It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted but this has been a reflection of a very quiet period. The (at times bitterly) cold weather has slowed Spring down dramatically. With the exception of Chiffchaffs and Sand Martins, spring migrants are virtually non-existent. I had my first Swallow on 4th but have hardly seen a bird since, and certainly none of the usual nesting places are occupied. A Blackcap was singing along the railway on 4th but I have only had one other bird since and similarly my first Willow Warbler was on 10th
but I have only heard a single singing bird since. A Yellow
Wagtail flew over Greenhills yesterday.
Most interesting, but sad, find was a freshly dead Long-eared
Owl at the end of Langlands. It’s not
clear what killed it but looked to be natural rather than shot. We have sent
the body to the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme for analysis so hopefully
might find out.
There has been the odd bird reported to me over the years including one by the river in January and a bird photographed on Ladyfield a couple of years ago. I have also just heard of a local farmer who took down a conifer for Christmas and three Long-eared Owls flew out so it may even be a regular wintering species but I still haven’t caught up with one in Ainderby.
The only other bird records of note were a flock of 48
Golden Plover in superb breeding dress.
Poor photos in the gloom of dusk but this is the third year in a row that I have had a flock in the same field in mid-April so it seems to be a regular stopping off point.
Three Whooper Swans flew over Langlands on 2nd April...
and four Snipe were flushed here on 11th. Another Snipe was on this lovely flood pool past Greenhills…
But despite looking superb for birds the only other sighting here was a pair of Shelduck. It’s likely it will have dried up before the delayed wader migration really gets going.
Away from birds I added a new bee species to the parish
list, Gooden’s Nomad Bee…
A relatively common species but with a distinctly southerly
distribution.
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