An hour at Twitchers Gate looking across towards the scrape on the Cleveland Lakes Nature Reserve, was quite rewarding with the highlights being 5 Little Egret, 1 pair of Pintail, 10 Red-crested Pochard, 1 drake Pochard, 1 Red Kite, 1 Oystercatcher, 5 Lapwing, 3 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone, 3 Common Tern, 2 Cuckoo, 50+ Swift and a Meadow Pipit.
Here are a few images and a record video of the Pintail, apologies for the poor quality.
Record shot of a pair of Pintail on the scrape this afternoon.
A very poor quality video, but you can just make out a drake Pintail on the scrape, with the female to his right (Martin Adlam)
One of 10 Red-crested Pochard here today, all drakes.
This is only the second time I've seen a Red Kite over the pits here. the first time was a week ago!
This Wren has a beakful of what looks like Craneflies
A smaller morsel this time for its youngsters nearby.
This Common Whitethroat is just starting to show signs of wear and tear as she continues to feed her youngsters in a Bramble.
This cob Mute Swan is on a mission, with his chest out, wings up and creating a bow wave as he pushes forward for what................!
.....................for this Swan that has dared to venture into his domain.
A fly sp.
Chironomid gnat
Another fly sp. takes off.
Golden Dung fly
And again from a different angle
A Common Carder Bee inside the flower head of a White Dead-nettle
Two 2-spotted Ladybirds
Not a moth at all, but a Mottled Sedge Caddisfly. How looks can be deceiving!
Long-jawed Orb-weaver a bit over-flashed.
Birds recorded from Twitchers Gate between 2:45pm and 3:45pm were: Great Crested Grebe, 12 Cormorant, 5 Little Egret, 2 Mute Swan, 2 Greylag Goose, 2 Shelduck, Mallard, 1 pair Pintail, 10 Red-crested Pochard, Tufted Duck, 1 drake Pochard, 1 Red Kite, 2 Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, 1 Oystercatcher, 5 Lapwing, 3 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone, Black-headed Gull, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Common Tern, Wood Pigeon, 1 Collared Dove, 2 Cuckoo, 50+ Swift, Green Woodpecker, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swallow, 1 Meadow Pipit, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Reed Warbler, Cetti's Warbler, Common Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Chaffinch and 3 Reed Bunting.
And around in the nettles and hedgerow were: Long-jawed Orb-weaver (Tetragnatha extensa), Golden Dung fly (Scathophaga stercoraria), Common Carder Bee, Chironomid gnat, Mottled Sedge Caddisfly, several 2-spotted Ladybirds and flies sp.
