Monday, 23 June 2025

Wykeham Ortolan Bunting

An Ortolan was an unexpected find for one lucky birder near the Wykeham raptor viewpoint on 11th June. It promptly vanished but was refound on the 15th, seemingly knocking about with a local Yellowhammer. With my car off the road, I hadn't had chance to go and have a look until this morning. It was windy up in the forest and the half a dozen or so birders had not glimpsed it so far. After a bit I had a wander around and picked up one then a pair of Honey Buzzards which provided great views as they came up out of Troutsdale and over the car park to the south. 

At about 10.35 the Ortolan showed in the usual spot, but I was elsewhere trying to find the bird, so missed it. Fortunately, an hour later, Alan Swain and myself noticed an orangey bird flick up into a willow, which through the bins proved to be the Ortolan. It remained in the tree for a minute or so, before flicking down onto a pine log, where it sat out in the open for another minute. A surprisingly handsome bird, looking more like a male to me than the female it had been reported as. It didn't have any streaking on the crown or on the upper breast and the malar stripe was the same greeny-grey as the head, with a nice lemony throat and warm orange underparts. After phonescoping a bit of video it dropped back on to the ground and didn't show again in the next hour, though I did hear it call from near the willow at about 12.30pm. 

Also seen, several small groups of Crossbills, a couple of Tree Pipits, Willow and Garden Warbler, Whitethroat and Chiffchaff. 


 

Thursday, 19 June 2025

Visiting Knepp


 If you are into nature and conservation, you will have heard the name Knepp. Several years ago, I read the inspirational book by Isabella Tree, Wilding, which documents the journey of a large country estate owned by her husband, Charlie Burrell, from poorly-performing farm, to iconic 'rewilding' hotspot. Free-ranging livestock - Tamworth Pigs and Longhorn Cattle - had been introduced, along with Exmoor Ponies and Red and Fallow Deer. With minimal husbandry, the herbivores were encouraged to live freely, mimicking as much as possible, the activities of their ancestors and assisting with the wilding of the former farmland. The resulting rush of wildlife had astonished the owners and the conservation community, with rare species thriving shoulder to shoulder with an abundance of common wildlife. This, in turn, had attracted lots of people, which the estate is cashing in on, to help generate income for the project. 


Since reading the book, the successes of the project have (rightly) received much coverage in the media, and Knepp has become part of standard conservation parlance in Britain. Many estates are following their lead and wanting to become the 'Knepp' of their region, which is a brilliant added bonus to what has taken place. 

I was initially keen to visit, but my interest had waned in recent years. I felt sceptical of some of the recent developments particularly the project to 'reintroduce' White Storks, which I wrote about a few years ago - see here.  Despite this, my heart still felt that the Knepp project was a really great thing and one day I would visit.

Roll forward a few years and some friends bought Vicky and me a voucher for Knepp as a joint birthday present - splendid! Half-term at the end of May seemed a good time to visit as we would be heading south to the in-laws anyway, so Knepp would be only a couple of hours further on. We would be too early to see the Purple Emperors - one of the features of the site - but would hopefully be bang on for Nightingales and Turtle Doves and the White Storks should be getting on with nesting.  

We arrived on a rather windy, but bright May day, relieved that the previous night's rain had blown away. We were ahead of our check-in time and nobody was around to ask, so we just found our way to the large camping meadow and picked a sheltered spot. As we erected the tent, a rather soggy White Stork strutted about in the meadow nearby, picking up insects and other morsels. It looked in keeping with the surroundings, despite my scepticism. I soon noticed that across the way, the stork had its nest in a stately old Oak, which if grilled with my bins could be seen to shelter two small chicks.


 We didn't get very far on the first day. The cafe was full - it was Bank Holiday Monday after all, and it was clear Knepp was coining it in selling their longhorn burgers and Tamworth bangers. Fair play. 

Tuesday dawned wet and windy after quite a tempestuous night under canvas. The hoped-for Nightingales were clearly keeping their head's down and the dawn chorus was rather underwhelming. Post-breakfast we managed to persuade the kids for a walk round the central section of Knepp. It was quite different to what I'd imagined, with a feeling like a formal deer park that had been abandoned for a year or two, but with intensive grazing still happening. There was little botanical interest with everything grazed down short. Perhaps there would be more interest elsewhere? We passed the River Adur which had clearly been reprofiled, but low water diminished the impact of this work; it looked like an overgrown ditch. Down at the lake, a few common birds were present, with Reed Warblers singing and a Great Egret flew over. We completed our loop back at the campsite having enjoyed the walk but feeling somewhat underwhelmed. 


 Some nice marginal plants here, but the grassland is grazed very short either side.

The rain continued after lunch and we could hardly blame the kids for wanting to stay in the tent, so Vicky and me headed off round the southern section. This proved to be far more inspiring, with much more in the way of habitat development, disturbance from the herbivores and some wildlife! The impact of pigs was evident all over, with all grasslands and rides being turned over by their rootling. We came across a couple of hulking sows with gaggles of ginger piglets, demonstrating their business bu trashing a woodland ride. It seemed they were digging up the roots and bulbs of perennials along with bugs and other bits in the soil. The impact on the tight sward was incredible and all done with their snouts - amazing! All this destruction and disturbance clearly favours annuals and biennial species that produce lots of seed, and Ragwort abounded in the more open areas, which is no bad thing from an invertebrate point of view! 

 

Fallow Deer


Tamworth Pigs

A little further on, a large clearing hosted a herd of Exmoor Ponies, looking primitive and wild on the edge of the woodland. They kept their distance, whilst a couple of pairs of White Storks eyed them from their oaken vantage points. Scrub had begun to creep out from some of the woodland edges, softening the lines and blurring or even rubbing out the agricultural past. 

Nearby, mounds of brambles and Sallow breaks flowed through a former field embraced with hugely thick hedges creating something I'd not seen before. Oaks and other trees grew from the centre of these thorny palisades, safe from the browsers. Lesser Whitethroats and Nightingales were singing, despite the gloomy conditions, clearly loving the tangled structure. It felt good for Turtle Doves too, but the lack of warm sunshine had sent them shivering into the sheltered depths and we didn't hear a purring peep from them. 

 

We returned to the campsite much happier, feeling like we'd experienced some of the dynamism and exciting ecology that has made Knepp so special. After a hearty home-made pizza cooked (badly, by me) in the campsite pizza oven, we turned in. In the early hours, I awoke to the sound of a Nightingale singing from the nearby hedge. The rain had stopped and the wind had eased, and this filled my heart with joy, as it was exactly what I'd imagined for my camping experience at Knepp. Class.

Wednesday dawned bright and warm, with butterflies skipping about the meadow as we packed our gear ready for our long hike north. It was clear to me that Knepp is a wondrous place. Rewilding or regenerative farming? I don't think it matters. Lowland England is too constrained and tamed to ever be properly wild (at least in my lifetime) and our laws restrict how hand's off we can be with livestock. But this is a big step in the right direction and Knepp has inspired many other estates to do their bit. Here in Yorkshire, Harewood, Denton, Broughton and Castle Howard have all committed to wilding parts of their landholding, to varying degrees and that is real progress for nature. For this influence, everybody interested in nature should applaud Knepp for having the courage to give this a go. So, let's stop whining about White Storks and whether they are introduced or reintroduced (me included!) and let's celebrate what Knepp has achieved both for wildlife and people itself and the massive step change in nature's recovery it has inspired across England. Our ecological understanding has benefited from this experience and I, for one, will be much more open-minded when considering what species actually need, as it may not be what we assume. 

 

Two last thoughts: The campsite had the poshest campsite toilets I had ever experienced. Incredible.

Sadly, no kids under 12 are allowed in the campsite. From one perspective I can see why this might be the case, but in reality. the kind of parents who would camp here are not the sort who would be allowing their nippers to run riot. Maybe Knepp should rethink this. I would have been so stoked to have come here as a young birder and naturalist - but I wouldn't have been allowed!  

....

In summary, if you are intrigued, interested or ambivalent, go and see for yourself. It is a wondrous place, with a relaxed atmosphere and full of wildlife. I can't wait to return in five years time to see how it has developed!

 

 


Wednesday, 11 June 2025

Gripping Sparrow

I spent all of Sunday at the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Puffin Festival, an annual event held at North Landing, Flamborough, where we show people Puffins and other seabirds, talk to them about the threats they face and about our work to help them. It's a feel-good event, with lots of people seeing and learning about these amazing birds for the first time. I was on guided walk duty and took 60 people, old and young, along the cliffs on three guided walks. The thrill of seeing people's faces light up as they clap their eyes on a Puffin for the first time never grows old. I drove back to York beaming as much as those happy punters. Until half past ten that is, when news of a (North American) Song Sparrow came to light! It had been photographed but not identified at Thornwick, literally half a mile from where I'd spent the day. Unbelievable. If only it had been identified earlier, I could have nipped over there within minutes, or even better dropped into North Landing rather than Thornwick... Gutted is an understatement. 

The last mainland Song Sparrow in Britain was way back in 1994, in Liverpool, when I was almost as far away as you could get, at Uni in Norwich, so I didn't see it.  The Thornwick bird, if accepted, would be only the second record for Yorkshire, with the first, the second for Britain, being back in 1964, at Spurn. 

I had no chance of twitching it on Monday, and my first window of opportunity would be on Wednesday evening. My heart sank as I couldn't imagine the bird would linger that long. And, my hunch seemed correct when the early rising Flamborough birders failed to find the bird first thing Monday morning. It looked like we were all in the same boat of being massively gripped and at least what would have been a tense couple of days would now be more bearable. The report on the Flamborough Bird Obs website conveyed how disappointed everybody must have felt, despite this being an incredible first for the headland.

Then, to my astonishment, Phil Cunningham refound the bird in the same spot yesterday (Tuesday) morning - great work, Phil! I realised it would still be an anxious wait for Wednesday evening for me, but at least there might be a chance. I resigned myself to a day of meetings until the second good bit of news of the day arrived, when my afternoon meeting got cancelled unexpectedly; my afternoon suddenly became available! Twitch on. 

Positive news from Thornwick was all I needed to carry me swiftly over the Wolds to the Great White Cape, and down the bumpy track to Thornwick. Andy G was just leaving as I arrived and he gave me some quick advice on where to look. It was good to see him smiling after a successful twitch. 

As I parked on the grassy strip next to Thornwick cafe, I could see a line of fellow birders on the far side of the gulley scoping the area and was soon among the throng, looking intently into the nettles. I hastened round under glorious blue skies.

Within minutes, the birder next to me announced he had the bird and after a few tense moments, and with some generous help from a couple of neighbouring birders, I got on the right spot on the gulley side, where I could see a stripy head bobbing about in the shadows.  The sparrow was deep in the nettles, and tricky to see. With patience, I added a gingery back, some complicated bits of head pattern, and some streaky underparts; bit by bit, I was assembling a Song Sparrow.

 

Shortly, it gave itself up and hopped out into the open on to an umbellifer stem, to the delight of all present, showing off its black-streaked white underparts, which coalesced into a central spot, and a stripy grey and chestnut head. 


 

What a cracker - definitely like a cross between a Dunnock and a bunting, as described by the finders of the first British record on Fair Isle, decades ago. After a minute or so, it hopped back into the nettles to continue gleaning insects from the leaves. Over the next half an hour, it showed well every five minutes or so, but sadly didn't sing while I was there. I was delighted; what a relief to see this bird! 

Having got great views, it was time to get back; I had to cook tea for the kids and take Sol and his mates to Air Cadets, so off I went beaming again as I left Flamborough for the second time this week.

And in a final twist to the tale, the bird has not been seen today, Wednesday, so if I hadn't been able to go yesterday afternoon I would have dipped.  


 


 

Sunday, 27 April 2025

The Swifts are back...THE SWIFTS ARE BACK!!!

Yep, the Swifts are back! It is always such a joy to see their scimitar forms arcing across the sky. Yesterday, I counted six high over North Duffield Carrs, cruising around catching insects high over the wet meadows. The weather has been fine and is warming up next week, so I expect many more to pour in from the south. Hopefully, our birds may show up at home. 

North Duff was relatively quiet apart from the Swifts, a single Whimbrel east, 4 Ruff, with Lesser Whitethroat new for the year and still lots of Teal and Wigeon around, despite dwindling water levels. On to Wheldrake, where a Hobby was the pick of the bunch, besides my first Garden Warbler of the year, Cuckoo and three or four Reed Warblers in the reedbed.


 Garganey have been really thin on the ground this spring. There has been a solitary male at Wheldake, showing off and on, flying about looking for a mate. I wonder if rain in Spain has held many of our birds back in the Med? Time will tell. 


 Little Egrets are pouring back into the LDV, with many heading for their breeding colony. One over my house last week was a garden tick, as was a male Peregrine that rode the updraught in front of a large thunder cloud one evening. A couple of Great Egrets are still gracing the valley; maybe one day they will breed.


 This Peregrine got my scampering back indoors to get my bins and camera as it soared over the house.

Great Egret, Wheldrake.

This Grey Plover was a great find by Duncan Bye on the refuge at Wheldrake Ings on 4th April. Grey Plovers are scarce in the York area and don't often hang around, so this bird bucked the trend and hung around all day.

 


It has been a good spring for Teal, with good numbers still around at the time of typing. I counted 380+ at Wheldrake Ings the other night for instance. They really are smart little ducks.





Sedgey Spring

It is a great spring for Sedge Warblers, with lots singing everywhere, in reedbeds, willow thickets, brambly tangles and overgrown ditches. Perhaps a good breeding season last year, followed by good migration survival and clement wintering grounds south of the Sahara. I love their over-excited song, so different from the chuntering Reed Warbler, fizzing and whistling, before catapulting into the sky full of exuberance. This one paused to eye me with suspicion, as I watched it singing in a willow at Ripon City Wetlands.




 

Thursday, 24 April 2025

Two gulls

Headed east with Vicky and Luna, but minus kids, for a walk along Flamborough Cliffs. Decompression, seaviews and the chance of a migrant bird or two was the order of the day. Sand Martins cruised for insects on the updraft at South Landing, whilst Whitethroats sang from swaying briars, in their typically jaunty fashion. With an easterly breeze, it felt promising, though the weather was perhaps a bit too nice.

A little further along, I noticed a white-winger flying past at eye-level- a Glaucous Gull - nice! This wasn't quite what I was expecting, but given how scarce they are in the York area these days, this was a treat. It flapped steadily east towards the lighthouse, so I put out the news and smiled contentedly. 

Not much else happened to interupt our walk, apart from a pair of Grey Partridges nervously sneaking through the Gorse Field. 


During a coffee at the Headland Cafe, I checked the birdnews and was astonished to see that an adult Bonaparte's Gull had been found at Hornsea Mere, only a hop, skip and a drive down the Holderness Coast. Vicky seemed happy to potter down there on our way home, so after completing our walk, off we went - twitch on! 20 minutes before we arrived, the news came that the Bonies had disappeared, but I assumed this meant it had just gone behind Swan Island or something, so we held firm and soon pulled into the car park at Kirkholme Point. As I jumped out of the car I realised that for some reason I had forgotten to bring my scope - doh! The gull was still missing, so I did my best to help the crowd by binning any gull close enough to ID. I wasn't helping much! Fortunately, I recognised the friendly faces of the Bempton Massive - Dave Aitken and Will Scott, and once the gull had been relocated, they both generously let me have boot-filling looks through their scopes. Thanks lads. 

I could see the bird through my bins - just about - on the edge of the Black-headed Gull-flock, loafing about in a diminutive way, with small black bill and upperparts a shade darker grey. A smart bird and an unexpected Yorkshire tick to boot. Only the fourth I have seen in the UK, this is a species I like to refamiliarise myself with as one day I might pull one out of the Wheldrake gull roost...here's hoping!


 I pointed and shot my bridge camera in the right direction and caught the Bonies here, front right.




Saturday, 19 April 2025

Estonia - April 2025

 

 

I co-led a Wildlife Travel trip to Estonia the week before last, with Heleria Alles from NaTourEst. We had a really enjoyable week in the west of the country, half the time on the large island of Saaremaa and the rest in and around Matsalu National Park. The spring is much later in Estonia than the UK, with the countryside still looking very wintry, apart from woodland flowers, such as Liverleaf, Winter Aconites and Lesser Celandines. The weather was cold, with some snow showers and a lot of northerly wind, until the last couple of days when the wind went southerly and the temperatures rose considerably. Estonia is a fab place, pretty flat and very forested, though sadly a lot is being cut down for timber and wood pellets, many of which gets shipped to the UK to be burnt in power stations. 

 


White-fronted Geese, a patriotic White Stork, and two Cranes

Birding is very new in Estonia, with few birders around despite good infrastructure including many watchtowers, and a great bird list. Early spring is a good time to visit with lots of geese, mostly White-fronted and Barnacles passing through, togehter with the last few Tundra Beans. There are also a lot of Cranes on the move, with local breeders already on territory in the meadows, whilst overhead, flocks of upto 100 were seen passing over, particularly at the end of the week when the weather warmed up. No summer migrants were noted in the forests, but Caspian, Sandwich and Common Terns were seen along the coast and a few White Storks were back on their nests. Good numbers of wintering ducks were still present, including a fabulous drake Steller's Eider at Saaremaa Sadam, flanked by Coot (bit unexpected), with lots of Red-breasted Mergansers, Long-tailed Ducks, Scaup, Common and Velvet Scoters and Common Eider. 

 

On the fresh water, good numbers of Smew were found together with Pochard, Tufted Ducks, Goldeneye and Goosander, with smaller numbers of dabbling ducks. Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes were back on their territories in their breeding finery, some of which were in odd locations, such as a golf course pond and a town lake!

 

Top 2: Slavonian Grebe, bottom 2: Red-necked Grebes

With all these birds about, it was not surprising to see plenty of White-tailed Eagles; we saw 10-20 most days. We hoped to see Rough-legged Buzzards and were not disappointed; a fine juvenile flew past on Saaremaa, whilst back on the mainland we saw seven individuals within a small area whilst watching lekking Black Grouse. We also saw a couple of fine grey male Hen Harriers, a few Marsh Harriers, Kestrel, Goshawk and Sparrowhawks. 

 

Top: Adult male Rough-legged Buzzard; bottom: White-tailed Eagle by Charles Waters


We only found one Great Grey Shrike, near Haeska. We spent a good deal of time in various forests and found White-backed and Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, plus Great and Lesser Spotted, whilst we only heard Black Woodpeckers. 

 


 White-backed Woodpecker

One of the most enjoyable sightings was of five female Capercaillies, which gave great views along the forest roads in the early morning sunshine and the best views I've had of this shy and declining species.  Other notable species included Crested and Willow Tits, Waxwings, Hawfinches, Black and Red-throated Divers, Wood and Green Sandpipers. 


 Fem Capercaillie. Taken by me with Charles Waters' camera

Evenings were for mammal spotting, and we chanced upon two pairs of Elk (Moose) during the trip. One pair was grazing in a roadside meadow whilst the other were seen in birch forest. We also saw Red and Roe Deer and Red Squirrel, but didn't find Lynx or Wolf, though we didn't really try for them. With warm sunshine on the last day, several butterflies appeared, including a fabulous Camberwell Beauty.

 

At the end of the trip, we found both the delightfully tiny Euro Pygmy Owl and the surprisingly large, ghostly Ural Owl from the same spot in the forest, providing an exhilarating end to our trip.

Pygmy Owl
 

Saturday, 29 March 2025

High Flyer

Great to see a couple of Woodlarks this afternoon. Despite the overcast conditions and the chilly wind, one brave lad was high in the sky singing it's heart out. To my surprise, photos revealed that he was carrying some kind of insect whilst singing; not sure how he managed that whilst opening his beak! Whilst watching this bird, another started replying from the ground nearby. After a bit of scanning, I found it walking about in the heather, occasionally singing a bit. A really class bird and great that these breed in North Yorkshire these days. 


 



Friday, 28 March 2025

Remote Duck - South Georgia Pintail

We found South Georgia Pintails very easily at most sites where we landed. They were mostly found poking about in the tussock fields, often close to penguin colonies or napping Elephant Seals. They are now re-lumped with Yellow-billed Pintail, though still recognised as an endemic subspecies. They don't seem to fly very much, seeming just to waddle about. The other remarkable thing is that despite a rather cute appearance, they are quite happy tucking into a seal carcass shoulder to shoulder with Giant Petrels! 

South Georgia Pintail with a moulting Southern Elephant Seal, Right Whale Bay, South Georgia.

 
 
Surely, they don't eat side by side with these beasts!