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…

September 2025

September at last saw a couple of new birds for the year. The first of these was Common Sandpiper, with a bird by Big Bend on the river on the 14^th. More surprising were two more near First Bend on the same day…

The other addition was a small flock of Redpoll over Jim & Sue’s garden and I had a single flyover in the Magic Garden.

Not much else to report on the bird front although the wagtails made the most of the mid-month floods with four Grey Wagtail and at least 35 Pied feeding on the floating flood debris…

The floods were surprisingly high and for the first time my normal river loop was blocked by floodwater…

and I ended up battling up a hawthorn bank and climbing gingerly over a barbed wire fence. The only recompense was I flushed two Red-legged Partridge in a field here, the first I have had south of the main road in many years.

In terms of summer migrants all three hirundines were still feeding over the river at month end and both Chiffchaff and Willow warbler were present throughout the month. The last Yellow Wagtail was seen on 14^th September. ‘Winter’ visitors though were early with at least 40 Meadow Pipits present from mid-month and even a very early Redwing on the 28^th.

Otherwise, it has been moths which have provided the most interest with a particularly good night on the 19^th when I put the trap in Jim & Sue’s garden. 129 moths of 37 species is a good local haul for September and it included three new species for the village, all migrants, Rush Veneer, Rusty-dot Pearl And best of all Vestal…

There were only eight records of this beautiful little moth in the whole of Yorkshire last year.

A good supporting cast too including Beautiful Hook-tip…

And the stunning Merveille Du Jour…

August 2025

August produced the first indications of Autumn with a Green Sandpiper on the river on the 10th. Other waders on the move included Lapwings, with up to 30 birds seen flying over Morton, and small groups of Curlew with a maximum count of 32 birds by Morton Bridge. Seven Snipe along the river, including one group of five, was a good count by recent standards.

The other bird records of note were my first confirmed breeding of Grey Wagtail in the village, a total of 21 Grey Partridge along the Swale on the 23^rd and a very unseasonal Meadow Pipit by the river on the same day. Peter and Andy both saw Hobbies late in the month.

Despite the warm weather it’s not been a good year for dragonflies in the village but this Ruddy Darter was only my second record in the village…

And this beast of a Brown Hawker was in the Bottom Fields, I watched it hawking for midges and at one point it took one a couple of inches from my face…

Butterfly numbers continue to be good and this extended to the Wall Brown’s with more records this year than any I can ever remember before, and including at sites I have never recorded them before…

No Clouded Yellows yet but surely only a matter of time…

I'll finish with this lovely Poplar Hawkmoth photographed on our neighbour's fig tree..