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
The mixed singer still present as of April 20th and now doing 99% Willow Warbler song
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
2cy Great Black-backed Gull 120 on the challenge list - thsi bird was actively seeking out Mallard broods in the reedbeds a seemingly odd behaviour for this pelagic species.
121 House Martin one of four seen last week but oddly none since - hopefully better images in better light later
122 Sand Martin - another species to improve upon
123 Sedge Warbler - my first shots of the spring - hopefully some display flights at some point
One of the local female Sparrowhawks starting nest building this week
Nice to see even a small flock of Swallows after last year’s dismal showing - at least 20 this day
A close encounter with a Treecreeper around trhe pits earlier in the month
124 Grey Partridge a male chasing a potential mate - not all images need to be full frame portraits - this is good breeding habitat unlike 95% of Lincolnshire farmland
125 Yellow Wagtail - and the dreaded barbed wire fence
natural barbed wire
126 Reed Warbler - my first this year was on the 8th and my earliest ever was on April 2nd 2024 - back in the late 1970’s we never expected Reed Warbler until the first week of May but now there are loads in my late April - changing migration patterns related to climate change
early birds are typically much less visible than later in the spring as they sing from well down in the still dead brown reed stems - this one was almost cisible this morning then of all things a male House Sparrow landed in the reeds and first a Cetti’s then this Reed Warbler took exception to its presence
127 Grasshopper Warbler - never seen one on a brick post before - part of the infrastructure of the old brick and tile works in the local pits
always value early spring views as you never know when you will see one again until July
initially very difficult to see in low dead reeds
and a couple of Sedge Warblers from a reedy warbler kind of day
Sedge Warbler with a difference
My earliest ever Garden Warbler, by one day, becomes 128 on the challenge list and a species that I often struggle to photograph at all let alone in spring so this male was a nice addition to the day
129 Lesser Whitethroat - although only in for a few days this male was nest building today and had attracted a female but she seemed less than impressed with his nest and disappeared west
Love the colour of the newly opened leaves
Not a species I have many spring images of
130 Tree Pipit - some memorable encounters yesterday on the forest heaths - a series of flight images and a mid-air fight linked above in another blog post
One of the fight images with a male coming up underneath another male that has just about turned itself inside out
131 Hobby - a pair back locally yesterday - better images hopefully as the spring progresses but great to have them back
