14th April

The most intriguing sighting this weekend was a pipit seen very briefly flying over the river yesterday, it seemed to have plain underparts and my first thought was Water Pipit but despite searching by Chris and I the bird wasn’t seen again.

Although the weekend was generally sunny it was distinctly cold and this seems to have slowed migration so it was a pretty quiet period. Only one more Swallow record this week; a single over the church seen by Andy J as he came out of the pub. Sand Martins are well established back now…

With around a dozen Chiffchaff in total seen/heard...

A couple more Blackcaps were singing near the river and I had my first Willow Warbler yesterday with a second bird singing behind our house this afternoon.

Winter thrushes were still around with a flock of 50+ Fieldfares by the river on Friday and small numbers feeding in the fields on the Thrintoft path yesterday…

More surprising were three Redwing seen over Ainderby today, the first sightings for almost a month.

The only other sightings of note were six Snipe on the oxbow and a pair of Teal, six Goosander, two Little Egret and a flock of around 75 Golden Plover on the river by Swalefields.

I also photographed this Goldcrest in the Magic Garden, a relatively common bird but for once showing relatively well as it tried to out-sing a rival…

7th April

A relatively quiet weekend but I did visit the river north of the bridge yesterday. This is one of the best parts of the patch with willow and hawthorn near the water (affectionately known as Warbler Corner) and a small oxbow pool.

I saw my first Blackcap of the year along the old railway line but as I tried to photograph it there was a temporary distraction…

Lots of Chiffchaffs were singing, a Grey Wagtail was near the waterworks along with the first Marsh Tit that I've seen for two or three years. As I approached the oxbow I flushed two pairs of Teal and a Green Sandpiper. Over the river there were good numbers of Sand Martins but feeding very high, on the water itself around 100 large gulls (mainly Herring), two pairs of Oystercatchers, three Little Egret and two pairs of Goosander…

I met Andy J down here and he had had two Swallows around Morton Bridge earlier. No sign as we walked back but as I was about to leave a single bird flew in to feed around the old barn, always one of the highlights of spring.

Year list to end of March: 78 species       

30th March

All of the floods have drained now but on a gloriously sunny day yesterday I walked along the river anyway. Pick of the birds were my first Sand Martins of the year with a couple of dozen seen in total. This is early for significant numbers to arrive and Chris Knight also reported around 40 birds excavating at the big river colony near Thrintoft.

In a large ploughed field near Swalefields I saw a small group of Golden Plover drop in, as I walked up to the field there were obviously bigger numbers there and I tallied up almost 350 birds, a really good count for the parish…

Quite a few were in near full summer plumage. It was interesting when they were flushed later around 300 flew off but a group of 50 remained on the ground. This latter flock had a much higher proportion of summer-plumaged birds. Was this group from a separate population with different moult timing? Perhaps from further north with less contact with humans hence their relative ‘tameness’?

Also along the river were three Little Egrets (which now outnumber Grey Heron sightings on the patch) and two Green Sandpipers…

I photographed this tiny bee (together with around 20 others) on a small bank along the river. It’s a species of Miner Bee and it could be seen excavating small holes in the bank. Unfortunately there are 67 species of miner bee in Britain so identification is not easy but I think its appearance (and the fact it has emerged in March) point to it being a Gwynne’s Mining Bee, one of the commoner species…

Not surprisingly given the sunshine and warmth there were some early butterflies around with a smart Brimstone in Ainderby, Peacock and also at least half a dozen Small Tortoiseshells…

24th March

Visiting birders found four Garganey (two drakes) on the floodwater north of Morton Bridge this morning. Unfortunately the birds were flushed and flew off north. I assumed this would be ‘my’ pair plus another but when I walked along the original two birds were still on the floodwater south of the bridge this morning. Slightly better light but still ridiculously distant…

Amazing that three quarters of the Garganey reported in the whole of north-east England were attracted to this short stretch of the Swale!

The flood pools also held four Mute Swans, four Gadwall, 31 Shelduck, 150+ Herring Gulls and 45 Lesser Black-backeds. Along the river I saw two Little Egrets, four Goosander, three pairs of Oystercatcher and a Grey Wagtail. More Chiffchaffs in too, with four singing birds today.

22nd March

A day off today so a quick walk downstream along the river. Twenty five Redwings were the first I’ve seen for a couple of weeks and a Grey Wagtail on the first bend was a pleasant surprise…

Otherwise it was decidedly quiet until I got to a spot where floodwater from last weekend was still lying on the far bank. I could see dozens of gulls but also some whiter shapes. They were Shelduck and as I searched through I tallied up 23, the largest count I have had.

Birds were very distant but I could see a couple of darker shapes. There were three Gadwall, my first of the year, but the bird behind it was a superb drake Garganey! A new bird for the parish. (Terrible photo but it was very gloomy and very far…)

When I checked my other photos later it actually showed there was a pair present.

As I walked back up Potter Lane I had two more Corn Buntings (making a total of seven singing birds) and a flock of 59 Golden Plover drifted over...

I finished off by checking the river north of the road. Three Little Egrets here (none of them ringed) plus a Green Sandpiper and four Goosander. A good morning's birding.

20th March

Just about to set off for work this morning when I spotted a cracking skein of Whooper Swans. They flew straight over the house. By the time I’d grabbed the camera and shot out of the front door they were already well past…

I took some poor pictures but it did mean I could count the flock. There were 38 birds, probably the largest group I have had in the parish. They were also the first I have had over the garden. Normally Whoopers follow the line of the Swale. Someone tweeted me to say they had had a skein of 38 over Whitburn about an hour later. If it was the same birds they would have been travelling at an average of about 45 miles per hour.

Otherwise it has been a pretty quiet period. Floods at the weekend raised hopes…

But apart from a dozen Teal and 16 Curlew in the Bottom Fields they mainly attracted gulls although this included my first Lesser Black-backs of the year.

A Chiffchaff was singing on Monday and a single Little Egret was on the river. Unfortunately I flushed it before I realised it was carrying rings...

   

25th February

I planned an early morning walk along the river today but the fog was too thick so I didn’t get down there until lunchtime. Almost the first birds I had were a skein of nine Whooper Swans. This would have been a nice picture of them if I had remembered to zoom!

Nine birds flew north from Wheldrake Ings earlier in the day so I suspect these are the same birds. I will have to find out what time they left and work out the flight speed. There seems to be a very early movement of the species this year, perhaps not surprising in this stunning weather.

Otherwise it was very quiet, there were two pairs of Oystercatchers (both looking pretty settled rather than the usual February birds which just pass through) plus a single drake Teal, Green Sandpiper and three Common Gulls.

Earlier in the week the Bottom Fields held a flock of 31 Corn Buntings, the highest count for quite a few years, and sixteen Curlew. A pair of Buzzards were displaying over the Magic Garden and the regularity of sightings here mean there must be a good chance of nesting this year.

10th February

I left the trail camera in the Magic Garden last week, pick of the shots was this one of a pair of Jays. Being normally so wary this is better than any I’ve taken of the species!!

A bit of floodwater in the bottom fields today so a quick walk down there turned up three new bird’s for the year with five Canada Geese, three Shelduck  and a big female Sparrowhawk (surprisingly sending the Black-headed Gulls into a mass panic). Three Buzzards here too.

Carrying on down Greenhills Lane the beet field had a number of birds feeding around the sheeps’ feet. Expecting the usual wagtails and pipits I was surprised to see nearly all the birds were Redwing with about 40 in total in this field.  

In the avenue there were four Treecreepers, mainly feeding low down in the hedgerow, and in the end fields a group of 35 Lapwing, fifty plus Fieldfares and a cracking flock of over 100 Linnets. The first big numbers I have had of this finch for quite a few years.

3rd February

A nice smattering of snow yesterday morning so I went down the river in the hope of birds driven off the local lakes….

No real sign of this but I saw my first Redshank of the year with other year ticks including Little Grebe, a pair of Mute Swans, two Snipe and a Golden Plover. Other birds seen included five Goosander, two Kingfishers and a pair of Teal.

This Great Spotted Woodpecker decided trees were too analogue and has been using the mobile mast again for its drumming post

Best sightings of the day though were hares with at least 15 seen on the walk. Nearly all concentrated in three big open arable fields along Potter Lane...

Last week the Greylags started to disperse from the fields at the end of Greenhills Lane but the last flock did attract a single Pinkfoot. Very poor picture in foggy conditions but only the second one I have seen on the ground in Ainderby.

13th January

Yesterday I did My first walk along the river this year. Highlight was a Barn Owl hunting in the field next to Morton Bridge. A couple of friends at work had mentioned seeing one in this field over the last week so great that it’s still there. This used to be a regular haunt for them before the mysterious disappearance of most of the local birds. Unfortunately the light was appalling so no picture.

Other birds seen included two Little Egrets, up to 28 Cormorants, eight Goosander, half a dozen Teal, 40 Curlew, two Green Sandpipers and a single Oystercatcher.

On Friday night as I got home from work the local Greylags were flying over the village in four great skeins, probably around 500 birds. A magnificent sound and, partly lit by the floodlights on the church, a magnificent sight too. I stood hoping to film them going over last night but they were too high and lost in the darkness.  

Today I added Kingfisher and Jay in the Magic Garden and also watched a group of five Roe Deer feeding down Greenhills Lane…

And talking of the Magic Garden these are a couple of recent images from the trail camera we put in there…