Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

On 13th August I took the two oldest to Yorkshire to visit the family for a week. Landing at Leeds-Bradford Airport is so much easier than Manchester and the drive to East Yorkshire is so much easier, it’s a pity that there are not more flights a week there. After seeing 3 or 4 Red Kites in the Wharfe Valley, we didn’t do much else that evening but the next morning I had plans. There had been a Turkestan Shrike at Bempton for ages and ages, late June in fact, and I was very surprised that it was still there after all this time. Turkestan (or Red-tailed) Shrike was part of Isabelline Shrike in old money, a species which has now been split in two. I had seen Isabelline Shrike before, back in the 90s, and, although it has not been officially accepted as such, that bird was clearly the “other” Isabelline Shrike (usually known as Daurian Shrike). So, technically, Turkestan Shrike would be a new bird for me.

As the bird had been there so long I didn’t feel that it was necessary to get there at the crack of dawn but, the temperatures were forecast to be very high again and we didn’t want to go too late. So we had our breakfast and me and Aidan set off for Bempton around 8-ish. Driving there in bright sunlight, expecting a roasting morning, as we drove north out of Bridlington we noticed it getting a little hazy. Approaching Bempton village, it was starting to get quite misty and as we drove up the approach road we suddenly entered a blanket of fog and could barely see ten yards in front of the car. Well at least we wouldn’t get too hot and we headed off towards the invisible sea.

Kittiwake - Bempton, 14 Aug 22 - an unedited pic of the closest bird on the cliffs - somewhat of a foggy day, we never saw the sea!

We soon learnt from returning birders that the shrike was still present and we hurried along the cliff path and cut inland to follow a hedge. We were not sure where along this hedge the bird was meant to be but it soon became clear as we came across a group of birders and photographers lurking in the mist. The Turkestan Shrike was the epitome of “showing well” as it sat in the hedge feeding on insects that it caught by swooping off its perch and pouncing on them. We mainly saw it catch wasps and hold them by the sting until they were dispatched.

Turkestan Shrike - Bempton, 14 Aug 22 - showing well despite the fog

the shrike is the small pale blob vertically above Aidan’s left elbow

Despite the close views it was difficult to get decent photos as it was so dark and dingy. As the morning went on there were brief periods when the fog thinned out and I managed some good photos in the end. I am not one for staring at a rare bird for ages so we headed off before the sun came out. There was surprisingly few other migrants in the area.

The day grew very hot and the kids sheltered indoors, but I went for a walk along the chalk stream that runs through Driffield. The local kids and dogs were jumping in the clear waters so there were very few birds to be seen, although I did see a Green Sandpiper fly over the trees and away. Just beyond the stream was quite a nice meadow with some dried-out ponds which were both full of wildflowers and insects. Common plants such as Meadowsweet, Angelica and Sneezewort were a novelty for me as we don’t get them in Guernsey, and a new species for me was Marsh Speedwell which was growing along the edge of a dried up pond. Also round this pond were numerous Emerald Damselflies and Ruddy Darters, again two species that we do not get in Guernsey. There were a few Cochylimorpha straminea tortrix moths as there was plenty of Knapweed, and I filled a few gaps in the insect list with Alder Leaf Beetle, Common Green Grasshopper and the Bulrush Bug Chilacis typhae.

Driffield Chalk Stream - with all the news of rivers drying up in the heat, the chalk streams around Driffield were still superb. These streams are the most northerly chalk streams in the UK.

Emerald Damselfly - Driffield, 14 Aug 22

Common Green Grasshopper - Driffield, 14 Aug 22

Chilacis typhae - Driffield, 14 Aug 22 - the Bulrush heads had hundreds of these burying their heads into the fuzz

On 15th we spent most of the day in Hull and went to “The Deep” aquarium which was pretty impressive and in the evening to McDonalds in Bridlington which was literally the opposite of impressive. As we have no fast-food chains in Guernsey, in the kids’ eyes any trip to England has to involve visits to these soul-sapping edifices of culinary mediocrity (although, to be honest, the “McPlant” burger was pretty OK!).

The next day me and Aidan went for a walk along the Driffield canal and we were impressed by the amount of Brown Trout in the canal. All the large-enough streams here were chock-a-block with trout. In the afternoon we went on a train to Beverley, mainly for the train ride rather than Beverley due to the absence of trains in Guernsey. Whilst we were there we had a look round the Minster.

Brown Trout - Driffield Canal, 16 Aug 22

Beverley Minster - it was nice of the stonemasons to commemorate the egg-delivery guy

Autumn bird migration picked up a little at the start of August with a returning Wheatear at Fort Hommet on 5th and a Green Sandpiper at Grand Pre plus 2 Greenshanks at Vale Pond on 8th. Other than that, the only bird of interest was actually a patch tick for me, with a Little Tern at Port Soif on 12th. This was highly unsatisfactory though since it was a brief sighting from the car as I drove past and was unable to stop (not found by me btw, I knew it was there!). Nevertheless, a new bird for the Hommet-Rousse patch list.

Low water levels at the pond at Grand Pre

Water Fern - Grand Pre, 8 Aug 22 - the very low water levels at Grand Pre meant that I was able to explore some areas that are usually underwater - the above species was a new plant for me, not very welcome in the nature reserve.

One area of interest (if you like that kind of thing) that can be done in August is look for Yellow-legged Gulls on the beaches. The adults are pretty straight forward but the juveniles are more tricky. The main thing to remember is that these have travelled here from southern Europe and so were born a month or so earlier than the local Herring and LBB Gulls. This means that the sunny summer weather will have taken its toll on their juvenile feathers and so the brown colour is usually paler and scruffier than the local youngsters. This is a good way of picking out some probables and you can then focus on some finer points.

Looking at the bird below, you can see the paleness of the brown colour of the feathers, with narrow less-crisp pale edges. The main feathers to focus on are the tertials (the large brown feathers before and above the dark wing tips) which are usually finely edged pale with no notches, a bit of a paler smudge near the tip and obviously worn and battered, often wavy edged due to wear. Also below one on the mantle feathers has been replaced by a new grey-splodged feather - it is too early for a Herring/LBB to show this. The bill is generally dark and thick and the head is pretty whitish. These are the main features to look for in a Yellow-legged and I picked out 5 birds in just a smallish gull flock on Perelle beach on 10th August. I am no expert on immature gulls but I’m getting more knowledgeable year-on-year.

Yellow-legged Gulls - Perelle, 10 Aug 22 - right hand bird pretty standard, left hand less obvious but probably still is one.

Yellow-legged Gull - Perelle, 10 Aug 22 - another bird, even from distance they can sometimes be quite distinct.

Seagull - Perelle, 10 Aug 22 - some birds cause confusion - this is a very dark bird but shows many features of yellow-legged, and i feel that it probably is one - also, the large gulls do hybridise sometimes so unclear birds may just have unclear genes.

I had too much happening for much moth trapping in the first half of August, the best night being 11th Aug when I had a few immigrant micros such as Cydia amplana, Onocera semirubella and Nephopterix angustella.

Something new that I did focus on was Diptera or flies (other than hoverflies which I have been looking at for a while). I have always been a little wary about delving into flies as there seemed a huge amount of species and so many different families, with so many looking more or less the same. Also I didn’t feel that I had enough books to make positive ID and I found using the fly family key a little confusing. However, when you focus and read more you soon see that they are doable, especially nowadays that you can find so many keys online which can be used. I had plenty of specimens to look at and I managed to work through them all finding a few new species for Guernsey in the process.

Just A Bird

Just A Bird

Mark Lawlor's Nature Blog

Just A Bird

August 2022 - Yorkshire (part a)

August 2022

Just A Bird