10th April

A beautiful, warm day so I anticipated a few more arrivals but nothing added on the summer migrant front (although I did see Wheatear by the muck heaps on Wednesday). On the Manor Lake a pair of Tufted Duck have returned.

I assume this is the pair that bred last year, although they lost all their young (most likely to Mink or Pike).

The Canada’s are nesting, with the female sat picturesquely amongst the daffs on the little island. The male drove off a pair of Greylags that looked to be prospecting the lake.

On the Greenhills pool the pair of Shelduck look well settled. But there were no waders on here other than the resident Lapwings and a pair of Oystercatchers but a flock of 14 Golden Plover east over Ainderby this afternoon were unusual for this time of year.

A few more butterflies are now around and I saw my first Peacock yesterday. Talking of insects this willow was absolutely humming with Honey Bees. I think willows are particularly attractive to bees in spring because they are one of the few trees that produce nectar.

This evening I spotted a distant skein of around 65 geese heading north. April is a good month for spotting Pinkfeet as they head back north to their breeding grounds but zooming them up on the camera showed they were 'only' Greylags. A fine sight nonetheless.