20th September

One excellent bird sighting this week, a Marsh Harrier which flew relatively low over our garden. I was on a zoom call with work when I saw it and should have muted it before I swore! I managed to run out and watch it fly away south west. This is only the second record for Ainderby with the last found by an army officer visiting the village in 1943!

Probably contemporary with that sighting (and another garden 'tick') was this Hurricane yesterday evening...

Other sightings this week included a covey of 14 Grey Partridge, two Little Egrets. Grey Wagtail and two Kingfisher by the river. Swallows and House Martins were still present in good numbers as were Chiffchaffs, including up to six singing birds around the village (I’m still not clear why birds sing on migration?). On Thursday there were also two Blackcap down Station Lane, one of them doing its quiet ‘sub-song’. Chris had two flocks of Siskin by Warbler Corner yesterday.

Apart from the multiple sightings of Broad-bodied Chaser it has been a rather poor year for dragonflies and I only saw my first Migrant Hawker today. Otherwise it has been only Southern Hawkers…

and Common Darters providing the sightings...

On the plant front, pick of the finds was this Skullcap, one of my favourite plants. I thought we had lost it from the village but I re-found a small remnant patch in the Magic Garden…