5th June 2022

Another quiet period in what has been a very poor spring locally. Numbers of even common migrants remain low. Swallows are missing from a number of regular nesting spots…

I haven’t found a single House Martin in Ainderby and only one or two pairs in Morton. Swift numbers are much lower and most warblers seem particularly scarce. This is particularly marked with Lesser Whitethroat. There are usually six to eight pairs in the parish but I have had only a single singing bird this year. The only species bucking this trend is Garden Warbler with the species outnumbering Blackcap this year…

One notable sighting was this Goosander with seven young. This is the first ducklings I have seen this far down the Swale…

On the plant front I found this very strange Dandelion (literally a spring plant!)…

It’s not clear what caused this but I suspect it is agricultural herbicide which doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence!

There is also this superb area of Kidney Vetch restricted to just one small site…

This is the only place I ever see Burnet Moths and it is alive with bees like this Common Carder…

I’ll also mention an excellent weekend away in Suffolk, a bit of culture, a bit of good food and a few new species including White Helleborine…

Pasqueflower…

And Adonis Blue…

15th May 2022

The slow trickle of migration continues with the first Swift seen over Ainderby on 7^th May but the first significant arrival from 10^th. 

They actually beat House Martins back this year with the first pair of martins over Morton on 11th. This latter species has really declined in the parish in recent years and only the odd pair still nest in Ainderby itself.  

Garden warblers seem to have arrived in good numbers, at least in comparison with recent years, but Lesser Whitethroats are exceptionally scarce with only one singing bird noted so far.  Yellow Wagtails have so far been restricted to the meadows along the river but there look to be three pairs along the river between Morton bridge and the spinney...

The most interesting migrant records though fell to other villagers with Tracey hearing Cuckoo down Greenhills Lane yesterday and Andy having excellent views of Osprey moving south along the Swale today (including at least one fishing attempt in the river).

John did a ringing session in the Magic Garden last week but it was worryingly poor, some of that reflected the late/non arrival of migrants but even resident birds seemed in very short supply. Most interesting bird was this Willow Warbler…

It was a re-trap of a bird John had ringed in the same place almost four years ago to the day. It was an adult then, so this little bird has made at least ten journeys to and from southern Africa.  

In terms of butterflies I saw my first Common Blue this week and my first Wall of the year…

This is a declining species so it’s good it is still hanging on in Ainderby (although numbers are small). I also photographed this rather nice female Orange Tip on bluebells...

Finally, I had another Otter on the river. Some way from my last sighting so possibly a second holt here?

2nd May 2022

John came to do some bird ringing in the wild garden at Ladyfield on Friday. A total of 27 birds ringed which was ok considering there was so little sign of movement. A pair of Blackcap, a Willow Warbler and five Chiffchaff were the only summer migrants… 

Other birds caught included Treecreeper, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting and a couple of Goldcrests, including this male…

Yesterday I walked down from Ainderby to the river and then along to Morton bridge. My first Lesser Whitethroat was singing on Langlands and there were now good numbers of Common Whitethroats seen along the route. Six singing Corn Buntings (depressingly outnumbering Yellowhammers now), three pairs of Grey Partridge, three Yellow Wagtails, Kingfisher, three Cormorants…

...Five Oystercatchers, Green Sandpiper, four Little Egrets and good numbers of Sand Martins…  

More surprisingly there was still a small flock of Fieldfare feeding on the pasture at Langlands. The latest I have ever seen them in the parish.

In my last post I was bemoaning the scarcity of Hares in recent months but today I saw at least eight individuals. Fantastic animals…

Less positively this Mink was hunting along the river bank. The first I’ve seen for many months...

24th April 2022

Although it has been a week of sunshine it’s also seen surprisingly cold winds. Despite this I have notched up 12 species of butterfly in the village this week including probably my first April record of Painted Lady…

And always nice to see Holly Blue (appropriately enough in the holly hedge along Manor Lane) although much more difficult to photograph!

Bird migrants on the other hand definitely seem to have been impacted by the cool winds with little sign of passage although I did spot my first Wheatear of the year, even nicer it was only a two-minute walk from my front door…

And I also saw my first Whitethroat and Yellow Wagtails this week…

Sand Martins seemed to have arrived in big numbers last week and the main colony in the parish was alive with activity but when I visited this weekend there wasn’t a single bird there. Have they abandoned it or is this just a temporary pause until the weather warms up?

Other sightings included a low flying Osprey seen by our neighbour Tom and along the river, four Little Egret, four Teal, eight Goosander, Green Sandpiper, five singing Corn Bunting and eight Buzzards including this one under assault from a Carrion Crow.

As you can see it went in feet first and at one point landed on the Buzzard’s back.

I also added a new plant species for the parish list, Marsh Marigold… 

A relatively common plant so I was surprised that I hadn’t recorded it until this weekend. 

17th April 2022

Summer migrants have continued to come in but generally in dribbles rather than floods with only a single Blackcap so far and one sighting of Swallow - three birds by the river in Morton. There are plenty of Chiffchaffs though… 

and Sand Martins are back in some numbers now…

The first Willow Warbler was in the Magic Garden on the 13th with a marked influx the following day with at least a dozen birds singing around the village…

The warm weather has brought the butterflies out too with Speckled Wood, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Peacock, Orange Tip and this, rather battered, Comma all seen this week…

The (Dark-bordered) Bee-flys are also out…

One species that has been notable by its absence this year is the Brown Hare. I had a long walk today right through the heart of the best locations and only saw a single animal. I hope this isn’t as worrying as it appears…

Bird sightings today were also distinctly thin but included three displaying Curlews, a vanishingly rare sight in many lowland areas these days, and still small numbers of Fieldfares waiting to leave for their summer quarters.

I’ll finish with this…

It’s the ‘hand’ of a Mole. Dead of course (in all my years I have yet to see a live one), and vaguely unsettling. You wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see this reaching round the bedroom door in an M.R. James story… 

3rd April 2022

A walk along the river downstream of Morton bridge yesterday tallied up four singing Corn Bunting, six Goosander, four Buzzards (including a mating pair!), two Golden Plover, two Little Egrets…

Five Teal…

And my first Snipe (two) of the year.

Given the very low temperatures it perhaps wasn’t surprising that I didn’t see any Sand Martins (although I had two the previous weekend) but there were small numbers of Chiffchaffs moving through the riverside vegetation…

Best sighting though was a superb pair of Otter. I had heard some splashing and expected to see duck but it was the two animals rolling around each other and swimming into what may be their holt under a fallen tree. Unfortunately, my photos were so bad they aren’t worth including!

When I got home, I had a call from Simon at Nosterfield that a White-tailed Eagle had just flown over the reserve and was potentially heading our way. Jim and I rushed out to the top fields but no luck and it later turned out it had swung east and passed well to the south. This actually wouldn’t have been a new bird for the village as I saw one of these magnificent eagles a few years ago flying over Langlands farm.

Today I walked upstream of Morton bridge and immediately flushed three Green Sandpipers from a shingle spit. Other sightings included two Kingfishers, another two Little Egrets, half a dozen Sand Martins and a flock of 25 Golden Plover.

I’ll finish with a nice portrait of a flying Greylag from yesterday…

6th March 2022

It’s been a very long time since I last posted, a combined result of a corrupted hard disk and consequent loss of files, a second family dose of covid and a rather quiet period. I will try and get back to a more regular routine…

Given their absence at the end of last year it has been heartening to see some good flocks of Fieldfares arrive…

Redwings on the other hand have been noticeably scarce since the new year.

The flooding in late February/March was quite extensive but wasn’t particularly productive although I did see small numbers of Wigeon and Teal and a single Tufted Duck on Langlands. On the Warlaby Lane flood pool today I had two Little Egret, four herons, 100+ Black-headed gull, a pair of Shelduck and my first Gadwall of the year…

Other sightings of note since I last posted included a good wintering flock of Curlew with up to 191 counted by Morton Bridge, 75 Pinkfeet north over Morton, Green Sandpiper on the river throughout January and February, Woodcock on Langlands, two Chiffchaffs were briefly in the holly trees down Manor lane in January and this tailless Long-tailed Tit was in the Magic Garden…

2nd January 2022

Happy New Year!

I managed to add one last species to my 2021 list this week in the form of a cracking drake Goldeneye on the Swale…

When I have had them on the river in the past it has always been associated with very cold weather but that was hardly the case this week! In all the years I have been birdwatching I have never consciously heard the superb sound of its wings in flight (which give it the old Norfolk name of Rattlewing and the nickname The Whistler in America) but this one performed brilliantly as it flew up and down the river.

So I ended up with a distinctly feeble 99 species in 2021. The total for the village including species seen by other people was a rather more respectable 113 species. I missed quite a lot! What it lacked in quantity it made up for in quality with three new species for the parish; Avocet, Pied Flycatcher and my working-from-home bonus - Dusky Warbler!  

Other species seen this week included a movement of Pinkfooted Geese with 75 north over Morton yesterday (a nice early addition to the 2022 list) and on Saturday a small skein of 11 birds south along the Swale with another 20 dropping in to a field on the far side of the river...

Flyover pinks are now an annual occurrence but grounded birds are much rarer and I believe this is the largest flock I have seen in the parish.

Talking of geese, up to 250 Greylags have been feeding regularly in the fields around Myer’s Lane and included this hybrid - presumably between Greylag and Canada Goose…

Other sightings of note included 95 Linnet in a field on Potter Lane, a covey of six Grey Partridge on Langlands and a Great Black-backed Gull over, two Shelduck and 11 Cormorant over Morton Bridge, nine Grey Heron in an arable field by the Swale and a Wigeon in with the Mallards on the river.   

12th December 2021

Another very quiet period I’m afraid. Even the winter thrushes have not arrived to enliven the scene with only small flocks of Redwing so far whilst Fieldfares are virtually non-existent. I’ve never known another winter period like this.

On the brighter side a cover crop of radish in one of the large fields down Potter Lane is proving very attractive to Linnets with up to 270 birds in there. This is by far the largest count in the parish for many years and must be attracting birds in from a much wider radius than just the village. However, having followed a few people on Twitter, whilst winter cover crops are very much a positive thing the planting of crops can have unintended consequences. So, for example, radish is good for birds like Linnets that perch up on the plants but really poor for ‘walking’ birds like pipits because of the density of cover.

A walk down the river yesterday proved productive with good views (but no photo) of a huge female Peregrine sending the local Woodpigeon flocks into panic mode. Also along here, despite the high water levels, a Green Sandpiper (only my second sighting this year), Redshank and four Snipe.

On a sadder wader note I found this dead Golden Plover in the top fields last night...

It was under a telegraph wire so I assume it was an unfortunate collision having only thought about bird flu after I got back home (probably just as well I was wearing gloves).

The weather has not been conducive to a lunchtime walk recently but one sunny spell allowed me to have my lunch sitting in the village churchyard. I wasn’t the only one…

The only other sightings of note were an excellent flock of 32 Long-tailed Tits in our garden and a Grey Wagtail in the Magic Garden…

14th November 2021

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 4^th 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’!