Operation Little Grebe 12-8-11

Having located a new family of Little Grebes I sat myself down quietly to observe the 3 hatchlings (from 4 eggs), the light was against me and despite a patient wait they just didnt come close enough to get decent shots - I shall try again another day. It was just wonderful to watch them though, and I enjoyed watching their antics. I had to have a giggle to myself as the male was working hard bringing food for the babies, however he went off for a bit and when he began to return the female called and he went over with an offering of weeds and she gave him a right telling off! Guess it was babyfood she wanted not a clump of weed! :) I also watched a Water Vole swimming across the water.
A good sighting of Hobby was a highlight today, it came over the park being given its marching orders by a Common Tern, it headed off west towards the Humber Bridge.
After a meander to the cafe for a latte and chocolate, we made our way back through the park. I was chuffed to spot a Little Egret fishing in the shallows of one of the pits but it was off after about 5 mins.
A nice few hours out and very warm though the sun refused to shine :(
We also visited the park yesterday (11th) and observed a Bittern and Kingfisher during our visit.

LITTLE EGRET

DABCHICK FAMILY (RECORD SHOT)

WATER VOLE

Here are a few shots I took today.

Far Ings NNR 5-8-11

With an early morning visit planned the alarm was set for 3am, after breakfast and cuppa to wake us up we set off around 4.30am. En route we saw a Fox and a Kestrel.
The reserve was quiet on the whole, best bird was a Hobby that flew through Ness Pit area heading towards Chowder Ness.
A kingfisher made an all to brief visit. Other birds of note were Black Tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Reed Warbler, Water Rail, Curlew and we had c120 Sand Martin through. The Tufted Duck which had 2 youngsters now only appears to have one left :(
A couple of photos of the Kingfisher are on my Zenfolio site.

Cleethorpes and Humberston 3-8-11

Up at the crack of dawn this morning in time to catch the 7am train out of Barton Upon Humber to Cleethorpes. It was already warm by the time we arrived and the tide was right in. Feeling a bit hungry we decided to set ourselves up for the day by indulging in a McDonalds breakfast before the long walk up to the Yacht Club at Humberston. On arriving at the Buck Beck area we stopped off for an hour to enjoy the company of Sand and House Martins together with Swallows who were making use of a old fence and a outbuilding. They were very confiding for photographs. Whilst watching these we had a Sparrowhawk over and also watched a Peregrine spooking all the birds out on the marsh.
Eventually we arrived at the Yacht Club but it was low tide by this time, not a lot about really.
After a few mins rest and a drink (we got through lots of drinks and ice cream today!) we headed back towards Cleethorpes centre. An hour or so was spent around the boating lake photographing the long term resident Barnacle Geese. We were very surprised to discover a lone Pink Footed Goose in amongst a large flock of Greylags!
By this time we were getting tired and  hungry so headed back up into town for a delicious meal of Fish & Chips ( with a rather tasty blueberry cheesecake for pud!) then headed on to the station for the 7pm train home. A long day but very enjoyable and made a really nice change with great weather to boot! A couple of shots  are shown here but most of todays better shots are on my website http://mandywest.zenfolio.com/

Barnacle Goose

Sparrowhawk