The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Further to a lead and site directions from Dean Nicholson, I went today for Spotted Flycatchers at Fillingham Lake, just N of Lincoln (11.15 - 1.30pm).

Once I had eventually taken up an observation point at the stakeout, at a corner of the Lake, which covered some 75 - 100 yards of tree branches (mainly Ash) overhanging the water's edge, I didn't have long to wait before catching sight of a Spotted Flycatcher flying amongst those branches. In fact, there were 2 adults covering more or less the entire observed stretch and each adult was flying into leafy trees (Ash and Oak) with beakfuls of insects and returning empty-beaked to continue flycatching.

Try as hard as I could, and at the risk of getting a permanent neck-crick, I was unable to fix my binoculars on any young.....they were always too deep in thick foliage of which I could only see the outer leaves.

I also disturbed a Little Egret at the water's edge. It flew to perch on a nearby dead branch before flying across the Lake.

With thanks to Dean for the friendly action of passing such welcome gen to a member of another Lincs birding club.....much appreciated : active Lincs birding cooperation can rule, OK.

Freddy
PS.....On the way back to BBH, I had to pass Riseholme College....so I called in and found (as expected) the adult Spotted Flycatchers feeding the fledged young. (See other post).

Remarkably I found more Spotted Flycatchers today in Woodhall Spa - to add to the pair I found earlier by the church and the 2 pairs found by Mike Harrison in the grounds of the Dower House Hotel. The first was a group of 3 at the junction of Green Lane and Stixwould Road; the second was in Spa Road just by the Coronation Hall, and consisted of at least 5 birds; I found it hard to keep track as they were extremely active, and moved around in all directions; the high winds didn't help. It is possible that they are from the DH Hotel - only a few 100m away, but they did disappear round the back of a nearby house. Possibly 5 pairs in the area?

Presumably these are local birds? Although I've not seen them before, I have not checked these two sites recently.

Rob

Robert,
As it was such a pleasant, sunny late afternoon, and with the wind having dropped appreciably, I couldn't resist visiting Woodhall Spa and following up your post.

a. Coronation Hall area, Spa Road.
I spent an hour there, 5.15 - 6.15. On my arrival, there was no Sp Fly activity visible in the trees near the Hall so I walked around the area, including through the small wood alongside the Hall but there was nothing to report. However, on my return to the Hall Car Park, a flurry of activity across the road, in the garden of the house opposite the Hall, caught my eye. 2 Spotted Flycatchers had flown onto the TV aerial and they were shortly joined by a 3rd bird. A 4th bird then landed on a bush nearby......all 4 being adults. Perched was perched and quite restful but then the flight activity began....rather like aerial tag, the Sp Flys dashed around, twisting and turning with occasional (near?) beak contact included, all lasting on and off for a good 20 minutes. As you said in your post, Robert, " extremely active, moving around in all directions"....and such was the flurry of ongoing activity, there could have been 5 birds, but I certainly counted 4. A charm of 10 -15 Goldfinches also arrived nearby and they exhibited their own brand of 'hyperactivity'.
Thanks for the lead, Robert, .....a most enjoyable experience.

b. Junction of Green Lane and Stixwould Road. I spent 45 minutes there, 6.25 - 7.10pm, initially concentrating on the area near the house on the corner. It wasn't long before I was joined by the inquisitive owner and his young daughter. He said that he wasn't a birdwatcher but when I described the characteristics of the Spotted Flycatcher, he exclaimed that he had 'regularly seen them in his garden during the summer' and he sent his daughter into the house for 'the bird book'. The illustration of Sp Fly confirmed his thoughts. However, they weren't in his garden this evening or nearby.....so I drew a blank on this occasion. I surmised Sp Flys had nested in or near the garden and you may well have seen the family group or part of the family group earlier today.

Freddy

A Day Out in NE Lincolnshire

Today (Sun), I decided to follow up 2 recent Spotted Flycatcher reports from NE Lincs.

a. Anthony Bentley - 13 Aug...Hatcliffe area
Further to Anthony's directions (incl map), I arrived at the Hatcliffe site ( SW of Waltham ) just after 11.00 this morning. The actual stakeout required a 10 - 15 minute walk but....bad luck ...just before I reached the stated pond area, blocking my path was a group of 4 massive Highland Cattle (incl. a Bull), all with mega-horns...you never mentioned those, Anthony, but perhaps they weren't around on your visit. While I was contemplating a Plan B to access the stakeout who should arrive, as it turned out, no other than the young farmer's wife (or the farmer's young wife ?), accompanied by 2 large Hungarian Vizla dogs.....apparently one of only 7 recognised breeds that hunt, point and retrieve (HPR) - we all learn something new every day. She assured me that the Cattle were docile and accompanied me to the pond area, where she continued her walk as a Buzzard circled overhead and a Red-legged Partridge happened to appear just ahead - the dogs froze and went into their pointer mode.

I stayed around the pond area for 30 minutes or so but for some time no Spot Fly showed. However, eventually, a blob of 'white' appeared on a branch towards the bottom of a tree by the pond......a juvenile Spot Fly, which then spent some 5 minutes preening in the sun. Anthony had seen a family but I saw just the one juvenile. As I edged a little closer, it suddenly retreated back into the branches, unlike an adult which would have flown.

On the way back to my car, I passed the young farmer's wife/dogs plus the (definitely) young farmer himself plus a co-worker, standing next to their Range Rover and discussing the nearby Highland Cattle. Whilst briefly chatting to them, the subject of vicious dogs arose and they were all intrigued as, at their request, I demonstrated the usefulness of my Dog Dazer/Repeller on their 2 Hungarian Vizlas.....an immediate cringing stance accompanied by a deep growling. (I never walk in the countryside without my trusty Dog Dazer.) Anyway, it was enough of such pleasantries and time to move on to the next stakeout.
Thanks to Anthony for the lead and directions.....it was a most pleasant morning.

b. Dave Bradbeer - 13 Aug...an area c 2 Kms walk W of Tetney
Dave had forewarned me about the longish walk W from Tetney village to the Spot Fly site. However, checking my Ordnance Survey Map, I noticed that a much shorter route (c. 500m) was possible by parking at the Disused Railway Line on the road which runs E from the A16 to Tetney and walking along the roadtrack running S next to the disused line. In the event, I was able to park (c. 1.30pm) on the metalled road pull-over opposite Station House.

The whole 500m stretch from Station House running alongside the disused line to the Spot Fly site consisted of horse paddocks to the left and tall, mainly Hawthorn and Elderberry to the right. In the very first paddock there were
5 Yellow Wagtails
3 Pied Wagtails
among the horses.

Arriving at the stakeout area at the junction of the Tetney roadtrack and the disused line roadtrack, I had immediate views of an adult Spot Fly flycatching amongst the Hawthorns and the Elderberry bushes. Occasionally it would fly over the trees/bushes to the far side of the disused line where perhaps it was feeding a youngster ( Dave had seen an adult feeding one young on Aug 13). Unfortunately, heavy cloud cover now arrived and the Spot Fly disappeared. I used a nearby old tunnel underpass to access the far side but there was nothing to report there.

Also noted
1 Hobby flew over
Charm of 6-8 Goldfinches

Thanks to Dave for the lead and location details.

All in all, a most pleasant and interesting day out in NE LIncolnshire, including 2 more Spotted Flycatcher sightings in totally different settings.

Freddy