August 2025

August produced the first indications of Autumn with a Green Sandpiper on the river on the 10th. Other waders on the move included Lapwings, with up to 30 birds seen flying over Morton, and small groups of Curlew with a maximum count of 32 birds by Morton Bridge. Seven Snipe along the river, including one group of five, was a good count by recent standards.

The other bird records of note were my first confirmed breeding of Grey Wagtail in the village, a total of 21 Grey Partridge along the Swale on the 23^rd and a very unseasonal Meadow Pipit by the river on the same day. Peter and Andy both saw Hobbies late in the month.

Despite the warm weather it’s not been a good year for dragonflies in the village but this Ruddy Darter was only my second record in the village…

And this beast of a Brown Hawker was in the Bottom Fields, I watched it hawking for midges and at one point it took one a couple of inches from my face…

Butterfly numbers continue to be good and this extended to the Wall Brown’s with more records this year than any I can ever remember before, and including at sites I have never recorded them before…

No Clouded Yellows yet but surely only a matter of time…

I'll finish with this lovely Poplar Hawkmoth photographed on our neighbour's fig tree..

July 2025

July proved to be a singularly uninspiring month for birds with the ‘highlight’ being at least two apparently territorial Yellow Wagtails in an area of the village I have never had them before. This continues a good year for the species.

Lepidoptera though continued to impress. Still excellent numbers of butterflies around. One large area of thistles in the bottom fields was absolutely rammed with insects. These were mainly whites, Meadow Browns and Peacocks but with good numbers of skippers and the first sightings this year of Small Copper…

And Brown Argus…

The argus is only the third village record of this species which is rapidly moving north.

The avenue of oaks along Greenhills Lane turned up Purple Hairstreak as usual…

Peter also added a new site for the hairstreak, in a large roadside oak at Warlaby.

I have also finally taken the plunge and bought a moth trap. I thought I would ease my way in at the start so set the trap in John & Sue’s little walled garden on a rather cool night. I ended up with 336 moths of 54 species, not quite the gentle introduction I was envisaging!

Highlight was probably Small Blood-vein...

This is a rather scarce insect in this part of Yorkshire and my friend John, who has been a fanatically active moth-er in one of the nearby villages for more than 20 years, has never seen the species

Other first records for Ainderby included Knot-grass, Golden-rod Pug, Brassy Y, Honeysuckle moth, Campion…

Bulrush Wainscot...

Perhaps surprisingly Dusky Sallow was also a first...

I didn’t even have to rely on the trap for some sightings with this lovely Ruby Tiger in our back lobby, just catching the late evening sun…

Despite the fine weather dragonflies haven’t been particularly in evidence so far but I did photograph this Broad-bodied Chaser at the top of Greenhills Lane…

Our first village record was only three years ago but it’s now the most regularly seen chaser species.

I should finish with a couple of other interesting flying objects over the village...

June 2025

June, not unexpectedly, proved a very quiet month for birds, the one ‘highlight’ was our only Cuckoo of the year, recorded by a dog walker near the river.

Butterflies on the other hand, in numbers at least, were quite exceptional. The area by the How Beck is looking superb with big stands of valerian and meadow-rue…

In a village with much lifeless arable prairie these little corners are all the more valuable. It was particularly good for skippers with a count of 14 Large Skippers, by some way the highest count I have ever had in the village…

I also added a new moth to the village list here, Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet Moth…

Some more excellent butterfly counts yesterday (despite the strong winds) where, on the short walk between the Christmas trees and this unused field along Myer’s Lane…

I totalled up more than 200 Whites (about a third were Large Whites), 42 Meadow Browns, 22 Ringlets, 12 Red Admirals, 10 Small Tortoiseshell, eight Comma including this one showing why they are so named…  

And best of all, at least 12 White-letter Hairstreak. As my wife said, it was like something out of Thomas Hardy.

Walking this morning after some overnight rain I saw at least four groups of white butterflies ‘puddling’ for moisture including this group of 14…

I finished off an excellent lepidopteral weekend with a Meal Moth in our living room, a new species for the village (and one with surprisingly few records in this part of Yorkshire)…

Please ignore the cobwebs!!

May 2025

Village-wise May has been pretty much a wash-out, no wader movement, no interesting insects and many of the normal summer migrants still only here in restricted numbers. The highlight, and a pity it should be worthy of note, was the appearance of a Spotted Flycatcher along Manor Lane on 13^th May…

They haven’t been seen in the village for at least half a decade so I assumed this would just be a passage bird but this individual was still present at the time of writing so fingers crossed it is nesting.

Otherwise, I have had a productive month with a trip with a friend to see my first (stunning!) Marsh Fritillaries…

A visit to Ingleborough to meet up with our son where after some diligent searching we found around 40 Lesser Twayblades only one of which was in flower…

Another first for me and seeing how tiny they are (and how far under the heather they grow) not an entire surprise that I haven’t been able to find them before!

I also saw my first Emperor Moth that day as well as the spectacle of thousands of Bird’s-eye Primroses…

The month ended with a week on Dungeness in Kent and yet more ‘firsts’ in the shape of Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler, Heath Fritillary…

the striking Late Spider Orchid

And some superb Lady Orchids…

April 2025

A strange spring continues, bright, sunny but still bitterly cold at times. There’s no doubt it has had an impact on birds. For example, although I saw my first Swallows hawking over the top fields on the 17th I had no further sightings until two along the river this morning. There are no birds at the regular nesting sites in the village so far.

Other migrants have been drifting slowly in with Blackcaps from 6^th April, Willow Warbler from 12^th, the first Whitethroats on the 19^th and House Martins on 26th and both Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warbler seen today…

The one bird that has arrived in better than usual numbers, and one of my favourite species, is Yellow Wagtail and I estimated between six and eight pairs along about ¾ mile of the river yesterday…

Five singing Corn Buntings here too with another two singing birds in Ainderby itself.

Otherwise There have been very few birds of note with Tom having a Peregrine over Maunby yesterday, a Wheatear was on the riverbank on 12th and I had a Little Ringed Plover flying up the Swale on 13^th. This Shelduck was sitting in the middle of the river yesterday, presumably a reflection of the complete lack of standing water in the village this year.

The first butterflies were also on the wing with particularly good numbers of Peacock…

And Orange Tip…

Other species included Small, Large and Green-veined White, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Holly Blue as well as this very obliging Brimstone…

  

March 2025

It’s been an embarrassingly long time since I last wrote one of these but the definite signs of spring are incentive enough. The first summer migrant was, unsurprisingly, Chiffchaff with a singing bird in Peter’s garden in Warlaby on 8^th and I added one in our garden on 10^th and then there were half a dozen more records by mid-month.

However, the fluctuating temperatures in March must have made the pioneer birds regret their decision and there was a lull before another influx in the last couple of days. I counted 11 singing birds on my (shortish) walk today including this bird in the Magic Garden…

Sand Martins are the other expected pre-April migrant and they didn’t disappoint although numbers have been low so far with half a dozen by Big Bend and only a single bird seen near the railway bridge.

They are currently doing extensive work along the river, presumably to try and reduce bank erosion. This Oystercatcher didn’t seem too bothered about it…

But, unfortunately, this does look as though it will significantly reduce Sand Martin habitat yet again.

Less expected migrants were two very smart Wheatears along the river on Friday, these are the earliest birds I have ever recorded in the village...

Other sightings in March included Green Sandpiper on the Thrintoft path pool, a late flock of around 100 Fieldfare on Ladyfield and a really nice flock of Linnets along Potter Lane, this is only a small section of the flock…

And there must have been over 300 birds in total.

Away from birds there were some welcome sightings of butterflies with the expected Brimstones being joined by early sightings of Comma, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell. In fact Peter had all four species in his garden on Wednesday.

I’ll finish with a couple of photos taken this weekend, Treecreeper, a pair of Goosander and a not altogether successful attempt to photograph the partial solar eclipse!