Monday 22 January 2018

Marsh Confusion

And we're off!

Snow held up play on Sunday and made for a slow start with 56 species noted over the weekend. The pick of the bunch was a female/imm Marsh Harrier along Kelk Beck on Sunday morning. Although regular in summer this is my first record during winter.

Conventional wisdom says they're summer migrants but in recent years more and more have been staying throughout. Blacktoft Sands is the most important site in Yorkshire (and in Northern England?) with a mightly impressive 30 roosting earlier this month. I remember seeing the first pair to return to breed in Yorkshire at Blacktoft in the early 1990s, having become extinct as a species in UK during the 19th century. I would not have imagined many years later I'd be seeing one floating around Kelk on a freezing January morning.


20th-21st January

Mute Swan - 2
Greylag Goose - 150
Wigeon - 200
Teal - 80
Mallard - 110
Grey Partridge - 19
Little Grebe - 1
Cormorant - 3
Little Egret - 5
Grey Heron - 3
Marsh Harrier - 1 'creamcrown'
Buzzard - 5
Kestrel - 4
Lapwing - 100
Snipe - 8
Woodcock - 1
Green Sandpiper - 2
Woodpigeon - flocks of 1800 & 400
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 3
Meadow Pipit - 1
Grey Wagtail - 1
Fieldfare - 130 in several flocks
Redwing - 1
Mistle Thrush - 3
Goldcrest - 1
Coal Tit - 4
Jay - 2 presumably birds from 2017
Carrion Crow - 30+ together
Tree Sparrow - 60 in one flock Kelk Beck
Bullfinch - 5
Yellowhammer - 12

Grey Squirrel - 2
Roe Deer - 16

One of the five Little Egrets. I'm slowly getting closer to a good photo.














Winter moon














Hibernating snails?














Trying and failing to squeeze a bit more birding out of the winter daylight.














Wigeon in a blizzard.













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Wednesday 3 January 2018

Annus Lowlistus

Hello 2018. The end of 2017 wasn't especially exciting and the species total of 106 was not improved on, so that's a new low marker. The years 2008-12 averaged 115 while the last 5 years it has dropped to 109. Three initial thoughts on what's contributed to the drop; 1) lack of weather/habitat for autumn wader passage, 2) lack of scarce ducks in winter, 3) decline toward local extinction of species such as Spotted Flycatcher and Turtle Dove.

Anyhoo, here's the final piece of 2017:

28-30th December.

Greylag Goose - 330
Canada Goose - 16
Wigeon - 230
Teal - 290
Mallard - 130
Tufted Duck - 10
Red-legged Partridge - 14
Grey Partridge - 18
Cormorant - 3
Little Egret - 7
Grey Heron - 5
Sparrowhawk - 2
Buzzard - 7
Kestrel - 11
Golden Plover - 24 is unusual for Dec
Lapwing - 40
Snipe - 1
Woodcock - 2
Green Sandpiper - 2
Barn Owl - 1
Kingfisher - 2
Great Spotted Woodpecker - 4
Meadow Pipit - 1
Grey Wagtail - 1
Fieldfare - 110
Redwing - 3
Mistle Thrush - 7
Coal Tit - 2
Treecreeper - 3
Jay - 3
Tree Sparrow - 20
Chaffinch - 30
Siskin - 6
Linnet - 40
Bullfinch - 1

Roe Deer - 16


Young Common Gull















Three Fieldfares. Not easy to get close to!















Dubious parentage alert (bird at front middle). Presumably Canada x Greylag Goose.















Mistle Thrush coming to seed put out on a shed roof.















A distinctively marked Pied Wagtail doing a good impression of continental White Wagtail.















Until next time