The end of another year – where does the time go! It has to be said this was not a vintage year for birds in the parish. I only recorded 95 species, my lowest ever total and no new species for the village. In particular, there was a very poor wader passage and a poor diversity of wildfowl in both winter periods. Pick of the birds was my second Great White Egret.
On the breeding front it was a particularly poor for Tree
Sparrows which is disappointing as they seemed to have started to recover in
recent years, it was also not a vintage year for warblers with only tiny
numbers of Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warbler. I also didn’t record a single
Barn Owl. On a more positive note it was one of the best years I can remember
for both Grey Partridge and Yellow Wagtail.
The other notable event was the regular occurrence of
Pinkfooted Geese in the second winter period, this seems to reflect a long-term
change with many more wintering in this part of North Yorkshire now. Most were
skeins of varying size flying over…
but also included a flock of 34 in the foggy fields at the
end of Langlands…
Moths on the other hand provided lots of interest. I finally succumbed to buying my first moth trap and, although rather late in the season when I got it, turned up some nice species with 25 additions to the parish list (which I desperately need to update in this blog!)
Just a selection from the year…
Poplar Hawkmoth
Coxcomb Prominent
Antler
Spectacle
Beautiful Hooktip
Small Bloodvein
Rosy Rustic
I didn’t even need my moth trap for some with a first record
of Narrow-bordered Five Spot ….
and an unexpected Beautiful Plume in the living room in December…
Great year for butterflies too with the hot dry weather of
early summer leading to good numbers of most species with the highest ever
counts of Large Skipper (including a count of 17 along a short stretch of the
How Beck) and quite outstanding numbers of whites seen.
Large Skipper
Small & Green-veined Whites
The only species that put on a poorer show was Purple
Hairstreak with very few seen in the oak avenue along Greenhills Lane (although
it’s not impossible I was just too late in looking for them in this strange
year). However, I did find Purple Hairstreaks at the opposite end of the parish
with small numbers on the Thrintoft path.
In contrast, despite the fine weather, it was a rather poor year for dragonflies. The ‘highlights’ were sightings of Ruddy Darter again after the first village record in 2024 and more sightings of Broad-bodied Chaser, another recent arrival.
There is still a trickle of plants too being added to the
village list with four new species this year. On the botanical front I have also
hopefully helped preserve a small, productive patch of marshy ground after
speaking with the sympathetic landowner.
So here’s to a nature rich 2026…
