Mid-November Sunshine

Though I've been out and about lots since the summer, the combination of not seeing much interesting and moving house means I've not felt compelled to sit down and write my blog.

This weekend has been beautiful; the light this morning particularly was fantastic, though I didn't manage many photos. I think it's about time I set my hides up again and return to waiting rather than walking... it can be just as fruitful an approach (though a lot colder).

I walked the length of the Swale between St Wilfrids and Great Langton. In the woods there were small birds in abundance. Coal tit, treecreeper and nuthatch are readily found here and rarely elsewhere on the patch. I heard marsh tit and watched goldcrests flit busily between the tops of the scots pines.

Stood still, the birds became increasingly accustomed to me and allowed me closer than usual... I was enjoying this privilege when it all kicked off; the birds alarm-called and I searched for the source of the disturbance... a RED SQUIRREL!!! No, wait... what on earth is that? I couldn't believe my eyes as a stoat descended down the trunk of a tree in squirrel fashion. It must have been 20ft up when I first saw it and it looked completely at home in the tree. A first for me! Stoats are my favourite animals on this Earth, so I was thrilled to see this unusual behaviour.

A little further along the river I spotted a wader on a distant gravel bank; it was my first green sandpiper since last winter. I've become so accustomed to seeing them now, that I can predict exactly where and when they'll show up. Always under trees along the river, and only in the colder months.

Another winter-only bird made its first appearance too... siskin. I was stood hoping to catch a kestrel swooping down for a mouse, when two of the pretty little finches grabbed my attention as they noisily flew above the clearing to settle behind me, high in a tree.

Reversing the winter trend, I was buzzed by a fast flying butterfly. Though records of over-wintering red admiral are not unheard of these days, it's still a surprise to see one in mid-November.


























Finally, as I returned back to the church, the sky went black with starlings.

Elsewhere on the patch...

Herons are increasingly common and I now see little egret every time I go out.

Including this one with leg rings:

I only wish i knew how to read them so I could send a record in and find out where it has been.

It's always nice to see something other than birds... even things unpopular with the local gamekeeper:

Menorca and Autumn's First Arrival

I'm back this week from a weeks holiday in Menorca. We went self catering and rented a villa set in its own extensive plot. The owner was clearly a keen birder and had set up a pond with a small hide overlooking it. The water was a draw for birds in the otherwise dry landscape.

These sparrows enjoyed a daily splash but were permanently on edge... more so than the birds that live in my roof back in Thrintoft.

The most widespread bird on the island (that I noted) was spotted flycatcher and they were permanent residents in the garden. I was also lucky enough to find pied flycatcher too.

Another garden resident was turtle dove.

And the pond drew in birds like woodchat shrike from the shrubby slopes nearby.

Finally, the pond was a draw for various reptiles and amphibians. I shared the hide with a few stripeless tree frogs and moorish gecko. Turkish gecko and Italian wall lizard were also present and the garden was full of these wonderful Hermann's tortoise.

Patch Update

The summer seems to have passed by in a flash and I rarely made it out to keep a note of things. My butterfly list is well down on last year though I did note a huge emergence of red admiral, an unusually high number of wall (which is incredibly good news) and found my second small copper of the year, doubling my previous record! This one is pretty worn but might not be the last brood; I've recorded them all the way into October.

Birds-wise, it's been deathly quiet. Quail was a patch first on 14th July, and I heard it again from my bed on the morning of the 15th... possibly my greatest bedroom-tick to date (no comments please).

The first migrant to turn up at the end of this summer was whinchat, found in precisely the same hedgerow that I recorded my September bird last year. Hopefully this marks the start of migration proper; I'm hoping to tick off redstart and osprey before the Autumn is over.

Sandpipers and Flycatchers

Now all the birds have arrived, I thought I'd spend some time getting to know a few a bit better. This week I did a couple of reconnaissance walks to search for interesting subjects and found a pair of nesting common sandpiper and a pair of spotted flycatchers. Today, I set about photographing them for the first time. (double click on images to see a greater resolution)

For the sandpipers, I have set up a hide on the river bank opposite a gravel beach I've often seen them active. Across the river, they're a little too far away to capture in great detail, so my aim is to capture some flight shots in the coming days.

The pair were under constant surveillance from a jay (a bird I wouldn't associate with predating waders) so the birds were jumpy and noisy. I'm hoping tomorrow they'll be more relaxed and I can get some better pictures in the early light.

The flycatchers are nesting behind the ivy on the trunk of a great oak tree along the road, so I'll be using my car as a hide. It's dark where they've chosen to nest, so I'm going to punch some more light into the scene using a flash stood on top of my car.

Finally, I came across this goosander earlier this week with what seems like an extraordinary number of ducklings (sixteen)!

Duke of Burgundy

It was hot today, really hot... and with it being quiet on the bird front I thought I'd take my near-annual pilgrimage to the moors to look for Duke of Burgundy.

This butterfly is nationally scarce, but a few colonies hang on in North Yorkshire, centred around the town of Helmsley. They are tiny and easily overlooked, but the lekking behaviour of males makes them slightly easier to find; watch a bumble bee or other butterfly fly across the bracken and soon enough, a little male Duke will fly up to intercept the intruder!

Their tiny size (less than an inch across the wings) and restless behaviour makes them difficult to photograph, but I managed a few records before I fled the hillside to avoid an electrical storm. On top of a hill with a carbon fibre tripod is not an intelligent place to be when lightning strikes!

Patch Update

I missed out on a few passing migrants this Spring. Last year I noted reed warbler, grasshopper warbler, redstart and whinchat in May but things didn't work out this year. I'm sure they passed through, I just couldn't seem to coincide my time off with clement weather... indeed it felt there was a cold Northerly wind for the entire month.

However, a few birds fell to the binoculars: house martin and garden warbler were first spotted on 24th April and numbers have built up steadily through May. Yellow wagtail has only been heard, though I've not spent much time in their usual haunts. A single lesser whitethroat was heard near Bramper Farm and a hobby following the river was a welcome treat on 4th May.

The swifts returned on 6th May; the precise day I saw my first one last year, and I'm pleased to say they're using our roof space to roost again. On the same day, I finally caught up with corn bunting, singing atop a willow tree on the long river loop. To cap off a fine day, I also noted sedge warbler; the first one I've seen locally in a few years.

Also pleasing was the discovery of a couple of barn owl nests, just outside the patch boundaries.

The bird honoured with being my 100th species this year was spotted flycatcher, falling some two weeks after my 99th species. I was beginning to wonder whether I'd ever get there!

Willow warbler:

Spring Arrivals

The long weekend promised much, but the cold winds put a dampener on things. By Friday evening, I'd only added swallow and willow warbler, two birds I would have added much earlier had I had time to get out and about.

Saturday morning never lived up to the weather forecast, and by the time I bumped into Nick at Warbler Corner, I was frozen to the bone. I took the short route home and called it a day. Come the afternoon, the weather had brightened so I ventured up to the North of the patch. From the car I noticed a number of small bids flitting across a field of bare earth: pied wagtails. I got out and stood watching for a while, expecting to see wheatear among them. Sure enough, they appeared... two handsome males.

Also among them, a small group of linnet; a bird that is especially numerous this Spring, nesting in the hedgerows all the way into the village itself.

I'd noted a number of meadow pipit tacking over in ones and twos all weekend, presumably migrating onto the moors inland. Indeed, the following bird seemed particularly exhausted, letting me right beneath it as it rested in a small tree.

Along the river, the birds were paired up and beginning to nest. I'm going to check all my nest boxes before the weekend is over and check up on the sites of last year's nesting marsh tit, woodpecker and treecreeper.



On Sunday morning, I rushed out before the forecast rains and glad I did, added common sandpiper... on the exact same day I saw my first one last year!

I also managed an extraordinary close encounter with this female goosander; too busy fishing to notice my approach.

Later in the afternoon I wandered to the pub and on the way was surprised to see a common whitethroat, creeping among the nettles in the hedgerow opposite. This is a particularly early record, in fact seven days earlier than my first last year, which was in itself an early record.

April Round-Up

Also added this year have been ruff (a patch first), little ringed plover, wigeon (another patch first), redshank, gadwall (yet another patch first - all on the flash of flood water near Great Langton), sand martin and blackcap.

Despite the flurry of new birds, I'm 2 species behind this stage last year, notably missing out on firecrest, osprey, stonechat, merlin and brambling... five birds I'm not guaranteed to see this year so it's going to be tight whether I get to 100% on the comparative scores.

A Great Weekend & Mid-March Round-up

Well... sometimes everything just comes together, and this was one of those weekends. I started out with a walk around the long river loop on Saturday morning where I bumped into Nick. It was grey and quiet, so Nick and I mused about what we might see and what we'd seen by this time last year. Weirdly, we discussed siskin (a bird Nick had not encountered yet), went our separate ways and within 5 minutes, a flock of 12 or more siskin settled in the alder I was under.

That pretty much capped Saturday, but on Sunday morning the weather was much better and I headed to the North of the patch. Unlike the day before, birds were everywhere, active and confiding. Bullfinches have been present in good numbers all winter, but finally this cow and bull allowed me close enough for a picture.

In the woods, another flock of siskin descended on me and I managed this record-shot (something of a classic of the genre... blurred, obscured, and uninspiring).

Other common birds flirted in the sunshine...

A walk around the fishing lakes turned up nothing. While returning through the wood, I saw a bird splashing in the river. My first thought was that it was a pigeon, but as I drew closer I was amazed to see this sparrowhawk. Occupied with what he was doing, he allowed me a good sequence of shots in difficult light, culminating with his puffed up drying in a riverside willow.

Out of the woods and into the fields, I spotted a small bird fly-catching. It was quickly accompanied by a singing individual; my first two chiffchaffs of the year.

Further along the hedgerow, meadow pipit and reed bunting were present in good numbers.

My favourite animal on Earth, feathered, furry or otherwise is the stoat. I can remember every day I've encountered a stoat and where; there's just something about them that I find so endearing. Today I had one of my best encounters ever. This individual spotted me, decided I wasn't a threat and just went about his business despite me. The sun was behind him, so he was difficult to photograph. Matters only got worse because he got so close (these images aren't cropped); at one point, he almost ran over my boot! Incredible!

Mid-March Round-Up

Since the end of January, I've added twelve new species to the year list, including jack snipe, whooper swan...

...and waxwing (all 2-pointers).

Also, making the list were golden plover (here with lapwing and shelduck... with a green sandpiper just out of shot)...

...goosander, skylark, linnet, red-legged partridge, canada goose and common gull. It means that I'm 3 species ahead of this time last year, missing out on barn owl, corn bunting, redpoll, redshank and red kite.