and Sunday, both in / around Tiergarten, both great, both including Goshawks, Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, Hawfinches and more; the former was especially memorable for the timely, coincidental closure of the Straße des 17. Juni - meaning my 8km run was a weirdly peaceful, slightly surreal sightseeing adventure....

...when I also bumped into Rich's group -

birding with Mitch, north of the City

Woodpeckers of Berlin

Woodpeckers were a ubiquitous presence while in Berlin, with the abundance of the commoner species particularly striking; Great Spots are everywhere, Middle Spots well distributed, and Green well scattered, while Black was happily wonderfully accessible (see last post), and Lesser Spotted - while very elusive - completed a five 'pecker set on our recon of Peacock Island.

Middle spotted (above), Black (below)

Lesser Spotted (above), Great Spotted and Green (below)

Berlin, March '26 - Black Woodpeckers

 

While there can of course be only one headline act on a tour we titled Goshawks of Berlin, that's not to say the support acts didn't give them a serious run for their money....

  

In the leafy south-western borders of Berlin, Pfaueninsel - Peacock Island in English - is an island on the river Havel, reached by the shortest ferry crossing you can imagine (under a minute?) and famed for its, well, Peacocks, and odd, garish, Prisoner-esque follies. But for us, it's a birding paradise, within easy reach of the city centre....

 

... and boy, is it full of birds. We've enjoyed our recons here and were full of hope that the same diverse range of species would play ball for our visiting teams; we needn't have worried, with quality birding from start to finish.

Legendarily elusive (even when you know where they're supposed to be breeding), and therefore a real bonus for us was this magnificent pair of Black Woodpeckers, who had fortunately set up a territory right where we wanted them, a just a few minutes from the ferry..... a serious stroke of luck!

We had the pleasure of watching them at great length, initially interacting and then committing to excavating a fresh nesting hole, a serious undertaking which made them all the more ambivalent towards us.

Whether they return next year or not, it's impossible to say - we hope they do, for our groups in March - but either way, we got really lucky this year, for which we're very grateful.....

Sex and death in Berlin

(Click on images to enlarge - Blogger is unkind to these smaller versions)

After the trips were done (more on those to come), this weekend was free - to bird, run, meet friends, go out for drinks and generally make the most of our time here. Yesterday, after another fine run in Tiergarten (Goshawks, Short-toed Treecreepers, Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, Hawfinches, etc? Yup), we hooked up with my dear friend Michel and headed over to his local patch, Viktoriapark...

Mitch has been checking the Goshawks here for a while, and there's an active pair, which we soon caught up with. The male was initially in the treetops, but as we stood chatting in the middle of a busy Sunday's activity, he took off, swooped almost vertically, and to our astonishment, picked up prey literally at our feet; which is where he stood, ignoring us, for a few seconds before swooping up to a nearby branch to rip up and consume his quarry.

Now, a key element of our tours here is of course getting unrivalled views of these usually shy, elusive beasts, but this was off the scale even for us - a heart-stopping, expletive-inspiring experience we'll perhaps never repeat.

After watching this fire-eyed male for a good fifteen minutes and (re)acquainting myself with this fantastic park (great habitat and views), we heard the female calling nearby - who was then joined by the male in a loud embrace, as copulation was, er, evidently taking place....

Look closely (if that's your kind of thing).....

Sex, death and more Goshawk drama than we could've hoped for - quite a final afternoon here in this wonderful city.

If you'd like to join us on next year's trips, they're already up on the website - click here for more (mine begins on the 8th).