Spring has definitely felt just around the corner this weekend with my first butterfly, a Small Tortoiseshell, and early signs of migration with a cracking skein of 113 Pinkfooted Geese flying north…
A skein of 113 were noted flying over just north of York earlier in the morning so I assumed it would be the same birds but the distance and timings would indicate an average speed of 16 mph which is very low for migrating geese so may just be a coincidence.
These birds were high, and noisy, enough that both Chris in
Thrintoft and Andy in Scruton also picked them up. Chris also had 20 Whoopers north
along the river.
Elsewhere it was the floods in the village fields which were
the focus of the best sightings. Pick of these were seven Gadwall on the Bottom
Fields in Ainderby on the 25th.
This was The largest flock I have ever seen in the parish. The next day this had risen to ten and on the 27th, despite the floods receding significantly, there were 15.
Considering I have only seen Gadwall on half a dozen
occasions in all the years I have lived here it does imply birds are regularly
passing over but not usually landing.
Other sightings since my last post include a Peregrine
terrifying the Lapwings on Langlands, 130 Curlew and 120 Golden Plover on the floods,
my first Redpoll and Coot for the year and this rather striking leucistic
Fieldfare. A very poor picture but a definite heart stopper when you’re scanning
through the thrush flocks!!
Parish year list to end of Feb: 75 species
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