April 2025
The photo challenge continues but being spring I am diversifying a bit on the photo front so a few non-birds in this month’s edition
To kick off April a singing male Blackcap something I have been trying to get a better image of for a few weeks
Waters’ Edge has a good breeding population of Blackcaps
My spring fascination with Blackcaps continues but I have yet to get the camera onto a female
Green Tiger Beetle in the forest
110 on the challenge list the Linnet - a still common breeding bird and record numbers in the winter with a flock of 1000+ in the Ancholme Valley
111 Spoonbill - a record shot but better images to come during the summer no doubt
I have several weeks of Short-eared Owl encounters linked here
Been coming across good numbers of Brown Hares this spring
2cy male Hen Harrier from earlier in the month
Black-headed Gulls - very smart in summer plumage
Common Lizard in the forest yesterday in a nice pose amongst the vegetation
112 on the challenge list - Cetti’s Warbler in habitat
Not difficult to hear or get deafened by but always a challenge to see
Some nice misty morning this week - a Mute Swan was one of the few birds available
misty Black-headed Gulls and a female Pochard on Waters’ Edge
A bank of fog rolling around the upper Humber
Always open to a challenge on the flying insect front as well - a Dark-edged Bee-Fly giving me the evil eye
113 Red Kite - it has taken a while to get a representative Red Kite image this year diue to my lack of travel to suitable locales but this 2cy flew over me at Alkborough today after the American Wigeon twitch
Drake American Wigeon Alkborough Flats 9th - the second for the site and clearly paired to this female Wigeon - sun made it tricky with heat haze and then cloud made it look a bit drab 114
115 Another of those that has to be done but at least they were local at Alkborough today - Egyptian Goose
116 Willow Warbler with a little proviso - this bird arrived on April 6th on Waters’ edge and it was a definite mixed singer doing about 65% Willow Warbler and 35% Chiffchaff but the call was Willow Warbler - since then it has certainly become a Willow Warbler and now only very rarely does it do any Chiffchaff song in spite of having a Chiffchaff in an adjacent territory
117 Lesser Black backed Gull — now a daily sight around town and over the garden but formerly a scarce local bird that only started breeding in the late 1990’s
On the morning of the 12th I was pleased to find two Ring Ouzels on my local patch but quickly realised that there were in fact three then amazingly four and eventually five birds together - two still there today 14th. — 118 on the challenge list
One male was very accommodating after the human traffic on the adjacent footpath died down
Such subtle and intricate pluamge details visible at close range and the beautiful sunlight helped
By standing back and anticipating the next human flushing I managed some decent flight shots
Birds are creatures of habit or should that be habitat, and I have seen a numebr of individuals in both spring and autumn in this location
119 Barn Swallow - a few local pairs have arrived early hopefully there will be more than last year’s dismal showing