8th May 2023

It’s been a shamefully long time since I last posted, a reflection of being overly busy and a lack of things to report! So yesterday I walked along the river with Sam who has just taken up birding. As we walked to the bridge stile, I heard my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year. A second calling bird means 2023 has already outstripped the number of sightings in 2022!   

Sand Martin numbers have at last built up to expected numbers and there were particularly good flocks feeding over the first bend. We saw or heard at least three Yellow Wagtails…

And then as I scanned a small flock of Mallard on the far bank I picked up a beautiful drake Mandarin. This is only my second sighting in the parish (and the first male) of a species that is noticeably increasing in Yorkshire…

Incidentally the Chinese name for Mandarin is also applied as a slang term to couples where the one partner is noticeably better looking than the other (reflecting the rather dowdy female against the rather splendid drake)!

We walked as far as the rookery bend and had another year tick in the form of Common Sandpiper which flicked away downstream.

As we walked back I half-heard a vaguely familiar sound, it was a Grasshopper Warbler ‘reeling’ from willow scrub on the far bank. This is a really scarce bird in the parish and only my third record. A great end to a productive couple of hours.

Otherwise it has been a strange spring, whilst most migrant species have been recorded (including the first Swifts on the 2^nd May) most are still only present in very low numbers, e.g. only a single singing Willow Warbler and none of the nesting Swallows in our road have returned yet.

Butterflies have been particularly noticeable by their absence with only six species so far and these in very low numbers…

The one species that definitely has had an exceptional year is the Cowslip with many new sites and very high density in the regular places…