Killingholme Avocets, 29th March 2021

The last visit of a long, entertaining, sharply contrasting survey season on the Killingholme stretch of the Humber's south bank last week. It's been the second full 'winter' (early Oct to late March) of our studies there, and species diversity and abundance is different on each visit, reflecting the time of year (and the point of each species' migration seasons), the state of the tide, weather conditions and other factors; but there is always something to enjoy, without fail.

This visit was all about the Avocets, which put on beautifully balletic performances over the Humber, and settled in close to one of my vantage points - allowing lots of time to appreciate their unique feeding techniques on the virgin mud, as pictured. I also noticed a few colour-ringed birds, for which I await details. It was also great to see my first Sand Martins of the spring, battling impressively upriver on strong winds.

Nocmig Update, March 2021 - Flamborough

"Greouw!" A first Flamborough nocmig Bittern, 1935hrs, 22nd March (recording below) 

After kicking off my Flamborough nocmig adventure back in August last year - see here and here - I started recording again in earnest (after a short midwinter break) in mid-February; and so this March was the first 'full' month of the year, and began the first spring of said activities on the Great White Cape.

   

Limited but consistent registrations in the first half of the month included regular Teal, Moorhens, Redwings and Song Thrushes on the move, with Curlew, Oystercatcher and Coot added in the second week, as well Skylark, Blackbird and Robin as the month wore on. Numbers were rarely high but both Curlew and Redwing clocked in with significant counts, echoing patterns for both species last autumn; on the 17th, for example, 82 of the former and several flocks of the latter passed over the garden.

 

As with the Filey results, species diversity increased as favourable conditions kicked in for several days from the beginning of the third week - Snipe, Grey Heron, Golden Plover and other early spring migrants were registered, before a busy night on the 21st, which included Knot, Dunlin, three Coots, and - halleluliah! - the first Common Scoters of the spring (migrating with Wigeon in the clip below).

With their overland nocturnal migration between the Irish and North Seas showing a steep spike in late March and April, Scoters are especially emblematic of early spring nocmig, and were the species that really kickstarted my beginner's adventures this time last year; I was hopeful, then, that my Flamborough recorder would see some action too, and that first beeping flock were bang on cue:

   

The bird of the month prize, however, indisputably went to the Eurasian Bittern, which croaked twice over the recorder shortly after civil dusk on the following night, the 22nd; a less-than-annual rarity on the Head. The same night saw plenty of supporting action, with 51 Redwings, Wigeon, Redshank, Robin and more all heading back to more northerly and easterly breeding grounds. 

Teal - a regular migrant on March recordings

The next night (23rd) continued the theme, with two flocks of Wigeon, Golden Plover, two Coot, Moorhen, Curlews and more, but it was the 24th that stood out for sheer volume of Common Scoter movements - a total of twelve flocks between 2100hrs and 0020hrs were a real treat, some of which were clearly substantial. Despite the stronger winds, Scoters continued to register, with another three flocks on 26th; almost as hardy as Redwings, which were pretty much a constant in small numbers every night.

Common Scoters happily lived up to their name in the second half of March 

The last few days of March saw an upsurge in Golden Plover numbers (with e.g. 11 on 29th, including singing birds on that date and the following night), further trickles of Redwings, Moorhens and other 'stock' late Mar species, and fantastically, yet more Scoters powered resolutely on during the night of the 29th, with a further seven flocks registering on the recorder - bringing the total for the latter part of the month to no fewer than 25 flocks.... 

(For full daily counts, see Trektellen here)

Nocmig Update, March 2021 - Filey

Common Scoters - nocmig legends, each and every one, with 39 flocks recorded from mid-Mar

 A whole year on from the first tentative nocmig toe-dippings (more on that shortly), and for March I was rolling the tapes at not one but all three sites - two here in Filey, and one in Flamborough (the latter summarised here soon). The two Filey recorders were in their usual positions - in a crack in the study window here in town, and just over a kilometre away up on the North Cliff - and both provided plenty of decent early spring results. As usual the house recorder was running most nights (the exceptions being especially windy and/or very wet nights), and the North Cliff one as and when opportunity allowed (although inkeeping with the ongoing nocmig addiction, this turned out to be most of the time too).

Filey Town 

Species diversity was predictably quite low at the beginning of the month, although alongside regular Oystercatchers and Black-headed Gulls were equally regular Wigeon and Moorhens, with Golden Plover, Curlew, Grey Plover and Coot all added in the first week, Water Rail and Dunlin not far behind, and the first returning thrushes - Redwing, Blackbird and Song Thrush - all trickling through. And then, as is the joy (or one of the many joys) of nocmig, a total surprise on the night of the 13th - two plus Bean Geese, a less-than-annual species here in Filey - honking throatily over the chimney pots.

   

 A similar suite of species dominated the third week of the month, with a significant Redwing exodus (74) on 16th, and further Grey and Golden Plovers, Teal and Grey Herons over the following days. On 21st, the diversity improved further still, with Curlew, Knot, Dunlin, Redshank and Oystercatcher repping the shorebirds, the first house spring nocmig Robin of the year, and two very welcome wildfowl registrations - Whooper Swans and (bless 'em) the back alley's first Common Scoters of the spring.

A productive few nights followed, with a nice range of species, thrushes very much in full swing, and Scoters starring on several nights, reflecting the improved conditions (a warmer airflow and SW winds); in addition to the migrant action, another Barn Owl registration in the middle of the night on 24th was again very notable in this wholly concrete, urban area.....

The month ended with stronger winds and thus diminished returns, but passage continued regardless and Common Scoters very much kept up their end of the bargain, with further flocks on 26th, 27th and 29th, with a Whooper Swan also on the latter date. 

Filey North Cliff 

The effort involved in placing and setting the recorder - a bit of a drag after a long day's work and with the light going or gone - may be much more than opening the window and pressing record (as with the house set-up), but after the nocmig gold of late February's Stone-curlew, it didn't seem quite as much of a pain as it might've this month...

 

Teal, Moorhen, Snipe and Grey Plover were soon on the board, with Gadwall, Water Rail, Grey Heron and odd passerines (including Skylark) added by the end of the first week. After last month's surprise Pintail over the house, a second followed, this time over the North Cliff on 7th; a quiet mid-month was enlivened soon enough with the first Common Scoters of the spring on the 18th, their evocative alien beeps harmonising beautifully with the slightly lower freqency of vocalising Common Toads on the recording....

   

 .... and, as with the house recorder, it was a busy few days that followed - with, for example, Whoopers, Scoters, Pink-feet and Wigeon, plus more passerines and waders on 21st, a notable departure of 214 Blackbirds on 22nd, more scoter action among a wide range of species on 23rd, and a further ten flocks of scoters on 24th; allowing for duplication with the house recorder, a minimum of 13 flocks overflying Filey that night. 

After a good week or more of pleasingly varied nights, as mentioned conditions at the very end of the month weren't particularly nocmig-friendly, but a nice selection on 29th included four more scoter flocks, Golden Plover, Snipe, small gulls and Moorhens on the move among others, and a small surge of Redwings (41) the following night.

     

And in the midst of celebrating last month's big surprise in the February nocmig round-up, I somehow forgot to mention another magical recording from North Cliff at the end of last month - incredibly, a singing Great Northern Diver on 28th!

For full counts and more audio clips of every night's nocmig results, see here (town) and here (North Cliff)

Bottlenose Dolphins, Filey - 28th March 2021

Another 'just nipped out to pick up my nocmig recorder and had a look out to sea' bonus - not quite a White-billed Diver, but still a pleasure: 20+ Bottlenose Dolphins heading south off North Cliff a while ago, and while the light was crap for photos, there's a few animals identifiable thanks to their dorsal fins.....

... including Runny Paint, an old female from the eastern Scottish population who we first saw off Flamborough Head in 2013, and have seen multiple times off Filey in recent years.

Goodbye, Seaside Danny Wilde

A quick commercial break on account of the release of our new album this week. Goodbye, Seaside Danny Wilde is our third studio album and is available as a download via our Bandcamp page as of now. It's a more intimate and campfirey affair than our previous records, reflective of and influenced by our exile here on the Yorkshire coast, and you can buy it (or just listen for free) HERE. 

Going Underground were kind enough to dedicate their latest podcast to the album - Graeme and I chat about the background, the influences and the making of the album and play a few choice excerpts over a cosy ten minutes. Have a listen here.

Americana UK described the album as "Richly woven and warm, these transportive tales will take you away... Something verging on holiness in its reverence...a joy of a place to escape to." You can read the full review here.

Recent Manoeuvres

Avocets - stars of the turning tides 

Despite the last couple of (celebratory, eternally grateful) posts, it's been a good few weeks since I've addressed birding in general on here of late, and in that spirit, here's a quick coughed-up furball of recent manoeuvres. Work-wise, we're surveying the Humber like crazy presently, with three ongoing projects and many days spent meticulously counting / following shorebirds on or over the industrialised mudflats of the mighty Humber; it varies greatly, from humdrum to thrilling and all points inbetween, but it's a privilege to have so many bird-related projects on the go, especially during lockdown.

Swirling murmurations of Pink-feet and confiding Wigeon on the Humber

Back on home turf, I very nearly absent-mindedly typed that local lockdown birding - pretty much confined to the Filey area - has been fairly predictable for the time of year; I then quickly remembered that I recorded Filey's third-ever Stone-curlew on my nocmig (see here), and then bumped into a White-billed Diver a couple of days ago off the North Cliff (see here), so I'll respectfully shut my trap and crack on.

An early contender for Bird Of The Year - White-billed Diver

Slavonian Grebe off the Brigg

Teal (above) and Gadwall (below)

Summer-plumaged Black-headed Gulls

Purps down on the Brigg

Lots of Yellowhammers and plenty of Goshawks up in the forest

Local Tree Sparrows claiming squatting rights for the season

Nocmig Update - Jan & Feb 2021

Common Snipe - the first species of 2021 recorded at North Cliff 

Here's a quick round-up of nocturnal migration recording up here on the coast for the first two months of the year. It being the quietest time of year and also the least conducive re: conditions, expectations were low, but after a slow start to the year, things got interesting pretty quickly... 

Filey North Cliff 

The pay-off between efforts, weather and (un)likely rewards made for just a couple of attempts up on the North Cliff in January, happily neither blank, but with just two species (Snipe and Mallard) preventing a blank slate. February saw a total of eights night's recording (with most in the second half of the month), with a steadily increasing strike rate for both species and abundance.

A (very) early reward - nocmig gold, glinting in the eye of a flyover Stone-curlew (thanks again, Lluis!)

Oystercatchers, Snipe, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes all figured in small numbers from the off; by the 16th, Pink-footed Geese, Wigeon, Lapwings and a mini-movement of 16 Redwings stirred the pot, with further additions on 21st including the first Coot, Moorhen and Skylarks, and Gadwall, Golden Plover and Teal on the following night. So far, so good, and then on the night of the 25th....

 

Filey Town 

Back at base, and the recorder-jammed-in-study-window technique, taking far less effort than the above, was naturally utilised a lot more often (fifteen nights in Jan and 16 in Feb) - the first bird recorded in 2021 being a Redwing at 0206hrs on Jan 1st (even beating Herring Gulls - a good omen?!). Otherwise, January returns were fairy modest, with Mallards, Common Gulls, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Wigeon and Teal in small numbers, an early Moorhen (6th), the odd Golden Plover, a few skeins of Pink-footed Geese, and the highlight, a flock of Barnacle Geese on 12th.

February at the house saw a slowly increasing variety, with much the same species range as January but with new additions including Grey Plover (15th), Fieldfare (24th, with a Redwing - see recording below), Lapwing, Coot and other expected early spring migrants, with a nice surprise first for the house on 21st, a Pintail -

 

 

Flamborough 

Recording commenced from mid-February and was consistently productive, albeit with a predictably limited range of species - Wigeon, Teal, Pink-footed Geese, Moorhens, Coots, Dunlins, Curlews, Lapwings, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and other early spring movers were logged in small numbers, with highlights including a Whooper Swan on 24th, and various double-figure Redwing counts, including 47 on 18th.

 

Bananarama! White-billed Diver, Filey, 9th March 2021

Well, that was a nice surprise. After a zoom meeting with Jonathan (Meyrav, rubbing it in with tales of full-tilt spring migration in Israel presently) I headed up onto the North Cliff here in Filey to retrieve my #nocmig sound recorder. A side effect of running the recorder up there is the compulsion to have a quick look around while I'm up there, and this morning, with a relatively light wind, I though I'd wander up onto the clifftop and scan the sea.....

... which was emphatically the right decision to make. The first bird I locked onto was a large diver - with an apparently large, pale bill?! Or was it a trick of the light, or holding a pale fish, or was it an aberrant pale-billed Great Northern? Initially just on the edge of IDable binocular range as pictured above (and how it could've ended, badly, there), I put it out as a possible, and prayed. On this occasion the gods were open for business and clearly in benevolent mood, as the bird came subtantially closer, and gave me lovely views for a good 15 minutes....

.... which is where I should reiterate, and appreciate, my good fortune. For all the times it goes the other way (I usually pick up the recorder earlier, I often go in a different direction, the bird could've been underwater when I scanned, it could've not come closer inshore, etc etc), this time it all played out perfectly; and it's only the second White-billed Diver I've seen here (after finding a fly-by, later clocked at Flamborough, a good nine years ago).

On that occasion, I couldn't believe my luck, seeing four species of diver in 45 minutes. This morning? Four species in 15. Hallelujah.

(Not many of these in Israel at the moment, eh J? ;-)