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 2nd
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…
He’s back!! Great finds - very jealous of the gropper.
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