I managed to get up and on the Barff with Meg & Gracie for 5.30am this morning. It was another grey and cloudy morning, very humid and 16C, just shirt sleeves and shorts for me this morning for a change, though I might have to think again about the shorts especially now that the nettles and ferns are nearly the same height as me!

It was nice to hear the Chiffchaff and Dunnocks singing their heads off this morning, I was trying to keep an eye out for the Marsh and Bee Orchids that should be beginning to show about now, though the Bee Orchids are probably another couple of weeks away which will make them harder to spot when they come through as this humid weather is making the grass grow faster than normal and the Bee Orchids tend to only be at about 4inches tall.

Further round the Barff I could hear the Garden Warblers and several Wrens making quite a noise in amongst the bramble bushes. I even managed to see a pair of Goldfinches this morning near to some Holly bushes, I always struggle to see these finches especially away from the feeding stations. I am disappointed I haven’t seen the Buzzard for about a fortnight or so, I usually see and watch a pair as they circle above the top of the Barff, always being harassed by the crows, I thought at first they may actually be nesting but as the days go on I am not sure sure. It will be an interesting few days to see if they reappear.

Back home and after breakfast I had a free morning so headed over to the reserve at Fairburn Ings for the morning. I arrived in the car park at the visitors centre just before 9.00am. The temperature had risen to a barmy 16C and it was still quite humid for this time of the day. After a quick coffee and natter with the wardens I headed over to the ‘Pick up hide’. I was the first one there this morning, I’ll rephrase that, there was nobody there when I arrived just after 9.00am, set the camera gear up and had a good look around the usual sights. All the bird feeders were empty and stayed like that for the duration of my time at the hide. Looking out the front of the hide over the lake, the first thing I noticed was the five male mallards asleep on top of the Sand Martin wall and two mute swans also asleep, standing up, in the shallow waters of the lake. A little Egret flew in and landed in front of the two sleeping swans, it disturbed one of them as it landed on the water and after a couple of seconds of wing flapping the swans moved the Little Egret to another part of the lake. I was quite surprised how much bigger the mute swans where compared to the Little Egret, they certainly dwarfed the poor Little Egret.

I counted at least three pairs of Tufted Ducks on the lake, they looked lovely with their distinctive black and white markings especially on the male birds and that characteristic tuft on the back of their head. 

After about an hour a Grey Heron circled above before coming in to land on the left hand side of the lake. 

With the bird feeders to the right of the hide still empty I put some food of my own out for the small finches etc, I  always carry a sealed bag of bird food in my camera bag just in case. Within a matter of minutes the Great Tits were in and helping themselves, closely followed by the Chaffinch, Blue Tit and Greenfinch. The area soon cleared though when a huge Jackdaw tried to chance his arm at some of the food I had placed on a fence post. A Collared Dove, well a pair actually where having none of it and within seconds landed on the same post that the Jackdaw was on and that was the last I saw of the Jackdaw.

It was encouraging to see several Sand Martins coming into the Sand Martin wall, I counted at least four birds flying in and out of different holes during my stay at the hide which was encouraging.

I was surprised as to how quiet it was at the hide this morning only a couple of visitors other than myself there this morning. As lunch time approached I decided to head back to the visitors centre for a coffee but before I jumped into the car I walked over to the ‘swan feeding platform’ to see if there were any chicks about, I couldn’t see any youngsters at all but it was nice to see a pair of Avocets scouring the mudflats for food, let’s hope they stay on the reserve. Well that is another very pleasant morning at the reserve.