Swantail Ings
Sunny skies and occasional showers with a keen northwest wind today, blowing in much colder air than we've been used to. I headed out to Wheldrake by bike in an effort to start reducing my birding carbon footprint. 21 Fallow Deer near Crockey Hill along with a couple of Grey Partridges were reward enough for my efforts. Bank Island held three adult Whooper Swans which headed off south down the valley a little after 9am, leaving 120 Wigeon, a drake Shoveler, two Pintail and seven Shelduck. 90 Lapwings hosted two Ruff and there were plenty of Redwings flying about. I walked down to the Ings, but all was quiet, with little of note on the Pool. A Marsh Harrier was quartering the grasslands, flushing c200 Lapwings and another three Ruff. I walked back to Bank Island in a rain shower, watching a Red Kite circling slowly over the refuge. The cycle back into the northwester' was hard work, but invigorating. A little later I met my Mum for a walk round Askham Bog, which yielded 85 Siskins feedling busily in a large Alder, twittering away.
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