9th April

Despite the recent beautiful sunshine the mornings have been really cold…

So it’s perhaps not surprising that summer birds have been a bit slow in arriving but today Sand Martin numbers were almost up to summer levels, my first Willow Warblers  and at least five singing Blackcap were in the scrub near the river at Morton and I had my first Swallow over Greenhills Lane.

The sun also meant insects were more noticeable, these included my first Green-veined Whites of the year…

And half a dozen male Orange Tips along the railway line.  

And continuing my painfully slow entomological education, I think this is Bombylius Major – the Dark-edged Bee-fly…

This is the only half-decent shot I have ever taken of Treecreeper. A pair of birds looked to be prospecting a potential nest site over near Sanderson’s wood…

It wasn’t until I downloaded the picture that I saw the bird was carrying a ring. I can just make out a 2 and what looks like a 7 so this is almost certainly HJA 472, a bird which was ringed in the Magic Garden in October 2015.

This Chiffchaff was also carrying a ring but unfortunately it is on too high a zoom and is not crisp enough to make out any characters. This bird was behaving strangely, stretching up on long legs, its wings half-cloaked and its mouth open as though panting.

Another distant photo taken today of a Kingfisher with a fish which it has brought back to its nest hole. It wouldn’t enter until I had gone (despite being a considerable distance away and on the opposite bank)

I should also mention the 'big bird of prey' which a few villagers have mentioned to me. Not a great picture against the sky but this bird was distinctly large (and was hovering at one point) but I can’t make it into anything other than Common Buzzard…

Talking of sightings by other people, recent ones have included a remarkable ‘kettle’ of at least 20 Buzzards over the north fields  (seen by Tracey Palmer), John and Ann Coxon saw Red Kite at Scruton Lane ends (a couple of days before my sighting in Ainderby) and Alex Martin had a fine flock of 50 Waxwings feeding along Greenhills Lane. 

I also saw six Waxwings in the Magic Garden last week and Andy Johnston had a dozen at Warlaby. Presumably the last remnants of what has been a fantastic winter for this species.