I thought I had better post something just so people know I’m still alive! It has been an exceptionally quiet period even by the standards of Ainderby! The mild weather seems to have slowed the arrival of typical winter visitors and I didn’t see any winter thrushes until a heavy movement on 4th November with large groups of Redwing, and smaller numbers of Fieldfare, moving west over the village. That’s the first year I can remember I haven’t seen either Redwing or Fieldfare in October. Numbers remain low though, with no more than a dozen of each seen around the village yesterday.
As if to emphasise these strange times I had both Corn Bunting
and Linnet in full song yesterday, wasps and bees still buzzing around a field
of ‘green manure’ (wild radish and phacelia) plus, in the garden, a strawberry and
a good crop of tomatoes off the outdoor plants!
Along the Swale yesterday it remained quiet but I had
Kingfisher, two Buzzard, four Little Egrets, Goosander, Little Grebe and Grey
Wagtail…
…A flock of 75 Linnets and 20+ Yellowhammers…
And also this Kestrel which I saw catch a vole and then devour it...
But Rachel had the best sighting this week - excellent views of an Otter including it running along the riverbank (at midday!)
Other sightings since I last wrote included a group of five
Whooper Swans over, a flock of 147 Curlew
and 57 Golden Plover in the stubbles on Ladyfield Farm and, unusually, Chris
put up more than 60 Canada Geese from the river.
We also managed one final moth trapping session in late
October and caught two of my target species, the beautiful Merveille du Jour.
Truly a ‘wonder of the day’!
