March 2026

Standing water is at a premium in the parish so I always check out the odd place which occasionally holds on to surface or floodwater. One of these is down School Lane, in the middle of an oilseed rape field, and this March it proved irresistible for Little Egrets. Six were there on 28^th February and numbers continued to build until a peak of 14 birds! Numbers then fluctuated with the final one seen on 24th.

Given the counts varied it’s quite possible it involved more than 14 birds in total. It was also good that it was on School Lane as some children and parents were able to enjoy the sight. This pool also attracted small numbers of Teal and a single Green Sandpiper.

Green Sandpipers were also seen on a tiny pool by the waterworks and on the flood pool on the Thrintoft path. This latter water also pulled in six Gadwall, up to ten Teal and, a village rarity, three Coot. Two of these latter birds were present through to the month end.

The other species of particular note in June were Whooper Swans. Sandra had a group of 30 birds fly low over Morton on Swale on 7th and then another similar sized skein over Ainderby on 18th. She rang me but I didn’t catch up with them. Ten minutes later Sue sent me a video she’d taken of another group of 23 flying high over the village! Fortunately walking back over the top fields I heard a distant call and a magnificent skein of 61 birds flew right over me…

Interestingly, a couple of days later, a radio-tagged bird that had originated from Welney was tracked flying over the village in the late evening, no-one picked this group up.

In terms of summer migrants the first Chiffchaff was heard singing on 7^th and there was a marked influx on 14^th with a number of freshly arrived birds feeding in the hedges on Langlands. But that was it then with not even Sand Martin recorded by the month end.

There was a Red-legged Partridge on the Thrintoft path on the 8^th March, an increasingly scarce species in the parish.

Grey Partridge on the other hand seem to be relatively thriving with an estimated 11 pairs so far (including one pair right on the edge of the village). On the other hand I have had only one singing Corn Bunting so far. They can be late songsters but it is mildly concerning.

Other sightings of note included both a Redpoll and a pair of Siskin in our garden…

A flock of 28 Golden Plover and a group of 12 Oystercatchers were seen by the river on 7^th, with a presumably different flock of 12 Oystercatchers seen here on the 28^th.

Away from birds the first butterfly of the year was a Peacock. Unsurprisingly, as with migrant birds, the cold temperatures meant only Red Admiral had been added by the month end.

Moths on the other hand proved interesting with a trap on the 31^st turning up only 22 moths but four of these were new for the village, Diurnea fagella, Mottled Grey, Streamer…

And Double-striped Pug…

These aren’t particularly uncommon but more reflect the fact so little trapping has been carried out at this time of year.

Peter added a fifth new parish species with a Tufted Tortrix in Warlaby.

Finally, another highlight of March was a great Starling murmuration just up the road…

Parish bird list to end of March: 81 species 

February 2026

Bird of the month was undoubtedly the first village record of Raven. They have been steadily recolonising the Yorkshire Dales and are seen regularly on the North York Moors but they remain a generally scarce bird in the Vale of Mowbray.

This is an even worse photo but does show the size against the Rooks escorting it out of the area…

Floods in the early part of the month…

These attracted some wildfowl with an excellent count of 108 Teal on the 1^st, the highest village count to date

Together with six Shelduck and the first Wigeon, Gadwall, Shoveler and Oystercatcher of the year.

Up to 200 Black-headed and 30 Common Gulls were feeding on the edge of the floods as well as 32 Curlew and around 150 Lapwing…

Other additions to the village year list in February included Stock Dove, Coot (with three on the little Ladyfield flood pool - a village rarity!), Barn Owl, Grey Wagtail, Siskin and Lesser Redpoll. The latter birds were feeding on the flood debris on the Swale.

The first Corn Bunting was also singing but I have only found one bird so far…

I did run the moth trap a couple of times during the month with generally very small catches, but I did get March Moth, a new village record…

January 2026

Full of hope as ever for the new year… Our (small) garden proved surprisingly attractive for birds in the cold weather mid-month. Our son had heavily pruned our Siberian Crab-apple over Christmas and the fallen fruit proved irresistible particularly for thrushes with all five regular species seen...

and particularly good numbers of Blackbirds with a maximum count of (genuinely!) four-and-twenty (but no pies).

Lots of finches too including a lovely pair of Bullfinch who rejected the crabs for the seeds of aquilegia which they extracted whilst clumsily ‘hovering’.

The crab-apple was also the main attraction for both male and female Blackcap on the 13^th with the female present on and off right through to the month end…

Away from here other sightings included both Green Sandpiper and Redshank on the river and at least two skeins of Pink-footed Geese over the village. A large Linnet flock along Myer’s Lane held an estimated 370 birds and 150 Golden Plover flew over the river on 1^st January. Tracey found a Red Kite along Greenhills Lane, still a rare bird for the village.

Unsurprisingly the constant wet weather produced some flooding…

As the waters drained there were good numbers of Lapwings seen (c140) and 32 Curlew were feeding on Langlands. Around 400 Greylags were in the flooded fields at the far end of Langlands…

But apart from Mallard, Teal were the only duck seen…

The slightly milder weather on the 17^th meant I optimistically tried the moth trap in the garden. Six moths, which is six more than I expected, included a Dark Chestnut and five Pale Brindled Beautys (new for the village). Only one of the PBB was in the trap with three on the side of the house…

Village Bird list to end of January - 59 species.

Looking back at 2025

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…

Light emerald

Poplar Hawkmoth

Coxcomb Prominent

Antler

Spectacle

Merveille du Jour

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

Brimstone

Brown Argus

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…

October 2025

Given how poor my 2025 village bird list is then October helped a little with four new species for the year.

Best ‘new’ bird was a Great White Egret, with one along the river on the 11th. This was only the third village record, but it continues my pitiable photographs of this species…

the second new sighting was an easy one. we were sitting having tea when Sandra said “Look, swans!” and a fine flock of 18 Whoopers flew low east over the garden. A few moments later I got a text from a villager saying they had just heard some loud bird calls over their house, it would have been frustrating if I had had that call and not seen them…

The third was a small skein of Canada Geese flying over the river. They used to nest in the village but now, unless a group drops onto floodwater, they are mainly seen as occasional flyovers.

The final addition was Siskin with two birds in with a flock of Goldfinches feeding on Alders in the Magic Garden. These little finches are surprisingly uncommon in the village but we usually get the odd wintering bird or a spring migrant briefly stopping to feed in the garden.

Autumn/Winter arrivals were also noticeable with around 15 Goldcrests heard or seen between the pub and the end of Manor Lane on the 20th. After the surprising September record the first Redwings were heard passing over on the 14^th and there was a small arrival of Fieldfares from the 18th.

Other sightings in October included a long-staying Common Sandpiper on the river and only the second Little Grebe of the year.

I also had the moth trap out a few times in the month, numbers have dropped off dramatically but still a few interesting finds with three new species for the village list, Narrow-winged Grey, Black Rustic and  December Moth…

A couple of my favourite moths too with Green-brindled Crescent…

And probably the brightest Merveille du Jour I have ever seen…

I’ll finish with an obliging Roe Deer I spotted on the river bank just below Morton bridge…