Dipper

The Dippers at Wrench Green were busy flying up and down stream searching for an early morning snack. I manged to find one individual having a rest on the side of the river which didn't seem to mind having its picture taken.

Hilla Green

Mandarin Duck

Goshawk

A fantastic couple of hours at Hilla Green gave me my first good views of the year of a pair of displaying Goshawk in the valley, also the third picture of the Goshawk above was a different individual taken earlier in the day at Wrench Green, note the missing primaries and secondaries, probably been in a scuffle with another bird.

Two pairs of Mandarin Duck were on the Oxbow Lake, but as usual were very timid and I only could manage a couple of flight shots. Also present at Hilla Green were Dipper, Grey Wagtail, Jay, Mistle Thrush, Long Tailed Tit, Kingfisher and Common Buzzard.

Whitby Harbour

Herring Gull

Eider

Old Lifeboat

New Lifeboat

A trip with the family to Whitby Harbour proved to be a fun day out, not only for the ice cream and fish & chips but gaining some decent pics of a drake Eider diving for crabs on the harbour bottom. There had also been reports of a Red Throated Diver but I did not see one whilst I was there.

Garganey

A drake Garganey has been present at Filey Dams YWT Reserve for the past two days. It has taken up residence with a small group of Teal and I even noticed it displaying to a female Teal, throwing its head back and forth. Quite an early record for this bird, migrating all the way from Africa (hope it doesn't catch a cold).

Red Throated Diver

Three Red Throated Divers in Scarborough Harbour today taking shelter from the rough sea's. Also present in the harbour was a single Kittiwake with Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull and Turnstone on the pier's.

Oystercatcher

Bad weather conditions recently across the country has made me stay at home and get on with all the backup of data taken over the last month or so. Found these images of an Oystercatcher on Filey Country Park at high tide. It will not be long now before Oystercatchers and other wading birds will be heading for the moors and dales to start breeding. I am going to try and make the effort this year to track down the Oystercatcher on its breeding ground.

Spring Is In The Air

Lapwing

Brown Hare

Brent Goose with Canada Geese

Whooper Swan

A drive around Wykeham showed me that Spring has nearly arrived with Lapwings displaying and male Brown Hares boxing for their territories to find a perfect female to mate with. Another grey dull day with frequent rain showers hence the lack of sharpness and colour in the images. Also in the area was Sparrowhawk, Stonechat, Brent Goose, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, Red Legged Partridge, Pheasant, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and Kestrel.